Endless Ocean Blue World Soundtrack
Hebe Newnam
In Endless Ocean, the player plays as a scuba diver exploring the Manaurai sea,[Note 1] a fictional sea in the South Pacific, in search of sea life and sunken treasure[7] under the guidance of their assistant, Katherine Sunday.[8] In the sea, they will encounter several marine species, ranging from smaller fish and penguins to whale sharks, manta rays and sperm whales, as well as dolphins and other cetaceans that can be trained to perform certain behaviors and become companions. Species such as sharks are also present; however, they pose no threat to the player. The player also has access to a large aquarium, which they can populate with species they have identified. The sea's various locations provide a means for the player to experience diving, cave diving, deep-water trench exploration, wreck diving, and other activities that might not otherwise be possible in a single real-world setting.
Late in the game, Katherine tells the player that in the past, her father set out in search of a unique whale called the White Mother, but never returned. The player and Katherine set out to find the White Mother, which entails seeking out the four types of whales present in the game, humpback whale, North Atlantic right whale, sperm whale, and blue whale, and placing motion sensors on different points of the map. Eventually, one of the sensors is set off, and the player witnesses the White Mother, a large albino blue whale, as Katherine remembers her father.
The song "Prayer", composed by Secret Garden and performed by Hayley Westenra, is featured in the game and its trailers. Westenra also contributes several other songs, including a rendition of the Maori folk song "Pokarekare Ana".[9] Players can transfer their MP3 music files to an SD card and listen to them while playing.[10] Endless Ocean is the second game on the Wii to use this feature, the first being Excite Truck.
The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[11] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 10/10, 8/10, 9/10, and 8/10 for a total of 35 out of 40, praising the open-ended exploration aspect of the game, the scale of the play area and its soundtrack.[15][24]
On August 10, 2007, Nintendo issued a product recall in Japan after a major bug was found in copies of the game,[26] later re-releasing the game in Japan with the bug removed. The bug caused the screen to go blank and caused the console to freeze when the player put one or more bowmouth guitarfish into the aquarium, which did not affect the exploration mode.
Of course, a game will never capture the true beauty of the real thing, but it is a good way for those who can not go themselves to simulate the experience and have an adventure. Whenever there is a new game that explores the ocean floors, I am absolutely on board. Throughout the years, three console games in particular caught my attention.
The first one (or should I say two as there are two games in the series) is Endless Ocean (and Endless Ocean 2: Blue World). I found these games by chance in my high school years and was immediately drawn in as this was my first diving simulation experience. The first game was fine and I beat it with ease, having a simple storyline and one large open-world area. The second game, however, was the much superior game, having an extensive story, multiple areas, mini-games galore, and a plethora of creatures to interact with.
Abzu is very unique in terms of story. There is no dialogue and leaves room for many different interpretations of what is going on. To put it as best as I can, you are a diver who awakens in the sea. Upon exploring, guided by a Great White Shark, the diver discovers wells that help restore the ocean life and protect it from the strange pyramids found in the sea.
Lastly, Beyond Blue is about a small team of marine researchers. You take the role of Marai, a young woman with a deep connection with a particular pod of sperm whales. You explore the regions, scanning and tagging animals for research when you find out some shady things are going on in the depths. The safety of the beloved pod is at stake and Marai is out to find out why.
Abz was probably the world I was most immersed in. The vivid color schemes each representative of the season and the areas in which you were exploring stood out beautifully. There were certain points in the game where the score would really pick up as you were having a special moment, whether it be swimming with a pod of orcas, joining a group of blue whales on a hunting dive, or reuniting with an old friend. The emotion you were meant to feel during these moments were amplified by the amazing soundtrack. The interactivity in this world was solid as well. The seaweed moves with you, the animals go about their business until interacted with; just details like that make a huge difference.
