A small perfect game—now lost beneath the dark waves of time. Obscure, nearly unknown, nearly unmentioned, and, in some ways, aplots unmatched in the genre.

This has as much clarity of artistic vision as any game of similar scale I’ve played. And the overlapping systems governing traversal and survival create an interesting set of looming risks and vital rewards. It all makes for a very deliberate type of play. The sheer movement embodies more interesting trade-offs than basic movement almost ever does. You can slowly walk along the ocean floor. You can jump in a low arc. You can grip and climb walls (with its own stamina meter.) And you can amplify your ability to move around the environment by using oxygen like at jet pack. This comes at the cost of using oxygen more rapidly than you would otherwise. Oxygen, it turns out, is pretty vital to your survival. And using the compressed oxygen to jet around makes travel faster and even allows you to reach places you couldn’t otherwise, but it comes with the additional risk that you’ll go too fast and land too hard—cracking or destroying one of your precious oxygen tanks. There is also a pressure gauge which keeps track of your current depth. This is critical because the suit you wear specifies a maximum depth beyond which you can barely survive for any amount of time. Too much time below the max depth line and your suit cracks and all oxygen is lost. So dive here but no further (or if you have to descend below then be quick about it at least.) All these trade-offs provides a sense of freedom and choice within some very significant and thematically coherent constraints. And beyond all those intricately interlocking mechanics, the subtly mysterious— almost wordless —world which the designers have lovingly crafted is pure magic.

Always thinking about taking another dive.

This game shocked me with its quality. I didn’t do any research besides knowing that it’s received well. Now I understand WHY after collecting everything except for one thing and getting both endings. This is a good mix of Metroidvania exploration, finding items to advance further and resource management. It also fits with the setting of deep underwater diving and exploring the unknown. This is a prime example of being a Capcom game in the sense that it’s unique in a good way, the world is created successfully, the gameplay is original and it works. This is the kind of game that certain audience can REALLY love but the rest might not get it. The only reason I’m not giving a higher score is because of the performance on an iPad Pro 2020. The resolution (or textures?) don’t look native and there are some minor frame rate drops. It feels like the kind of game that’s begged to be played on a stronger hardware. Lastly, the controls are not fluid. Some might not like it but it does fit with the water movement and the way you’re supposed to use the equipment you have.

Definitely give this game a shot if you’re one of those who enjoy these kind of special games with a certain touch. We used to get a lot of them in the past. You know who you are ;)

Ps. You’re not required to do anything extra for the other ending. Just redoing the last fight in a certain way. It took me over 13 hours to get almost everything. In terms of achievements, I’m at around 85% with the ones missed dying a certain way or killing enemies with different weapons.

Sem falar uma palavra, entrega um mundo inteiro. Os básicos do metroidvania são destilados em sistemas delicadamente conectados: a sua movimentação e “barra de vida” são um recurso compartilhado, cada passo um trade-off, e ainda assim consegue nunca ser frustrante e sempre se mantém engajante. Esse constante cálculo torna cada esquina e cada caverna explorada uma decisão consciente, o design do mapa - que é bem aberto - sendo sutil (porém eficaz) em evitar o hábito frustrante de buscas força-bruta que o gênero às vezes carrega.

Uma, duas e mil estrelinhas dou para o movimento em si, que, além de muito bem conduzido em relação ao macro, também é uma delícia no micro, os controles uma maravilha - você controla seu peixonautinha em todos os eixo com a mesma facilidade que um profissional de Rocket League, e o jogo recompensa proatividade mecânica com boas janelas de oportunidade para quem quiser ousar um pouco no boost - o negócio tem que ser muito bem encaixado dentro do loop do jogo pra você querer usar sem parar mesmo com ele custando HP. A única coisa que senti falta foram mais desafios para quem tivesse vontade de empurrar esse sistema ao máximo.
A direção de arte é linda, original, e muito evocativa de uma qualidade meditativa e solene do oceano, por mais que durante sua jornada ele seja uma fonte de angústia e perigo - o jogo sabe bem te colocar no papel de um visitante, às vezes violento, e comunica perfeitamente este tom através da trilha sonora e da direção artística. A ambientação está aí pra brigar com as melhores que o mercado pode oferecer.

Honestamente, esse jogo é a quintessencial jóia escondida: ótimo de jogar, cheio de alma, barato, lindo, e ainda assim quase ninguém jogou ou sequer ouviu falar.