Nintendo
Endless Ocean Luminous: Unleash your inner marine biologist
The Endless Ocean franchise makes a splash on Nintendo Switch with a supremely relaxing experience that takes you by the hand to the bottom of the ocean.
Although space is our next frontier to explore, our planet’s oceans are still uncharted territory. Their vast size and depth have made them complicated places to explore. But what would it be like to explore the oceans in a simpler way, where we don’t have to worry about things like predators, ocean currents, the weight of atmospheric pressure, or even oxygen supply? Fortunately, video games give us the chance to discover the secrets of the ocean in an educated experience for Nintendo Switch.
Under the Sea
Endless Ocean Luminous is a title that’s hard to put into a known genre, but if it had to be described, it’s a title that mixes diving with photography. This is not the first appearance of this title, which debuted during the Wii era and had two games to its credit. The title is more contemplative and didactic, so don’t expect a lot of action.
Our main mechanics is to swim in a wide ocean in all directions, allowing us to move our body up and down, and if necessary give a strong kick to swim faster. On the other hand, will be to go scanning the marine life that we can, in a large catalog of over 500 species, along different areas representing different areas of the ocean, from an area in the depths, through corals, to an icy zone. So if your dream has been to swim with a turtle, among white sharks, or be amazed by the size of a great whale, the title allows this type of experience.
Scanning marine life also provides details about the species, from its scientific name to a brief description of the species. These scans will allow us to classify the fauna and even break size records among the species we have already encountered. It is also worth noting that you will find “special” species such as mythological sharks, and orcas with inverted coloration, among other species that unless you are a true marine biologist, it is rare that you know. The fish modeling is impressive and shows the good research work of Arika studio. Yes, some seem to have less detail than others, but in general, these models and their behaviors work quite well while you are swimming or scanning.
A dive, alone or in company
As such, the game has 3 game modes: a story mode where we learn more about this ocean while solving a few mysteries. The title puts us in the role of a diver who arrives in the Veiled Sea to begin part of an exploration related to the coral of the world, which begins a necrotic process. This information is given by an AI called SERA. At the same time, our research on the different forms of marine life releases a luminescence that seems to help this coral to recover. On the other hand, part of the treasure hunt will be an essential part, especially when we find a mysterious stone tablet with a total of 99 secrets to discover.
This story mode takes us to separate parts and is treated as small chapters, which certainly, it is understandable why it makes these pauses, but what is sometimes frustrating is that there are certainly high requirements to continue with the story. It is not that this story is at a high level, but it breaks the rhythm of the same before this series of requirements.
On the other hand, we have the immersion experiences where we go swimming to discover all this. These can be done either alone or in a group. They are done on a randomly generated map with a seed system where if you share that number with a friend, they will be able to go through the same map even if they are not playing online. On the other hand, if you decide to do it in a group, you can dive in with up to 30 simultaneous players, you can invite up to 10 friends and the rest will be filled with other random players, making the exploration faster. However, the communication system is very limited. Throughout the exploration, missions will be activated to find certain different fish, which will appear as orange circles on our radar. By finding them, we unlock a new special life form to scan. Although it is a system that gives the game a certain purpose, sometimes they tend to be random and you may not realize it at the time.
Finally, there is the possibility of customizing our diver, buying color combinations for the suit, the visor, the tank, the fins, changing the color or even decorating them with stickers that we buy as we level up. The customization system is not very deep and could have had unlockable items like a tool to swim faster or devices to find fish or treasures.
Visually, the game shows very nice and detailed modeling, but sometimes an extremely empty sea. It is understandable that due to the size of the oceans, we find huge areas with nothing around, which also helps the game’s performance. Even with a large number of schools of fish, the game does not drop in its frames per second, making the action fluid both in dock and handheld mode.
Endless Ocean Luminous is an interesting proposal, very well done in the information and in the modeling of the hundreds of creatures it houses. However, it may be a title that is not for everyone. Its simple mechanics, lack of action, or even quality-of-life improvements mean that the experience can sometimes go from interesting to boring in a few seconds. On the other hand, its story mode could have delivered more by not stopping at every turn, and its online mode could have provided more tools for players to communicate better.