What's that, you say? You're not feeling too inundated with Endless Ocean after all, even after two weeks of reading our journals? You want to read more about this delightful exploration game?
Dear reader, you are in luck, because we three—Amber, Brenden, and Matt—have teamed up to deliver to you an unprecedented three-person co-op review of this game. Everything you need to know before diving in, we'll talk about here, whether you're new to Endless Ocean or played and enjoyed the first game in the series.
Matt: Endless Ocean: Blue World, the sequel to 2007's Endless Ocean, is a bit of a non-traditional game. Exploration is the theme, and the game provides you with undersea worlds to explore. In both games, there's a light story which guides you through the basics of the game. In Blue World, it's stronger, but if you just go through the main adventure, you'll end up missing quite a bit of what the game has to offer.
Amber: The main plot works well to give you a taste of the variety of things you can do in the game. It also works as a vehicle to unlock new maps and move the player through them. For the vast bulk of the game, what it gives you to do isn't related to the plot though.
The gameplay in Blue World revolves around diving; other than a dolphin training diversion, scuba diving is all you do. But Blue World does an excellent job of giving players motivation to go diving. The game is loaded with goals and and system of instant rewards. It certainly has proven effective with me; I completed the story a few days ago, but I'm still playing. Gotta find this fish, or unlock that piece of the map.
Brenden: Just to comment a little further on that, I thought that was something they did well in the first game, but really expanded on with Blue World. It didn't take very long for me to start lining up specific dive goals. Sure, you could get distracted with so many options, but that system of instant rewards constantly pushed you forward to explore more, which is really what the game is all about. In a perfect world, one wouldn't need those, but...
Matt: I, for one, was pushing hard through the main story. I didn't take more than one or two of the optional missions as I went. In part, that was because I wanted to unlock as many areas as possible for our journal coverage, but the story was kinda fun, too. What I found from that is that, even now, as I go back and revisit old areas, there are plenty of new areas and new fish I haven't seen yet.
One of the big draws that I think leads people to this game in the first place is just that—sightseeing. There's a lot to see, and in several of the areas, they've done a really stunningly good job of making it look really attractive, particularly in-game. That said, while I enjoyed exploring all the areas, I don't think some of the icy areas looked quite as nice as the oceans and the river did. The big icebergs in particularly looked way too videogamey for my tastes—obviously polygonal and such. Though maybe we can chalk that up to inexperience at that type of environment.
Amber: Agreed. I don't think the development team can improve the look of their beach and reef areas. They've created some truly lovely and and interesting designs. However, their cave designs, whether we're talking ice or stone, are terribly plain. Real-life caves can be fantastic places, hung with amazing crystal formations. You can watch a documentary like the BBC's Planet Earth to be blown away by what remarkable formations nature can carve from the earth or ice—but nothing remotely as creative is seen in Blue World.
That was my biggest disappointment with the visual direction in this game. I think they really missed a big opportunity to wow the audience. To reiterate, though, the open areas featuring reefs and rock formations are wonderfully depicted, no complaints there.
Brenden: Yeah, I would have to agree with the both of you on that. Still, I think I appreciated having those varied environments in the world a lot more... even if they were a little stale at times.
Brenden: Matt's comment about sightseeing reminded me of a thought I had one Sunday afternoon. I was just sitting on the couch playing, and I think about 3 hours flew by and all I was really doing was exploring and looking at fish. I distinctly remember thinking to myself that this was such a relaxing game and how many people I could potentially show it off to for that reason alone.
Matt: It's definitely a very relaxing experience. It doesn't hurt that you can play it completely one-handed with just the pointer and a couple buttons.
Amber: I, too, can vouch for killing huge chunks of time just pursuing one goal after another. A tiny private island acts as your home base, and here you can look though books that list all available missions, what species you've sighted, what items you've collected, where you are in the story, etc. It's easy to look through the info, decide which part of the world you want visit, line up a bunch of different goals for that area and then just go to town.
Brenden: I think the beauty of Blue World is that none of those goals are necessary to the enjoyment of the game. They're simply there as a catalyst.
Matt: Those books Amber was talking about are full of a lot of information. Every fish you've seen has a little mini-bio, and it even seems to be keeping track of areas you've sighted one—since there's so very, very many of them in the game, that can come in handy.
Amber: The encyclopedia made me interested enough in many of the exotic species to go look up more info on them online. Like the freakish goblin shark, for example.
Matt: Back to your point, Brenden, I think that the game can also lend itself to many styles of play. It's probably even completely valid—particularly at the game's $30 price point, bundled as it is in many places with a Wii Speak, which by itself used to go for $30—to just play the story, which'll run you over 10 hours even on its own. You can also be, as I am, the kind of person who appreciates having little quests, some direction... even if it's just the goal of mapping out each of the areas for some coin. You can also just pick which of the above you want to do in any given playtime.
