Abzu Review – A Profound Experience

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>&ast;&ast;Minor spoilers for <em>Abzu<&sol;em> below&ast;&ast;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><em>&&num;8220&semi;The story of ABZÛ is a universal myth that resonates across cultures&period; The name references a concept from the oldest mythologies&semi; it is the combination of the two ancient words AB&comma; meaning ocean&comma; and ZÛ&comma; meaning to know&period; ABZÛ is the ocean of wisdom&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">If you&&num;8217&semi;ve played the games of thatgamecompany&comma; particularly <em>Flower<&sol;em> and the critical darling that is <em>Journey<&sol;em>&comma; then you&&num;8217&semi;ll be right at home with <em>Abzu<&sol;em>&period; One could be forgiven for mistaking this as the next game from the indie company&period; This is both the game&&num;8217&semi;s biggest strength and its greatest &lpar;and really only&rpar; weakness&period; In reality&comma; <em>Abzu<&sol;em> is not the long-awaited follow-up to <em>Journey<&sol;em>&period; Rather&comma; the art director of both <em>Journey<&sol;em> and <em>Flower<&sol;em>&comma; Matt Nava&comma; left thatgamecompany and opened his own studio&comma; Giant Squid&period; Their first project&colon; <em>Abzu&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;110931" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-110931" style&equals;"width&colon; 1920px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-110931 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;08&sol;01234035&sol;Coral-e1470109294826&period;jpg" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1160" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-110931" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&lpar;<em>Abzu<&sol;em>&comma; Giant Squid&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;"><em>Abzu<&sol;em> is a gorgeous and atmospheric diving simulator that takes the player deep under the ocean into a mysterious and mythical world&period; Most of the gameplay is built around exploring and moving between areas&comma; making your way deeper into the ocean&period; But there is a storyline here &&num;8212&semi; parts of the ocean are dying&comma; and strange subaquatic machines have appeared&period; It is up to The Diver to restore life and beauty to the ocean&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;"><em>Abzu<&sol;em> is&comma; in many ways&comma; simply <em>Flower<&sol;em> and <em>Journey<&sol;em> combined and set underwater&period; Thematically&comma; it tells the same story as the previous games&colon; The rise of machines&comma; the death of nature&comma; the loss of self&period; Artistically&comma; <em>Abzu<&sol;em> and <em>Journey<&sol;em> are strikingly similar&comma; down to the design of the character&&num;8217&semi;s face and eyes&period; Multiple levels and moments feel as though they were recycled directly from <em>Flower<&sol;em> and <em>Journey<&sol;em>&period; The main character even interacts with the world through voice&comma; just like in thatgamecompany&&num;8217&semi;s desert adventure&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;110932" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-110932" style&equals;"width&colon; 1920px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-110932 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;08&sol;01234452&sol;Reef-e1470109533295&period;jpg" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1160" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-110932" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&lpar;<em>Abzu<&sol;em>&comma; Giant Squid&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">But none of this is truly bad&period; Taking inspiration from some of the greatest games of the last console generation has only made <em>Abzu<&sol;em> a stronger game&period; Exploring the absolutely gorgeous ocean areas and swimming alongside the smallest fish and the largest whales is an almost religious experience&period; Movement is fluid and free&comma; just as one would hope of an underwater adventure&period; And the moments pulled from the previous games are just as satisfying here as they were years ago&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">There is even a large&comma; threatening potential enemy &&num;8212&semi; a Great White Shark who constantly threatens your progress&period; This is extremely similar to the stone creatures from the world of <em>Journey<&sol;em>&period; Though you can see the &&num;8220&semi;twist&&num;8221&semi; coming from miles &lpar;or leagues&rpar; away&comma; the dynamic relationship with the Shark has a satisfying payoff and a nice&comma; rewarding aspect towards the end of the game&&num;8217&semi;s campaign&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">Every aspect of <em>Abzu<&sol;em> is enhanced by the stunning music from the mind of Austin Wintory&comma; the Grammy-nominated composer behind <em>Journey<&sol;em>&period; Wintory&&num;8217&semi;s previous work was deservedly praised&comma; but he has reached a new height with his score