When I plunged into the blue waters of Endless Ocean Luminous for Nintendo Switch, I more or less knew what to expect, and that’s the first thing anyone should keep in mind who’s even remotely interested in the relaxing underwater game. Exploration title interested. In my case, I played the 2007 original on the Wii (and saw my mother 100% complete it), a work that took advantage of the casual nature of the console and its controls and ultimately became a “million-seller” became.
I say this because if you expect the content or, er, depth to make up for certain clear limitations of the game, you’re going to drown in deep disappointment at the first opportunity. In this sense, it doesn’t help that the first few hours of play are really weak.
The outdated interface that barely tries to resemble that of the Wii, the confusing icons on the screen, the ugly scenarios, the character models that look like dolls, or the voice acting of Maria While I understand that it’s trying to imitate an AI, I wonder if it’s a very bad Spanish dub… or straight up a robot reader from the Loquendo era. All of this, coupled with a tutorial that was too slow, clumsy, and choppy (instead of just letting it flow), almost made me give up on the game.
In this sea of doubts, I decided to move on as I love sea life and underwater mysteries. I’m not an expert, just curious, and I enjoy the occasional relaxed and casual experience (this is not a simulator where you have to worry about oxygen levels, for example, nor will you find any challenge or danger in it). Sea of Thieves). And if you invest a little more time in “Luminous” after its rocky start, Arika’s mastery of the subject begins to shine through.
Everything revolves around the animals: they are the real protagonists. Where marine environments (both geometry and textures) appear blurry and lacking in detail, fish, molluscs, crustaceans, mammals and more look very beautiful and full of life. Almost all of the fun you’ll have in this game comes from observing and discovering the marine fauna living their daily lives in their own ecosystem more than 500 speciesand from make photos for both the game’s own album and the Switch album and then share them on social networks.
I also like that they go even further and include a handful of extinct species (my dad’s fossil collector will be amazed when he can bathe among them). Amonites and society) and even a touch of mythology.
The map What you explore isn’t particularly big. Although it sometimes looks like a sprawling pool, the size is about enough for vehicle-free underwater exploration. In this regard, the most innovative novelty of the entire game is its introduction procedural generation
The other relevant addition is the possibility of sharing a Immerse yourself in the group with 29 other players. I wasn’t able to test this feature during the review process, but I can say that the need to swap a 6-digit dive ID to create or join another dive is water in the water and one of those old and outdated things . The Wii era.
Regardless and no matter how much Gradient mode not exactly captivating, even though it is one Great coral Necrotic and a certain archaeological magic table, I continued diving. There’s something both relaxing and stimulating about combing through the map, Rescue objects and scan new species. I have an issue with the color coding used for the scanning system and would like to know if a specimen is Common, Rare or Rare AMD (unknown marine animal)
So, yes, explore that Veiled sea At times as archaic as some of the relics you find buried in the sand of the ocean floor (well, then you won’t get the third red watering can in an hour), it’s a game that ironically lacks flow, and it doesn’t seem to me that the “modern” novelties of the original formula are that much fun. I think that the systems should be much more refined, that a more sophisticated narrative could improve the exploration and that there is a certain paradox in that the graphics do not have the visual impact expected in 2024 while the controls are not so natural or intuitive is like it’s 2007. But, and it’s a big “but” if you love sea life or it piques your curiosity, and if you’re looking for a casual experience exploring water (I think , lacks the excitement to call it an adventure). ), “Luminous” feels like a fish out of water when viewed as a relaxing, occasionally fascinating interactive documentary designed to calm the body and mind before bed.