Breaking news: an ocean game has a lot of water? More info at 11.

While I 100% agree this game needed more time in the oven, I played this 3 hours straight hadn’t noticed the time fly. Scanning fish and the gorgeous atmosphere was so addicting. Not a game for everyone but for those looking to relax or just love aquatic life I recommend it.

collecting creatures in the older games was my fav thing but there was also alot more life to the games, like in eo2 if u wanted to open ur critter log u had to go to a book which would open up and u went thru the pages looking at fish, but eo3 u just press a button and its there. also in eo2 u had ur own island which you could make, ur own aquarium u could add creatures to, a custom coral reef you could make and ur diving equipment was more customisable. also another thing im not a fan of in eo3 is the fact its all one ocean but it can be made of coral, ice area, and a fresh water area which doesnt make sense. and finally the legendaries and prehistoric creatures can be found so early on, in previous titles they happened after a quest which made them feel more special, atleast eo3 has it with the UMLs but still

I just think it’s funny that this game got its own series of profile icons for Nintendo switch online Finally I can be realistic lobster

my biggest problem is a lack of variety in activities. I'm ok with a chill no stakes game but the only way to interact with the world is through a single gameplay loop which felt really shallow. I just wish there was any sort of interesting optionsl activities, or that the game tried to surprise with any of its gameplay.

I think the controversy is for two different reasons, actually. The initial wave of reviews were a mixed bag, but that was true to some extent of the earlier games in the series too. Endless Ocean isn't the type of game most people who end up becoming professional game reviewers grew up playing or really enjoy. A *lot* of early reviews consistently compared it to Subnautica - a game from an entirely different genre - and complained that it wasn't the same. They were essentially bashing this game for not being something it was never trying to be. So that was the first issue. That said, fans of the series are also divided, for more legitimate reasons. I've loved this series from the very first game, and I'm also enjoying Luminous. But I agree it's a much simpler, more trimmed down experience than the earlier games (especially the second entry). The core experience of swimming around, relaxing, exploring various underwater environments, scanning some cool marine life, and learning about that life is intact. But that's not enough for everyone. Some people really need things like a gripping story, moving music, fleshed out NPCs, an aquarium to fill, the occasional adrenaline spike from aggressive fish or fear of running out of air, etc. This game doesn't offer those things, while the second game in particular did. And that's disappointing to the point of being a deal breaker for some. In the end, this game isn't perfect. Those of us who want a simple game of pure relaxation are having fun with it. Those who want more, aren't. I personally think we may be in for a more fleshed out entry on the Switch 2 and that this game was meant to test the waters, so to speak, in order to gauge how much interest remains in an old series that was rather niche even in its prime. Either way, I'm enjoying what we have for now. I get why some aren't, but for me, it's enough.

Funny how no one in the comments seems to mention how the video cuts-out way too early. Makes you wonder how many people actually watched the video in the first place

From what I've seen of this game it doesn't look like it captures the same vibes as the original did unfortunately. The first one had this really cool main hub boat area you could walk around, with an option to just sit and look out at the water. The boat music was super chill, and the main title theme slapped as well. Maybe I'll pick up Luminous later on during a sale, but for now I'll stick with the Wii one

I personally was very disappointed in this game, especially for the price. I am also a long time fan of the series. Personally to me it feels like it offers less than even the first game in the series, and those hoping for sone experience like the second game in the series will be extremely dissatisfied and disappointed with this game. Those with either no experience from the Endless Ocean series, or don't care about interacting with the animals and are just looking for a chill game just happy scanning fish will like it. I absolutely don't think it's worth the full price. The full price made me hope it would've had more features from the actual series it's based on. Interacting with the fish or animals, a more engaging story, other npc with personality and quests of theur own, being able to name, bond, & train wild dolphins, small whales, and porpoises, having a place to customize your own ecosystem like the private coral reef in the first game or entire aquarium with all sorts of world wide animals including semi-aquatic animals like the secondary one, mo true photographing missions, no diving tour missions for specific animals even. Most of all most the special creatures needed more effort, mystery to be solved, or quests to be completed to witness, unless it was a special event for the game's date. Now most of the unique animals are just.... there. As if part of any of the randomly generated spawned creatures. Rare isn't rare. So it's what is missing from the series that has people upset. There isn't ANY voice acting either. It makes it feel like a very shallow version of what thos game could've been. Sure, if you weren't expecting that or were only happy with diving and scanning fish. Then uou can enjoy the game. But you gotta admit, having what, or even some of what was mentioned prior would've made this game much more enjoyable or fun. Imagine diving and exploring your friend's customized coral reef or aquarium with collected animals they had to work and discover?

