Submerged Reviews
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.
Submerged isn't a lengthy game or a game of innovative ideas and sophisticated gameplay, but it is a rich and haunting experience that uses exploration to tell its story. Its minimalist approach won't be for everyone, but connect and this could be one of the most memorable games you play this year.
A short, sweet, melancholic exploration game that offers precious few hours of gameplay, but it's beautiful to look at, and highly enjoyable to play.
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.
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.
The game Submerged could have, and by all accounts wanted to be is still hidden here somewhere, but that hardly matters when it so fervently refuses to let you see it.
About as exciting as watching the tide come in.
Basically, you'll either dig the lush tedium of this game or you won't.
It's a reasonably short game for £14 – perhaps an afternoon's stuff to do first time through. But it's so unrelentingly lovely, and such a rare pleasure to be experienced without constant worry about being shot in the back of the head, or eaten by a wolf, or running out of time, or any of the other ways games so desperately want to concern us.
Set in a drowned city, this game of exploration lacks the substance or conviction to hold your attention.
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.