
In Other Waters is not an easy sell. A game where you explore the vast expanse of an alien sea? Sounds awesome, right? Something like 2016's Abzu, or the Wii's Endless Ocean series would be perfect for the Switch. Imagine that sense of freedom, the spectacle of magnificent aquatic creature drifting past you in such an unknowable enormity, the underwater void.
Yeah, there's none of that here. Not really. You spend the entirety of In Other Waters looking at what amounts to a nautical map of said alien ocean, viewed through an in-universe device that displays the interface with which you control AI inhabiting a powered exoskeleton, which in turn is being worn by biologist Ellery Vas. Together you'll search this enormous abyss, in search of Dr Vas' missing partner.
Graphically, though? It's only ever this interface – a two, three colour readout of the ocean's topography with readouts showing the names of entities, obstacles and locations you find. As you explore, Ellery describes what she sees to you in text, which also displays as part of this in-universe UI. It works beautifully on the Switch in handheld mode – it feels like you are yourself holding an object expressly designed for the purpose it's serving, a brilliantly absorbing touch that draws you into the game cleverly. The effect is rather lost when played on the Switch dock with a traditional controller, but to the game's credit, it's still fun like this.

The somewhat finicky and leaden controls are actually a positive thing here – this far-from-intuitive little device you're operating must be learned. Soon enough though, taking samples of undersea life and later using them to open pathways will become second nature. Pressing L to get to the samples menu, rotating the left stick until you're in position, then pressing up and down on the Joy-Con's D-pad is definitely unusual, but it's tactile and satisfying when it clicks.
Movement is similar – everything on the map is represented by functionally abstract symbols, some of which are waypoints you can move to. The loop is, basically, hitting the B button to scan your surroundings (illuminating any wildlife, waypoints or other objects), holding the right analogue stick towards them to scan them (making them accessible), then hitting X to return to the travelling interface, angling the left stick towards the new waypoint, then hitting A to travel. Repeat effectively forever.
This sounds bad, we know. But it's not. The series of cumbersome actions contribute to the distant, alien feel of the game, creating an extremely atmospheric sensation and enhancing the thoughtful, meditative feel that In Other Waters seems to be going for. The controls will become second nature – you can toggle them on-and-off screen anytime – but the actual meat-and-potatoes movement will never feel smooth. And it's not supposed to.

As you play, you'll receive transmissions from Dr Vas, asking questions you – being an AI – can only respond to with a yes or no. She'll catalogue your findings, describing the ocean surroundings to you with effective, well-written prose; it's akin to a visual novel in some ways, but the game we find it most resembles is the brilliant mobile game Lifeline. There are barely any graphics to speak of (though the readout is far from unattractive), but the words are the real star here, creating this ethereal, unseen world in your head through clever, careful description. It's all rather wonderful.
It is a little strange, then, that there are performance hiccups when In Other Waters is played docked. It's definitely generating a lot of information for the player to discover, but when the game looks as simple as it does we were surprised at the framerate hitches and laggy movement. You could argue that this could represent the AI operating system's poor performance, but we get the impression that isn't the case. Surprisingly, we didn't notice any such problems in handheld mode. The game is best played undocked anyway, but it would be dishonest to pretend this wasn't an issue.

The beautiful electronic soundtrack by Amos Roddy draws you even further into the (lack of) action, enhancing the more dramatic beats of the slow-burn plot while providing an absorbing, chilled-out backdrop to your journey of discovery. It melds beautifully with the drip-feed storytelling and sci-fi workstation graphics to create an ambience quite unlike any other.
Conclusion
A very pleasant surprise indeed, In Other Waters is a bit of a minimalist masterpiece that you'll often want to dip into for a more contemplative experience than the majority of the Switch's library. It has found a perfect home on the handheld, the form factor of which massively works in the favour of the game's mood and atmosphere to create an exceptional and unique experience. What you're getting here is a story that you're an integral part of, and it's one of the coolest, cleverest games we've played in a long time. An absolutely first-class effort.