Water

The developers used every psychological tool and gaming mechanic they could think of to keep people playing - unlockables, achievements, a creature log, a story mode, competitive medals, online co-op… and I think it works very well. I remember playing Luminous on a map where me and the 16 other players had thought we’d filled out the map, but in the bottom right hand corner there was a tiny hole in the ground that led to a series of massive dark underground caverns. It reminders me of going into the depths below in Tears to the Kingdom. It was awesome.

I personally thought this seemed like a good game and then looked at it then realised it was $50 dollars!!!!!!!!!!

It seems like the most people's complaints are that this isn't Subnautica. News flash: it wasn't trying to be!!

I got endless oceans 2 from a bargain bin as a 9 year old. I was NOT expecting much, just an animal cataloguing game- but my mind was blown. The mystery, the companionship, the customizabilty, it was unlike any other game i had played, all while completely enchanting me with depictions of REAL animals and oceans that inspire me to this day. I was over the moon when i heard they announced a new one even though I dont have a switch, because I thought it would be a continuation of the fictional mysteries and real life wonder that the second managed to capture, but after hearing about luminous... I don't feel compelled to get it. It sounds like more of an escape than a call to action, with a lot less heart than the originals. Also, the AI voice is pretty unpleasant and makes things feel more empty. I bet it's still fun to play, but i'd be lying if i said I wasn't disappointed that gaming has come so far, and yet this meaningful series seems to be taking a step back.

god yeah the ai voice really didn't give a good first impression for this game. i would've been able to excuse it if the one (1) other npc had human voice acting, but he's just. silent. and it's really jarring. needless to say, i checked the settings for the ability to mute the voice immediately lmao. the ai is actually pretty charming as a character though imo, and it is cool that they thought to add the ability to have her read out the descriptions of the creatures and items, as an accessibility feature. other than that it just feels weird in terms of quality, with the way it was executed.

TLDR: buy endless ocean 2 instead of 3 Low key I was pretty upset playing the story mode, it feels so lifeless, separating it from the dives was a boring decision, it just takes you out of the expierence :( There’s no hub world like in blue world, which was really upsetting, even if it was pretty limited, all the side quests feel really boiled down, if anything (although I am not finished with the game) I don’t even think features in the og games are present like the dolphin training!! The areas feel less unique too which reminded me of a big fault of EO1 Tbh I think it’s better if you just buy Endless ocean blue world The biggest advantage that endless ocean 3 has is that, it looks way nicer, the objectives are a lot more streamlined, side quests sometimes made no sense in blue world, I can actually see the game in dark areas. Which feel disappointing to say honestly :/

Why does every single game release have to be a controversary of some sort.

It’s great that they brought up this IP again but it’s very very lazy compared to the previous entries. The first game took place in one environment yes, day or night, but it wasn’t randomly generated. There was a lot to do, creatures to interact with and many tidbits of information you can learn about these animals. The second game expanded on that having multiple bodies of water you can explore, day or night, and again not randomly generated. With a lot more things to do including managing your own aquarium with different ecosystems of fish. This game looks to be focused exclusively on the multiplayer aspect which is fine, but having no semblance of a single player/career mode is a major turn off. And as a fan of the franchise, where the fuck is Hayley Westenra?? When I think of Endless Ocean I think of two things: 1) A fantastic scuba diving game And 2) Hayley Westenra. I know I can’t be the only one who thinks this era of Nintendo is just disappointing compared to their older selves. Right away with the gameplay footage you can see the frame rate is pretty wonky. And this might be a wild take but I think the first two Wii games look way better too. And I say that with having played through emulation at 1440p on my PC and through mclassic bumping it up to 1080p on my tv. Hell even at 480p the base resolution of the Wii, these games looked better. There’s just so much atmosphere and charm with the game and the visuals. And in the second game there could be some tense moments when you get that warning sign and sound with certain dangerous creatures. I don’t know why but it feels like a lot of modern games just do not bother anymore. Nintendo really fell off personally, I’m selling my switch. If this guy reads this and plays the first two games through emulation you’ll know what I’m talking about and you’ll understand why fans of the franchise got so disappointed with this title.

