Review: Harold Halibut (Switch 2) - A Creative Marvel That Suffers In The Back Half

Harold and flawed

This won’t be the first Harold Halibut review to mention being wowed by one of the game’s pre-launch trailers during its release on other platforms back in 2024. Back then, the game’s stop-motion aesthetic — with character models based on scans of real marionettes, and its tactile hand-wrought sets — looked like nothing I’d ever seen.

Coupled with the atmospheric music and the promise of engaging characters and ambitious emotional storytelling, it became, in my eyes, an absolute must-play. And of course it did – its story of a crashed spaceship and its crew, stranded on an ocean planet, looked like a Wes Anderson animation, like Isle of Dogs or Fantastic Mr Fox. In terms of defining what games are capable of, I was ready for Harold Halibut to set new standards. I was convinced it would be a sure-fire 10/10.

Now as I write this review, I wonder if part of the stunned feeling was just a little confusion about how such an ambitious storytelling production would translate into a game. And it’s a fair question – after finishing Harold Halibut and watching that trailer again, I notice very little gameplay. A little walking around perhaps, but not much else.

2024’s reviews were, indeed, mixed. The development team, Slow Bros, an independent game studio based in Cologne, had certainly left an impression. Some reviewers declared Harold Halibut a breath of fresh air and a work of art, while others clearly hit a wall when it came to a lack of gameplay. For me, at different times, I found myself in either camp.

My notes from the opening few hours are as excited as I’ve ever written. The pleasant world and characters set out their stall early. Harold Halibut is an enjoyable presence, a handyman surrounded as he goes about his days by a variety of memorable characters.

I enjoyed the atmosphere, the story, and how Harold’s Ship, the Fedora 1, is run by a quirky corporation called All Water, who themselves are balancing the commercial benefits of their transportation system with a lack of resources. Despite the risk for on-the-nose satire, nothing ever felt heavy-handed. At all times ‘character’ came first, to the game’s great benefit.

I controlled Harold as he went about his janitorial tasks — cleaning filters, clearing rooms of boxes, fixing machinery — and liked the enjoyable if simple gameplay loop of exploring the ship, the social areas, the science areas, and having the freedom to choose where to go and who to chat to. These moments — controlling Harold’s marionette, seeing all the lovely sets, and discovering layers and depth in the characters, helped by impressive voice acting — fulfilled the initial promise I’d seen in that trailer.

Second Opinion

Harold Halibut was over 10 years in the making, and took less than 10 seconds to fall in love with. As a whole, it’s a beautiful work of art, a thought-provoking story with excellent character development. However, it’s best played docked due to performance issues (primarily frame rate) whilst in handheld. Regardless, still worth a play.

Mai Ladyman

Video Producer, Nintendo Life

I was effectively playing an animation, and it was wonderful. For the best part of five hours, I was never bored, and in fact often delighted as little variations in the gameplay kept things fresh, as characters bonded, and as the plot became alive with subplots and the promise of a grand finale I just had to see.

But then, as my playtime extended, a few elements brought me back down to earth.

First, I sensed some bloat creep into the gameplay, and I started to feel a little less happy about the repetitiveness of running about delivering messages and catching up with the crew. Second, there was a subtle slowdown in the overall pace of the story. And third, the narrative clearly started taking over the gameplay a little too much. There were long periods where I either didn’t even need to press a button, or otherwise do little more than walk around to trigger the next cutscene.

Harold Halibut is, of course, a narrative-focused adventure. I’ve enjoyed games like Night in the Woods and Oxenfree, but for me the 11-hour runtime for the main storyline here could have done with a trim in the second half.

It’s not that the cutscenes were a problem, but coming back to short snippets of gameplay after long breaks only to be tasked with running back and forth multiple times between, say, two locations (which happened once) felt a bit like hard work.

Just when I wanted the storytelling momentum to build, Harold Halibut lost a little of its focus. The themes and creativity established during the early interactions with the cast — the delightful running-enthusiast postman, the shopkeeper trying to adjust his work-life balance, and Harold’s ex Sunny, struggling to define her life goals — faded into the background as Harold’s storyline took over.

I loved Harold, but except for one soliloquy, he had, for much of the game, seemed more of a fun, pleasant vessel for meeting the other citizens of the spaceship. This isn’t a big complaint, but it contributed to a sense of the second half leaving behind some of the things that made the opening so great.

The last thing to say is that the Switch 2 port isn’t quite as pretty as other incarnations, while still being playable and enjoyable. The camera stutters during zooms and pans, which are frequent thanks to the game’s cinematic style.

It’s a shame because the visuals are clearly one of Harold Halibut’s big strengths, but, ultimately, this is still a very playable port. I can’t say these issues impacted my enjoyment at all.

Conclusion

Back in 2024, I imagined writing a review for Harold Halibut and rounding up the final score to a 10. I like Harold Halibut a lot. I enjoyed the story, the heart, the characters — and of course I loved the visuals — but I also felt the balance of gameplay, narrative, and pacing wasn’t quite there for me, and that this had an overall impact on how well it works as a game.

Now looking back at those reviews from the original release — the spread of besotted 10s to the more cautious 6s — I think they all have a point. Harold Halibut is a creative marvel. It is a work of art and it’s worth playing to appreciate all that wonderful craft. But the pace can also drag and sometimes gameplay takes a little too much of a back seat. Ultimately, it’s a curiosity with a lot of heart. It struggles to balance its elements, but I’m very happy to have played it. If the visuals and storytelling style appeal, then it’s definitely worth a look.