Comments 35
This one wasn't on my radar but it is now. Sounds quite interesting. On the wish list it goes.
This is an indie that I am actually interested in. It's different and doing something that I haven't seen before.
Been super tempted to grab it, but I'm so swamped. Wishlisted it for now. It's high on my list though. So much about this appeals to me.
Interesting! I remember when I first saw the Switch trailer, I was incredibly underwhelmed with the gameplay, but the soundtrack was cool.
I'm really enjoying this game. Meditative is definitely the right word.
How long is the game, roughly? Anyone know?
This sounds so rad.
I was so stoked to see you credit the composer! Thank you! I’ve known Amos for nearly 20 years now. Such a great person and a very talented musician. So touched to see his work reaching more audiences. Can’t wait to dive in to this!
"a brilliantly absorbing touch"
No, quite the contrary. Drab, boring and a total disappointment for those hoping for something along the lines of the brilliant Endless Ocean or Abzu. It's such a HUGE missed opportunity that you never get to see the supposedly "beautiful, alien oceans" that are mentioned in the description of the game. So, going by the ONLY thing you actually can see in the entirety of the game, those boring, never changing meters, it might just as well be the most polluted sea in the known universe...
Honestly, this should earn no more than a 4, maybe a 5 for the soundtrack, the only redeeming feature of the entire game.
Other than that, this is a MASSIVE disappointment, and only interesting for those who like to stare at uber-boring gauges and meters all the time...
Sounds as dull as dishwater
Haven’t heard of this one but I’m intrigued. Probably on a sale though. I have felt genuine fear and terror in only one game before and that is endless ocean! There was one point where you have to dive deeper through a crack in the ocean floor and it was pitch black. I was immersed in the moment of the unknown.x x x x x x x
Just bought it due to this review. I like old text adventures and exploring. I think this might be a real winner. Thanks. Never heard of this before.
Will definitely pick this up in the future, my backlog can’t handle any more!!
I swear if I don’t clock at least 3 games in this isolation I’ll be gutted haha
Looks like my kinda game. Will definitely keep an eye out for this....
Excellent review, and I absolutely concur with the verdict. A minimalist masterpiece indeed and an early runner for my indie of the year. Yup, that good!
@ThanosReXXX Oh, have you played it then?
@ThanosReXXX So you think that it should be scored lower because it isn't what you thought it would be, or should be? Apart from the obvious egocentrism it would be poor criticism to judge a work on any criterion other than what it's trying to do.
@Dragonslacker1 would love another endless ocean game. 2nd one was amazing.
Heard about this last week in the NVC podcast and was like “what game?” because the guy was saying how great it was and none of the other hosts seemed to have heard of it before either! So I looked it up and was interested... and now this 9/10 review!?
Very cool.
Will pick this up on sale...
A nice relaxing game but to play it through a map all the time feels less exciting to me. It's like playing Doom 64 but instead of playing it through the first person view, you play it looking at the map screen all the time. Might check it out once that $15 price tag turns into a $5 or less.
@The_Pixel_King Yes, I have, on PC. And despite the decent musical score, it wasn't able to hold my attention for long. I went into it, expecting an underwater adventure like the titles mentioned, but found out it was more like a diving sonar simulation.
@PanurgeJr You make it sound as if reviewers don't have an opinion either. He said the handheld experience was a "a brilliantly absorbing touch". Doesn't sound very impartial either...
@graysoncharles Yup. Played it, and didn't like it. At all. I was looking for an Endless Ocean experience, but got an accountant's version of an undersea adventure instead: only text and numbers...
In all fairness, I do appreciate developers trying to offer something new, but they should have at least let the description reflect that, and not imply that you're going to be visiting "beautiful, alien oceans" while all you ever do is watching an arrow on a sonar screen.
@nimnio Well, this review isn't part of the official description and promotional text of the game, so that's all after the fact.
The game itself describes visiting beautiful alien oceans and coming across all kinds of wonderful creatures. Well, all of them are just dots on a screen, and the "beautiful alien ocean" is just a map, so no small wonder that people who are trying to fill the gap of having another great underwater game will be disappointed.
