With a lack of dialogue and a largely symbolic cast, what do you take from this game?Īfter playing Abzu three times, I realize that its meaning is way more important (and simple) than that. I've only played this a single time and with such a short playtime I intend to play it once more to reinforce my ideas or see if they don't hold up. With ocean acidification increasing, water temperatures rising, and methane sheets leaking into ecosystems, Abzu shows us what beauty under the surface is being lost.
#ABZU SHARK PC#
The other being that the PC and Shark Jesus both died with the PC sacrificing itself to briefly return some life to the ocean before it is again stomped out by the demands of industry.ĭespite the games beautiful art design, the setting shows the ugly state of the real world's oceans which is much less hopeful and much less open for redemption. One in which the PC having regained a spiritual connection to other life, singlehandedly destroys the factory producing harmful machinery. I guess Abzu presents two interpretations of the ending. I don't really know if the end sequence was an illusion upon death, with our robot fully sacrificing itself to bring life back to the physical temple, or if the spirit shark was merely a visual metaphor for some new power our PC gained to destroy the Triangle of Doom. It follows the same level structure as Journey almost exactly with an Apotheosis level with our revived spirit shark. I don't know that Abzu claims industrialization can only be destructive and produce land mines/weapons as our character and our drone friends seem to coexist quite well with ocean life while coming from the same system. We lead the robot on a quest of redemption as we lend it's own power source back to the environment so that life can flourish.
The mass extraction of this energy was what destroyed so much of the environment. The PC, along with the other creations of the old culture, is a robot/creature imbued with the Blue Energy that via murals we see was extracted from the ocean. Not only does the game celebrate the dense variety of ocean life and the wonder of exploring that world with it's gameplay, the narrative is about a culture whose industrialization devastated the very environment that fueled it's technology. I'm sure it would be helpful particularly to those that haven't played the previous games from thatgamecompany.While similar to Journey's narrative regarding resource depletion and the social decay that accompanies it, I feel Abzu is much more direct in it's environmentalism.
#ABZU SHARK HOW TO#
I do wish though that the guide would be CLEARER on how to find out which ones you're missing by pointing out (mentioning) the purpose/existence of these walls. The collection display can pinpoint exactly the ones you are missing and which chapter they can be found.Īs what the guide says, you can QUIT after finding the collectible and of course carry on via chapter-select.
Some might get lost on trying to find out which of the collectibles they are actually missing, and this overview can prevent a complete replay of the game just to complete them as you follow a video guide. This post is for those that haven't played Journey since this game had heavily influenced Abzu in a lot of ways. I would presume that a missing fish pool would leave a blank "ancient painting" on the wall. Same goes with the hidden fish pools, though in this picture I have found every one of them already. (10:44) Hidden Pools №9 "Scalloped Hammerhead" (04:01) Hidden Pools №4 "Leatherback Sea Turtle"
(00:54) Hidden Pools №2 "Hawksbill Sea Turtle"