You’ll likely play it once to zoom through to the end of the story, and you’ll be able to revisit it and linger in the open world areas. It’s not a game for everyone, but for those who didn’t get enough of Journey, then this is well worth that price. The price is just $20, so you won’t have to fret about paying too much for a game that lasts only a couple of hours. Wintory really delivers a musical score that stirs a lot of feelings, from melancholy moments of loneliness to sounds that convey the vibrancy of undersea life. The music of Abzû conveys curiosity, sadness, fear, and grandeur. But it comes to the foreground as there is no dialogue of any kind throughout the experience. It’s hard to believe that music can convey so much emotion. The ocean is teeming with life, in contrast to Journey’s desert. For the most part, even without much interactivity, you won’t be bored stiff playing Abzû. But Abzû’s art style allows for outrageous colors among the coral beds, magnificent underwater structures, and some very interesting cutscenes where you are just along for the ride. That gives you enough things to do besides staring at the blue water. Some ocean simulators make the mistake of being too realistic, with too many boring moments. In the second half of the game, the story kicks in and you can swim with more of a purpose. In that way, Abzû can be educational for young players. If you sit and meditate, you can learn the identity of each type of fish just by looking at them.
Not only do you see a lot of life, you also see an endless number of species. One of the great accomplishments of Abzû’s design is that it can bring together so many living creatures into a single scene. Some of the sections of the ocean are like open worlds, where you can swim around with huge schools of fish. You can swim into jetstream currents and zoom at high speeds past the coral reefs. Occasionally, you’ll wonder which way is up and which way is down, and then you’ll realize that it doesn’t really matter because you’re not going to fall down in the ocean. Those tracers become extended the faster you swim, and they are a nice visual effect that adds 3D perspective even if you’re swimming into nothing but blue water. But the game has visual aids, such as lines that serve as tracers, which tell you the direction that you are moving. You can jump into the air like a dolphin soaring out of the water.Ī few times, I felt a little disoriented as swimming around in 3D is not an easy thing to do. And you can hitch a ride on big fish, turtles, dolphins, and whales.
If you find certain objects in the ocean, you can unlock more varieties. There are places to meditate, where you can just look at the variety of the fish. You can use simple controls to dive, speed up, and maneuver.
The controls work reasonably well even though the 3D maneuvering through the ocean can feel a bit like a flight simulator sometimes. I felt a constant tug between wanting to find out the next step in the mystery and staying behind to linger among the lush sea life. There’s nothing like the rush you get when a school of dolphins swims past you, or when you’re surrounded by thousands of sardines and you’re looking at them as if you’re in the exact middle of a swirling twister. The use of colors throughout the seascape is truly amazing.Ĭombined with the music, you’ll get a real sense of the ocean’s serenity and danger. You’ll see a wide range of effects, such as sunshine coming through the waters above you and an almost frigid-like feeling in the darker waters below. It’s amazing that such a beautiful console game can come from such a tiny indie studio.
There have been many attempts to capture the wonders of the ocean, but Abzû really pulls it off. If it had the right story, it could have been a contender for game of the year. That’s a good thing in a lot of ways as Journey was one of the best PlayStation games of all time. Giant Squid’s first game is clearly intended for fans who wanted something more. Giant Squid Studios formed after Nava left Thatgamecompany, whose title Journey debuted in 2012. The music comes from Austin Wintory, the composer of the music for Journey and a number of other hit games. The game is a fine first experience from Giant Squid Studios, founded by Journey artist Matt Nava. I enjoyed the experience, but it seemed a bit too much like Journey in the way it unfolded.
This PlayStation 4 and Windows game is a beautiful stylized simulation of life under the ocean, with non-realistic, breathtaking art. Learn more about the event.Ībzû generates a lot of the same sense of wonder as its predecessor Journey, but it trades the desert sands for underwater exploration. Join gaming leaders, alongside GamesBeat and Facebook Gaming, for their 2nd Annual GamesBeat & Facebook Gaming Summit | GamesBeat: Into the Metaverse 2 this upcoming January 25-27, 2022.