I'm not a fan of how most video game talk on message boards trade in hyperbole. Everything is either a life-changing experience or garbage made by incompetent and/or lazy devs. Tell me to stop thinking about games the second I become a cynic about them, especially with indie games. That's why I've taken some time to reflect on the gut reactions I had when I finished Abzu, and why I won't be reductive, call it "underwater Journey" and move on to the next game.

To be fair, Giant Squid Studios lifts a lot from thatgamecompany's magnum opus, from its underlying aesthetic to its narrative structure. No surprise there given the former was founded by three of the guiding artistic forces of the latter studio. It would be a disservice to not mention how beautiful Abzu is, in its visuals and its music. It does not, however, have the playful heart that powered Journey to reach the heights that game accomplished, try as Abzu might to emulate the story beats of Journey and even of Flower in a fashion that unfortunately comes off as calculated.

What makes it different, and what it should have leaned more on, is its contemplative nature. You can sit on faded shark statues for no other purpose than to observe, in repose, the various species of aquatic life. The very act of swimming in the ocean creates a greater drive for exploration that elicits fear and wonder in possibilities. And yet a little over halfway through the game, it's dead set on pushing you through one set piece after the other, which are all remarkable on a technical level, but betrays Abzu's defining quality. The climax for me was discovering what the ruins had in store since you had time to just soak it all in, not the final rush that believed its "triumph" was self-evident in its overwhelming momentum clinging on a simulacrum.