Summary
Endless Ocean: Luminous Review: In Endless Ocean: Luminous, the ocean is a natural marvel that is always evolving and is full of secrets that are related to water. On the other hand, the actual process of discovering such secrets is not nearly as awe-inspiring.
Nintendo is getting inventive in order to fill up what is expected to be the Switch’s last full-year roster, and its most recent exclusive is a surprising return of the ocean exploration game that was developed by Arika during the Wii period. The series has a laid-back concept that seems to be more well suited to a contemporary generation of gamers who are fans of “cozy games.” The diving experience is little more than a peaceful activity that involves categorizing hundreds of fish and searching for salvage. Although it is a sophisticated idea, it is not compatible with the gaming industry, which evaluates the worth of a game based on the quantity of “content” that it has inside of it. Arika would need to keep players coming back in order to update an ancient series, and one of the areas where this specific dive runs out of air is in the area of player retention.
Endless Ocean: Luminous review
The sluggish progression hooks in Endless Ocean: Luminous make every facet of the game into a time-consuming chore, which causes the game’s peaceful ocean exploration and attractive multiplayer components to become tedious over time. Anyone who wants to follow its little plot through to its conclusion will have to wade through a lot of water in order to get the pearls. This is because this episode lacks a great deal of content from prior installments.
Endless Ocean: Luminous review: The world which is bright
Endless Ocean: Luminous is an ocean exploration adventure that has the excitement of a game that you would play for educational purposes. It has some similarities to the classroom computers that were used in the 1990s, such as Odell Down Under. Even while there are some gamey hooks and contemporary ways to advancement, the primary focus of the game is to educate players about roughly 600 different species of fish, including some that have been extinct and those that have been created. If, on the basis of that, you do not sense the call to the water, then you should instead remain on land.
The individuals that are able to connect with it, on the other hand, will discover a nice exploration hook that may be engaging from the beginning. During the majority of the game, you will be participating in “dives” in a number of different underwater biomes that have been randomly mixed. I am thrown onto a map that has some stone ruins in the middle of it when I plunge into my first dive on the expedition. This is something that I investigate over the course of a few dives before producing a new grid, which is this time an arctic region that is populated with animals that I have never seen before, such as narwhals. Despite the fact that I had previously discovered myself in the same ice spot three times, it is a fascinating tactic that may be used to refresh exploration with each consecutive dive.
The gaming cycle of a dive is rather short, yet it is enjoyable because of its laid-back nature. I am able to scan fish by holding the left bumper as I am swimming about in a fluid manner, tilting the camera down to dive, and pushing the right bumper to rise. In the event that I record a new species, I am provided with a concise description that contains a fact that is very illuminating about that species. Because there are approximately 600 fish in the game, including some that date back to ancient times, I am able to receive a picture of the life that exists under the water. Where else might I have obtained information on the wobbegong with tassels?
If you are going to play, the online experience, which is surprisingly solid, is without a doubt the best way to go.
There is a little bit more to do in dives, despite the fact that this is the primary attraction. In order to get cash that may be used to purchase cosmetic things, I have the ability to pick up dazzling salvage. There are a total of 99 “mysteries” to uncover, and I may locate them by picking up treasure, discovering tablets that provide lore, completing simple puzzles that require me to transport a certain fish to a stone platform, and a number of other activities. All of the maps have their own UML, which stands for unique marine life, which enables Arika to come up with its own imaginative creatures. Photographers who are just starting out may even take pictures of fish. Despite the fact that it does not have a great deal of depth and that dives still mostly involve me swimming in circles while pounding my boost button to speed up, people who feel emotionally committed have everything they need to accomplish.
Moreover, all of it is a great deal more enjoyable when done online. people have the ability to participate in shared dives, which may accommodate up to thirty people on a single map. When the progress of all divers is shared, exploration transforms into a collaborative endeavor. Something that may take four hours of tedious slogging on one’s lonesome can be accomplished in less than an hour when players are pinging treasure for one another, revealing the map, and working together to hunt down the UML by discovering and scanning certain animals. Each of these activities takes place simultaneously. The surprisingly solid online experience is without a doubt the finest way to spend your time if you are going to participate in the game. You are in for a very tiresome time if you do not do this.
Endless Ocean: Luminous review: Grind of the seafloor
Luminous suffers from a tiresome pace that slows down its advancement, which causes it to lose its shine, despite the fact that the fundamental concept is commendable. The actual flow of gameplay is centered on a narrative mode that is not very enjoyable and is not well integrated. In this section, players are introduced to a series of brief tasks that serve to both instruct them on various aspects and provide a glimpse into the greater narrative surrounding the waters of the adventure, which are constructed around a legendary coral formation. There is a little climate activism component, in which players attempt to restore light to the coral by scanning fish, but the tasks are not very impressive. The duration of each one is just a few minutes, and at times, I am only required to read a little portion of the conversation.
For the purpose of extending this, Luminous locks new missions behind unrepeatable objectives that must be accomplished in dives. Finding and scanning thousands of fish is required in order to unlock the bulk of the assignments. When I was able to unlock a task that taught me how to operate the camera, I already had an album full of photographs. However, despite the fact that it is possible to scan a whole school at once by holding the left bumper, it still took me at least one or two hours to complete some of the prerequisites. It is a laborious task that transforms the calming rhythm into a tedious occupation.
