ABZÛ is Relaxing game created by the same developers who created journey on PS3 along with Flow and Flow-er.
To keep things simple the story is a simple story about how beautiful the ocean is, and how people usually take it for granted and the creatures living within it. Since the main menace Are these mechanical pyramids that induce electricity and Shock fishes to death, is the main antagonist of this game period now there are no boss fights in this game keep in mind, this game is purely for exploration and while it does have linear segments, the game is a relaxing wonderful time.
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I'm not 100% sure if the protagonist's name is ABZÛ, but for the sake of it I'll just call them "THE DIVER",
In this game you played the diver who goes around restoring dilapidated, destroyed and lifeless part of the ocean and restores them with wildlife of different varieties.
You come to face-to-face with the cause of all of this death and quietness in the form of the Giantic robotic Pyramid and its Shocking Pyramid Mines.
Throughout the game, the Diver encounters a great white shark that's a bit feisty but it's just acting like a regular shark would, it's a peaceful creature with no evil intent. At 1 point the Diver saves the shark who is collapsed underneath one of these destroyed mines, in a way it thanks Jim.
Around during Chapter 5 is when you enter the mechanical base and come face to face with the Giant Pyramid. We learn the plan is the sap then energy from the Diver in order to stop him from being able to restore the wildlife and vegetation. The Great White shark attempts to attack its robotic eye, angering the machine and Shocking you both to near death.
The diver awakens and sees the shark dying... it gives it a final hug before it leaves the mortal realm.
The game has the diver explorer and underwater city similar to that of Atlantis with matte paintings of what look like people of the same race of the divers, and it appears they were all worshiping and carrying for the sea creatures around them. This plain of alterlife also has creatures no longer existing in terms of fish not found except for billions of years ago.
The Diver leaves the peaceful land and appears in the spirit realm (this is the realm you go to when restoring the ecosystem in the previous chapters). Here the diver releases the spirit of the Great White for its peaceful after life, and the Shark takes them back to the plane of existence to restore the ocean and destroy the Pyramid ones and for all.
They end up doing so and the game ends with the base being turned into a beautiful vegetative sight for more sea wildlife... and the game ends.
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The controls of the game are both simple to understand but also confusing where you boost with a specific input by pressing, and using (in my case a controller) the left stick to maneuver left and right, but the up and down feel like submarine or space controls where if you move the left stick down the character will do a full flip disorienting you, most of the time you'll be fighting the movement and camera controls. The amount of times you have to press the boost button is annoying as well.
The game features a signal that essentally is the "press this button to do everything a Yellow triangle is indicating you to do" button.
Lastly (and this is an optional thing, except for the final chapter and 2 achievements), the game features the ability to ride fish bigger or of the same size as the Diver.
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Puzzles in the game are quiet simple and don't really count as puzzles, as again you just have to open doors by either filling In altars with water, or press a button a chain puller in order to open doors, so nothing too painful to do.
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The game has 3 collectibles scattered throughout each chapter, except chapter 5, and 1 even in the credits:
-Secret Pools - Coral Pools that once interacted with bring out new wild life to the area that happens to fit said new wild life's real life habitat.
- Shells - Ammonite shells (a prehistoric Cuddle fish of sorts) that you can collect throughout all the chapters except Chapter 5, when collected they are transfered to the "spirit realm" where you can see them in the structure in a beautiful ghostly glow.
- Meditation Statues: statues you can interact with that allows you to relax and enjoy the simulation of fish within the game based on real actual fishes! You might even learn the name of some you didn't know before.
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Overall ABZÛ is a beautiful artistic video game that is confusing in terms of what it's actual story might be, but context clues can help you understand the underlying message of... protect the beautiful ocean and its wildlife, don't let our machines and our egos destroy these innocent creatures.
And I agree, this game is a beautiful piece to play, but probably once or twice or if you want to just relax and watching simulated fish.
I highly recommend ABZÛ.
Played on my Steam Deck
To keep things simple the story is a simple story about how beautiful the ocean is, and how people usually take it for granted and the creatures living within it. Since the main menace Are these mechanical pyramids that induce electricity and Shock fishes to death, is the main antagonist of this game period now there are no boss fights in this game keep in mind, this game is purely for exploration and while it does have linear segments, the game is a relaxing wonderful time.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'm not 100% sure if the protagonist's name is ABZÛ, but for the sake of it I'll just call them "THE DIVER",
In this game you played the diver who goes around restoring dilapidated, destroyed and lifeless part of the ocean and restores them with wildlife of different varieties.
You come to face-to-face with the cause of all of this death and quietness in the form of the Giantic robotic Pyramid and its Shocking Pyramid Mines.
Throughout the game, the Diver encounters a great white shark that's a bit feisty but it's just acting like a regular shark would, it's a peaceful creature with no evil intent. At 1 point the Diver saves the shark who is collapsed underneath one of these destroyed mines, in a way it thanks Jim.
Around during Chapter 5 is when you enter the mechanical base and come face to face with the Giant Pyramid. We learn the plan is the sap then energy from the Diver in order to stop him from being able to restore the wildlife and vegetation. The Great White shark attempts to attack its robotic eye, angering the machine and Shocking you both to near death.
The diver awakens and sees the shark dying... it gives it a final hug before it leaves the mortal realm.
The game has the diver explorer and underwater city similar to that of Atlantis with matte paintings of what look like people of the same race of the divers, and it appears they were all worshiping and carrying for the sea creatures around them. This plain of alterlife also has creatures no longer existing in terms of fish not found except for billions of years ago.
The Diver leaves the peaceful land and appears in the spirit realm (this is the realm you go to when restoring the ecosystem in the previous chapters). Here the diver releases the spirit of the Great White for its peaceful after life, and the Shark takes them back to the plane of existence to restore the ocean and destroy the Pyramid ones and for all.
They end up doing so and the game ends with the base being turned into a beautiful vegetative sight for more sea wildlife... and the game ends.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The controls of the game are both simple to understand but also confusing where you boost with a specific input by pressing, and using (in my case a controller) the left stick to maneuver left and right, but the up and down feel like submarine or space controls where if you move the left stick down the character will do a full flip disorienting you, most of the time you'll be fighting the movement and camera controls. The amount of times you have to press the boost button is annoying as well.
The game features a signal that essentally is the "press this button to do everything a Yellow triangle is indicating you to do" button.
Lastly (and this is an optional thing, except for the final chapter and 2 achievements), the game features the ability to ride fish bigger or of the same size as the Diver.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Puzzles in the game are quiet simple and don't really count as puzzles, as again you just have to open doors by either filling In altars with water, or press a button a chain puller in order to open doors, so nothing too painful to do.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The game has 3 collectibles scattered throughout each chapter, except chapter 5, and 1 even in the credits:
-Secret Pools - Coral Pools that once interacted with bring out new wild life to the area that happens to fit said new wild life's real life habitat.
- Shells - Ammonite shells (a prehistoric Cuddle fish of sorts) that you can collect throughout all the chapters except Chapter 5, when collected they are transfered to the "spirit realm" where you can see them in the structure in a beautiful ghostly glow.
- Meditation Statues: statues you can interact with that allows you to relax and enjoy the simulation of fish within the game based on real actual fishes! You might even learn the name of some you didn't know before.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall ABZÛ is a beautiful artistic video game that is confusing in terms of what it's actual story might be, but context clues can help you understand the underlying message of... protect the beautiful ocean and its wildlife, don't let our machines and our egos destroy these innocent creatures.
And I agree, this game is a beautiful piece to play, but probably once or twice or if you want to just relax and watching simulated fish.
I highly recommend ABZÛ.
Played on my Steam Deck