Endless Ocean 2

I'll be honest. Japan and marine wildlife is not something that goes well together. Japan is one of the very few nations who believe it is entirely justified to hunt whales, massively over-fish and abuse life beneath the surface. I can never agree with this even in my worst nightmares. With the documentary The Cove fresh in mind, it feels wrong to even hold Endless Ocean 2 in my hands. It seems silly to dismiss a game out of hand like that, I know, but the animal friend in me is frustrated with the state of things.

But one should not generalise too much. I decided to give Endless Ocean 2 a shot. And my fears are put to shame. It is a cosy, little Heal the World a'la Michael Jackson-feeling that washes over me when a pastiche song about understanding and that we are oh so small part of what the earth has to offer, interspersed with scenes of endless blue oceans. I was wrong. I feel slightly more sympathetic to Arika's diving simulator when the intro sequences has passed over the screen.

With that out of the way Endless Ocean 2 is a simulation game with a focus on diving and underwater exploration. You control a guy or girl, who is drawn into a mystery that revolves around two necklaces. The story is pretty corny, and you goal is to find out why these necklaces are engraved with a mysterious text. Together with the much younger girl Océane will you search for the answer, and the mystery takes you to places like the South Pole, the slimy waters of the Amazon, the Red Sea and more tropical locations.

Something that strikes me is that Endless Ocean 2 is a very relaxing game. You control your diver with the Wiimote, and the game controls are simple and straightforward. To flop your legs through masses of water is slow and accompanied by soothing sounds of breathing. The game is rewarding, because you can choose how thorough you want to be. Sure, you can look closely at all the fish, crabs and other molluscs to get more info about them, feed them and so on, but you can also flounder on without looking at them and just do what you 'must'.

To dive with hand control has probably never been as straightforward as it is in Endless Ocean 2. Tapping with the Wiimote in the direction you want to travel in, and press the B button to begin the swim while you steering your diver. If you see something you want to check out, add your blinking cursor on the animal or thing in question, and press A. You get into menus to for example use stuff to help sick fish or chase away hungry ones. Smooth and easy.

For those interested in animal life can spend quite some time learning all about the clown fish, hammerhead sharks and humpback whales. It feels nice to be able to take the time if you so desire. What I prefer most is in addition to the relaxing swimming, is to interact with the more or less tame dolphin at the divers' paradise-like places. To learn the dolphin tricks and to get it to come along on some of the diving expeditions is a nice feature. Overall, Endless Ocean 2 delivers a relaxed and cosy experience, although the graphics fail to impress. Or rather, the many sea animals look great and move nicely, while the human characters look really stiff and boring.

I get a little feeling that Endless Ocean 2 is a great game you can play when you don't really want to play something intense, and don't really feel like watching television. One can only hope that this game, despite it's laidback approach, inspires people to think of what we are doing to the marine wildlife. Perhaps the best thing about the whole game is that Arika seems to have taken a very admirable position with regards to the subject matter.