Old Skies

Old Skies is a narrative, point-and-click adventure game that’s set in a future where time travel is treated as a service. You play as Fia Quinn, a time agent for ChonoZen, a time travel agency, whose job it is to chaperone people who want to travel back into the past to relive a special moment from their life or to change something to improve their current situation. 

Developed and written by David Gilbert and the team at Wadjeteye Games (Unavowed, Blackwelll), they have spent the last five years masterfully planning and creating a clever and well-put-together time travel story. Which in itself is impressive considering time travel is not usually the easiest subject to tackle. Usually bogged down by plot lines that involve not interfering with timelines, things usually get messy as the writers haven’t addressed every possibility that could happen, which leads to plot holes and a stain on the production. 

This problem does not apply in Old Skies thanks to the way in which this world operates time travel. Actively going out of their way to change history, to interfere with past selves, and to create a different past are encouraged. Heck, even time agents get to go and have fun in the past; such is the reluctance to worry about consequences. This is mightily freeing for the player and the game itself, giving a sense of freedom that’s usually missing. 

One way the narrative tackles this area is the implementation of high-ranking individuals. These people cannot be interfered with, as they play a pivotal role in the evolution of the world. To disrupt their timeline would bring irreparable damage and spiral the world into an unknown future. It’s in these small details where David has excelled as a writer, erasing the paradoxes that can happen in time travel stories to create a clear, simple, and believable world. There are other details like jumpsuits and bracelets that protect people from the dangers of time travel and one of my favourites, the ability to rewind time when you die, instantly relieving frustration when this happens and giving me more time to concentrate on the situation at hand. 

Another inclusion that I appreciated was the chrono shifts that occur periodically. These have no effect on the gameplay but play an interesting ingredient in the story. Whenever a chrono shift occurs, the fate of people changes in an instant. One minute a person you’re talking to could just disappear as timelines change around you. This can also affect paintings, films, and music; could you imagine Jack Black playing Ant-Man instead of Paul Rudd? No, me neither! Time agents are protected from these shifts, observing the changes from the outside and sometimes checking in on their other self to see what kind of person their other self has shifted into. 

This leads the narrative in a direction I wasn’t expecting. As the game is laid out into six chapters, each focusing on a different era and client, I settled down into thinking I was to be treated to separate stories involving different problems. And although I did get that, there was also an underlying connectivity to all the separate stories that took me by surprise. This is fed by Fia and her frustrations at the restrictions of being a time agent and her curiosity about having a normal life. 

Once again, this was masterfully written by David, cleverly drip-feeding details into the plot, creating a deep, intriguing, and surprising narrative that led to an ending that completely blew me away, one I wasn’t ready for and one that cemented Old Skies as one of my favourite time-travelling adventures. 

Throughout all of this you’ll have to help your client with their problems. This is done in the usual point-and-click fashion. Solving puzzles by either combining objects, rifling through information to find the right clue, or trying to figure out what random objects you hold could possibly do. Although the puzzles in Old Skies are mostly ones that, with a little thought, can be solved relatively easily, there were still a few I came up with that were just a little too obtuse for my liking. Those ones that once you’ve looked up the answer to make you say to yourself, “I would never have thought of that’.” Still, the puzzles gave me a satisfying and sometimes smug feeling when I had worked it out, bringing a little smirk to my face. 

There is an in-game option for help too through Nozzo, your partner based at home. If you do find yourself stumped or unsure on what to do next, you can give him a call. You don’t get a straight answer, instead receiving a gentle push in the right direction through natural conversation between Fia and Nozzo. I was eternally grateful to Wadjeteye for including this; it got me out of a few moments of uncertainty, and it didn’t feel like cheating either. 

Transversal throughout the game is done by each area containing a connecting street to all the different locations. Each location is easily selectable from the top of the screen through an individual icon. Once at a location, it’s the usual fare for a point-and-click: point to an object, area, or character, and Fia will move to that spot to investigate. I liked the way the developers tackled this transversal, as it made it easy to jump to other areas without too much fuss. One critique I do have is in the character’s movement speed. They did move incredibly slowly, often with me willing them to get a move on. A little turn on the speed dial would be very welcome in this area. 

With this being a time travel adventure, we travel to many different eras. These are all represented in the game’s gorgeous art style with wonderful detail and excellent backgrounds, all feeling at home in the time period they are set in. I especially enjoyed the moments when Fia would change into clothing relevant for the time, nailing the look perfectly. I especially took pleasure in seeing how characters were dressed when we visited the 90s, as I’m pretty sure I owned some of the same clothes that other male characters wore at this point in the game! 

This is also true of the full voice acting that is present throughout the game. Each actor performed their lines superbly, nailing pronunciation and accents for the time periods perfectly. A special shoutout goes to Sally Beaumont, who gives Fia life through her silky British-accented voice, instantly warming me to the character. 

I also need to spend a few moments on the music of Old Skies, as every aspect of this was met with excellent, skilful pieces that were all composed by Thomas Regin. The background music through each time period was exceptional, with me taking moments to just enjoy the talent on offer with the various instruments and high production.