Endless Ocean Luminous Reviews
It’s ironic given everything I have just written above that I would never be game to go scuba diving myself. I can be pretty severely risk averse, and just like bungie jumping, skydiving, and motorsports, I’m not going to be jumping into the ocean depths anytime soon. That just makes me appreciate Endless Ocean all the more. It’s a chance to enjoy the qualities of scuba diving at their best (at least, as I imagine them to be), without having to actually put myself out there. This is a beautiful, serene and relaxing experience and I loved every second of it.
If you spend a while searching the seabed at a depth of 50 meters for treasures and crabs, you’ll be all the more surprised to suddenly hear a whale’s song and spot an orca swimming above you. Or you might find yourself surrounded by dolphins, even joining them if there’s enough space, while you continue looking for the next beautiful coral bay or explore that one hole in the ground leading into a dark cave. Let it be said: it’s great solo, but with other players it’s even more fun!
Review in German | Read full review
Endless Ocean Luminous is a lovely adventure that lets you play your way, and rewards you with a relaxing feeling few games offer.
Endless Ocean Luminous isn't a game for everyone. The absence of action or challenge for the player, along with a calm pace of play, may not please all palates. But if you connect with its proposal, as it has happened to me, you will discover a unique game of its kind, with more than what it shows at first. And catch the beast.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Endless Ocean Luminous is a great return to the cult series of the Wii. Arika presents just the type of experience that that fans have been waiting for almost 15 years.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Endless Ocean Luminous continues the relaxing series, changing a few things but keeping the core mechanics in place. It's easy to lose yourself in this environment, though newcomers like myself might enjoy it moreso. I genuinely enjoyed my time in the water and will continue diving for some time to come.
Endless Ocean Luminous stands out because of the peace and quiet in which everything can be done. The speed at which goals and missions are achieved is entirely in your hands. The graphics, music and background sounds are all aimed at taking you away from everything and everyone. In summary, it is a wonderful game to play and relax!
Review in Dutch | Read full review
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Endless Ocean Luminous, warts and all. It’s not a game that would be my first recommendation for most, but it is something that I wish everyone gave a chance. There’s a lot to love in any project that has this kind of purity of vision. Even if it’s vision to a fault.
Endless Ocean Luminous is a title for those who seek a peaceful experience in a place filled with marine life, where the secrets of the ocean can be discovered in an interactive and educational way. Sadly, the game lacks options that could have made it more enjoyable and focused exclusively on exploration that can be too relaxed and at times even very repetitive.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Endless Ocean Luminous is not for everyone, but does offer a very rich and soothing experience for those willing to take the plunge.
A practically non-existent story and some navigation problems are not enough to make this adventure go down the drain. With an immensity in the catalogue, the most sublime feeling of freedom and a realistic setting, this title is a great treat for marine enthusiasts and could even attract new explorers and perhaps go further, inspiring a new wave of scholars in the field.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Endless Ocean Luminous declines to be the definitive underwater experience on Switch with little variety in missions and a slow progression system.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
While Endless Ocean Luminous feels limited as a single player game, it works far better as a communal activity. Whether it's with friends or random players, Luminous is at its best when there are more fish (figuratively and literally) in the sea. There are a few things that hold it back from being truly transcendent, like the limited ocean life animations and the story's overall structure, which is told through all-too-short individual chapters. With that said, Endless Ocean Luminous doesn't make a big splash, but it does feel like a relaxing swim.
A lo-fi ocean adventure for those in need of calm, monotonous focus, Endless Ocean: Luminous provides an experience that is entirely low stakes, low risk, and low reward. It's incredibly soothing to dive in and chase down a huge variety of aquatic creatures through the game's diverse, atmospheric marine environments, but anyone looking for a deeper narrative will be left high and dry. Check this out if you've got the funds and don't mind fumbling through a bit of jank to reach your zen state of mind.
Endless Ocean Luminous occasionally has some interesting moments, but it squanders its potential with tedious gameplay and a boring sea.
Endless Ocean Luminous is a deeply relaxing diving experience. The amount of research that went through the game is very impressive. However, the slow campaign progression and the lack of interactions with the creatures handicap the overall experience.
Review in French | Read full review
Endless Ocean Luminous is less a game than an experience. If you want to explore the diverse ocean life in a very relaxed manner, you might be strongly tied up to the atmosphere. But if you want to be challenged at least at a minimum level, this is nothing you need to play.
Review in German | Read full review
You need the proper mindset to enjoy it properly. If what you want is a relaxing, exploratory game, and if you’re into collectionism and task-completion, without having to actually resort to any complex mechanics or hardships, this will be a perfect fit. If not, you may find this game to be quite boring, possibly a bit pretentious. Thankfully, I sided with the former.
Endless Ocean Luminous offers a peaceful, relaxing and travel experience, which is difficult to find out there in titles of this kind.
Review in Greek | Read full review
Ultimately, Endless Ocean: Luminous is a chill, relaxed experience that doesn't offer much beyond the surface. The game is essentially a collectathon, with little to do outside of exploring and looking at things. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but Endless Ocean: Luminous is exactly what it aims to be—a title about exploring the ocean.