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Reviews Endless Ocean review thread

EnergyDrink said:
I don't get it. Nintendo has so much money now with the enormous success of the Switch and they can not afford a decent budget for this game?

And I have seen a lot of marketing for this game, so marketing budget was there but not budget for production or better developers? It is very disappointing. Surely a dampener on my enthusiasm for the next Switch if Nintendo is so cheap that new games that are not from the main series seem to have lower budget than in Wii days.
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Can and should, from their point of view, very different. I agree with you; Nintendo's secondary output on the switch has been lackluster to say the least. They've done some neat things but outside Zelda and Mario for the most part, they're all hollow experiences compared to their predecessors. It definitely got more resources than the Wii games did though. Far more I'd say. I don't think Arika is a large team either.

This series was never going to set the world on fire. It was never going to get the resources to be a pseudo MS Flight Sim but underwater type of thing because they know the return for these types of games. An indie dev will probably have to fill that void someday ):
 
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Melpomene said:
It's refreshing in principle, but if it leads to those games being underbudgeted, coming out poor, and/or selling perhaps even below their already low expectations, that ends up looking more like just setting up those projects to fail. Love to be wrong, but a full ten points below its last entry on reviews is not a good look for a niche series, if it wants to continue.

Like, they should look at this and say "oh dang, it looks like we miscalculated what it would take to realize this concept. We should try again with a different perspective and perhaps more resources," but despite their own decisions being the reason for any lack of success it might see, I fully anticipate the "lesson" here being that the series itself is a flop, it doesn't resonate with people, and the developers should stop making it.
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the only way for a game like this to sell super well would be to turn it into something completely different. Also comparing scores to a game that came out 15 years ago is disingenuous
 
What a shame. Could’ve been a cool revival for the series, but it’ll will die with its lowest scoring entry.

That seems to be a common thing with smaller Switch releases
 
Lugia667 said:
the only way for a game like this to sell super well would be to turn it into something completely different. Also comparing scores to a game that came out 15 years ago is disingenuous
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I didn't say I expected it to "sell super well," nor am I necessarily saying I'm interested in comparing those two scores. I just don't think the execs making the decisions are going to be very impressed unless they had extremely low expectations of the game's performance.
 
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Reviewers were always going to be lukewarm on this at best, it's not a surprise to see a couple guys forced to play it for a few hours and threw out a 5/10 so they could get back to the next super challenging souls-like or whatever.

I read the reviews and I think it sounds great, actually.
 
EnergyDrink said:
I don't get it. Nintendo has so much money now with the enormous success of the Switch and they can not afford a decent budget for this game?

And I have seen a lot of marketing for this game, so marketing budget was there but not budget for production or better developers? It is very disappointing. Surely a dampener on my enthusiasm for the next Switch if Nintendo is so cheap that new games that are not from the main series seem to have lower budget than in Wii days.
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This game probably only exists because Arika pitched that they could do it on a reasonably-sized budget

There's almost no world where Endless Ocean becomes a breakout success that justifies a bigger budget than what this game got, so someone saying "we can do it without breaking the bank and therefore make it a profitable project even with modest sales" is the only way something as niche as Endless Ocean gets greenlit. The alternative to a low-budget Endless Ocean isn't "big-budget Endless Ocean", it's "no Endless Ocean"

Personally, I'll take it. I'd rather we keep getting interesting games that are low-cost/low-return than have Nintendo bet it all on only the biggest, safest bets like so many other publishers have been doing.
 
Truno said:
What a shame. Could’ve been a cool revival for the series, but it’ll will die with its lowest scoring entry.

That seems to be a common thing with smaller Switch releases
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....not really? I don't know which smaller series you are talking about
 
Lugia667 said:
....not really? I don't know which smaller series you are talking about
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Similar thing happened to Detective Pikachu Returns, Bayonetta 3 (although not as drastic) was also the lowest scoring and most controversial entry in the series, Everybody 1-2 Switch, Another Code Recollection, etc
 
When people say “smaller Switch releases,” what kind of games are we talking about? Metroid? Fire Emblem? Xenoblade? Pikmin? Bayonetta? Because I’d argue all of these have had strong entries in Switch.
 