I still know nothing about the game after reading this review :/
@ThanosReXXX "I went into it, expecting an underwater adventure like the titles mentioned, but found out it was more like a diving sonar simulation."
But it is a diving sonar simulation and I could clearly understand it from its trailer video and screenshots. That's why I haven't bought it yet, only added to my wish list.
@ThanosReXXX Ah, the old trick of claiming opinion in an attempt to justify a belief and prevent it from being critiqued. You argued that the game couldn't possibly be a nine because it wasn't the Abzû-esque exploration game you thought it was going to be. There's nothing of opinion in that suggestion. It's a research sim, and if you had said it's a bad game because it's a bad research sim, that would be both opinion and defensible. But you said it was a bad game because it wasn't a diving game, and that is neither.
@neogyo what a wonderful mention. Thanks for acknowledging the composer as well. So many times folks forget the hard work, talent and imagination of the "other" artists involved in video games.
@HappyFuzzy true indeed.
@PanurgeJr I have no need or desire for "prevention of critique". It's just my personal opinion, after having tried it for myself, that the game just isn't for me, and I found it VERY boring and tedious, and yes, the description of the game IS misleading. You can post a hundred screen shots and trailers are quite often not indicative of actual gameplay, so it doesn't really require too much imagination to understand how someone could be tempted by this game, thinking it was indeed something like Endless Ocean or any other game along those lines.
If you don't actually get to see ""beautiful, alien oceans" and "all kinds of wonderful creatures", then it should not be advertised as such. The least they could have done is say "imagine yourself traveling across beautiful, alien oceans and coming all kinds of wonderful creatures" or something along those lines, which would have made it far more clearer at first glance, that this is more of a submarine sim than an actual diving simulator.
But in all fairness, I was too harsh with the numbers. It's just that I was SO disappointed, after having waited so long for something to fill the "Endless Ocean gap" and the reviewer was all waxing lyrical about this to me decidedly dull game, and that triggered me to make that comment.
So, let's just forget about the harsh grades, but my opinion stands. This may be entertaining to some, but it's definitely not for me, and that should be okay. We don't all have to like or enjoy the same games.
I just want to complain about the texts being too small. Why not make it bigger? That is annoying (handheld)
Crap. I don't need more games. But now I need this game. Crap.
@ThanosReXXX it's a shame when that happens. It's great that folks like a game such as this so much. Taking things in a not so usual direction game wise is a benefit for us all even if the game falls short (or way short in your opinion) for some folks. At least a bunch of indy games are on the cheaper side.
When I first saw the trailer for this game, I patiently waited for NintendoLife’s review, just so I could see how far down they put it. But after seeing this review, and all the other great ones, I may check it out. Remember guys, just because a game isn’t what you thought it was, doesn’t mean it’s bad.
@ThanosReXXX but it's not Abzu though, the point of it is manipulating what you can see on the UI. If you want something else buy a different game.
Rubbishing it because it's not the game you expected is just churlish. It's not a missed opportunity because this IS what the game is aiming for, this paradigm.
@Phon Bit of a late reaction there, aye?
Either way, I think I've made my point quite clearly. This game advertises things you'll never get to see as unique selling points for the game, so it isn't weird at all to expect these elements to actually be in the game.
And ultimately, it's my personal opinion, so no need to berate me on that.
And you're entitled to it, and since you wrote it here - I'm also entitled to disagree with it and debate it.
Also I've only had a Switch Lite for a fortnight, so I'm playing catch up.
This review made me buy In Other Waters for Switch. I was aware of the games shortcomings. I was fully aware that I was getting a text adventure with sound. That is what I wanted, that is what I got. Unfortunately, it is a pain to play, because of the ridiculously small text. I had to constantly zoom in. I should have been warned by the screenshots, the smallest text is 6 pixel high, main text is 10 pixel high. A text adventure with text under 1 mm height on Switch!
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