It is simply mind-blowing to think how much of our very own ocean we have explored and understood. The general consensus is that the human race has explored roughly 5% of the ocean and I think that is absolutely wild. Endless Ocean Luminous offers us gamers a chance to do our part in mapping this virtual ocean, promising an endless blue adventure from the comfort of your Nintendo Switch. Does it go the distance, or does it run out of oxygen too soon? Grab your scuba suit, connect to Nintendo Switch Online, and remember to fall backward out of the boat as we review Endless Ocean Luminous for Nintendo Switch.
I always say to people that reviews are subjective and while there are certain criteria most critics follow, there’s always a part of human emotion that comes into play. The reason I start with this statement is that I don’t think I have seen such a wide swing of scores on a game in a long time. Some made me question whether I should purchase the game, and others made some crazy comparisons to it lining it up against games of completely different genres. I hope this review will give you an idea of what Endless Ocean Lumnious is like, especially coming from a fresh perspective having never played the previous versions. Excuse the pun but… Let’s dive in…
Endless Ocean Luminous tasks rookie divers to explore the ocean by scanning fish, exploring ruins, and generally just chilling out under the waves. There’s a story mode that follows you and your diving buddy Daniel, as you investigate the world coral which has been plagued with a mystery necrotic plague that is destroying life in the ocean. In order to stop the World Coral’s decline, you must scan creatures in the ocean to capture light (hence the “Luminous” name in the title) to restore it to its former glory. The story mode would be a brief affair, if not for the baffling choice of locking progress behind the amount of fish scanned, something that hindered my enthusiasm for uncovering the mystery… but a bit more on that later.
Outside of the story mode, the majority of the game will take place in Solo or Online dives and the entirety of the Gameplay loop sees you exploring procedurally generated locales at your own pace, scanning all manner of sea creatures both real-world and prehistoric. It’s a very relaxed game and I found myself almost shutting off (in a good way) to be metaphorically lost in the deep blue sea, scanning fish and finding treasures. You don’t need to worry about hostile creatures, oxygen levels, or any sort of resource management, you simply have an hour to scan fish, find anomalies, and hopefully run into a UML’s, or Unique Marine Life, which are fictional and majestic creatures somewhat akin to Pokemons Legendary creatures. These UML’s are completely random, so it’s likely you will run into the same one a few times before discovering a new one, making it a bit tricky to tick them off your list.
Online gamers will certainly have an easier time in the Ocean, with up to 30 players working together to collect light which periodically grants bonuses, as well as the collective effort going towards scoring and unlocking UML’s. I found I would have 1000 scans every 3 dives to help progress through the story, which was a grind, and to be honest, I didn’t see the point of this progress gatekeeping. I think it would have benefited more from having the story set as a tutorial before unleashing players into the ocean, alas, you have untethered freedom to go scan fish only to come back to the much slower-paced story, making it hard to stay invested. If this game had voice chat it would be the perfect game to chill out with a group of friends after a hard day and explore together, alas, communication is currently limited to highlighting objects with Emojies and Stickers which works out especially with international language barriers.
There’s a progression system at play which mainly unlocks different cosmetics and stickers, that are mainly pallet swaps on your scuba gear. Creative players might be able to show some individuality with the sticker system, although I pretty much just put a triforce on my tank and called it a day. Outside of this cosmetic progression, you can unlock higher scan volumes for fish making progression go faster in later stages of the game. It’s all very simple, but in my mind, that’s not really a bad thing.
There is a honeymoon period with Endless Ocean Luminous, and this is where you as the consumer will have to know what you are looking for in a game. If you like a relaxed and chilled-out adventure, without worrying about complex mechanics and resource management, Endless Ocean Luminous is most likely for you. If you want something with (excuse the pun) a little more depth, then that’s ok too. I honestly think Nintendo could boost a lot of sales by offering a timed demo to really showcase the game to their audience.
Graphically, endless Ocean Luminous is a beautiful game, the creatures are highly detailed, and there’s a lot of information on them. Environment, much like the actual ocean, are varied from coral outcrops, deep ravines, and just plain sand. I had several “Oh wow!” moments as I speedily scooted over a vast sandbar only for it to drop off to reveal a shipwreck, teeming with life and treasure to be collected. There’s a lot of moments like these, and there’s also a lot of moments when you might feel like you’ve seen this section before. For my vision-impaired divers, there are no accessibility options, so further research might be required to find out if Endless Ocean Lumunous is for you. The sound design of the game lulls you in with the gentle breathing and bubbles of your scuba gear and also immerses you in a soft and almost playful piano score. I felt like the developers did a great job of world-building by using sounds sparingly. There’s moments of quiet which are interrupted by a whale call, having you search around to find and scan it.
Value is a tricky one to nail down, as a fully priced release, some players may find a lot of value in the endlessly generated worlds, while others may find the honeymoon period wears off after the 10-hour mark. Personally, I spent the better part of 2 days on the couch playing Endless Ocean, and I was pleased to see me achieve an S rank on the leaderboards for Teamwork and Exploration. I’ll certainly be diving in again when my review schedule allows.
Endless Ocean Luminous is a hard game to score, on one flipper, you have a gorgeous game full of wonder and discovery, its simple, relaxing atmosphere is ideal for those looking to unwind. On the other Flipper, while it’s a well-polished game, some people might be put off by its simplicity. To me, I think it was best summed up by Nintendeal on Twitter, “If you think this is the sort of game you would enjoy, then you’ll enjoy it.” I know I went in thinking I would and I did. Endless Ocean is a well-crafted world, that may have some pitfalls, but this budding diver certainly enjoyed exploring them.
So, What’s it Like? Endless Ocean Luminous is like Pokemon Snap set in the Great Barrier Reef.
In the interest of full disclosure, a review copy was provided by Nintendo ANZ, but this doesn’t influence my scores.
