Wow, okay! I have really conflicting feelings about this one.
Let's start with the good: graphics and atmosphere are awesome. Trailers didn't make the game justice in that regard. The decision to make randomly-generated maps each dive was great, especially for a online game. There's also a wide variety of animals, even extinct ones, with detailed descriptions for them, for those curious. And most importantly, it really excels in being a relaxing, contemplative game.
But it stops there. Arika and Nintendo had this really interesting concept in their hands and did nothing else with it.
I played a bit of the first Endless Ocean to understand what I was into with Luminous prior to its release, and I gotta say, the only upper hand Luminous has are the controls (pointer controls on the original are BAD in 2024). But other than that... The original 2007 game has a more diverse soundtrack, more content (including a boat where it serves as your base and even has some land animals), and, most importantly, a better integrated story.
Luminous's story mode is a collection of cutscenes that are a GRIND to unlock. You gotta go in two, three dives just to unlock a chapter. And said chapters are often just 3 minutes long. A full dive is 1 HOUR long. The story isn't anything special, although it has a nice message. Also really ain't a fan of Sera, the AI character, voiced by AI. Feels a bit tonedeaf for a huge company like Nintendo to use AI voices in their games, when the AI in voice acting discussion is at its peak. At the very least, they used AI voices for a AI character, so it's not that awful. HOWEVER, why couldn't they translate the game for more languages if that's the case? The game is sadly not available at all in my home language, Brazilian Portuguese.
And although it's basically a multiplayer game, you always feel you're by yourself. Communication is basically through emojis and emotes you barely ever use. And because you're in the sea, you barely pay attention to other player's customized outfits. I don't think anybody ever noticed I patterned by diver's outfit to look like Samus, and that's a shame.
And I feel the game is further hindered by... The Switch's own shortcomings. Better yet, Nintendo's own dumb ideas. As in pricing such a simple light game for $50, and making such a multiplayer game without built-in voice chat. Since the Switch overall does not have voice chat.
But, despite all these shortcomings, Luminous is still... really addictive for some reason? Like, I know it's barebones but I still see myself going back to it. Still haven't finished the story, but I can see myself grinding my way to finishing it, because, after all, the core experience is fun... Even if Nintendo and Arika didn't do much with it. My 2.5 stars is just that: it's a good experience... halfway completed.
All I'm saying is that, at its current state, maybe if they had released it for $30 (or hell, made it Nintendo Switch Online-exclusive for "free"), and if it had somehow voice chat, it'd be the PERFECT game to relax and wind down chatting with friends if it was cheaper and it had voice chat. I could even see it becoming a hit.
Maybe Arika would have a hit in their hands if they ditched their relationship with Nintendo with the franchise and released it on PC on something. In case you don't know, before Endless Ocean, Arika released two games on a franchise called "Everblue" on the PS2, that played similarly. The first Endless Ocean even reused assets from Everblue. Maybe it's time for a another sucessor on another platform?
Let's start with the good: graphics and atmosphere are awesome. Trailers didn't make the game justice in that regard. The decision to make randomly-generated maps each dive was great, especially for a online game. There's also a wide variety of animals, even extinct ones, with detailed descriptions for them, for those curious. And most importantly, it really excels in being a relaxing, contemplative game.
But it stops there. Arika and Nintendo had this really interesting concept in their hands and did nothing else with it.
I played a bit of the first Endless Ocean to understand what I was into with Luminous prior to its release, and I gotta say, the only upper hand Luminous has are the controls (pointer controls on the original are BAD in 2024). But other than that... The original 2007 game has a more diverse soundtrack, more content (including a boat where it serves as your base and even has some land animals), and, most importantly, a better integrated story.
Luminous's story mode is a collection of cutscenes that are a GRIND to unlock. You gotta go in two, three dives just to unlock a chapter. And said chapters are often just 3 minutes long. A full dive is 1 HOUR long. The story isn't anything special, although it has a nice message. Also really ain't a fan of Sera, the AI character, voiced by AI. Feels a bit tonedeaf for a huge company like Nintendo to use AI voices in their games, when the AI in voice acting discussion is at its peak. At the very least, they used AI voices for a AI character, so it's not that awful. HOWEVER, why couldn't they translate the game for more languages if that's the case? The game is sadly not available at all in my home language, Brazilian Portuguese.
And although it's basically a multiplayer game, you always feel you're by yourself. Communication is basically through emojis and emotes you barely ever use. And because you're in the sea, you barely pay attention to other player's customized outfits. I don't think anybody ever noticed I patterned by diver's outfit to look like Samus, and that's a shame.
And I feel the game is further hindered by... The Switch's own shortcomings. Better yet, Nintendo's own dumb ideas. As in pricing such a simple light game for $50, and making such a multiplayer game without built-in voice chat. Since the Switch overall does not have voice chat.
But, despite all these shortcomings, Luminous is still... really addictive for some reason? Like, I know it's barebones but I still see myself going back to it. Still haven't finished the story, but I can see myself grinding my way to finishing it, because, after all, the core experience is fun... Even if Nintendo and Arika didn't do much with it. My 2.5 stars is just that: it's a good experience... halfway completed.
All I'm saying is that, at its current state, maybe if they had released it for $30 (or hell, made it Nintendo Switch Online-exclusive for "free"), and if it had somehow voice chat, it'd be the PERFECT game to relax and wind down chatting with friends if it was cheaper and it had voice chat. I could even see it becoming a hit.
Maybe Arika would have a hit in their hands if they ditched their relationship with Nintendo with the franchise and released it on PC on something. In case you don't know, before Endless Ocean, Arika released two games on a franchise called "Everblue" on the PS2, that played similarly. The first Endless Ocean even reused assets from Everblue. Maybe it's time for a another sucessor on another platform?