Matt: There's also one other thing, which was in the first Endless Ocean, but is enhanced a bit here: going diving with a friend online. You remember, Brenden, when we both had the first one, we'd go diving with laptops sitting next to us running Skype? It's really nice to have the Wii Speak option now.
Brenden: Yeah, I do remember that. I also remember being disappointed with how it didn't record any of the progress we had made together.
Matt: It still doesn't record species you've found like it does in single-player, though it does seem to catch everything else. I still find that odd.
Brenden: But yeah, Skype, while a little clunky, definitely made it fun. They've mostly solved both of those in Blue World, particularly with the advent of Wii Speak. Now, if they could somehow make the Wii WFC less finicky, it would be perfect! I could rant about that a bit, but I think Brandon covered it well enough in his Tatsunoko vs. Capcom review.
Matt: Yeah, I know you lost your connection a lot, no matter what we tried. But any particular person's mileage may vary, of course, and I think it's pretty safe to say that if you generally have a good experience with WFC, you'll have the same in Blue World—I don't think there's anything specific to the game that causes problems. Amber and I went for hours trouble-free. Due to the nature of the game, it also isn't nearly as lag-sensitive as some games can be.
Amber: I didn't have any connection troubles on my end but I did have issues with the volume of the Wii speak being really low. I had it turned all the way up but could only barely hear Matt.
Matt: I had to get out of my recliner and sit on the floor directly in front of the TV! (laughs) But it wasn't so bad.
Amber: In closing, Endless Ocean: Blue World takes the concept of a scuba diving sim from the first game and improves on it in almost every way. A simple plot propels the player forward and gives you a steady feed of side goals keep you interested. At its heart, Blue World is a game about pure exploration, offering a nice variety of locations to poke around. It's easy to play it with dedication, but its also very friendly to a casual approach since it records everything that's going on. There's no problem with setting it down for a while then picking it right back up again.
Finally, this is actually a great educational game. While there are a few very light fantasy bits in the story, the animals found in the game are real and depicted with great attention to detail. As I said earlier, it made me interested enough to go looking for more information about the various species online.
Matt: I really appreciated what they did with the sequel, basically turning everything I liked about the first up to 11. There were more places to explore, a few of the more cumbersome systems were simplified, there were more things to do... and yet, it still gave me the same warm feeling I got from the first, just swimming around and looking at the neat underwater sights. This is the definitive Endless Ocean experience; no need to try to track down the first, just get this one.
Brenden: Well said, all. For me, Endless Ocean has always been about the exploration. That's what I loved about the first game, and that's what I loved about Blue World. The only way they could have screwed it up would have been to somehow impede that, or slash a ton of content. Thankfully, they did neither.
Dear reader, you are in luck, because we three—Amber, Brenden, and Matt—have teamed up to deliver to you an unprecedented three-person co-op review of this game. Everything you need to know before diving in, we'll talk about here, whether you're new to Endless Ocean or played and enjoyed the first game in the series.
Matt: Endless Ocean: Blue World, the sequel to 2007's Endless Ocean, is a bit of a non-traditional game. Exploration is the theme, and the game provides you with undersea worlds to explore. In both games, there's a light story which guides you through the basics of the game. In Blue World, it's stronger, but if you just go through the main adventure, you'll end up missing quite a bit of what the game has to offer.
Amber: The main plot works well to give you a taste of the variety of things you can do in the game. It also works as a vehicle to unlock new maps and move the player through them. For the vast bulk of the game, what it gives you to do isn't related to the plot though.
The gameplay in Blue World revolves around diving; other than a dolphin training diversion, scuba diving is all you do. But Blue World does an excellent job of giving players motivation to go diving. The game is loaded with goals and and system of instant rewards. It certainly has proven effective with me; I completed the story a few days ago, but I'm still playing. Gotta find this fish, or unlock that piece of the map.
Brenden: Just to comment a little further on that, I thought that was something they did well in the first game, but really expanded on with Blue World. It didn't take very long for me to start lining up specific dive goals. Sure, you could get distracted with so many options, but that system of instant rewards constantly pushed you forward to explore more, which is really what the game is all about. In a perfect world, one wouldn't need those, but...
Matt: I, for one, was pushing hard through the main story. I didn't take more than one or two of the optional missions as I went. In part, that was because I wanted to unlock as many areas as possible for our journal coverage, but the story was kinda fun, too. What I found from that is that, even now, as I go back and revisit old areas, there are plenty of new areas and new fish I haven't seen yet.
One of the big draws that I think leads people to this game in the first place is just that—sightseeing. There's a lot to see, and in several of the areas, they've done a really stunningly good job of making it look really attractive, particularly in-game. That said, while I enjoyed exploring all the areas, I don't think some of the icy areas looked quite as nice as the oceans and the river did. The big icebergs in particularly looked way too videogamey for my tastes—obviously polygonal and such. Though maybe we can chalk that up to inexperience at that type of environment.
