'Star Trek without the manifest destiny': Saltsea Chronicles, a gently radical vision of the future

What does it mean to play a video game as an ensemble rather than a single character? How would it change your experience of people and plot? What if there was no single hero, or perhaps no heroes at all? As Hannah Nicklin, a creative director at independent studio Die Gute Fabrik explains, these are questions that narrative adventure Saltsea Chronicles is attempting to answer, all while telling its own charming story of misfit sailors voyaging across a flooded archipelago to uncover a conspiracy. It's a lofty pitch, and one Nicklin brings back down to earth with a comparison: "Star Trek: The Next Generation without the manifest destiny" – a description that hints at the game's politics and its structure.