Year: 2018
Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)
Composer(s): Joel Schoch
Number of tracks: 21

★★★★★

Spirited solitude

Even though I couldn't find any confirmation of this, I assume that the title Far: Lone Sails is a clever play on words with the word 'forlorn', meaning of course 'abandoned', 'hopeless' or 'desperate'. Because that is the spirit that jumps out at us from the trailers for this sidescrolling exploration adventure. The gameplay seems quite simple: we move from left to right - so far, so Mario. We control a small person on board a futuristic vehicle equipped with sails and an engine as it jerks through the post-apocalypse. Our task is to solve all kinds of puzzles and problems that come with operating the machine and to find a destination for our journey.

But the game is not an endless scroller with a high-score chase like Alto’s Adventure, for example, but an emotional story about loss, departure and discovery, so it is more akin to Unravel or Limbo. The comparison with the latter is particularly obvious due to the striking art style, which is located somewhere between watercolor and cartoon. The game also received the Best Visual Design Award at the Golden Joystick Awards in 2018 for this - well deserved, in my opinion. As I said, this is all information I've gathered from the internet, because I haven't played Lone Sails and, in view of my ever-growing pile of shame, I probably never will.

I'd rather talk about the music of the indie adventure. It was composed by Joel Schoch, who, judging by his homepage is probably of German(-speaking) origin and, according to IMDB known primarily for the soundtracks to Far: Lone Sails and its successor Far: Changing Tides from 2022. Schoch confirms this assumption himself on his homepage:

His soundtrack to the award-winning indie computer game Far: Lone Sails, which was released in 2018 for pc and in 2019 for playstation an xbox, became known to a wider public. For the soundtrack he got a nomination for the German Developer Award in the category: Best Sound.

Composer Joel Schoch on his homepage

In my opinion, the nomination is perfectly acceptable, as well as losing out to Hunt: Showdown, whose sound design was and is known to be outstanding. Meanwhile, the 21 tracks from the OST for Far: Lone Sails have nothing to hide, as they represent a soulful mix of relaxed hustle and bustle and curious anticipation, and are thus in the same vein as the aforementioned Unravel or the SimCity-scores by Jerry Martin.

To create this emotional world, Schoch relies on an ensemble of classical instruments, above all woodwinds such as the clarinet and oboe, strings and piano (Lights on, Still Driving, Lone Sails). In contrast to the grueling bleakness of the actual game, the score has a kind of joie de vivre that motivates in a (touchingly) positive way. Of course, there are also the 'gloomy' ambient pieces such as D Rain. Storm. Thunder. or Canyon, but these are to be expected and forgiven given the narrative.

In my opinion, Schoch crowns this solid collection with two pieces: Warmth in the Cold, which begins with a Kalimba playing thoughtfully to itself, which is eventually accompanied by equally formless strings. The latter increasingly take control of the song until wind instruments finally take their place and play something that simply sounds beautiful. Not sophisticated, not emotional, but merely well-made relaxation.

On the other hand, the last song on the album, Lone Sails, is brilliant. It begins with a single piano, which is supported by the orchestra towards the middle and begins something moving. A little more pathetic and tear-jerking, without losing the positive curiosity. I think it's well done and a nice conclusion to the score.

To make sure my opinion doesn't stand alone in the room, I'd like to quote briefly from a review on the soundtrack's Steam page . There, user Painel Sala Para TV Até 12 Pol (the name really rolls off the tongue) writes as follows:

This soundtrack is like a garden. Each song starts small and in the beginning they each seem sort of similar, but as each song plays out it grows, it gets more complex, and it becomes a new beautiful piece much more grand than it's [sic!] simple beginnings. And yet, every one of these songs feels right at home together and in the game.

User Painel Sala Para TV Até 12 Pol about the OST

Word. So if you're looking for something to slow you down, but with your own little agenda as opposed to just background music, you can browse through this album without hesitation. And at just under 50 minutes, the whole thing is quickly over in any case.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Colored Engine	Joel Schoch	4
02	Sail, My Friend!	Joel Schoch	3
03	Lights on	Joel Schoch	3
04	Bridge	Joel Schoch	3
05	Rain. Storm. Thunder.	Joel Schoch	2
06	Night	Joel Schoch	2
07	First Glimpse	Joel Schoch	2
08	More to See	Joel Schoch	4
09	Not Alone	Joel Schoch	3
10	Inconvenient Circumstances	Joel Schoch	3
11	Sun. Down.	Joel Schoch	3
12	Swamptown	Joel Schoch	2
13	Abandoned Construction Site	Joel Schoch	3
14	Explore It!	Joel Schoch	3
15	Drive It!	Joel Schoch	4
16	Still Driving	Joel Schoch	4
17	Canyon	Joel Schoch	1
18	Warmth in the Cold	Joel Schoch	5
19	Disorientated	Joel Schoch	2
20	Half	Joel Schoch	4
21	Lone Sails	Joel Schoch	5