The original Endless Ocean game’s slogan was ‘Dive, Discover, Dream’. While that might be gloriously alliterative, it wasn’t enough to make the diving game genre achieve much more than a few air bubbles of interest in a sea of alternatives. It’s somewhat surprising then to discover that the Wii original spawned not one, but two sequels, and here Luminous stands as the third in an unlikely trilogy. While Endless Ocean Luminous is clearly doing its own thing, it seems likely that the diving game genre will wait a little longer for a tidal wave of interest to wash in.
Endless Ocean: Luminous is, as previously mentioned, a game about diving. You are a nameless diver and, accompanied by Sera, the survey, exploration and research assistant AI, you head off into the depths in search of different aquatic species. Your primary aim throughout the game is to locate and scan them in order to build up your own reputation as a researcher, furthering knowledge of the fictional Veiled Sea.
This unusual region is constantly shifting and changing, and each time you choose to embark on a new dive the area spawns in a new configuration, with a numeric code given to identify it. You can share this code with friends if you’ve found a particularly interesting layout for them to explore, or even explore an area with them in a Shared Dive.
The simple fact of the matter is that each area does very little different, and while there might be some interesting deep sea crevices, a series of interconnected reefs, or the remains of a wrecked ship, they’re strung together by bland, listless areas punctuated by the smallest of topographical details. From a visual point of view, the areas you’re exploring are generally extremely basic.
Endless Ocean Luminous is still capable of wringing an occasional ‘wow’ moment out of you, starting with your first introduction to the World Coral, a diverse ecosystem with multiple types of coral forming a single reef. You’re part of the team that’s been despatched to study it, and to understand the necrosis that is slowly killing this unique biosphere.
To do that, you need to collect information, and that means scanning. Oooooh boy, does it mean a lot of scanning. Find some unscanned fish, crustaceans or sea-dwelling mammals and scan them. This then gives you the option of a short piece of information on that particular species, and earns you points which go towards your researcher level. The first thirty or so times, I felt like I was learning something, but by the time you locate the hundredth, you’ll likely be skipping the information and swimming as swiftly as possible to the next shoal.
That’s not helped by the fact that Endless Ocean Luminous isn’t solely focussed on the factual. Early on in your research you encounter a huge creature. It’s an unusual species to begin with, largely thought to be extinct until mid-way through the 20th century, but this one is even more unusual as it’s the size of a Orca. It’s not the first fantastical creature you’ll come across on your travels either.
At various points you can’t entirely be sure what is real and what isn’t, and while many of the Unique Marine Life creatures are based on ancient sea creatures, it relies on you already knowing that. While Luminous gives you information about species, ocean currents and habitats, it’s also dropping you salvage from a group of ancient people that didn’t exist. It means that you just can’t be totally sure what Nintendo are going for here. Is it a fantasy diving adventure? Or a marine-focussed piece of educational software?
I feel like I’m learning about different species as I go, but more than once I found myself Googling information in order to double check whether it was accurate or not. It’s clear that some of it is not, or is related in some way to oceanic mythology. It’s a strange mix, and could really have done with some clarity in-game.
If you want you can share this experience. In multiplayer you can become temporary dive buddies with other players, maximising your rewards and making things just that little bit easier as you double your chances of locating important targets. You can also share your dive ID with up to six friends, exploring the same region together, or take part in 30-player dives. It’s a nice little communal activity to take part in if you have a series of friends who felt strongly enough about a diving adventure. This seems likely to be a limited draw.
