Posted on: March 9, 2018

vjbianca

Games: 306 Reviews: 3

No Spoilers...But I'm Tempted...

The game is beautiful, like everyone says - but I've already over stated things...not sure I'd really call this a "game." Simulation I suppose...virtual life...hmm... I got about what I expected, I already knew that it would be a short trip (three hours for me, and I went downstairs, ate some food, watched TV for a bit, and came back to it). I bought it at 11 a.m. and it was done by about 2 p.m. - which, like I said, I expected. What I didn't expect were the rather long sequences where you are simply taken with the current and have no control over where you are going. Linear is a complete understatement here - it was only 3 hours, but half of that time I spent wondering whether I had control of the avatar back yet. Sort of, wiggle the stick...nope, not yet...wait...wiggle...nope...wig-okay, I can swim again now. I'll say this - it's a nice distraction when it's on sale, but I wouldn't recommend this at full price. Do not go into this thinking it's even close to an open world. On the positive side, I think the controls were good, they got the physics of swimming down pretty well. I was hoping for a deeper level of connection with the marine life, as the description says, but...not so much. If you play this with an open mind, you'll probably enjoy it - oddly enough, there's a tidbit of information in the credits that might make the game make more sense to some - again, no spoilers - if you play the game, just watch for it.

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Posted on: August 6, 2021

chlop

Games: 2575 Reviews: 106

Pretty Budget Title

If there was ever a game that looked better than it is, this is it. Essentially Abzu is a game where you move from corridor to corridor, collecting the few uninteresting collectibles there are, and activating the few levers you need to activate to move on to the next level. Levels are open but are fairly streamlined, and you're pushed through them in a linear fashion. You can try and explore, but there isn't much to explore - the game tries to dazzle you the moment you enter a new level, by showing you a school of fish right in front of your eyes, and the various other aquatic creatures to be found pretty much announce their presence, and don't have to be discovered. Abzu also suffers from having assets so nice, they got copy-pasted throughout all the levels. It's a problem of budget titles - spend so much time and money creating a gorgeous level with a high attention to detail, that every other level after that has to be a derivative of that first one. It makes exploration even less appealing, since whatever you find, you've already seen it before. It also makes Abzu outstay its welcome. It isn't a difficult or frustrating game by any means, but you will perform the same tasks over and over again. You do move out of the water later on, for a short while, but even that is handled so poorly, you feel like you're doing the same tasks you've been doing underwater. The platforms you walk on are very confined and are basically a corridor you move through, after which you return to the water. The only innovation in this game is whether a lever is underwater or on a platform. But my biggest gripe with this game is its controls, which seem to badly interpret your intentions. A lot of times I had to fight with the controls just to get to where I wanted to go, making me explore the levels as little as possible. Not that there's much to see - the most interesting things appear to you at eye-level. Everything else is sand and stone pillars.

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Posted on: November 1, 2024

SeekMud

Verified owner

Games: 125 Reviews: 1

Relaxing and therapeutic

Good game to have on a permanent rotation. Good for playing when every other game isn't hitting right

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Posted on: November 17, 2024

MadPilgrim

Verified owner

Games: 429 Reviews: 219

Swimming Simulator

The choice is simple. If you want stressful underwater experience you should play Subnautica. If you want relaxing underwater experience you should play ABZÛ.

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Posted on: June 22, 2018

MotherKojiro

Verified owner

Games: 481 Reviews: 196

For Lovers of Exploration and Deep Ocean

If you're looking for action or challenge, you won't really find it here, but if you just want to explore a beautiful, diverse underwater landscape, you simply can't go wrong here. When the PlayStation 4 was first announced, this is one of the few games that I had my eye on from the very beginning, and it's every bit as wonderful as I'd ever dreamt. As I've suggested, the game is little more than exploring an underwater world, and it's quite an experience. There are creatures to bring to life, statues for meditation to watch the marine life, and seashells to collect, but even without that, I found myself exploring every corner in abject wonder. The world of ABZU is so colorful and diverse, with areas in nearly every color of the rainbow, and some neat ruins and high-tech areas sprinkled in. I don't generally like orchestral soundtracks, but this one really did it for me; it's not just the usual bland, generic noise that fades into the background, but something that truly enhances the experience. There seems to be a bit of a story going on, but nothing is expressed in words, so you're free to interpret the events and lore as you see fit, and I think that works well with the immersion. I'll be the first to admit, though, that your mileage may vary; an underwater exploration game has been a dream of mine for ages. The gameplay can vary. There's nothing to really hurt you, but there may be a few moments in which the controls are frustrating. I started out with the keyboard and mouse, which takes a lot of time to get used to and... I kinda did. Playing with a controller (I have a Logitech F-310), though, makes a world of difference. It can still be a little awkward, depending what position you're in, but since there's no real danger, frustration was minimal. To say that this was inspired by the Ecco the Dolphin series would be an understatement, but this is a bit less dark and mysterious, for the most part.

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