Abzu, which I played on the PS4, is easily the most beautiful game I've ever played. The visuals are, frankly, perfect. They're stylized, with a sort of art deco look to the fish, so they don't suffer from the uncanny valley, and, from what I could tell there were no issues with frame rate or slowdown no matter how many fish are on screen at once (And at times there are thousands) creating a smooth, well-animated, well-lit, gorgeous experience. Add in what has to be one of my favorite soundtracks of all time, and you get a game that, in my opinion, sets the standard for the current generation. I didn't boot up this game expecting to be blown away (reviews have been good but not spectacular) but I finished it in one sitting and I can honestly say that, visually at least, there isn't a single wrong step.

That's not to say it's a perfect game. It has very limited gameplay; just some items to collect and some switches you have to hit (in such a basic manner I wouldn't even call them puzzles.) The controls are pretty good but sometimes the grab fish button is a little finicky, and there are a couple parts that drag along a little too long, which is tough in a game where the aesthetics are basically everything.

That being said, if the idea of a chill underwater exploration game appeals to you at all, or you just like amazing aesthetics, I can't recommend this game enough. Something like Uncharted 4 might be more technically impressive, but it's always going to suffer from being not quite as detailed as the realistic images it is trying to portray, and as technology advances and leaves the PS4 behind. Abzu won't age in the same way because it serves its style perfectly. It will be just as gorgeous in 30 years as it is now (though maybe less impressive.)

Also, I would love to see a version of Abzu for VR. I want to be in that gorgeous world, maybe more than any video game world I've ever seen.

PART II

The comparisons between Abzu and Journey and Flower are pretty obvious, and I don't think I need to go into those. I would like to compare Abzu to another game that came out recently, though.

Inside.

Please do not read further if you don't want spoilers.

I certainly didn't see a connection between Abzu and Inside when I first started playing. Inside has an oppressive atmosphere and is 2D, while Abzu is very laid back and full 3D. As I played and got deeper, however, the connection grew. Both games feature a lone character with no offensive capabilities going deeper and deeper into an environment. Both feature spectacular aesthetics. Both feature relatively light puzzle solving, though Inside's are much more complex and difficult than Abzu's, and both are more about seeing what's next than the gameplay per se. Both have collectibles. Both have you uncovering weird and kind of disturbing technology as you go deeper (and in fact there is imagery in Inside that reminds me of Abzu's alien pyramid thingees.) Both have moments when you travel inside a foreboding alien structure. Both feature weird transformations (Inside into the blob thing, Abzu when you are revealed to be some kind of robot.) Both have parts where you seem to die but wake up underwater and can continue. Both have endings where you smash a bunch of stuff, including things that were once threatening, and semi-loop back to where you started.

Now obviously these games have a lot of differences too, but I couldn't help thinking of Inside over and over again as I played through Abzu, and they are both short, satisfying, experiences for $20. It's interesting to me how two games that clearly set out to do completely different things can end up converging in so many ways.

One more similarity. I loved both games.