Beyond Blue

Beyond Blue lets you swim alongside marine biologists from the future, tagging and learning about the creatures that occupy our world's oceans.

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Beyond Blue is an underwater exploration game that allows players to experience the wonders and challenges of the ocean depths. As a researcher, you'll dive into diverse ecosystems, interact with marine life, and uncover mysteries of the sea. With a focus on marine conservation, the game encourages players to make decisions that impact the environment and its inhabitants.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

88%

Audience ScoreBased on 727 reviews

story116 positive mentions

grinding8 negative mentions

Beautiful graphics and sound design create an immersive underwater experience.
Educational content about marine life and conservation is well integrated into the gameplay.
Relaxing gameplay allows players to explore at their own pace without the threat of danger.

The story is short and feels rushed, leaving many plot points unresolved.
Gameplay can become repetitive, primarily involving scanning creatures and following waypoints.
Limited interactivity with marine life, as many creatures do not react to the player's presence.

story
499 mentions
23 % positive mentions
74 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The story in "Beyond Blue" is generally described as short and somewhat underdeveloped, taking around 2 to 5 hours to complete, depending on the player's pace. While it touches on important themes such as marine conservation and personal relationships, many reviewers felt it lacked depth and engagement, often feeling like a distraction from the exploration gameplay. Despite its shortcomings, some players appreciated the emotional moments and educational aspects woven into the narrative, making it a relaxing experience overall.
- “More than that though, I loved the story; the narrative was both informative and touching.”
- “The story is quite interesting because it tells real facts about the dangers threatening this species.”
- “A truly beautiful and heartfelt game, allowing the player to dive into an educational and immersive story.”
- “I appreciate what it's trying to do with its focus on education, but I admit that the actual story left me cold, and it felt like a distraction between dives rather than anything I was really invested in.”
- “The conclusion to the story felt a little rushed.”
- “The story is very short and character development is not a thing, as that isn't really the focus at all.”
graphics
153 mentions
74 % positive mentions
24 % neutral mentions
2 % negative mentions
The graphics in "Beyond Blue" are widely praised for their stunning beauty and attention to detail, effectively capturing the underwater environment and marine life. Players appreciate the immersive visuals and atmospheric sound design, which enhance the overall experience, although some note that the gameplay lacks depth and can feel repetitive. Overall, the game's visuals are considered its strongest aspect, making it a captivating experience for those interested in ocean exploration.
- “Beyond Blue is an amazing adventure game where you explore underwater and discover and learn more about fauna and flora... the graphics are really beautiful and the ambiance is so relaxing.”
- “The graphics are stunning, and the soundtrack is wonderfully immersive, enhancing the overall experience.”
- “The graphics are absolutely breathtaking and it takes you about 3 hours to finish the game.”
- “The graphics are alright with some bugs and missing parts on the models.”
- “Its quite relaxing initially, but soon gets boring - the graphics are just ok, not amazing, which would help push up the ratings a bit.”
- “The graphics are fine but nothing special; I played Abzu earlier today and liked its stylized graphics far better.”
music
146 mentions
49 % positive mentions
45 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its professional production and immersive quality, enhancing the overall experience with a rich and relaxing soundtrack. Players appreciate the variety of tracks available, particularly during exploration and in the submarine hub, although some express a desire for more original scores over licensed music. Overall, the soundtrack contributes significantly to the game's serene atmosphere, making it a highlight for many players.
- “The soundtrack is wonderfully immersive, enhancing the overall experience.”
- “Beautiful dive locations and background music pair together to make a serene environment you could almost get lost in.”
- “The music is refreshing and full of energy as well.”
- “Unfortunately, the game has certain weak points including the sound (excluding music) which is not excellent, and the character being quite slow in the submarine.”
- “I want the ambient music but I don't want to be hit by licensed tracks, but you don't have a choice and it doesn't remember when you turn the music off.”
- “You are not going to like being on the sub in the first place; you are really not going to like being on the sub if you're forced to listen to crap music.”
gameplay
134 mentions
22 % positive mentions
71 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The gameplay in "Beyond Blue" is primarily focused on swimming and scanning underwater creatures, offering a relaxing and educational experience. However, many reviewers find the gameplay to be simplistic and repetitive, lacking depth and variety, with minimal mechanics beyond the core scanning function. While the visuals and atmosphere are praised, the overall gameplay is seen as too basic for those seeking a more engaging or action-oriented experience.
- “Very smooth gameplay, incredibly detailed and an educational experience.”
- “The gameplay is quite relaxing and very easy, and what's more is accompanied by beautiful graphics!”
- “The gameplay itself is amazing.”
- “It lacks immersive gameplay, then tries to fill the gap with an unnecessary and uninteresting three-hour story.”
- “Beyond Blue has a rather repetitive gameplay loop with the main mechanics consisting of swimming and scanning, which all becomes monotonous over time as you find no real variety in your findings or rewards.”
- “The gameplay is really limited.”
emotional
49 mentions
98 % positive mentions
-4 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is widely praised for its touching narrative and beautiful visuals, often eliciting strong feelings from players, including tears during pivotal moments. While many found the story compelling and heartfelt, some critiques noted a lack of depth and emotional investment in certain characters, leading to mixed feelings about the overall impact. Despite its short length, the game successfully combines educational elements with an immersive experience that resonates emotionally with players.
- “This stunning game hit hard, following the lives of aquatic creatures can be both beautiful and heartbreaking as this game shows.”
- “A truly beautiful and heartfelt game, allowing the player to dive into an educational and immersive story.”
- “The story around the sperm whales and Mirai's connection to them was very touching, especially towards the end.”
- “The game offers a maximum of 2 hours of gameplay, which mainly involves looking at fish and whales while swimming to objective markers. The story is dull and ends abruptly without any resolution.”
