With the sea offering such a vast and unexplored habitat, Abzu has immense potential in allowing the player to fulfil their underwater scuba diving fantasies. But with the game’s marketing campaign raising such expectations from the outset, it’s somewhat disappointing to discover that the open-world nature of the game’s oceanic environment isn’t explored more fully – with the game-world littered with underwater corridors and arenas that impinge upon one’s freedom via the use of invisible walls. This is a disappointing turn of events as whilst Abzu does offer a world that genuinely intrigues, the real-world implications of not allowing one to fully immerse themself within their environment often leads to the shattering of player illusion. And whilst these shortcuts in designing the game world are understandable because of the studio’s small size, they also prove that Abzu‘s scope is beyond the stretched capabilities of the developer, and that it would have been more appropriate if the game had more resources allocated towards it prior to release.

The lack of open-space also explains as to why the Abzu is relatively short and can be comfortably completed in under five hours – with some users reporting that they finished it in under two. This is a length that is consistent with Journey, which I also completed in under four hours – yet that didn’t stop the desert-set title from receiving numerous accolades and plaudits from the industry and fans.

As someone who doesn’t believe that a game’s length should be a determining factor as to whether someone should opt to purchase a title – especially in an age where people have insanely large backlogs and are unable to complete the vast majority of their games – I’m glad that Abzu isn’t especially long. This is partly because life is short, and by limiting one’s gaming experiences, one is essentially limiting the richness of their character. But also because Giant Squid finds it difficult to maintain Abzu‘s submersive sense of wonder that it was so easily able to instil early on. This is partially due to the game’s linear environments, where despite the changing of colour palettes that reflected different areas, I found myself getting increasingly bored me as I was forced to traverse endless corridors.

Of course, in an industry that is symbolised by Call of Duty and its own “corridor based shooter” experiences that are regurgitated wholesale year after year, it does seem churlish to belittle Abzu when so many other games take a successful cookie cutter template and re-release these with a fresh lick of paint each year – with Nintendo being an obvious culprit for making the same game every console cycle. But if one were to refer back to Call of Duty, the reason as to why Activision’s FPS franchise is able to stay fresh and engaging is because it liberally sprinkles its campaigns with story exposition that is often spectacle-laden and dramatic in nature. And whilst Abzu does take a similar approach – especially with regards to how it introduces a great white shark that terrifyingly stalks you throughout the game, together with moments that have you swimming with whales as Austin Wintory’s emotionally wrought soundtrack plays in the background – these moments are few and far between and don’t necessarily give too much explanation as to what Abzu is about, with the result being that the game starts to become increasingly repetitive as one is continuously tasked to go down endless underwater corridors and arenas.

Luckily, Abzu is able to salvage its inherent monotony by renewing its commitment to story later on in the game. But with the campaign being so short, the entire experience does come across as being quite uneven and disjointed as a result. And to be honest, if it weren’t for Abzu‘s renewed emphasis on narrative later on, Giant Squid’s effort wouldn’t be as memorable as a consequence. That’s not to say that Abzu is a bad game, as there are still plenty of moments that enthral. But even if Giant Squid’s title is meandering and unclear in its focus, it still accomplishes Giant Squid’s objective of creating an experimental, narrative and meaningful game – with the central premise based upon exploring the relationship between man and the aquatic ecosystem.

In closing, it’s unfortunate that Abzu will always come to be defined by Matt Nava’s previous work, as the developer has always traded off his previous association with Thatgamecompany. And whilst Abzu does deliver upon its promise of being “Journey underwater“, it’s also worth noting that there was a reason as to why Thatgamecompany’s title was so short – if only because the developer knew as to how certain experiences could be maximised in their effectiveness if they were deliberately kept short and not needlessly dragged on.

By committing themselves to so slavishly following the template as laid down by Journey, and despite the pedigree, the developers at Giant Squid have ultimately failed to grasp as to what made Journey so special – i.e. it offered a once in a lifetime experience that often robbed the user of its inherent richness via repeated playthroughs. Abzu suffers from this same problem in that I often felt as if I was playing Journey all over again, with the result being that Giant Squid’s game often comes across as being a cynical retread that isn’t as fresh an experience as the developer had hoped. And to be honest, that was always going to be Abzu‘s problem and dilemma – how does a game live up to the impossibly high expectations set by Journey, when it so resolutely follows the same gameplay formula that ultimately prevents it from carving out its own unique identity that doesn’t beholden it to Journey‘s shadow?

Still, Giant Squid Studios must be commended as there is a lot going for their first effort. And with rumours circulating that Abzu might be getting picked up for a physical release at the end of September, I’m certainly looking forward to supporting 505 Games’ publishing endeavour. Because despite the game’s niggling problems that ultimately rob it of true greatness, Abzu is a title that is wholeheartedly worthy of recommendation, and one whose creative ethos I’d like to see more of in the industry.

Abzu was reviewed using PS4 download code as supplied by Giant Squid’s PR.