Grade: B
A visual short story that explores the feeling of hanging in the balance.
Far From Noise is a visual short story with an estimated two-hour runtime. The story begins with the protagonist having a car accident that leaves them at the very edge of a cliff. The car is teetering back and forth on a cliff’s edge in front of the ocean. As you sit and ponder this literal existential crisis, the dialogue leads you through a reflective discussion. Far From Noise challenges the reader to think about truth, life, and the “perhaps” nature of everything. At best, “Far From Noise” is an unforgettable meditation. At worst, it is pseudo-intellectual nonsense. I found the game to be much closer to the former than the latter.
Scenic details you’ll remember forever
The game begins and ends on the same scene. As you stare at this stage, you will soon memorize every detail. You see locations in front of you that have been carefully and expertly animated.
The grass sways slightly in the breeze. The nearby tree faintly rustles—the ocean sparkles. The sun shimmers. All the while in this pastoral setting, the car teeters on the cliff’s edge, going rhythmically forward and back. It makes a short sway forward, a short sway back, a long sway forward…precariously wait…and a short sway back. The long teeter forward makes you think that the car might tip forward into the ocean far below the cliff.
These perfectly crafted scenery details augment the story immensely. They are one of the most impressive accomplishments of “Far from Noise.”
A “transcendentalist” philosophical discussion
Outside of the scenery, Far From Noise embraces transcendentalist philosophy within its dialogue. Having no background in this philosophy, I had to spend some time catching up. I learned that the main transcendentalist authors, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and John Muir, believed that individuals should explore a more spiritual side of themselves. Transcend means “beyond,” and their idea was to balance out the focus on empiricism with a recognition of the unknown.
For the philosophical reflections in “Far From Noise,” dialogue is the key driver. This dialogue is played out between our protagonist, stuck in their car, and a deer. The deer becomes their guru friend.
Some philosophical questions that the game poses:
- What is reality? How do we know what is real?
- Should you be present in the moment or lose yourself in existential terror over your impending doom?
- What matters most to you, considering your death could come at any moment?
- How much is your perspective obscured by your limited sight?
- What kind of wonder can we find in the largeness of nature?
- Is life without beauty worth anything?
These are heavy themes, and there is no correct answer to any of them. Thankfully, the author brought forth various anecdotes and events to break up the direct philosophizing throughout the game.
Struggles against my own distractibility
“Far from Noise” highlighted my own struggles with distractibility. I would recommend playing this game away from distractions in your own home. Maybe find a corner, put on headphones, silence your phone, and be patient. For me, sometimes my dogs barked, I got a text message, I got up for a snack. It was a struggle.
After a while, I successfully tuned out distractions, and that’s when my enjoyment level in “Far from Noise” rose.
Little player choice
I didn’t feel that the player had much choice or control in “Far From Noise.” It’s possible, based on the story, that the lack of power was purposeful, though.
In particular, my only major complaint about the game is that you could choose various dialogue options, but it all seemed to lead to the same generic response from your guru deer friend. There didn’t seem to be a significant interplay between what you chose in the conversation vs. what came out on the other side. I almost wish I would have been able to play the game without selecting the dialogue. That would have felt more immersive to me than arbitrarily choosing different options that led to similar results. This impression may be inaccurate because I did not play through the game multiple times.
Needs the right mindset
There are points during “Far from Noise” where I felt the urge to put the game down, but I’m glad I played through the entire story. It felt like a personal win to drop everything else and focus on the moment.
As I played through “Far from Noise,” I had a lot of feelings. The most prevalent was probably frustration at the vague, metaphysical nature of the discussion. It seemed geared to lure me into experiencing a feeling of “the greatness and wonder of the beyond.” To enjoy the game, I had to change my normal stodgy, skeptical mindset. I relaxed, and eventually, I just appreciated the game for what it was. My error was attempting to mold “Far from Noise” into something that made perfect sense.
In the end, your enjoyment with “Far From Noise” is a mirror of your mindset going into the game. If you come into the game and get caught up in the scenery details and take a deep breath and reflect, it’s an enjoyable experience. If you are distracted, quickly clicking through the dialogue, and just waiting for the game to finish so that you can go on to the next thing, then you will be frustrated.
Want to see more? Explore all itch.io bundle for racial equality and justice game reviews.