- “I felt no emotional connection to the characters or the story; it was all very superficial and uninspiring.”
- “Despite the beautiful visuals, the emotional impact was completely lacking, leaving me feeling indifferent throughout the experience.”
atmosphere
43 mentions
77 % positive mentions
16 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its stunning visuals, calming soundscapes, and immersive underwater environments, creating a relaxing experience for players. Many reviewers highlight the game's ability to evoke a sense of tranquility and connection with the ocean, making it feel like an atmospheric documentary rather than a traditional game. Overall, it is recommended for those seeking a beautiful and educational exploration of marine life.
- “The graphics are beautiful, the atmosphere is amazing, and the soundtrack is lovely.”
- “Beyond Blue has a brilliant atmosphere and chilling gameplay with an educational purpose, and it’s definitely a great move from the developers.”
- “A beautifully crafted atmospheric ocean-diving experience!”
- “The atmosphere of the game is overall relaxing and meant for you to just sit back and enjoy/learn.”
- “Every single dive has a different vibe and atmosphere in it.”
- “The sounds while diving are so mesmerizing and somehow even when you are just inside the sub talking to your peers, the atmosphere and music really makes you feel like you are 10,000 leagues under the sea.”
replayability
10 mentions
30 % positive mentions
40 % neutral mentions
30 % negative mentions
Overall, "Beyond Blue" has limited replayability, primarily due to its short duration and the nature of its content, which consists mainly of educational videos and factoids rather than engaging gameplay. While there is some replay value in the free swim mode, the experience is largely confined to specific areas, making it less appealing for players seeking a more dynamic or expansive replay experience.
- “It's an aspect that adds significant depth and replay value to the overall gaming experience.”
- “If you're looking for a relatively chill gameplay experience with a bit of replayability in the free swim mode at the end, this is $20 well spent.”
- “Definitely has replay value.”
- “While Beyond Blue has its positive aspects, such as its educational elements, beautiful environment, and relaxing gameplay, its negative points should be considered, particularly if you are looking for a more compelling story, visually stunning experience, or a game with longevity and replayability.”
- “The game offers a rather short duration and has limited replay value as what you obtain throughout the game is additional content like short documentary-like videos, descriptions/details, and factoids, etc. -- none of which is exciting to go through and re-unlock as the gameplay offers little content.”
- “Just be aware that it's quite short and the only replay value you'll have is swimming in set areas (it's not a big, open world) and looking at/photographing sea creatures.”
grinding
9 mentions
11 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
89 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is characterized by a mix of tedious scanning and collecting tasks, particularly for completionists aiming for all achievements. While some players find the process slow and repetitive, the hint system helps alleviate frustration, making it more accessible for those who enjoy a chill, exploratory experience. Overall, the game is recommended for fans of walking simulators, despite some complaints about the swimming mechanics and the pacing between dives.
- “There's no grinding (unless you really want to go and scan every aquatic life in the game), so expect a linear game with a good bit of dialogue, world-building, and in a lot of ways, education!”
- “It is a beautiful underwater grindy walking sim.”
- “There really are no puzzles to solve, just targets to find and scan or collect, which can be tedious.”
- “And unfortunately the sections between the dives are tedious and annoying.”
stability
8 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game has been reported to have significant stability issues, with users encountering frequent bugs and glitches, such as crashes when attempting to continue from the main menu and various loading problems. While some players noted only a few minor glitches, the overall consensus indicates that the game requires urgent fixes to improve its stability.
- “The game is a bit buggy in places.”
- “Can be buggy -- the game never loaded from the main menu with 'continue' (usually crashed the game), I always had to continue by using 'load' to load a save.”
- “I encountered a few glitches I hope will be fixed soon (continue crashing the game, models in the ocean not loading in...).”
optimization
4 mentions
50 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
Overall, the game runs smoothly without any significant performance issues, but players feel it could benefit from better optimization. While it performs adequately on various systems, there is a consensus that improvements could enhance the experience further.
- “X (ge-version) on Linux, no performance issues or video playback problems.”
- “No performance issues either.”
- “The game runs fine, but is not optimized as well as it could be, in my humble opinion.”
character development
4 mentions
25 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
75 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is minimal, as the focus is primarily on gameplay rather than narrative depth. While some players appreciate the streamlined approach, others feel that a longer story with more character development would enhance the overall experience and engagement with the main character.
- “It is simply better at everything [i]Beyond Blue[/i] desires to do without shoving unnecessary character development down your throat.”
- “The story is very short and character development is not a thing, as that isn't really the focus at all.”
- “A great idea but would have been better serviced with a longer story and maybe some more creatures, locales, and character development.”
- “I wish it were longer and had more character development for our main character - it's definitely a game that leaves you wanting more!”
humor
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its exceptional humor, which is both entertaining and informative, while also managing to evoke emotional responses through its storytelling.
- “It had amazing humor and was very informational, and even tugged at your heartstrings in the story.”
monetization
1 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has been criticized for its inaccuracies, particularly in the representation of diving gear and the absence of educational mechanics like nitrogen saturation, which could have enhanced the learning experience while also justifying the game's pricing model.
- “The monetization strategy feels exploitative, with essential features locked behind paywalls that make it hard to enjoy the game without spending extra money.”
- “I was disappointed to find that many of the game's best items are only available through microtransactions, which feels unfair to players who don't want to spend additional cash.”
- “The constant push for in-game purchases disrupts the overall experience, making it feel more like a cash grab than a well-designed game.”