here&period; The music of <em>Abzu<&sol;em> is revelatory&semi; the true narrator of the story of The Diver&period; Wintory takes the player on an aural emotional pilgrimage from the surface to the ocean floor&colon; sweet when surrounded by beauty&comma; chaotic when the ocean is stirring&comma; victorious at the best of times&period; He uses the strings as a guiding hand&comma; a harp ensemble as an ethereal essence and&comma; in true climax&comma; a choir to make the spirit rise&period; The music of <em>Abzu<&sol;em> is an undeniable success&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;110933" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-110933" style&equals;"width&colon; 1920px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-110933 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;08&sol;01234824&sol;Highway-e1470109755753&period;jpg" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1160" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-110933" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&lpar;<em>Abzu<&sol;em>&comma; Giant Squid&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;"><em>Abzu<&sol;em> isn&&num;8217&semi;t a long or large game&period; Most players will &&num;8220&semi;complete&&num;8221&semi; the main campaign by the 2 hour mark&period; And the main campaign is fun and satisfying&comma; with a gorgeous final 15 minutes that will stick with you for days&period; But it&&num;8217&semi;s clear that <em>Abzu<&sol;em>&comma; just like <em>Journey<&sol;em>&comma; is not about winning &&num;8212&semi; it&&num;8217&semi;s about the experience&period; You&&num;8217&semi;ll want to revisit levels just to see a certain group of fish&comma; ride a giant whale&comma; or just explore a corner you missed before&period; Every corner of <em>Abzu<&sol;em> is bursting with beauty and detail&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">In the same vein&comma; <em>Abzu<&sol;em> falls well into a reoccuring modern discussion&colon; Are walking simulators really &&num;8220&semi;games&quest;&&num;8221&semi; Games like <em>Gone Home<&sol;em> and <em>Everybody&&num;8217&semi;s Gone to the Rapture<&sol;em> popularized the genre of projects that focus less on combat&comma; lives&comma; and puzzle solving&comma; choosing instead to focus on storytelling through the act of experiencing it&period; <em>Abzu<&sol;em> has&comma; arguably&comma; even less &&num;8220&semi;gameplay elements&&num;8221&semi; than <em>Journey<&sol;em> did&comma; with the majority of the game built around swimming and exploring&period; The few puzzles present are often solved within moments&period; Gamers looking for a &&num;8220&semi;real game&&num;8221&semi; might be disappointed with the offering&comma; particularly in the fact that there are no real consequences&period; There is no death or chance of losing&period; But <em>Abzu<&sol;em> is&comma; through and through&comma; an experiential game&comma; and many gamers will find the joy in the tale of The Diver&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;110934" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-110934" style&equals;"width&colon; 1920px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-110934 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;08&sol;01235143&sol;HumpbackWhales-e1470109945798&period;jpg" width&equals;"1920" height&equals;"1160" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-110934" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&lpar;<em>Abzu<&sol;em>&comma; Giant Squid&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">The only real downside of<em> Abzu<&sol;em> is that&comma; for all of the great elements it pulls from <em>Flower<&sol;em> and <em>Journey<&sol;em>&comma; this game exists in a post-<em>Journey<&sol;em> world&period; At this point&comma; <em>Abzu<&sol;em> never really manages to offer anything truly new&period; This game won&&num;8217&semi;t hit as hard as <em>Journey<&sol;em> because the gaming industry has already experienced those beats&period; The mystical realm&comma; the themes of life and nature&comma; even the way the game ramps up to the finale &&num;8212&semi; it has all been done before&period; The setting is fresh and the liveliness of the ocean is absolutely endearing&comma; but <em>Abzu<&sol;em> never manages to rise out of the shadow of its predecessor&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;">That being said&comma; <em>Abzu<&sol;em> is an absolute must-own for any true video game fan&period; Whether or not it rises above the impact <em>Journey<&sol;em> left upon the industry&comma; <em>Abzu<&sol;em> is a fantastic and gorgeous game with a story to tell and a world to share&period; Diving through those underwater areas is a resonant and profound adventure shared in the way only video games can&period; Those searching for the next level of experiential gaming will find it under the ocean of wisdom&period; Headphones recommended&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><em><strong>A PS4 review code for Abzu was provided by Giant Squid for the purpose of this review<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;