Endless Ocean Luminous
- May 2, 2024
- Arika
Endless Ocean Luminous is a lovely adventure that lets you play your way, and rewards you with a relaxing feeling few games offer.
DIVE IN AND SURVEY A MYSTERIOUS UNDERWATER WORLD Take a deep breath and plunge into the Veiled Sea, an unexplored region with discoveries that change with each dive. Encounter and learn about over 500 species of marine life – some of which are presumed extinct, or even mythical! What will you find on your undersea journey? HANG OUT AND EXPLORE TOGETHER IN SHARED EXPEDITIONS OF UP TO 30 PLAYERS …
Nintendo Switch
Reviews
- The game offers a relaxing and peaceful scuba diving experience with beautiful graphics and a variety of marine life to discover.
- Players can enjoy a calming atmosphere and the opportunity to learn about different underwater species through scanning.
- The multiplayer feature allows for collaborative exploration, making it a fun experience when shared with friends.
- The gameplay is repetitive and lacks depth, with a grindy progression system tied to scanning a large number of fish to unlock story chapters.
- The story mode is poorly paced and feels like an afterthought, with minimal engagement and a lack of meaningful quests or interactions.
- Many players feel disappointed as the game does not capture the charm and depth of its predecessors, leading to a sense of boredom and frustration.
- story40 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 85 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many users describing it as shallow, repetitive, and lacking engagement. Players criticize the story mode for being poorly paced, consisting mainly of tedious scanning tasks, and offering little in terms of meaningful interaction or adventure. Overall, the narrative is seen as an afterthought, failing to capture the charm and depth of the previous installments.
“Es gibt einen Storymodus, der eine nette, aber nicht allzu aufregende Geschichte erzählt.”
“Die Story ist zwar nichts Besonderes, aufregendes, komplexes oder Großes, aber sie war trotzdem schön und hat Spaß gemacht.”
“Der Storymodus ist gebunden an freie Tauchgänge (online oder offline), um regelmäßig so viele Lebewesen wie möglich zu scannen.”
“Die ersten beiden Teile waren so toll, spannend und mit Liebe gemacht, dass ich es kaum fassen konnte, dass der dritte Teil genau das Gegenteil ist. Gefühlt habe ich auch den totalen Stress, dieses Spiel zu spielen, denn es geht eigentlich nur darum, Kreaturen zu scannen und die Map Zentimeter für Zentimeter abzusuchen, obwohl sich der Ozean zusätzlich sehr leer anfühlt. Die Story ist (und ich kann es leider nicht anders ausdrücken) kompletter Müll.”
“Noch nie einen so lieblos und leblosen hingeklatschten Story-Modus gesehen.”
“Die Story ist so schlecht und langweilig.”
- gameplay12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The gameplay experience is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating the relaxing, pressure-free exploration of beautifully rendered oceans and diverse wildlife. However, criticisms highlight a repetitive and grindy gameplay loop, simplistic mechanics, and frustrating story progression tied to scanning requirements, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. While the game offers calming moments and stunning visuals, it ultimately feels underdeveloped and lacks depth.
“Relaxing, pressure-free gameplay, beautifully presented ocean with so much wildlife to meet, layout changes with each new dive, more satisfying when sharing with friends.”
“Easily approachable gameplay, can be a calming experience, online seems to work well, lots of creatures to meet.”
“On the one hand, it's still got that very compelling offering of hours spent drifting through gorgeous oceans and coming face-to-face with hundreds of stunning creatures, without complex mechanics or urgency to get in the way.”
“Hugely repetitive, very little fun or creativity in traversal, online is okay but the premise is underutilized and mechanics too simplistic, bland beyond belief, story chapters locked behind poor objectives.”
“Endless Ocean Luminous occasionally has some interesting moments, but it squanders its potential with tedious gameplay and a boring sea.”
“Thin, repetitive gameplay loops, slow, grindy progression, inconsistent randomized levels.”
