It Was Beautiful Review (PC)

What should’ve been a relatively long and fruitful life eventually became a thorn in the side—a brutal battle with a one-sided conclusion, that death was inevitable and the only thing I could do before swimming out to clearer pastures was to witness the horizon. It was a pipe dream that I once had, to swim to the surface and see the sun with my own eyes. Time, sadly, was never on my side, and although I had an ocean to explore, I only ever yearned to see the shoreline. I wanted to see the sunset—the burning ball of fire that I once caught in a depiction on an old painting. To me, it was a myth—an uncomprehending idea that you wouldn’t have imagined existed deep down in the underbelly of the darkest seas. But, I had heard stories. I had heard that It Was Beautiful.

It wasn’t a difficult journey, I’ll admit, though it was one that taught me something incredibly important — that I had to learn how to accept the terminal illness that shrouded the scales on my body. Without the subtle promise of a “better tomorrow” or some special remedial miracle there to provide me with a false sense of hope, I knew all too well that it wouldn’t be a long journey, and that I wouldn’t be able to return home after living out my final wish. It was to be a one-way current—a final pilgrimage to witness the sunset before being despatched to vastly superior depths and to return to the ever-evolving circle of life. To those above the surface, it was a novel idea, but to me, it was everything. I just had to see it.

One Final Wish

It Was Beautiful is a relatively short third-person narrative-driven adventure game in which players fill the role of a nameless fish who, upon discovering that their time on Earth has fallen to a terminal illness, decides to hatch a plan: to find the sunset. And this, in short, is where you begin your journey — in the dark depths of a sunken biome, bound for the shores and the dream of witnessing the depiction of a sunset with your own two eyes. There isn’t a great deal of puzzle-solving for you to do during your quest to breach the surface, but there is, on the other hand, an ocean of mementos that frequently bring three unforgettable phases to the table: life, hope, and acceptance, all of which take the form of various objects, secrets, and small pockets of nautical curiosities.

It Was Beautiful isn’t a physically taxing game by any stretch, as it doesn’t adopt all that many mechanics or convoluted systems for you to consider, much less master. Instead, the game prioritizes a rather simple A-to-B approach that allows you to move between different areas of the underwater world and bathe in the occasional tidbit that it frequently serves to you on a nautical platter, whether it’s a sunken treasure lost in time, a warmly encounter with the protagonist’s father, who also joins you on your journey to locate that all-important sunset, or an enlightening moment that illuminates the mere sanctity of life. As you push through these moments, the game also reminds you that time is as fickle as the waters that guide you, and that the world moves forward, but not for those who swim in its current. Depressing, you could say — but touching all the same.

Against the Current

For the record, It Was Beautiful wasn’t the tear-jerking fest that I initially expected it to be. Don’t get me wrong, it does make an effort to deal with some rather sentimental issues, including terminal illnesses, inescapable fates, and the dying wishes of strangers. It captures a great deal of these things with utmost care and compassion, for sure, but it also misses the mark in some aspects of the design. Take the protagonist, for example. With all due respect, the devs couldn’t have possibly picked a worse and, in all honesty, fish that’s universally hated to star in the game: an anglerfish that sports the razor sharp teeth and dangling bulb, to boot. It works, given the setting of the game—a setting that largely revolves around the darker depths of the sea and the fish that populate it—but it’s hardly a love letter to Finding Nemo.

On the reverse side of the game’s rather questionable hero, the visual effects are surprisingly good here. Well, I say that they’re good as if to openly state that they’re beyond the confines of an indie adventure IP, when in reality, they are a little more minimalistic than most ocean-centric titles. In other words, it isn’t on the same nautical scale as, say, Subnautica — so if that’s what you’re looking for, then I wouldn’t expect to uncover any intricate details or mesmerizing flora here. Nevertheless, it makes it abundantly clear right from the beginning that this isn’t a visual masterpiece of moving pierces and drooling watercolors, but rather, a storybook—a story that, although limited by its size and complexity, has a message that it wants to share with you. And I think that it manages to convey that message incredibly well — even with its toothy hero donning the spotlight.

Verdict

It Was Beautiful is a short but surprisingly clean and well-orchestrated indie affair that makes a conscious effort to extract a few emotions from its players with a touching narrative and a meaningful moral pertaining to the importance of being able to fulfill your dreams in the time you have on earth, be you human, a plant, or an anglerfish in the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean. There’s a lot of weight to it in that regard, and so, if you’re a sucker for sad stories with plausible scenarios and the occasional tide of emotion, then there’s a good chance that you will enjoy taking this particular anglerfish out for a swim for an hour or so. It isn’t quite on the same wavelength as Journey, I’ll admit, but it’s definitely worth checking out if you’re actively looking to scrape the barrel for a quick dive into the abyss.