Truno said:
Similar thing happened to Detective Pikachu Returns, Bayonetta 3 (although not as drastic) was also the lowest scoring and most controversial entry in the series, Everybody 1-2 Switch, Another Code Recollection, etc
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one of those games scored well AND got another game afterwards (Origins) another literally started on the Switch and one was a remake

if Bayonetta stops now it's more due to Kamiya's departure than anything else
 
Truno said:
Similar thing happened to Detective Pikachu Returns, Bayonetta 3 (although not as drastic) was also the lowest scoring and most controversial entry in the series, Everybody 1-2 Switch, Another Code Recollection, etc
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If "smaller releases" scored low means they killed a series than nintendo would only do like 3 series.

AC Recollection has a higher rating than the ds and wii game.
 
Anyway, now I'm buying copies of this for people I know to bolster its sales and ensure a follow-up on Switch 2. Nothing will stop me from Looking At Fish.
 
Looked at the nintendo life review an actually sold me the game, I bounced hard of subnautica because I found it extremely stressful, even with the mode where you don't need food and other resources
 
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Jbone916 said:
When people say “smaller Switch releases,” what kind of games are we talking about? Metroid? Fire Emblem? Xenoblade? Pikmin? Bayonetta? Because I’d argue all of these have had strong entries in Switch.
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Personally, it's like everything except flagship IP. The stuff Camelot has put out, and other more experimental titles that show a lot of promise but ultimately fall flat, or iterative stuff that doesn't capture the originals/removes features in favor of new ones or nothing (subjective ofc) -- Peach Showtime, Switch Sports, Clubhouse.

But by no means does small equate to poor, for me. Just seeing a pattern of those games kinda going through the motions, for lack of a better phrase. Maybe they are though. Maybe that's part of their reason for existing.
 
Felony said:
Personally, it's like everything except flagship IP. The stuff Camelot has put out, and other more experimental titles that show a lot of promise but ultimately fall flat, or iterative stuff that doesn't capture the originals/removes features in favor of new ones or nothing (subjective ofc) -- Peach Showtime, Switch Sports, Clubhouse.

But by no means does small equate to poor, for me. Just seeing a pattern of those games kinda going through the motions, for lack of a better phrase. Maybe they are though. Maybe that's part of their reason for existing.
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...Peach Showtime is far superior to...what came before lol
 
Lugia667 said:
some of the user comments on the Nintendolife review are just depressing tbg, no wonder the industry is in the state it's in
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Haven't read them, but even stuff like how folks reacted to the addition of Extreme-G and Iggy on NSO because it wasn't fucking Donkey Kong (tm) is just... folks really only give a fuck for the biggest games in a single basket. Sony did this big time where it's all AAA and nothing else.

Folks need to open their horizons. There's so many different experiences, big and small by even well known names that just get completely glossed over. Such a shame.
 
Kinda sucks to see it review so poorly. Hope people have fun with it. This year has been pretty ehhhhh for nintendo so far. Just remakes and mid. I'm not even a metroid fan and that's gonna be their big game for this year probably. I'm so cooked.

Back to the backlog
 
ProteusRidley said:
7/10 too much water - IGN
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Their legacy.

From the way some talk about this franchise, it feels like a No More Heroes situation to me. Games have reviews all over the place for various reasons but will continue to have a cult following no matter what.

Interested in checking this out more. I would like to get into more niche cultured Nintendo titles.
 
Felony said:
Personally, it's like everything except flagship IP. The stuff Camelot has put out, and other more experimental titles that show a lot of promise but ultimately fall flat, or iterative stuff that doesn't capture the originals/removes features in favor of new ones or nothing (subjective ofc) -- Peach Showtime, Switch Sports, Clubhouse.

But by no means does small equate to poor, for me. Just seeing a pattern of those games kinda going through the motions, for lack of a better phrase. Maybe they are though. Maybe that's part of their reason for existing.
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Clubhouse Games is freaking awesome. Mario Tennis has plenty of fans as well (Jon Cartwright at Good Vibes Gaming adores that game). I have a friend on twitch who regularly plays online Super Rush tournaments with buddies. I know those games receive lots of criticism, but lots of folks enjoy them too.
 
bixente said:
Clubhouse Games is freaking awesome. Mario Tennis has plenty of fans as well (Jon Cartwright at Good Vibes Gaming adores that game). I have a friend on twitch who regularly plays online Super Rush tournaments with buddies. I know those games receive lots of criticism, but lots of folks enjoy them too.
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No doubts. It's just, I don't experience any of that. I'm the problem so to speak when it comes to not enjoying the newer entries. I see too many holes and what was added for the most part didn't peg with me.

