4.5/5 ★ – theebigbamtheory's review of JETT: The Far Shore.

JETT: The Far Shore is a game about survival. It puts you in the perspective of Mei, a mystic who is one of the few chosen scouts that will be the first to forge a path in a world far from home, a world previously only told in scriptures, in order to secure a brighter future for their people. Outpacing oblivion, so to speak. The story never abandons this heavy tone, as you will be accompanied by smart and skilled people, doing their absolute best to complete their objectives. While the foreign language they speak might make it harder to immediately connect to them, the bond that is forged as the plot progresses will be solid, as they will prove time and time again to be believable, competent characters. This, along with good poetic writing and interesting story beats, makes for a meaningful sci-fi tale that leaves a strong impression. Gameplay wise, you will be driving the titular Jett vehicle for most of the game. It is a nimble hovercraft-esque explorationship with features focused on maintaining a pacifist attitude. This means that you can't really fight anything. It also ties to a strong vision of the scouts, to explore but not disturb. Instead, you must to come up with ways to use the elements in the environment to your advantage and/or use your ship capabilities. For example, you can grapple a specific kind of rock to your ship, then you can drive to a nearby ion pool to ignite the rock, then you can throw it to an geographic obstacle that blocks your path. There are a few more kinds of similar mechanics like this, but don't expect them to be very elaborate or complex. Same goes for enemies. In most cases you will need to stun them in order to help outrun them. Controlling the Jett themselves are a blast. The DualSense adaptive triggers helps to add extra impact in acclerating the Jett, and the control scheme makes it feel like you're in a ship with a lot of buttons, which helps the immersion a bit. Once you get the hang of it, the game turns into a cinematic ballet session as you dodge and weave obstacles at high speed. You can perform maneuvers by moving the analog stick to one direction while pressing a separate button, and performing them accurately takes a bit of time, but it will help you a lot. There are also new mechanics later on when your ship gets upgrades, that will help add an extra layer to the exploration gameplay, while helping you to get to places faster. The game requires patience, for better and worse. It like to take its time, especially early on where the story isn't as frantic as the later part of the game. The game has a pretty rigid structure in the first few levels, and it only open ups later on in Chapter III. There are a few times where it feels like the objectives isn't clear enough, and you're left wandering, hoping to stumble into something. The game also seems to be a bit slow in responding to your actions, which makes that ambiguity a bit worse. In the technical side, the strong cinematic flair in the presentation enhances most of the story beats, although sadly there are occasional of framerate hiccups that hurt the experience just a bit. The art style might take a while to adjust to, especially regarding the character models, but the game will often surprise you with how beautiful it can be at times. The soundtrack is quite splendid, and it is one of the stronger parts of the game. All in all, JETT isn't a game for everyone, but if you're interested, you might be rewarded with a game that delightfully attempts to be more than just a run-of-the-mill sci-fi adventure. There is a strong vision that guides the game, and while a few things hampered its realization, there is much to be had here.