Luminous is comparable to a fishing vessel that is used for commercial purposes
The selection of dive locations at random adds even more artificial length to the diving experience. If I want to locate every ULM, which is something that has to be done in order to solve every mystery and get to the end of the game, I need to constantly load up new maps and hope that I enter one that contains a monster that I have never seen before. It seems as if there is less than an hour of genuine tale material here, yet depending on the luck of the draw, it may be spread out across twenty or even more hours.
This arduous process is not limited to the requirements for unlocking the plot. If I want to purchase new color palettes for my suit, stickers, or emotes, I will need to accumulate a significant amount of gold from dives. An hour of exploration may earn me enough money to purchase certain inexpensive products, but a significant portion of them demand a great deal more effort than that. The fact that there is such a large quantity of items to gather is wonderful since it enables me to give my suit some individuality; yet, even unlocking a single sticker might require me to scan fish for a considerable amount of time or even hours. And once I’m not discovering new species as regularly, that cycle starts to take its toll on me.
What is sad about all of this is that Luminous eliminates a significant number of the more interesting hooks and experiments that were included in earlier games, such as Endless Ocean 2: Adventures of the Deep, in favor of just repeating the same things. Fish cannot be fed, petted, or poked in any way. Pulsars and whistles are not among the tools that are available. They have removed the private reef and aquarium that could be customized. In terms of presentation, the tale is a significant step down since it is mostly devoid of personal characters. The game does not include any unique requests or side tasks. Options such as autoswim have been deleted, which means that even swimming has been simplified. The gameplay of Luminous is comparable to that of a commercial fishing boat since it lacks the complex gaming capabilities of earlier iterations. The only reason I’m there is to check out hundreds of fish before I clock off.
A number of first-party Nintendo Switch titles have, over the course of the last several months, shown the same fake content padding behavior. Due to the fact that players are only able to access puzzle time trials after they have completed a level in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong remake that was released this year, completionists are required to go through the full game once again in order to establish their scores. Following the completion of Princess Peach: Showtime!, players are informed that they will need to retake each level in order to discover some newly concealed creatures inside them. The amount of time required to observe everything is doubled in both scenarios, yet none of them adds anything new. A tiresome content remix method that attempts to conceal the short runtimes of both games is being used here. Endless Ocean: Luminous suffers from the same issue, but of a far more significant magnitude. I can’t help but get the impression that Nintendo is making this step on purpose in order to ensure that Switch owners have something to do during a slower release year as the company is getting ready to unveil its next device.
Endless Ocean: Luminous review: From the natural to the artificial
The early minutes of Endless Ocean: Luminous may cause prospective dives to return to the surface, despite the fact that I believe the game will find a loyal audience at some point. When I initially enter the game, I am immediately thrust into its first plot objective, which is a brief lesson on how to move about rapidly. It is at that point that I am confronted with some startling creative decisions that give the impression that the project was completed with less work than it really was. I am mostly guided by the artificial intelligence helper that I have. The speech of the computer is similar to that of a GPS bot in that it reads text aloud. On every occasion that it encounters a comma, it stops for an uncomfortably extended period of time before proceeding with the phrase. Even if it turns out to be a choice that is contextualized inside the narrative, it is still an inconvenient and unwise one.
As a result of this, there are certain advantages associated with accessibility. Because the artificial intelligence voice reads out loud each and every piece of information, it may be thought of as a text-to-speech screen reader. When compared to the more heinous misuse of the technology that we have seen in recent times, this application of the technology is rather admirable. In spite of this, it is a choice that is so shocking that it immediately removes something from the strength of the experience. In contrast to the bright natural landscape, the lifeless delivery of each and every uttered sentence seems to be at odds with it.
The Nintendo Switch just does not have the capabilities necessary to come up with the greatest possible rendition of a project such as this one.
The effect is the same when the visuals are inconsistent. Hundreds of photogenic fish models that accurately represent their counterparts in the real world are the result of Arika’s efforts, which are directed in the proper direction. In terms of awe-inspiringness, nothing else comes close. I am only able to see a few feet in front of me at any one moment; the diver models are of poor quality, and the biomes may often seem like they are lacking in variety. Despite the fact that there are some calming audio compositions that maintain a sense of wonder while exploring, I am left with the impression that the Nintendo Switch is not capable of delivering the greatest version of a project such as this.
A brand that caters to a certain audience, such as Endless Ocean, will be making a comeback in 2024. It gives me optimism that Nintendo could be more inclined to experiment with long-dormant intellectual property (IP) owing to a massive Switch install base that has lifted the standard for every series that has graced the device. It simply doesn’t seem like Luminous will be able to do anything to bring the series back from the cult status it now has. On the other hand, the tedious grind makes me question whether the series actually has a chance of succeeding with players who are more demanding and content-hungry. Its collaborative online capabilities are a tiny surprise. My impression is that the cold series was not designed to be expanded in this manner, and I can sense that the idea has been pushed to its limits.
Thankfully, there is a vast ocean lying in the distance. There is a bigger audience for games, and the preferences of those people are more varied. It is not necessary for Endless Ocean to attract enormous whales that need hundreds of hours of playtime in order to satisfy their hunger. One possibility is that it may be a little something for all of the shrimp that are out there.
The video game Endless Ocean: Luminous was evaluated on a Nintendo Switch OLED while it was in handheld mode and on a TCL 6-Series R635 when it was docked.