I'll say Tennis and Golf play exceptionally, and I've had fun with clubhouse games. I just couldn't find much fun with em compared to going back to GC or 3DS, or Hoyle. But again, that's on me for the most part. Those barebones games eventually got fleshed out, so no criticisms on that front. But at launch some were rough.

This game is giving me those vibes. Like, it might be rough now but after some ironing it could be a real gem.
 
Hero of Legend said:
Folks need to open their horizons. There's so many different experiences, big and small by even well known names that just get completely glossed over. Such a shame.
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I think not wanting to spend $50 to scan digital fish in a barren ocean isn’t really an issue of “not expanding horizons” but that’s just me.

There are for sure people who are down for that but this was not gonna be mainstream even if it got an 80 MC and not a 60.
touchfuzzy said:
it's not a surprise to see a couple guys forced to play it for a few hours and threw out a 5/10 so they could get back to the next super challenging souls-like or whatever.
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Counterpoint: what if the game is just not really good?
 
It seems mid unfortunately, but that’s about what I expected from the reveal and footage. Paying 65$ CAD for this is just an absolute no-go, bad pricing like often.
 
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Cancelled my pre-order. What a bummer and a whiff.
I guess I can go back to Blue World and play that instead to get my fill, as Luminous seems really undercooked.
 
Hailinel said:
It's meant to be a relaxing underwater exploration game, not a scuba simulator.
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I get that. And I'll still buy this.

But, I dunno. I kinda want these things to be love letters to the hobby. And getting the equipment wrong (and it also looks like not much customisation of the equipment) is a bit of red flag to me.

I think Scuba is inherently relaxing, and having to stay buoyant and not ascend too quickly would actually help with the relaxing element. It would force a slow pace.
 
Aside from the fact that this is just the kind of game that doesn’t review well, I’m guessing most reviewers didn’t get to experience online dives with other players much, if at all. That seems to be the most appealing aspect of this game, at least to me. Really feels like it’ll be like the earlier days of Minecraft when I would just explore random worlds together with friends, but with the added bonus of there being actual objectives for you to seek out plus the fact that everyone is separated at the beginning of each dive and has to independently explore until they meet up together. It honestly sounds super fun and chill!


Hero of Legend said:
Haven't read them, but even stuff like how folks reacted to the addition of Extreme-G and Iggy on NSO because it wasn't fucking Donkey Kong (tm) is just... folks really only give a fuck for the biggest games in a single basket. Sony did this big time where it's all AAA and nothing else.

Folks need to open their horizons. There's so many different experiences, big and small by even well known names that just get completely glossed over. Such a shame.
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Yeah… Unfortunately that’s when you get when the vast majority of gamers seem to either pick and choose only the “best” games to play or only play a handful of series or genres that immediately appeal most to them and ignore pretty much everything else. It’s especially noticeable among Nintendo gamers, as so many of them will just completely write off Nintendo’s smaller, less popular, and/or more unique releases…which is so odd to me, because honestly the best thing about being a Nintendo fan is that Nintendo games offer such a vast amount of different series, genres, and game experiences to explore, and ignoring so many of those just seems at odds with being a fan of Nintendo games in the first place.

Not to suggest that anyone is wrong for their choice of games, of course, and I realize everyone only has so much time, energy, and money to spend on gaming so lines have to be drawn somewhere…but it’s just so depressing to see this kind of thing happen so often with smaller games like this. I guess I just wish more people would see the worth in experiencing and appreciating more games outside of the big, popular games and/or a relatively small variety of series/genres.
 
There's no reason why a modern Endless Ocean game can't be good. Based on the reviews they just made it a grindy and repetitive multi-player game.
 
Man I hope this won't hurt Arika in any way. I still wanna see their secret SNK and Megaman games...
 
