Submerged: Hidden Depths is a fine game. It's not fine as in a fine wine, nor is it fine like the little dog from the meme sat in his burning house saying, "This is fine." Submerged is fine fine. It's neither impressive nor offensive, never quite boring but almost certainly not exciting.
There's nothing here that you haven't seen before, and once you've seen what there is you're unlikely to remember it a year from now. There's not a single moment in this game that will make you sit back and think, "Wow." In the vaguely arty, third person exploration genre Royal Rumble, Vane is the first one chucked over the ropes, Journey wins the whole thing, and Submerged was... were they in it? Did they get thrown out while you were at the bathroom? It doesn't matter.
If you think this is an insult; it isn't. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being fine and Submerged is certainly fine. If you decide to play Submerged, for around four or five hours you'll explore a strange, flooded world on foot and by boat, solve mostly menial puzzles, and pick up the occasional collectable. There's no bloat here. It's just a five hour journey; no drama, no filler, in-and-out like a violinist's elbow.
There's no mechanics, really, to speak of. There's no combat for us to discuss. You can't even jump on command — only at specific places. Submerged is a chillout experience about exploration with a slight story and basically nothing else, and honestly, we're okay with that. Not everything has to be explosions or sad-times-my-kid-died-and-now-I've-grown-a-beard depressing drama. Pop on Submberged as a palette cleanser between more involved titles or as an escape from the horror of reality and you'll be fine. This is fine.
Comments 20
First game was interesting but rough. I feel I would enjoy this gentle sojourn for the reasons stated above. Nothing wrong with stepping away from the same old Shooty Shooty Bang Bang now and then.
This may be my favourite review of all time.
No swearing or murdering as cons? Lol.
Love the cons lol
Read that as ‘booty exploration’ which let’s face it, would be significantly more interesting.
I wrote this review so long ago that I honestly forgot I ever played it and I laughed at my own jokes because I forgot I ever wrote them. Unreal.
Hahahaha! The cons are the best!
@lolwhatno
Oh, great. 😀
I have watched the trailer from YouTube.
It looked beautiful for indie game.
I think the games can be great without gritty stuffs and ultra violences.
I like peaceful games without violences at all as possible.
Wish more reviewers had games being inoffensive as a criteria. I mean context matters and I'm not expecting an indie game like this to be offensive, but I definitely see a point when people criticize Horizon for being inoffensive and a bit dull.
Haven't played HFW yet, so my experience doesn't apply to that.
Though moody and artsy indie games like these get me so hyped up and then they always just don't deliver. Or Push is too strict lol, idk. This review definitely killed my hype
@johncalmc
You made this review?
Actually I like peaceful games without gritty stuffs, foul languages and ultra violence.
There is a beautiful thing from peaceful games like this.
Better you tried Yonder the Cloud Catcher Chronicles for similar peaceful games as I have played that game two times on Switch and PS4 because the game has no violence at all, 100% peaceful, 100% safe for kids.
No swearing? Gosh heckin darn it!
@Enuo Hey watch your mouth
hmm: FINE - of very high quality; very good of its kind.
You have written the article as if 'fine' simply means 'OK' instead of what it actually means.
I'm interested in taking a look , I like interactive stories and walking simulators, and whilst I can kick @rse with the best, I do like an occasional game that does not focus on confrontation!
Thanks for the review!
@Titntin To the letter of the law, sure, but most dictionaries worth their salt would also list informal use and the informal use of "fine" is okay, acceptable, satisfactory etc. you know, fine.
@johncalmc
Fair enough my friend, but I'm late fifties and that's not what I get from reading that at all! Serve me right for being old...
Despite the merits or not of using that word so often without seeming to use its actual meaning, I did enjoy the review
@lolwhatno present company excluded...
@Anti-Matter
Loved yonder, I often wish such peaceful games had more appeal to the masses!
Perfect length is nothing to scoff at.
@johncalmc don't you mean, "watch your profanity"?
So to sum up this is a fine Review reviewing a fine game therefore everything is fine 😅
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