- graphics4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising their beauty and peaceful aesthetic, while others criticize them for being inconsistent and prone to slowdown. Overall, the visuals are described as adequate but not groundbreaking, with some players finding them enjoyable despite repetitive gameplay and limited online features.
“Beautiful graphics, peaceful gameplay, chill vibes.”
“The graphics are fine, the mass multiplayer is cool, and the creatures are interesting.”
“The graphics are outdated and lack detail, making the game feel unpolished.”
“Character models look bland and lifeless, which detracts from the overall experience.”
“The environments are poorly designed and lack variety, leading to a visually monotonous experience.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews of "Endless Ocean Luminous" highlight the grinding aspect as a major drawback, with players finding the gameplay tedious and repetitive. The progression is described as slow and grindy, often requiring extensive scanning to unlock the story, which leads to frustration and a lack of engagement in both single-player and multiplayer modes. Overall, the game is criticized for squandering its potential with a monotonous gameplay loop.
“Endless Ocean: Luminous occasionally has some interesting moments, but it squanders its potential with tedious gameplay and a boring sea.”
“It gets old fast; there’s only scanning and a grindy gameplay loop, with the story locked behind scanning.”
“The gameplay loops are thin and repetitive, featuring slow, grindy progression and inconsistent randomized levels.”
- music3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Die Musik im Spiel wird als ansprechend beschrieben, jedoch ist sie kaum hörbar, was die Atmosphäre negativ beeinflusst. Nutzer vermissen den früheren, eindrucksvolleren Soundtrack und bemängeln, dass die musikalische Untermalung nicht zur Immersion beiträgt.
“I miss the soundtrack; I would love to play with the dolphins again.”
“There is no beautiful soundtrack like Westenra or Celtic Woman anymore, and the game completely lacks atmosphere.”
“The soundtrack is quite nice, but unfortunately, you can hardly hear it.”
“There's no beautiful soundtrack like Westenra or Celtic Woman anymore, and the game is completely lacking in atmosphere.”
“The online mode is (at least for me) absolutely irrelevant, the computer-generated maps are rather mediocre, I miss the soundtrack, I would love to play with the dolphins again, and it bothers me immensely that the character has no face.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a relaxing and immersive underwater experience, featuring a vibrant array of marine life and diverse environments that enhance the soothing gameplay. However, players seeking a more profound narrative may find the atmosphere lacking in depth.
“It's incredibly soothing to dive in and chase down a huge variety of aquatic creatures through the game’s diverse, atmospheric marine environments.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is well-optimized, delivering impressive visuals and sound quality, with smooth performance in both docked and handheld modes. Players enjoy the excitement of discovering large creatures and wrecks, as well as the engaging tagging system, although the enjoyment may wane after a short period. Overall, the optimization contributes positively to the gameplay experience.
“The game looks and sounds great, and it can be exciting when a big creature or mysterious wreck appears.”
“Finding stuff and working with pals is a fine time, especially with the neat tagging system.”
“Performance is fine in both docked and handheld modes.”
Critic Reviews
Deep blue sea
Feel free to take a relaxing swim, though you probably won't want to be in the water for too long.
70%Endless Ocean Luminous Review – Soothing Yet Shallow Waters
Endless Ocean Luminous offers some agreeable laid-back moments, but a lack of depth and complexity, even compared to the 15-year-old Wii entries in the series, waters down the game’s appeal. Endless Ocean Luminous was always destined to be a niche product, but even the diehards may find the game’s narrow focus on procedural generation and unexceptional online play over almost anything else a bit fishy.
55%Endless Ocean: Luminous Review
Endless Ocean: Luminous attempts to revive a niche Wii franchise as an online exploration experience, and fails miserably in the process. In comparison to the likes of Subnautica, this is an empty, cold, and boring ocean space to explore, devoid of any real reason to play beyond its generally relaxing ambiance and the opportunity to learn some facts about underwater animals. Even taken on those terms, it's weak, its online play is basic and bland, and its story does little to engage beyond teaching you the ropes. It didn't need to be this boring, but it is.
50%