My other issue with the immersion in this game is just like Beyond Blue where you get music at some points, usually when coming across a key location or special creature, but most diving time is spent in silence. This would happen in Endless Ocean 1 as well, but they actually gave you the option to turn on the games unlocked songs or allow you to download your own music to play while diving. In 2, they have such lovely new age classical songs that fit certain areas perfectly, mostly be provided by the Celtic Women, and inside areas like the Valka Castle where this music is being played on a loop, I feel it provides importance and, again, calms the nerves.
Each game is filled with critters to encounter (it would be kind of weird to have an ocean game without them). There are certain animals seen in each game, as mentioned earlier, a few more including orcas, whale sharks, parrotfish, and sunfish. As well as animals, there are sometimes other human beings to interact with as well!
Beyond Blue has the smallest catalog of animals, and it was rather disappointing considering how much time and effort they put into making these animals so lifelike. Granted, they chose some of the more popular animals to put into the game, but it still felt like a rather empty world compared to the other two games.
I definitely favor Abz and Endless Ocean over Beyond Blue. Compared to the two, the game was a little lack-luster. Does this mean I hate it? Not at all. It was still very enjoyable for me. I just saw so much potential for this game and I feel like it fell short of those expectations. Seeing how much the previous two games had offered in 2016 [Abzu] and 2009 [Endless Ocean 2], I felt as though a game from 2020 should improve and build off of these two fantastic games.
The creature pages are currently all being updated so the new Endless Ocean Luminous information can be added. In the meantime, some pages might be broken but they are being fixed so check back soon!
The game builds upon its predecessor in many ways, adding many new stages in locations across the world, as well as including updated graphics, a new soundtrack featuring original music and a score by Celtic Woman, new species of creatures, and a much larger overall gameplay experience with dozens of side-quests and hundreds of items to collect.
Endless Ocean 2 has a total of six different stages to dive in, along with six sub-stages, making for twelve locales in total. Each stage is located on a different continent, reflective of the "world-tour" theming of the game mentioned in the developer interview. These stages are:
Another location, Nineball Island, acts as the player's main hub through which they can access the game's other stages, as well as train their dolphin partners, read the marine encyclopedia, and view quests and collectibles.
After you complete your divers' looks, Oceana Louvier, Jean-Eric's granddaughter who was also on the boat in the prologue, arrives on her jet-ski, to see what you have to offer in the department of diving. You start diving in Gatama Atoll's Atoll Gate, where upon leaving, you find a stray Humpback Whale calf. While Oceana panics about what to do, you tell her that you should guide it back to its mother. Oceana calms down and states that the mother should be near the Spring Garden area.
After reuniting the calf with its mother, Oceana drops the pendant that her father gave to her. It makes an eerie sound and the mother humpback whale charges at you, but you dodge it without getting harmed. After successfully resurfacing, Oceana tells you how she lost the other half of the pendant years ago at Deep Hole; however, Jean-Eric tells her not to go. Disregarding her father's warnings, she decides to go by herself and find the other half of the pendant early the next morning. Jean-Eric gives you the Pulsar, a tool that can calm aggressive animals and heal sick creatures, since there's a chance that a tiger shark is in the area.
After calming down the shark with the pulsar, it leaves and Oceana is revealed to be safe. You find the pendant at the bottom, and return to the boat. After getting a stern scolding from Jean-Eric, you and Ocean merge the two pendants, and a mysterious verse is found engraved into the two parts, reading:
The mysterious verse you found on Oceana's pendant hints towards Valka Castle, a long-lost castle rumored to have sunk around Ciceros Strait many years ago. You travel to Ciceros Strait in search of the castle, and when you get there, you're introduced to Gaston Gray (also known as Gary Gray), more commonly referred to as GG. GG is a famous American salvager who has also caught wind of the Valka Castle mystery and is out to get the treasure for himself and boost his popularity. Your team and GG agree to a competition to find the castle first, where the loser must either eat a sea slug or scrub the underside of L&L's boat with a toothbrush, and GG swims away. Jean-Eric gives you a tool called the Multisensor, used for discovering treasures and rocks, to aide you in finding the castle. You dive around and explore Ciceros Strait.
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