Test Zoo Beyond Blue – Nintendo Switch – ntower

Games sometimes just want to be more than just entertainment electronics, and this goal goes beyond the blue. The combination of single player experience, combined with interesting documentaries, makes you want to immerse yourself in the realm of the sea to your liking. We will post below for you how well this balancing act works.

In the role of marine researcher Mirai you will find yourself in the game and enjoy the charm of the ocean in a total of eight different dives. You will meet a total of 45 different sea creatures, receive instructions from your crew from afar, and open up amazing information and movie scenes about the ocean. In between you will be on your submarine, talking on the phone with your crew, and enjoying some private conversations with your sister. The game can rely on a good English voice output, which feels real and will hold you back to immerse yourself in the conversations.

However, the main focus is on exploring the water body. So you should wear your diving suit on personal trips with Mirai and look at the targets set on your radar. In most cases, these will contain whales, sharks or some type of fish that you need to scan. It not only opens up specimens of individual species, but also gives you additional information about them, which are interestingly designed. Depending on how many animals you document in a species, you gradually open up more details, which can be very inspiring to some. Thanks to a special robot, you can also take a closer look at the details of some of the creatures, such as the whale’s tail fin, from the second dive. However, this functionality does not offer any playful added value as it basically does the same as Mirai’s regular scanner. With that said, the great game dynamics of the three-hour adventure have already been told.

The rest of the time you will spend underwater, you will swim forward, collect objects in some places, explore the corals and swim towards your next destination. However, all of this feels very minimal and very boring. There are no secrets to unravel, or amazing caves to explore. This means that after about 20-30 minutes you have already seen everything related to the game. You will be allowed to sail around on the submarine, but the possibilities there are very slim. So you can turn to a coherent music library, admire models of sea creatures and open up real movie scenes including expert opinions, but none of these are permanently attached to the screen, which feels like a nice bonus. It would have been better to define the submarine as the starting and destination point at which one can explore the open sea. In contrast, individual tasks are very limited in scope and size.

Likewise, there is no pressure to affect the player in the game. There are no hostile animals in the sea and you do not have to focus on your main activities. So Mirai can dive endlessly, it only takes a few minutes or no one cares if you are in the same place for hours. Here too energy is wasted. Sure, I know this is not a survival topic, but some simple stress to watch out for could have a positive effect on the game. For example, I was able to better imagine hostile animals that could only be observed from a distance.

Technically, unfortunately, it shows itself as average beyond blue. The surroundings, including the fauna, are beautifully designed, but the muddy fibers are particularly noticeable in detail and cloud the relaxing submergence of the sea. But the soundtrack completely convinced me and ends up in my personal playlist for music pieces that will help you relax. Overall, we are provided with an entertaining, but entertaining and technically average game. This is a shame because the basic skill is good, but it is not exhausted.