NAIAD Review (PS5) – Cyclical Flow

Naiad means ‘to flow’, you’re told during the opening moments of the game. Whether that’s to flow down the river as the titular water nymph, or the greater picture of our world naturally flowing into extremes; Naiad is an eco-conscious puzzler inviting your curiosity to understand its message whilst experiencing its beauty. Developed by one person at HiWrap, Naiad has been in the works for a handful of years now.

My excitement has been bubbling upriver since Day of the Devs 2022, but since then a relative silence made me think I would be waiting till at least next year to play it. However, a nice surprise release before 2024 closes came by way of the Wholesome Direct, when Naiad was shadow-dropped last week. Since then I’ve put in way more time playing through it than the recommended 3-4 hours to complete, simply trying to discover everything I can.

Whilst the game is a relatively linear 16-chapter journey, there is so much not explicitly told to the player in terms of its mechanics and secrets that it ends up being a little messy but magical. So how does Naiad look after my 10 hours of hydro-commuting look? Much like the game’s outlook, pretty hopeful.

Down By The Water

As I mentioned, you play as the titular character who is a water nymph, summoned by a rain cloud to embark on a journey to the sea. Naiads are ‘Guardians of the River’ as they guide, protect and create nature that resides by the water. As a Naiad, you swim through the water with the left stick, kind of how you’d expect. There’s a semblance of physics at play but it’s closer to feeling 1:1 with your directional inputs.

You play from a top-down perspective, so you’re using every direction to move around the levels. Holding ‘X’ keeps you underwater and makes you slightly faster, whilst avoiding some of the environments that obstruct you at the water’s surface. You also have a dash that sees you holding then releasing the ‘square’ button so you can dash forward, making it a quick way to get around the level. These are all simple yet effective ways to make the gameplay feel like you’re in the water, whilst avoiding some of the frustrating pitfalls water levels from other games have.

Guided by the cloud you meet at the start of the game, it gives you some of the tools to be an exemplary Guardian of the River. Some very early moments see you guiding a duckling back to its mother or singing life back into the local fauna. However, these are some very basic examples and the only ones explicitly directed to you as the rest of it is all about figuring it out.

In Too Deep

A lot of the fun of Naiad is figuring out how the puzzles react to your interactions like singing or dashing through, although I missed out on a bunch of stuff early in the game because of that. By the end of the story, you realise it’s by design as there’s essentially a New Game+ where you go through the levels again having gained all your knowledge/abilities.

I feel confident enough that I know all the ins and outs given the time I’ve put in, but the lack of hand-holding for other players could frustrate what is otherwise quite a relaxing game. You can play and beat it by just going through point A to point B, but you’d miss so much of the discovery Naiad has in store that you’d get half an experience.

Because the game isn’t explicit with your capabilities, there are also some obtuse moments where you’re unsure whether it’s buggy or impossible. There are a lot of times when animals follow you but bad pathfinding can otherwise make moments feel incidental, or you could miss a small detail of a puzzle and will be lost until you restart the chapter. It’s few and far between as everything else plays pretty flawlessly for a game that doesn’t explain much to you but it does create some friction in your progression.

Go With The Flow

Helping animals gives you new gifts (ability upgrades), singing to a guitar player’s tune will unlock a new song for your lexicon and finding all the caves will help you towards an alternative ending. These are all things I knew at the start because you don’t even know to look for them unless you stumble upon them. It’s more immersive sure, but I also don’t like leaving things undone before I move on, so maybe a little tutorialising would make Naiad a little more accessible.

The story itself takes you through some of the damage that humans leave behind, showcasing the carelessness we have for our ability to pollute. Whilst this affects the character visually, you’re also seeing your environment suffer before your eyes. Because the narrative is just as forthcoming as its game mechanics, there’s no ostensive message with agenda.

Instead, it just reflects the hard truths that sometimes we might ignore. The narrative’s central theme of unwavering hope in a world that can sometimes feel doomed is told eloquently. Against the odds, nature will prevail, the cycle will continue and the game being a loop by the end speaks to that. It’s a decent way of showing the catastrophe of pollution without being too dower in the process.

Deep Dive

Not to mention that this is told in a beautiful art style and with wonderful ambient music. Naiad captures the wonderment of all things nature with such finesse that it’s one of the best art directions in games I’ve seen this year. From the plethora of fauna you sing to life, the trees flowing in tandem with the river, to the overgrown ruins, all of it has a whimsical vibrancy while remaining consistently varied.

The music complements that with a meditative drone and trickling instruments that almost sound diegetic to the opulent environments you explore. All in all, Naiad is a lovely, relaxing game. There’s a powerful message behind its allusive story. The gameplay is a dream if you can get on board with learning more or less by yourself, and the audio/visuals are like a painting coming to life with each frame. Whilst Naiad might not be everyone’s speed, it magically goes on its own and invites you to flow along with it in a deeply calming experience.

NAIAD is available now for PlayStation 5 (review platform), PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam

Developers: HiWrap

Publisher: HiWrap

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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