I really hope this endless ocean keeps the charm and mystical feel it gave like the original. I never got to play the sequel, but hearing what you said, it sounds similar to its original counterpart. I’d have to play it for myself but so far I think it’d be like a slow burn kind of game that we need more of in this industry! Can’t wait to see what’s changed! (I hope they keep the aquarium that they had in the original, that was so fun)

This is really a game that you have to go into with an open mind - or at least without IGN's apparent hatred of water (from both this and Pokemon). You really can't get the full experience if you go into it expecting a hardcore game. I will admit that it's not perfect, though (why, Nintendo, why is most of the story mode locked behind making discoveries in the other modes??).

GettingMadz great taste in music the Hotel in Fossil Fighters!

As an endless ocean fan, this game is a bit disappointing. While some aspects of the game were streamlined, I feel like too much was trimmed to make the game faster which is strange to me. Endless ocean didn't ever seem like the kind of game I wanted to rush through, I wanted to take my time but this one encourages me to scan groups of fish as fast as I can and move on to the next. The lack of characters is a HUGE hit against the game. Sure there's Daniel and Sera but...they're barely characters. There's no dive team to really get invested in. For me the biggest hit against the game is the lack of a home base. There's a menu that you use to get into each game mode and that's it. Nineball Island was one of my favorite parts of the game, and the lack of any small hub just feels...wrong. the lack of different undersea biomes is pretty disappointing too. You get to see some different environments during the story, but sometimes you don't even get to swim around in them. Because of that, fish are in environments that they normally wouldn't be in, and it takes me out of the game.

Maybe should have been a $20 - $30 game?

It’s not 100% perfect. But it’s relaxing and if you listen and read the information you can learn things. I appreciate this approach from Nintendo. While I agree it needed a bit more, some motion controls, rumble etc would have been fantastic but overall I’m happy with it. (Spoiler warning) I scanned a Leviathan and the difference in stress and intensity between this and Subnautica is night and day 😂 don’t get me wrong though absolutely love Subnautica.

Released game that feels unfinished? Not even surprised. In this day and age, it's rare to get truly exceptional games anymore. Endless Ocean for Wii is one of my all time fave games and ever since then, I've been praying for a sequel game. When I saw this one for the Switch announced, I fell out of my chair with excitement. But I should have known better. They should of just stuck to the previous EO exact formula and just added things to it. It's def not worth it for the full price point but maybe $15-20.

I absolutely loved endless ocean on the wii. I watched the game grumps play the first chapter and I was horrified. The AI voice was awful. I felt like they were like oh subnautica did it. But it made sense for subnautica cos all you had with you was your pad. In the original endless ocean you had a group of friends and 8ball island you returned to. You would have to order in your new outfits on a radio cos you were on an island. The loading screen was yall on the boat heading out to the spot if it was nearby or on a plane if it was far away. I felt like I was a real marine biologist/salvager. I also got to make friends with dolphins and train them and build a friendship with them back at the island then call them for help later. The starting area was small and simple and it was just some local fish. The fish made sense where they should be. There was a lead up to the cool fish. Now it's just menus and it's so bleh

I've been playing luminous and I've been quite enjoying it! I love the sequel for it's story and gameplay, but I always ended up just wanting to swim around without feeling the NEED to complete tasks and just swim around instead and live vicariously through the game. This game allows me to do just that - but I would've loved some dedicated maps instead of all procedural maps. I think the procedurally generated maps would've been a fantastic extra instead of the main course of diving location

I know we as a community have decided that motion controls suck or whatever, but i really think the removal of them took a lot.more away from the experience than the developers expected. Going from having to point at the screen to direct your diver and actively pointing at the fish to interact or take photos to sitting down with a joystick really tanked the immersion

yall gonna talk about the multiplayer?

Im going into the game never having played the others. Hoping for something peaceful and i think ill get it

It should also be mentioned that while the game does seem to have a lower budget, which may explain its lower fidelity controls and graphics, its asking price IS 50 dollars, which makes me hesitate as a consumer on a game i otherwise was really looking forward to

I love swimming through the ocean with others and tagging things for others to find while discovering the things they tag. The multiplayer is where it's at for me.

