Nintendo and Arika’s Endless Ocean series is one that does not get enough attention, but has more than proven its worth. The games are about exploring the sea with a leisurely pace, and allow you to explore in a way that real scuba divers are not able to. It proved a great way to learn about underwater life in addition to having its own story, but the series went on hiatus for almost fifteen years.
Now Nintendo and Arika have brought the series back with the newest entry, Endless Ocean Luminous, for the Nintendo Switch and the series may be at its best point yet. The game has multiple modes to choose from including multiple online modes, and I have found the game has something going for it that most are not talking about, but I will get to that in a bit. One thing that does need to be mentioned first is that this game is definitely a throwback to an older style of game, and that is both a good and bad thing in some respects.
The story mode sees a new player introduced to Sera, their Survey, Exploration, and Research Assistant AI, while reporting for a new research project involving the World Coral. The World Coral is a complex combination of various coral that sustains life throughout the Veiled Sea, the location where the game is set. We learn that Project Aegis has been formed to help find a solution for the blight affecting the World Coral, which is causing it to die, and we soon meet another diver and begin to learn more of the backstory.
I do not want to give away the story because its gradual reveal is one of the charms of the game, but Endless Ocean Luminous has something to its story mode that may frustrate some people. You cannot play through the story mode continuously. Instead, you must make repeated dives into the Veiled Sea to scan aquatic life and perform various tasks, before you achieve enough to be able to continue.
The dives can be performed in a solo dive or shared dive and see you exploring the waters to look for fish, find treasures and various pieces of information that will provide more insight to the story. Each dive you start will generate a different environment with different fish populating, giving the game a bit of a roguelite feel. You can also leave a dive before finishing and resume it later, or go straight for a new dive.
The shared dives are a great way to accomplish things quickly and there is so much to do, including marking where treasure and important objects are for other players to find. Working together to accomplish the various objectives the dives give you is a rewarding experience and encourages everyone to do their part in a relaxed way. Of course, if you just want a single player experience, that is here as well.
And here is where I want to bring up the part I mentioned earlier about the game having something going for it that most are not talking about. Endless Ocean Luminous is one of the best games to play for dealing with anxiety and stress. I have been dealing with severe panic attacks in recent months and I find this is a game I am able to just play and lose myself in. in a relaxing way.
Unlike the second Endless Ocean, which added some action elements, Luminous goes back to the first game’s approach of just exploring the world. The Veiled Sea is shown to have a strange light that has a calming effect on the marine life, and even creatures that normally will attack people, are just calmly swimming here. This gives you the ability to swim with a Tiger Shark, and not have a sense of panic, which is extremely cool.
You can have multiple creatures join you on your swim, and I found having a lobster on my character’s back as I swam was a particularly interesting sight. As you swim, you will need to scan multiple forms of Sea Life to acquire more light for the World Coral, and scanning will give you a description of the animal you scanned. You will learn so much this way, including seeing fish from bygone eras and more, and some are amazing to see. It is a truly stunning sight to see the blue whale for the first time, for instance, and swimming by it is incredible.
Endless Ocean Luminous goes for a relaxed approach to gameplay and that may not be for everyone, but this is perhaps the most therapeutic game released so far this year. Just playing for around fifteen minutes is enough to calm down after a serious bout of anxiety, and playing for an hour can do wonders for your mental well-being. There is something about just swimming around and seeing the majestic undersea world at your own pace that gives a feeling of calmness and has also managed to improve my sleep as well.
I was worried about Endless Ocean Luminous if I am being honest. I was not sure the experience would work today, but I am glad to say I was wrong. Both the online mode and solo dives are amazing, even if for different reasons, and the undersea life is truly well depicted. I am hopeful DLC will come that will add even more marine life to scan, because this game is just too good to leave alone. Endless Ocean Luminous gets my highest recommendation.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
