Endless Ocean Blue World is an old favorite of mine which I recently replayed. The story is interesting, if not somewhat predictable. The mysteries it creates are both interesting and a lil bit stupid (the radio in Cavern of the Gods, the amnesiac diver from Fragments of Memory). By and large, the models hold up surprisingly well for a 2009 game, and I personally really like the look of the scenery and backgrounds in the game.

I think the biggest problem is the amount of grinding you have to do. Reopening the Cavern of the Gods costs 1,000,000 pelagos ($), but it's impossible to make more than 30,000 pelagos from repeatable treasure hauls. And then there's all of the Titles (achievements) you can earn. Attracting 1,000,000 visitors to the Aquarium is slow as hell. Dolphin training is slow as hell. One of the titles requires you to have traveled a distance of 600 mi, but by the time I had finished every quest (quests and treasure rumors, not titles) I hadn't even traveled 100 miles!

And a lot of the systems are arcane and hard to follow, like the rating system for photos (especially photos of landmarks) or some of the things aquarium audiences want to see.

But, to me there's so many beautiful and soothing things about this game that keeps me coming back. The light shining through the windows of the Underwater Gallery, the sound of the rain hitting the surface of the Cortica River above you, sitting by the campfire on Nineball Island, hearing the beautiful instrumental music or Celtic Woman's songs, seeing all the cetaceans gathered at the end of the game's story, and so much more.

I could complain about this game for many different things, but I love it for many more.