Submerged: Hidden Depths Review (PC)

I push the small two-person boat towards a pod of dolphins, who scatter quickly, before reaching an anchoring point. Now, I plan to start moving through a pretty vertical ruin, presumably a former skyscraper, admiring the way the Mass has colonized it and thinking of how high I need to go before getting to the orb. The way down is always easier than the way up and, after around 20 minutes of exploration, I slide the energy source into its receptacle. I then watch how the Mass retracts, replaced by greenery. Another bit of narrative unlocks, and I am taken back to base, ready to use a telescope to find the next point to explore.

Submerged: Hidden Depths is developed by Uppercut Games, with the same company also in charge of publishing. I engaged with the title on Steam on the PC, and it is also offered on the Xbox Series and PlayStation 5, as well as older consoles from Sony and Microsoft. This game is focused on exploration and discovery, mixed with an engaging narrative.

The story is built around Miku and Taku. She is the only one in the world that can deal with the Mass without being transformed. He is the brother, willing to accompany the sister on a quest to heal the world and handy when it comes to navigation. The pair is moving through the remnants of our world, which have been assaulted by both the Mass and waves of water.

+4more

Submerged: Hidden Depths is all about exploration and movement. It features no combat and no enemies that you can take down or destroy to improve the world. The only way to affect the environment is to get Miku to certain objects and then place them in receptacles to push back the Mass. To reach this objective, players will need to move through the environment and solve light puzzles.

Maku is pretty athletic, capable of hanging from ledges, traversing gaps, and more. It’s never too hard to see where you need to go or how to get there. The level of complexity increases once you get the orb because it’s hard to deal with big gaps while holding it. The puzzles never become frustrating, but it might take a little time to notice even some clear solutions.

When gamers don’t explore decaying ruins to push back the Mass, they will travel the sea that separates dry land. There’s no difficulty in moving around but the development team tries to make it interesting by adding collectibles, asking players to use a telescope to find points of interest, and delivering some pretty sights.

Play Video

Submerged: Hidden Depths is a game that promotes a focus on exploration but never fully delivers on the idea. Miku cannot jump on her own, only move around preset trails etched into the environment. The environments, while often entertainingly crafted, feel cramped and after getting through a few a player has seen most of what the game has to offer.

It’s satisfying to see the world bloom with color and vegetation, even if the gameplay feels lacking at times. There are tons of items to collect and some very nice images to create using the included photo mode. But the experience starts to lose steam very quickly, with this intriguing world actively begging for a better game to be created around its exploration.

Submerged: Hidden Depths boosts the impact of its gameplay with its presentation. It’s quite thrilling to look through a telescope and to spot new points of interest or to survey the water from the boast, looking for something new to collect. It’s a pleasure to move through the world, interact with it, look at the vestiges of the old world and the way the new one is re-purposing them. There’s enough variety to keep exploration-minded players interested. I like the soundtrack, even if it seems ill-suited to the actual game at times, but the rest of the sound design, especially the made-up language, is underdeveloped.

+4more

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion