ABZU

ABZU
by Giant Squid - August, 2016

Available at:
Steam



From the art director of Journey® and Flower®, ABZÛ is a beautiful underwater adventure that evokes the dream of diving.

Immerse yourself in a vibrant ocean world full of mystery and bursting with color and life. Perform fluid acrobatics as the Diver using graceful swimming controls. Discover hundreds of unique species based on real creatures and form a powerful connection with the abundant sea life. Interact with schools of thousands of fish that procedurally respond to you, each other, and predators. Linger in epic seascapes and explore aquatic ecosystems modeled with unprecedented detail. Descend into the heart of the ocean where ancient secrets lie forgotten. But beware, dangers lurk in the depths. "ABZÛ" is from the oldest mythologies; AB, meaning water, and ZÛ, meaning to know. ABZÛ is the ocean of wisdom.

Wow! This looks spectacular!!

Pity I've got no hope of being able to play it. My adventure skills are all dead!

But hey! Good side. Windows 10 is forcing me to use Edge, so I am now getting GGG notifications and can click on the right hand list!

I'm hoping to finish ABZU soon, and will add a review when I'm done.

I have Win10, and I use Firefox (at home) :D

ABZU (Adventure)

This is not really a game, it's an experience... Or is there something more?

The game is tagged as 'Story-rich', so I was a bit bewildered when I started the game, and found no story at all.  We're in the water, and we're told how to interact with the environment, and that is all.  ie. Here's how to dive, click button X here... So where's the story?

It took me a while to realize that I needed to slow down, to take the time to really look at my environment, to just... relax.

This game is a dream come true for someone like me who loves to just enjoy the surroundings and take lots of screens - there are PLENTY photo of opportunities!

Some of the things you can do to really connect with the environment:

• Swim and explore
  
• Latch on to larger aquatic life and "ride" with them - you can even steer them!
  
• Flip, twirl, and glide through the water as you swim
  
• Meditate
  

Ahh, I should explain how the meditation works, shouldn't I.  There are "meditation statues" scattered throughout the regions you will explore, and when you get close, you can sit on top of them and just... meditate.  When you do so, you take on the perspective on a fish or school of fish, and just see what they see.  You can jump about from one species to the next with ease, and take on new sights as you do so.  Once you've unlocked a meditation spot, you can access it from the main menu if you'd like to revisit the area.

In addition to enjoying the environs, you can also pursue:

• 12 Achievements
  
• 12 Meditation Statues
  
• 20 Hidden Pools
  
• 19 Secret Shells
  

As you really delve into the depths, you'll find that there's more to the game than just relaxing and enjoying, but I don't want to spoil anything for you.  As I mentioned, this is an experience.  I will tell you that there were a couple of shocking moments, and a few moments of the purest awe for me.  The way I felt when I was swimming with the

Spoiler:

was indescribable. The majesty of some of these creatures was truly humbling, even in game form.

Once you finish the game, you can replay any chapter you wish - especially nice if you want to find the things you've missed without replaying the whole thing.

In the end, I discovered that there really IS a story to all of this, and I love that it wasn't at all what I was expecting.  This is a game to take your time in and just enjoy.  It's not a terribly long foray into the deep, but it is a beautiful and moving one.  I'll definitely be revisiting this one.  Highly recommended!