Review - Endless Ocean Luminous for Nintendo Switch

[@MUSQUIZanimation]

This game feels like one of the niche online GameCube games. Not many bought it, but for those who played it at the time, it was a neat experience.

[@retrogamerfan123]

I’m just can’t get my eyes off the Kirby fan it’s absolutely adorable

[@timzel]

Aw thank you

[@akirayama1534]

4:53 actually, Death Stranding had this sort of system too, Kojima called it the Strand Genre (because kojima) but being able to passively play with others is such a cool feature. Definitely wanna pick this up

[@BlackHatProduction61]

I think I’ll wait for a sale but I fear by the time that happens there won’t be anyone online to swim with.

[@forgottencreation]

Dude it's so good. I can see full lobbies far into the future as more players pick it up

[@kirbydude9]

I really love this passive multiplayer they're adding to games

[@JessNapier]

Me too!

[@Yeehaw9455]

Love the summer intro and outro!!!

[@aleesha5579]

I enjoyed it for the first 10 hours but havnt touched it since a few days after release , thinking of trading it in. Blue World was so fun i have over 800 hours in that game..

[@microfg4]

We needed to see the wetsuit in the thumbnail!

[@TheBitBlock]

Ask and you shall receive - updated the thumbnail lol.

[@microfg4]

@@TheBitBlock Oh hells yeah, reminds me of the old Josh sitting on the side of the gameplay reviews.

[@_kevosan]

I was watching an EOL stream earlier today and was shocked at how entertaining it is to see people’s reactions to what they find lol. I’ll definitely tune in to those you have planned! 🤙🐬

[@adamdavis1737]

As somebody who is a total fanatic for marine biology and the mysteries of the ocean, there is still something here that keeps me entertained while I play But there is a huge list of features from the last game that are just totally absent in this one and It is indeed disappointing Especially for $50, that might not be 60 or 70, but there's still not really enough content worth 50 here. I think if this game was anywhere from 20 to $30 and advertised itself as an endless ocean spin-off with the focus on these multiplayer dives, it could be received a lot better But even then, you would want a little bit more interaction with other players than it gives you other than just waving at them and counting the animals that they scan on their own towards everyone's completion of the level They tout that you can have 30 people diving at once but I've never played on a map that had more than five Interactivity in general is just missing in this game. You can feed and pet the fish in endless ocean 2. You could train dolphins to do tricks and find treasures for you. They were animals that were defensive that you had to keep your distance from, or some animals that were more aggressive that you had to use your little stun gun to calm them down. There was progression in your dive level that allowed you to have more and more oxygen and go farther and farther into the depths. You could go above water and be certain animals that lived on land or little islands you would come across. You could go back to your HQ/boat and interact with actual characters, and then you could customize your own aquarium. All of this is gone Lastly the procedurally generated maps to start all that interesting. The second game especially was far more engaging with all of its handcrafted biomes, and then the type of wildlife you would encounter in them made a lot more sense and it offered a different feel for each dive And this one you just kind of see the same caves in the same shipwreck and the same rock formations, and you will run across animals that just shouldn't be coexisting together doing so. Along with purely freshwater animals swimming around the ocean, extinct prehistoric animals just chilling alongside regular ones, and all of these rare and mythical life forms are encountered in like every map, they don't feel rare. I've seen Thanatos The Great White in every dive But again, if you're just a total nerd for this stuff the way that I am, there's probably still enjoyment to be had here. Even though it's basically just an interactive fish tank, I like looking at fish tanks. I would encourage anybody who is still curious after seeing the reviews to just wait until it goes on sale. My disappointment would be dampened a little bit if I had got it cheaper Great review though, not a lot of people are actually covering this game

[@ratwasnotbad4230]

I’d heard that there were some bad spawn locations, but I didn’t know it was “freshwater fish in the ocean” bad. It’s very disappointing to hear that. I also agree that the procedurally generated maps are a downgrade. I see people compare this to Subnautica for gameplay reasons, but what I would expect to compare is the environment. It has a static map, and despite having significantly less species, depicts the ecology of its world much more vividly. I think they took a look at the series and misinterpreted which word in the title they were supposed to strive for. xD

[@adamdavis1737]

@@ratwasnotbad4230 yeah you can get just about every animal in the game spawned into one map. And there's no actual freshwater locations as it is Subnautica is worlds ahead. But it's a much different kind of game anyway. However it does serve as an example of why handcrafted environments are much more enjoyable to explore and add a lot more to the immersion of the experience. That's something the first two games got that this one gets rid of. The environments are so stale.

[@makaveli8745]

very in-depth review. I'll be picking it up

[@matthewmcneill5320]

dude, phenomenal review, new sub!

