Submerged Reviews

Submerged is ranked in the 9th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Aug 4, 2015

Submerged left me thinking, wondering, curious. That's what sticks with me, I want to go back at my own leisure and explore the world, find those secrets, and complete that world's story.

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Aug 5, 2015

Sunk by lacklustre gameplay, cliched storytelling and technical hiccups, Submerged is one of the biggest missed opportunities in recent memory.

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5 / 10.0
Aug 4, 2015

Combined with no challenge to its climbing, other than a few misdirections that effectively punish you with the tedium of having to go backwards, the game misses the mark on taking its promising and, at least, baseline effective parts and turning them into something as strong as Shadow of the Colossus. Even if you were to remove that comparison, the game stumbles to create a consistent experience on its own. And at some point, it would be fair to argue that the comparison is being a little generous.

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Aug 3, 2015

Even at only three-to-four hours in length, Submerged feels padded.

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ACG
Top Critic
Rent
Aug 2, 2015
Submerged Review - Buy, Wait For A Sale, Rent, Don't Touch It? video thumbnail
5 / 10
Aug 18, 2015

On a surface level, it looks like it ticks all the boxes for this new-wave of exploration games – that are rapidly gaining popularity with developers and gamers alike – but at a deeper conceptual and technical level is falls far short of it sources of reference.

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8 / 10.0
Aug 2, 2015

It's easy to get lost inside Submerged's desolate seascapes. Its desire for pacifism and drive for hope are worthy talents, but it's the call to adventure—to indulge and explore marine tranquility and conquering vegetation—that you'll keep with you, if only for a little while.

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6 / 10.0
Aug 6, 2015

Submerged is a game you could easily cruise through in just a couple of hours, but the narrative rewards were enough to keep me searching the city for additional clues despite action that eventually became tedious. There are solid ideas at play here, sure, but the lack of challenge or any substantial meat on its bones make Submerged flounder where it should soar.

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1 / 5.0
Aug 4, 2015

There might have been a good idea at the heart of Submerged, but its execution is such a catastrophe that it's practically impossible to find it. Any emotional impact outside of pure anger that this short, repetitive title may have had is completely lost due to a number of technical issues and flat-out design flaws.

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4 / 10.0
Sep 1, 2015

Submerged is...Well, it exists. It wants to stand beside games like Journey, yet missed the mark so much on why Journey worked. It puts you in a world and expects you to be amazed, but never delivers any reason to become attached or really, a world pretty enough to just become absorbed into visually. Float on.

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2 / 10.0
Aug 27, 2015

Submerged can only be described as a huge disappointment that squandered its potential thanks to some terrible design decisions and being let out the door far too early. Its story is laughable at best, we couldn't muster up any care for the main character Miku and gameplay itself becomes a drag very quickly. The controls are dreadful and the core mechanic within gameplay, the climbing, is clunky and unresponsive. While the soundtrack is fantastic, it isn't enough to make us ignore the glaring problems the game has in terms of performance.

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NZGamer
Top Critic
9 / 10.0
Aug 5, 2015

Submerged won't be a game for everyone, in the same way that the likes of Gone Home and Dear Esther aren't for everyone, but that doesn't make it any less remarkable. But if you can hear the music that this game is playing - and I'd urge you to give it an earnest go - you'll find something that may just take your breath away.

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4 / 10.0
Aug 13, 2015

Submerged is very pretty, but there isn't much to keep you playing and it's not worth the price tag.

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3 / 10
Aug 10, 2015

Submerged is not a broken game. It functions and provides an intriguing little story over its three hour timespan. However, there's no sense of joy to actually playing. Why isn't there even a feeling of awe when exploring this flooded cityscape? It's incredibly strange how this game managed to flounder so badly but it seems the key factor is uncompelling (and sometimes aggravating) gameplay. Even the most diehard collectible hunters will find it tough to slog through the slow ascent up samey buildings multiple times to grab a new drawing. Submerged had a fabulous idea but its execution simply couldn't stand up to the concept.

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Unscored
Aug 13, 2015

Submerged doesn't want to see you fail, but it doesn't trust you to succeed without its help, either. It bears repeating: Children aren't morons. Submerged knows this, but it still treats its players like they're just kids.

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GBAtemp
Top Critic
3 / 10.0
Aug 6, 2015

Submerged could have been interesting. It could have offered a nice challenge, a good setting, a good story, but it did none of these things. Submerged ended up being so samey and monotonous that it isn't really worth playing through when you realize the first half hour is what the entire game is.

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Unscored
Sep 11, 2015

About as exciting as watching the tide come in.

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6.5 / 10.0
Aug 13, 2015

Submerged is a flawed exploration game that relies too heavily on boring climbing mechanics and stiff animations, but its top-notch atmospheric setting and soothing, relaxing soundtrack might be enough to guarantee at least a foray into its flooded canals.

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7 / 10
Aug 5, 2015

Not having to worry about dying or engaging in combat means the game is a soothing experience, free from any sense of danger or urgency

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Digitally Downloaded
Matt S.
Top Critic
Aug 7, 2015

What impressed me most about Submerged is that it never tries to be more than its concept. It set out to be a simple narrative-driven and emotional experience with a strong environmental message, and it achieves just that. With no unnecessary actions to distract those with limited attention spans it might be perceieved as "dull" by some, but in practice it's a reflective, mature, and artful work, and this here is where games should be going.

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