Submerged: Hidden Depths is a self-described "relaxploration" game, ing the company of similar games such as ABZÛ. Hidden Depths is the sequel to 2015's Submerged, in which developers Uppercut Games first introduced the mysterious sunken world and its inhabitants. Like the first game, it is focus on non-combative exploration and piecing together the story of Miku and her brother Taku. While Hidden Depths gives a huge graphical its mysterious sunken world, it doesn't fix the pitfalls of the first game and the result is an experience that is confusing.
Similar non-combat adventure games, such as Journey, give players a sense of freedom and autonomy to explore, solve puzzles, and play with the world they're placed in. Hidden Depths struggles with this, as it manages to provide and remove autonomy simultaneously. Players can freely sail around and explore the aquatic open world in a boat that is a joy to control, whereas the platforming side of exploration is mostly out of the player's control. In order to climb, shimmy, or jump, players just hold forward on the left joystick with no option to assign actions to individual buttons.
This alone is a big hit to engagement, as the player doesn't feel like they're really making any decisions or engaging with the world in a creative way. It is important to acknowledge that this is great in of accessibility, and it truly is, but making this an option rather than the standard would benefit Hidden Depths and its current lack of accessibility options. What makes this lack of autonomy even more frustrating is the unclear and unengaging story being told around it.
To start, it's unclear just how connected this is to the first game because Miku and Taku are seemingly being presented as different characters entirely. Taku's past injury is referenced, but Miku is suddenly "cursed with a mysterious power" that isn't well explained. Removing the context of being a sequel, the story is still unclear, but the way Miku's power interacts with the world is incredibly interesting and can be explored so much more.
Submerged: Hidden Depths struggles to keep the players attention or emotional investment, despite its genuinely stunning world. It entices players to explore, only to provide little challenge, substance, or creativity; and the reward for completing each area isn't really worth it since it's just vague exposition that requires additional journals to flesh out. Ultimately, this polarizing style of storytelling and gameplay is exactly what some players want, such as the first game's dedicated fanbase, but it will likely struggle to draw in and retain a larger community that may want something with a bit more substance.
Submerged: Hidden Depths is coming soon to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Stadia. Screen Rant was provided with a PlayStation 5 code for the purpose of this preview.