Review | Weaving Tides

LifeisXbox’s Weaving Tides review | When I first bumped into Weaving Tides (it was on Twitter, I think), I knew I had to get my hands on this game. When I got a mail saying ‘call your carpet dragon and set out on a journey to unveil the mysteries of a world of magic and textile’, I couldn’t be happier. Weaving Tides is a cozy single-player adventure where you’ll be (you guessed it): weaving. This game started as a Kickstarter project, gained a lot of followers, and finally saw the light at the end of May. Now, let’s jump on the back of our very own carpet dragon, dive into this magical woven world, and start exploring everything Weaving Tides has to offer!

We played Weaving Tides for 7 hours on PC. This game is also available on the Nintendo Switch.

What we liked!

• Graphics & soundtrack | What an absolutely gorgeous game, wow! Both the environments you fly through, as well as the cutscenes are so damn adorable, I just can’t. The art style has a charming vibe to it that is fit for all ages. I feel like it has this kind of childish and playful mood, but it doesn’t féél like a kid’s game. The characters you meet all have hand-painted portraits, it was a pleasure meeting them every single time. The soundtrack for a game like this should be soothing and relaxing, and that’s exactly what it is. I truly believe the developers did the best job possible when creating the art and music for Weaving Tides. If you’re really crazy about the soundtrack, you can purchase it on Steam for 4 Euros, by the way!
• Original | I cannot applaud originally enough, and Weaving Tides deserves a big ass applause. We’ve all played adventure, cozy, puzzle games, and so on. We’ve played everything. But what you haven’t played, or seen, yet, is a game like Weaving Tides. The concept is new and refreshing, and I found myself enjoying the whole weaving part a lot. It brought an odd sense of calm and excitement all at the same time. We all know older things have a tendency of becoming popular again nowadays, and the art of embroidery is one of those. Follow the Feathers took embroidery to a whole new level though with Weaving Tides!
• Gameplay | There’s a little bit of everything in Weaving Tides as it offers narrative, puzzles, and combat. While I felt like the focus is on the first two, the idea to also add combat (in an original way) was very well executed. Different enemies will require different strategies, but you’ll always be battling by using embroidery and stitching them to the wooden web while flying on your Carpet Dragon(s). I never experienced the combat to be overwhelming, it was overall very well balanced, and even the bosses were a very welcome feature, even though that Rag Eater was a real bitch, what in the hell was that?! Combining puzzles with combat was also very interesting since it added some extra challenge to solving a puzzle.
• Story | You’ll be playing as the very cute Tass, who appears to be the only human left, and who is on an adventure to find his parents. He is accompanied by his foster dad Kilim (the Carpet Dragon). What I liked most was meeting new characters, because I was so intrigued by everyone I met in Weaving Tides. Not only because they all looked so adorable in this art style, but also because of their stories and the side quests they offered. And of course, because of the humor that was also present. I’m a sucker for some puns in games! Oh, and the mystery parts as well, of course. When we had to go find someone, and Kilim said ‘if I could find some sort of disguise, it might not be that bad’, well, that’s the exact point when my curiosity was really piqued because I knew my Carpet Dragon was hiding something from me.
• Playground mode | For all your creative people out there, there is also a playground mode available. While you’re playing the campaign, you will gradually unlock colorful ribbons that can be used in the playground mode. Here is where your embroidery skills can really shine. It’s entirely up to you to freely stitch and create your own designs. This wasn’t my personal cup of tea, but I did really like that the developers decided to add this extra feature because let’s face it, some cool extra features are always welcome.
• Pet your dragon | You’ll be moving around on your flying carpet, and it gets better. The carpet is actually a dragon, isn’t that just great?! BUT WAIT, IT GETS EVEN BETTER. You can pet and brush your dragon friends! What more do you need in a game, right?

Somewhere between

• Map | I get lost both in real life and in games, so a map is kind of essential to me. Weaving Tides does not have a mini-map, meaning I was going back and forth sometimes, not remembering where I had to go. I’m a bit chaotic and not very good at orientation when it comes to navigating, so if you’re like me, you might have some difficulty in that area too. However, I do understand the decision of the developers not to include a (mini) map because it offers an extra challenge to the puzzle and exploring aspects of Weaving Tides. You see, often the special ribbons that can be used in the playground mode, were not hidden in plain sight, so exploring was essential, and this would have been way easier with a map present. I would like to add that navigating your way through the Weaving Tides world wasn’t as difficult as I may make it out to be, but I’m just really bad at orientating myself, lol.

What we disliked

• I did not dislike anything about Weaving Tides!

How long to beat the story | 6 to 8 hours
How long to get 100% achievements | There are no achievements yet, but they should be added in a future patch.
Similar with | Weaving Tides is unlike anything you’ve played!

CONCLUSION

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