Amber: Agreed. I don't think the development team can improve the look of their beach and reef areas. They've created some truly lovely and and interesting designs. However, their cave designs, whether we're talking ice or stone, are terribly plain. Real-life caves can be fantastic places, hung with amazing crystal formations. You can watch a documentary like the BBC's Planet Earth to be blown away by what remarkable formations nature can carve from the earth or ice—but nothing remotely as creative is seen in Blue World.
That was my biggest disappointment with the visual direction in this game. I think they really missed a big opportunity to wow the audience. To reiterate, though, the open areas featuring reefs and rock formations are wonderfully depicted, no complaints there.
Brenden: Yeah, I would have to agree with the both of you on that. Still, I think I appreciated having those varied environments in the world a lot more... even if they were a little stale at times.
Brenden: Matt's comment about sightseeing reminded me of a thought I had one Sunday afternoon. I was just sitting on the couch playing, and I think about 3 hours flew by and all I was really doing was exploring and looking at fish. I distinctly remember thinking to myself that this was such a relaxing game and how many people I could potentially show it off to for that reason alone.
Matt: It's definitely a very relaxing experience. It doesn't hurt that you can play it completely one-handed with just the pointer and a couple buttons.
Amber: I, too, can vouch for killing huge chunks of time just pursuing one goal after another. A tiny private island acts as your home base, and here you can look though books that list all available missions, what species you've sighted, what items you've collected, where you are in the story, etc. It's easy to look through the info, decide which part of the world you want visit, line up a bunch of different goals for that area and then just go to town.
Brenden: I think the beauty of Blue World is that none of those goals are necessary to the enjoyment of the game. They're simply there as a catalyst.
Matt: Those books Amber was talking about are full of a lot of information. Every fish you've seen has a little mini-bio, and it even seems to be keeping track of areas you've sighted one—since there's so very, very many of them in the game, that can come in handy.
Amber: The encyclopedia made me interested enough in many of the exotic species to go look up more info on them online. Like the freakish goblin shark, for example.
Matt: Back to your point, Brenden, I think that the game can also lend itself to many styles of play. It's probably even completely valid—particularly at the game's $30 price point, bundled as it is in many places with a Wii Speak, which by itself used to go for $30—to just play the story, which'll run you over 10 hours even on its own. You can also be, as I am, the kind of person who appreciates having little quests, some direction... even if it's just the goal of mapping out each of the areas for some coin. You can also just pick which of the above you want to do in any given playtime.
Matt: There's also one other thing, which was in the first Endless Ocean, but is enhanced a bit here: going diving with a friend online. You remember, Brenden, when we both had the first one, we'd go diving with laptops sitting next to us running Skype? It's really nice to have the Wii Speak option now.
Brenden: Yeah, I do remember that. I also remember being disappointed with how it didn't record any of the progress we had made together.
Matt: It still doesn't record species you've found like it does in single-player, though it does seem to catch everything else. I still find that odd.
Brenden: But yeah, Skype, while a little clunky, definitely made it fun. They've mostly solved both of those in Blue World, particularly with the advent of Wii Speak. Now, if they could somehow make the Wii WFC less finicky, it would be perfect! I could rant about that a bit, but I think Brandon covered it well enough in his Tatsunoko vs. Capcom review.
Matt: Yeah, I know you lost your connection a lot, no matter what we tried. But any particular person's mileage may vary, of course, and I think it's pretty safe to say that if you generally have a good experience with WFC, you'll have the same in Blue World—I don't think there's anything specific to the game that causes problems. Amber and I went for hours trouble-free. Due to the nature of the game, it also isn't nearly as lag-sensitive as some games can be.
Amber: I didn't have any connection troubles on my end but I did have issues with the volume of the Wii speak being really low. I had it turned all the way up but could only barely hear Matt.
Matt: I had to get out of my recliner and sit on the floor directly in front of the TV! (laughs) But it wasn't so bad.
Amber: In closing, Endless Ocean: Blue World takes the concept of a scuba diving sim from the first game and improves on it in almost every way. A simple plot propels the player forward and gives you a steady feed of side goals keep you interested. At its heart, Blue World is a game about pure exploration, offering a nice variety of locations to poke around. It's easy to play it with dedication, but its also very friendly to a casual approach since it records everything that's going on. There's no problem with setting it down for a while then picking it right back up again.
Finally, this is actually a great educational game. While there are a few very light fantasy bits in the story, the animals found in the game are real and depicted with great attention to detail. As I said earlier, it made me interested enough to go looking for more information about the various species online.
Matt: I really appreciated what they did with the sequel, basically turning everything I liked about the first up to 11. There were more places to explore, a few of the more cumbersome systems were simplified, there were more things to do... and yet, it still gave me the same warm feeling I got from the first, just swimming around and looking at the neat underwater sights. This is the definitive Endless Ocean experience; no need to try to track down the first, just get this one.
Brenden: Well said, all. For me, Endless Ocean has always been about the exploration. That's what I loved about the first game, and that's what I loved about Blue World. The only way they could have screwed it up would have been to somehow impede that, or slash a ton of content. Thankfully, they did neither.