[@noa670]

Nice wetsuit for Endless ocean too

[@Flugeo]

There is no denial that Luminous kinda is a mild dissapointment, LOTS of ideas are undercooked and could be easily implemented on a way deeper level to make the game feel like it's truly a 2024 sequel for an already massive and fan-favorite Blue World. I really despise the idea of procedure generation in games where there should be handcrafted charming worlds. BUT it depends on your attitude. Luminous is not a game that you should binge (even tho you could do that with the Blue World), rather a calming and relaxing experience after a day of study or work, or ideally in a train on a trip somewhere to kill some time. But it feels really shallow otherwise, which is sad. Overall, despite all that I'm unbelievably happy because seeing a sequel for this franchise is my childhood dream that I genuinely thought will never be fulfilled. I hope they do well in sales so the developers get plenty of funds for a better sequel with charming characters, more interesting handcrafted maps and a real story. But for now it's a good half-hour-a-session antistress game

[@cocoz1034]

Looks like a game to get on salefish 😎

[@KoalaTContent]

I think having so many fish modeled to scan took away from having modeled treasure... or genders.

[@BradBradBradBradBradBradBrad]

I never played the first one and was looking forward to this to read all the fish descriptions. I'm disappointed to find out it's lacking content and I honestly find the graphics subpar even for switch standards. It just doesn't look very nice. Great review joshy. I think I'm gonna spend my money on Animal Well instead

[@Glockenspheal]

It's a bit sad to see the game not live up to its full potential, but honestly, what I loved the most was the fish, and this having so many, it's definetely a game I'm looking forward to get, but it's not at the top of my priority list sadly. Also, what about the music, does this one have any memorable tracks like "Prayer" in the first one?

[@Oxycircuit]

Josh you better know how to surf considering that swim suit collection 😂

[@Jack_MxM]

Very fair, balanced review compared to some others 👍

[@LoLRyRyRon]

Since its the summer I'll play it but personally I'll be focused on mario sunshine this summer

[@dgc1570]

Yes! That's exactly what I thought of!

[@dennix2000]

It's okay, I enjoyed my time with it, but I hate that it's not as fun as the first two, I miss the story, the mystery, the actual discovery of things.

[@Felipe_Lemos]

Sad, that it had so much potential

[@TheBitBlock]

I'm not against the game, and I get what it's meant to be. It's a "Hey Switch is ending in a year but we still need games that can be quickly developed" kind of situation. I'm continuing to have fun with the game,, even if I have my gripes.

[@LaytonFan94]

@@TheBitBlock One thing you didn't mention is that there are only like 6 features (temple, iceberg, coral reef, pirate ship, cave, lava pit) that just get shuffled around the map. So you're always looking at the exact same stuff it's just in maybe H2 instead of B8 like on your last dive. Instead of a ton of randomly configured maps, it would've been nicer I think to have had 5 really well designed unique places that way completing the Mystery Board doesn't feel so repetitive looking at the same stuff and hoping to spawn whatever item you're missing.

[@pokemontrainerbubbamiibria4866]

Because it’s the scuba diver game that’s why it video games

[@rocketboy1674]

Oh nah, those animations are a deal breaker. Also, how they handled treasure makes it pointless.

[@dgc1570]

What the heck?! Why are you in a wetsuit?!

[@TheBitBlock]

Well lemme ask ya this - why aren't YOU in a wetsuit?

[@dgc1570]

@@TheBitBlock because I don't own one

[@calicobunny]

honestly i do think they didnt make a "female" model cause you could take naughty photos with angles or when you do multiplayer, some men might take mean, asshole level pictures, like just bad sportmenship level of being mean. i do think its funny how you think its not a girly body when olympic water sports have the most similar body type between the two genders. girls have that body type the scuba divers have in the game! you gotta be smooth and sleek in the water, no gender only scuba diving

[@simontgamer]

I really wish games nowadays would let you choose male or female and not just body 1/body 2, or like in this case not at all? Like you said it might've been a thing of them being lazy. But I feel like we've gone from: "Omg in the new Pokémon game you can play as either a boy OR a GIRL! Wow, how inclusive!" to "Omg in this new game you don't have a gender/sex how inclusive!!" But since this game has pretty realistic characters and the character model definitely looks more male than "somewhere in between", it just feels like you can't play as a woman, which is odd. It definitely feels like most of the "neutral" body types in games look more flat chested and male. Kind of leans into "male" being the default body and the sexes not being equal...

[@simontgamer]

Like in the new Animal Crossing where you in the english version choose "style" (with a picture of a short haired person and ponytail person) but it has ZERO impact on anything cause regardless of your choice all the characters will refer to you as "they". Such a lazy way to try and make it "modern". At least add a proper system for it with pronoun options or whatever if you're gonna implement it. With that said, I'm super glad the "style" or gender in the japense (and some other versions) don't dictate what your character can wear.

[@patchymcq]

i feel like a game like this is all about the graphics to immerse yourself in the environment, and this looks like a sega dream cast game. big pass for me lol

[@pokemontrainerbubbamiibria4866]

🤿