Change is often scary, but staying the same while the world moves on can be even lonelier. That quiet heartache is the emotional core of Old Skies, a point-and-click adventure from Wadjet Eye Games. At first glance, it’s a standard time-travel story about the dangers of meddling with history. But what makes Old Skies special is how it flips the script: rather than focus on the consequences of changing time, it tells a poignant story about the cost of staying untouched by it. The result is a deeply affecting experience—one that stuck with me long after the credits rolled.
You play as Fia Quinn, a professional time traveler employed by ChronoZen, an agency that escorts wealthy clients into the past to relive, tweak, or solve moments from their personal history. Fia is immune to timeline changes, which means she remembers everything—even when no one else does. Her journeys take her across a range of New York settings, from the Gilded Age to the eve of 9/11, to a pivotal moment in 2042. What starts as routine work quickly becomes complicated, both logistically and emotionally, as Fia is forced to bend to strict corporate algorithms that dictate what parts of history are off-limits.
In terms of structure, Old Skies is extremely linear—each problem has only one solution. This reinforces the narrative theme of a fixed fate, which works beautifully in storytelling terms. But it comes at the expense of the gameplay. At times, I’d come up with a logical solution that fit the game’s established mechanics—like offering someone cash, which worked early on—but those ideas didn’t pan out. Instead, I was forced to stumble through trial and error until I hit on the “right” answer. These inconsistencies are frustrating, especially when earlier sections set expectations that later puzzles ignore.
That said, the classic point-and-click foundation is solid. You’ll scour environments, exhaust dialogue trees, collect items, and deduce your way forward. When puzzles work, they feel intuitive and rewarding. But when they don’t—particularly in the latter half, when things get more complex—they can bog down the pacing and detract from the emotional momentum of the story.
And what a story it is. Each of Fia’s assignments explores themes of love, loss, and regret, all framed through the lens of time’s immutability. While her clients get to revisit defining moments of their lives, Fia remains untethered and unchanged. It’s sold early as a perk of the job, but as the game progresses, it becomes a haunting curse. She can’t form lasting relationships—friends, partners, even homes vanish or alter due to timeline shifts. One of the few constants in her life is a bar made immune to time, and even that feels like a sterile safe haven, not a true comfort.
The game is emotionally relentless, whittling away at Fia’s mental and emotional stability with quiet, gut-punch moments. Her search for meaning becomes more desperate with each chapter, and it mirrors your own desire as a player to see her get the peace she deserves. You don’t know if the ending will be happy, but the writing keeps you hoping, right up to the final, affecting scenes.
New York itself becomes a kind of character in Old Skies. Despite its changes over the decades, there’s a continuity—both visual and emotional—that ties each timeline together. Slowly, you begin to wonder: Are these coincidences? Or is there a deeper force at work? Characters muse about fate, and while your dialogue choices can nudge Fia toward or away from a fatalistic worldview, the ending remains fixed. Still, these moments of agency enrich the story, prompting thoughtful reflection on free will and its limits.
The cast is superb, with standout performances that breathe life into every character. Sally Beaumont is brilliant as Fia, blending authority, awkward charm, and a growing sense of vulnerability. Chanisha Somatilaka’s Yvonne Gupta and Sandra Espinoza’s Liz Camron are also highlights—one as a weary, warm-hearted journalist, the other as a wild and magnetic force of chaos. Their voice work adds levity and humanity in just the right doses. And the soundtrack—especially its vocal tracks—is quietly stunning, layering in melancholy and warmth with perfect timing.
While Old Skies doesn’t innovate the genre mechanically, its story is among the year’s most resonant. Despite the occasional logic gaps and some puzzle friction, I found myself playing for hours at a time, drawn in by Fia’s journey and the aching beauty of a life caught between timelines. The destination might be fixed, but the road there is well worth walking.
Verdict:
Old Skies may stumble as a puzzle game, but as a narrative experience, it’s exceptional. Its heartfelt storytelling, rich characters, and emotional depth make it a standout in the point-and-click genre. Don’t come expecting a challenge; come for the story—and let it sit with you.