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wasn't original endless ocean reviewed pretty mediocre too lol

this is like franchise staple guys. now you know it's a real EO
 
Kevin said:
For folks disappointed in the reviews, have you guys checked out ABZÛ? If not that may help scratch the itch. The game got super good reviews and it very pretty and immersive:

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Abzu is terrific, like an underwater Journey, so good
 
Kevin said:
For folks disappointed in the reviews, have you guys checked out ABZÛ? If not that may help scratch the itch. The game got super good reviews and it very pretty and immersive:

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I never finished this (just forgot to go back to it!) but I agree, it's a calm and immersive experience. Usually goes on sale relatively often too.
 
I was interested when everyone was hyping the originals, but the actual trailer turned me off of it completely, procedural generation is never something I enjoy in games, and for a game that is about immersing yourself into a beautiful environment, the graphics look pretty awful.

I'm still curious try the originals one day, but I'm not buying this.
 
Kevin said:
For folks disappointed in the reviews, have you guys checked out ABZÛ? If not that may help scratch the itch. The game got super good reviews and it very pretty and immersive:

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I bought it on Switch during it's random one time $2 sale and have yet to boot it up. :p Made by ex-thatgamecompany (Journey, Flower, etc.) folks IIRC.
 
Color me surprised that an Online focused edutainment Subnautica-like didn't go over well with critics.

Even Abzu and the other Endless Oceans didn't score much more than this one, so I'm assuming the ceiling for the critical response to this niche must be pretty low.

That being said, maybe making this online focused with procedural generation was a misstep. That's a bit ambitious for a budget title and probably had a low chance of going well. Like others have said, this usually ends up with the actual content being stretched thin over an egregiously long playthrough. Nintendo didn't do this any favors pricing it at $50 either.

I had no interest in this from the start but hopefully it can find an audience.
 
FiniteInfinities said:
That being said, maybe making this online focused with procedural generation was a misstep.
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Based on the review from The Verge I don't believe they've had access to the online features.

Though up to 30 people casually swimming around and discovering things at their leisure does sound cool to me 🤷🏾‍♂️
 
Remember: Nintendo is confident enough in this game’s online experience to include a free 7-day trial of Nintendo Switch Online with every copy of the game, something they’ve never done before. Clearly a lot of the game’s appeal is in the online multiplayer experience, so it’s probably best to judge the game more based on that than anything else, and that’s something that we’re not going to really be able to get a good feel for until launch, since reviewers likely either didn’t get to play online or had a very limited, controlled experience.

I assume this game is best played with a decently sized group of others—ideally a group of friends (plus a mix of randoms thrown in to make the group bigger), I’d imagine—much like Everybody 1-2-Switch!, another absolutely fantastic multiplayer experience that reviewed poorly and unfortunately gained a terrible (and unfair) reputation, in part due no doubt to the majority of reviewers (and many players, I’m sure) likely not experiencing the game at its full potential in a genuine way. So this game’s full potential may be very limited as well if that’s not how you plan to play the game, but I don’t think that should mean the game isn’t a worthwhile experience at all.
 
Tye said:
Nintendo is confident enough in this game’s online experience to include a free 7-day trial of Nintendo Switch Online with every copy of the game, something they’ve never done before. Clearly a lot of the game’s appeal is in the online multiplayer experience, so it’s probably best to judge the game more based on that than anything else, and that’s something that we’re not going to really be able to get a good feel for until launch, since reviewers likely either didn’t get to play online or had a very limited, controlled experience.
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True! I'll definitely be giving the online a fair try, as it does appear a lot of the idea revolves around cooperative exploration. But that doesn't necessarily negate a poor single player experience, if that's the case. I'd kinda prefer both as a player who enjoyed casually doing my own thing in Blue.
 
After some thinking I'm gonna wait till Friday/Saturday to pick this up to gather impressions first. I really wish this game didn't turn out to be so grindy solo, especially since EO's nicheness inherently puts a shelf-life on the multiplayer.
 
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can you play local multiplayer? seems pretty dumb if people need multiple copies and/or nintendo online to take advantage of the best stuff a game this niche has to offer
 
Quoted by: Tye
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TrashMarket said:
can you play local multiplayer? seems pretty dumb if people need multiple copies and/or nintendo online to take advantage of the best stuff a game this niche has to offer
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No, because the multiplayer requires each player to have their own screen. I’m guessing split screen either was too difficult to implement for technical reasons or just seen as not worth it for other reasons. The online mode is focused on larger groups of 10–30, after all. I do wish local wireless was provided as an option, though.
 
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