Tales of the Neon Sea is an adventure video game developed by Chinese studio Palm Pioneer. It is a retro-styled pixel-art game in a cyberpunk setting.
| Tales of the Neon Sea | |
|---|---|
 Windows cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Palm Pioneer, YiTi Games |
| Publisher(s) | Zodiac Interactive, Boke Technology Co., Ltd, Thermite Games |
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | Windows, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4 |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Adventure, Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Gameplay
editThe goal of Tales of the Neon Sea is to walk around in search of clues and solve a series of puzzles and brain teasers.
Players assume the role of Rex, a hard-boiled detective, to investigate a case. The protagonist is forced to use mechanical prosthetics due to injuries. He can use electronic eyes to scan objects and analyze corpses during investigation.
In some scenes, players will control the protagonist's assistant, William the black cat, to enter areas inaccessible to Rex to explore or collect items.
Plot
editSet in a neo-noir metropolis where humans and robots contend with escalating tensions and mutual distrust, the storyline follows Rex, formerly a veteran police detective accepting random jobs as a private investigator to make ends meet.[7]
Development
editThis section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2024) |
The game was successfully crowd-funded through Kickstarter in 2018.
Reception
edit| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 62/100[8] |
| OpenCritic | 61/100[9] 13% Critics Recommend |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Adventure Gamers |   [10] |
| The Games Machine (Italy) | 6.5/10[11] |
| IGN Spain | 6/10[12] |
| Gamer Sky | 8/10[13] |
Upon release, Tales of the Neon Sea received mixed reviews by users and critics.
On review aggregate OpenCritic, Tales of the Neon Sea had an average 61 out of 100 review score with 13% approval rating based on 8 reviews. The game received "mixed or average" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.
Accolades
editIn 2018, Tales of the Neon Sea won the award for "Excellence in Visual Art", and was nominated for "Excellence in Narrative" and "Best Game Grand Prize" at IndiePlay China Independent Game Competition.[14][15] The game won the awards for "Most Innovative Game" and "Best Game Design" from Indie Prize at Casual Connect Asia 2018.[16] In 2019, the game was nominated for "Visual Excellence" award at BitSummit.[17]
References
edit- ^ Romano, Sal (14 March 2019). "Tales of the Neon Sea for PC launches April 30". Gematsu. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ Gregson-Wood, Stephen (19 October 2020). "Tales of the Neon Sea is an upcoming cyberpunk-themed adventure game that's heading for iOS". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ Dellosa, Catherine (3 August 2021). "Tales of the Neon Sea, now a TapTap exclusive, is coming to Android globally on August 5th". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Tales of the Neon Sea". Xbox. Microsoft. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Tales of the Neon Sea". Nintendo. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Tales of the Neon Sea". PlayStation. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ A Throwback Detective Adventure Game Set In A Cyberpunk Future. Kotaku
- ^ "Tales of the Neon Sea". Metacritic.
- ^ "Tales of the Neon Sea". OpenCritic.
- ^ "Review for Tales of the Neon Sea". Adventure Gamers. 23 September 2020.
- ^ "Tales of the Neon Sea - Recensione". The Games Machine (Italy). 18 May 2021.
- ^ "Tales of the Neon Sea - Análisis". IGN Spain. 3 May 2019.
- ^ "Tales of the Neon Sea - Review (in Chinese)". gamersky.com.
- ^ Tales of the Neon Sea, a pixel-art cyberpunk adventure is set to release April 30th on Steam. savingcontent.com
- ^ Tales of the Neon Sea takes the “Excellence in Visual Art” award at indiePlay 2018. Steam
- ^ Indie Prize China Winners Revealed at Casual Connect Asia 2018. wwgdb.com
- ^ Announcing the BitSummit 7 Spirits Award Nominations. bitsummit.org