Endless Ocean Luminous

It’s amazing to think that the vast depths of the ocean have been largely unexplored by human eyes; a fact that almost makes it fitting that the Endless Ocean franchise has been similarly unexplored by my own eyes. It’s one of those properties that has so far eluded me, but with it having a new entry for the Nintendo Switch, I realised that now is the perfect time to see what it’s all about.

Having avoided the majority of the pre-release trailers and previews, I’ve also managed to gain the enviable position of going into Endless Ocean Luminous absolutely fresh. I’m sure there are many fans of the series who are keen to find out about how much this game holds up when compared to prior entries (and for that, I would recommend our pals over at Miketendo64), but I know there are also a lot of people who – like me – have absolutely no experience at all with Nintendo’s underwater exploration series.

So, it’s time to dive in and see what this game is all about!

Many thanks to Nintendo for the review code.

GETTING MY FEET WET
One of the most striking aspects of Endless Ocean Luminous as you load up the game is just how tranquil its atmosphere is, captured through both the stunning visuals and serene music that seems almost meditative. It sets the scene perfectly for what lies ahead: a relaxing explorative underwater experience. Unlike other aquatic environments in other videogames, Endless Ocean aims to make everything a breeze. Even your movement feels graceful and uninhibited as you glide through the ocean currents alongside all the marine life.

Diving, whether alone or with up to thirty divers online, is where the real meat of the experience lies. Entering a new dive will generate a random oceanic environment for you to explore complete with unknown treasure to find and fish to scan. The areas are sizeable enough to feel large without ever being too overwhelming, and I feel like they did a good job at making the scale feel just right.

With your scanning tool in hand, the aim of the dives is to gradually fill out the sea map and log the fish found within. There are around 500 species in total, ranging from commonly found creatures to prehistoric beasts, and scanning them will give you a small snippet of information about them. It’s a real educational experience for the most part, even if certain elements (like oxygen meters and running the risk of being attacked by sharks) have been removed to help reduce any potential stress or sense of risk.

Marine life that you find is typically shrouded by a luminous light, and scanning them to acquire that light is the key to increasing your diver’s level. Doing so will grant you certain boons, most notably being able to swim with other sea creatures. At lower levels you may be able to encourage a lobster to hang on to your suit, but with time you’ll even be able to swim alongside dolphins and the like by simply pressing the + button after scanning them. The bar in the upper right will show the creatures you are currently diving with, as well as let you know if you’re experienced enough to take them with you (and if not, how much capacity you need to acquire them). It’s a cute system, and helps add to the chilled out ambience that the game exudes.

Of course, there’s more to the game than swimming with animals, and your primary mission is to catalogue the UMLs (Unique Marine Life) that can be found on each dive. To do so, you’ll need to find anomalous sea creatures dotted around the map, indicated by an orange circle. Find them and you’ll gain a brief window to hunt down and scan the (usually) giant beasts. The in-game photo mode is also perfect for such occasions too, allowing you to take a quick snap of you and your new buddy and save it to your gallery should you wish to share them with online with friends.

Speaking of which, the team dives are a really nice way of experiencing the dives as you you able to co-operate with other divers in order to make your job that bit easier. Whether its hunting down anomalies or finding buried treasure for some big cash rewards, everything is so much easier in a big group. Notable fish or treasure can be tagged with an emote to help other divers find them easier, and really helps make you feel connected despite the minimal interaction between you.

Using money that you earn, you can also buy some new emotes or gestures to help enhance your online experience, and it’s a nice way to incentivise treasure hunting. Some of the items are obscenely expensive, thus making bigger hauls all the more appreciated as you work towards buying the ‘wahoo’ gesture, or whichever appeals to your tastes!

In addition to the dives, there’s also a story campaign that helps provide some additional context to everything that is going on in the underwater world of Endless Ocean Luminous. Your generic protagonist is, in fact, a newbie diver who is learning the ropes in the Veiled Sea with the help of an artificial intelligence by the name of Sera, and another diver called Daniel. After getting to grips with the basics, you’ll soon need to work together to help heal the World Coral from necrosis by utilising the luminous light that is shrouding the sea creatures. It’s a nice nod to real world issues, and hopefully the game will help raise awareness that may help bring about a future resolution.

Each chapter of the story is broken down into short stages, each with a simple objective for you to do; this could be hunting down treasure, finding a UML, or obtaining a certain number of scans, but there’s rarely anything that will take you longer than a few minutes or so to get through. In essence, these stages feel like mini tutorials that help you get to grips with all the different elements of a dive – which, unfortunately, is why its all the more baffling that the game forces you to go on multiple long (typically an hour each) dives before being allowed to tackle the next stage. Considering that some aim to teach you stuff that you’ve probably already taught yourself already, it ends up making the story feel a little superfluous. Likely this is done as a way of padding its otherwise short length, but I really think allowing gamers to experience it first to help prepare them fully for dives would have been a better option.

Because, as I say, the real meat of the game really is in that dive mode, and it can’t be denied that it offers a really pleasant and relaxing experience. Of course, that kind of mostly-aimless exploration is also something that is going to be hard to recommend to a lot of gamers, and really those with an affinity for the sea and a curiosity for the hidden depths of the ocean are probably going to be the ones who really appreciate what the game offers. Anyone else may struggle to keep themselves engaged without a continuous narrative, but that’s also ok. Games designed for a very specific niche are what helps keep the gaming world interesting, and I really wouldn’t have it any other way.

VERDICT
Endless Ocean Luminous is both a beautiful and relaxing experience whether playing with friends or diving alone. It’s baffling approach to story progression does hamper the general flow of the game, and it’s zero-risk gameplay certainly won’t appeal to everyone, but if you’re looking for a way to unwind whilst learning more about the wonders of the sea then this may be worth splashing out on.