After a few rounds of lengthy video games, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to take some time to enjoy a few shorter games to reset my palate. One of the first on my list was a game I got for free from the Epic Games Store. Touted as being similar to Journey, I was eager to see where this underwater journey would take me. As well as take a dip into Austin Wintory’s magnificent score. Abzu, therefore, was my next step into a more meditative experience of video games.

The game opens up on a diver floating in the middle of an ocean. One prompt later and I dived into an underwater forest with plenty of fish. With no dialogue or immediate goal in mind, I decided to explore my surroundings. As I did so, I discovered several probes, a few strange fossils and places around the area that sent out a collection of sharks into the small area.

It was a moment that should have brought wonder and excitement. Having recently come from a fairly intense Japanese role-playing game, however, I felt less inclined to take in the beauty of the animations. In many ways, I was too geared for combat, always looking for the next objective. And find it, I did – cutting away at a barrier that barred me from the next environment with its own special brand of fishes.

Exploring and unlocking each temple drove me through the fairly short game. Whereas the game actively promoted meditation and taking one’s time, I still felt very compelled to do as much as I could in as short a time as I could – rapidly deducing where I needed to go and what things I needed to uncover to discover the secrets behind the ancient Sumerian inspired civilisation I found myself in and the great white shark that seemed hellbent on getting in my way.

Only later, did I realise that the great white shark was not my enemy. But an ally. And it was the ancient civilisation’s huge triangle machines that served as an impediment to my esoteric quest. By game’s end, destroying the hovering upside down pyramids was a cathartic experience. Especially when mother nature blossomed from the desiccated corpse of the huge machinery. Go one for team Mother Nature!

There was one other thing I noted when playing Abzu. And that was the more I played, the more I realised that I needed to stop thinking of the game as I did most others. This wasn’t a collect everything as you went by. It wasn’t a galore of side quests. In simpler terms, it was a piece of art. To be given the time needed to appreciate and savour each small moment. Unlike many of the other games I play, this was an experience where I ought to slow down and really take stock of how much the developers have put into the world to make it seem as authentic as possible while also delivering gameplay mechanics to draw in the curious.

True, many might call it a swimming simulator, but Abzu is much more than that. As I look back on it, I’m often reminded of the rare few times I’ve enjoyed at aquariums – particularly the big room with one massive wall dedicated to showing a plethora of sea life going on with their lives in a huge exhibit to resemble their true environment. I know many a people that could sit there for hours and not get bored. Abzu catches that feeling and makes it more tangible by allowing players to grab hold or move the camera from fish to fish.

Honestly, mix in some David Attenborough narration and it’ll seem like an actual documentary. 

My only regret is that I didn’t take the time to truly appreciate it for what it was before the credits rolled and I moved on to other flashier games.