My biggest problem was that it did not feel like a past endless ocean game with more interesting environments as well as story and characters indeed of this random playback loop

I heard there a mythical creatures in it like mermaids and krakens are there?

If you have the chance to play the first two Endless Ocean games, definitely give them a try. In my opinion, they're both better than Luminous. The first game is a relaxing experience (not unlike Luminous), and the second has more of an adventure feel to it (ie: animals can now attack you).

iGN: 7/10 Too Much WATER.

I was confused it didn’t look like a Nintendo game I thought it was an indie game so I didn’t even watch the trailer

It’s good if you enjoy relaxing games lol

If it were free i would definitely get it, but otherwise i feel like the price tag is a bit much

because of just what--

Da king is back baby he neva miss we're eating good today y'all

Tld dr this feels EOC1 fans Vs EOC 2 fans

The game just feels like a downgrade compared to the previous 2 games in the series. I don’t get why they removed so many things that made the first Endless Ocean games special. There are no dolphin companions, no dolphin training, no hub world, no resurfacing, no interacting with the creatures, and more. It just feels disappointing especially when Endless Ocean fans had to wait about 15 years for a new game.

Is it just me or did the video end very abruptly?

❤ I love this game. It’s very relaxing yes time does slip by you while you’re playing for like four or five hours and you realize that it’s hard to go to bed but I love fish. I love the ocean. I love everything about this game. It’s a great game. It’s an excellent game to play. It’s something to keep you excited and participation but slow and steady wins the race you get to catch them all I mean, just saying but I haven’t even caught that many so I’m still getting used to the controllers but once again I still love this game. It’s a comfortable game to play.❤

I’m probably not going to play it, too scared of just the emptiness lmao

just WHAT?

I enjoy it very much. Perfect to play in bed before sleeping, very relaxing. I agree that the price might be a bit high.

Luminous absolutely pales in comparison to the original games. The story missions are short and sparse, the music is brief and most of the time you just hear water noises, you barely interact with the sea life, and (what I was particularly worried about because I see this a lot with generated environments) a lot of the time the maps are open, barren expanses with _maybe_ one or two interesting places to look at. I’m fine with a chill, relaxing exploration game, so long as I have stuff to actually explore. At the least, the game needs to be way cheaper.

I'm enjoying the game. I'm having fun just vibbing and scaning fish. Its not subnautica or abzu.

I like certain aspects of the game and then other aspects are the worst.

Why do i find your cartoon so funny

Subnautica but not alien planet Also 70th like

So I think one of my bigger issues with the game is how it felt to find stuff in the previous ones. It felt like rare things were actually rare as opposed to wow look at this "rare" fish you keep coming across randomly for some reason. Some of the rare fish are homages to previous games in the series which is cool but it removes the aspect of them being special individuals of their species by randomizing the size of them for some reason. I also hate some of the added rare fish to find because of the stupid low effort designs and the reasoning around them. One of them is just color inverted orca and they call it a genetic mutation when they could've explored way more interesting real genetic mutations.

You need to turn mood news into a podcast

People need to learn to relax. This is a kind of game with no real objective. Technically yes with scanning fish but one way to see it is calling it an experience. With the online features, a social experience. Not all games have to be "games", they can be experiences bundled up as a game.

Endless Ocean 2 is still my favourite game of all times, this feels like a poor multiplayer caricatural version of it and tbh it doesn't really involve me to buy a console just to play it

What you said about the graphics I personally don't agree with. In fact, it captured the look of the originals perfectly. Look at gameplay from 1 or 2, and then look at Luminous. It's incredibly faithful

Is this game available on vr?

This reminds me of subnautica

7/10

too be fair. the switch is running a almost 10 year old mobile chip set( that looks to be underclocked a tiny bit). so good looking sea games are hard too pull off.

Completely unrelated to the games content. I just hate the game due to the sheer amount of ads I’ve gotten of it. Practically 90% of my ads here on KZfaq have been of this game💀

If I want to play a game like this, I pick up Subnautica.

First

This game is a useless piece of crap, and anyone who likes unironically should go play a real game.

1 minute 0 views you're washed

Bought it last night! Really enjoyed it.. take out on some Phillip k dick audiobooks light a j and play this game .. good fun! 👍