There are games that challenge the reflexes and will of the most determined gamer, and then there’s Abzu. Journey art director Matt Nava and his team have created a sort of guided meditation through impossibly lush ocean landscapes for you to enjoy, scored by fellow Journey alumnus Austin Wintory, and it’s really something. If you’ve got a bit of a headache, a slight tension in your back muscles, or you just really appreciate the gentler side of videogames, come and watch Joel and Phil play Abzu’s opening.
Looking for something completely different? Try these breakneck-paced, bloodsoaked FPS games.
The game’s introductory few minutes take your nameless diver through more swathes of beautiful colours than any ocean has any business hosting. The plant life sways lazily in the currents. Fish scatter about, reacting to your movements and occasionally falling in behind you.
Larger sea life appears too, sometimes willing to let you hitch a ride. It’s open-ended, player-directed gameplay that bears a lot of Journey in it. Which is great news for Joel and Phil, because it means there’s very little for them to mess up (see the pair’s disastrous Hitman Elusive Target Let’s Play for more on that).
If you like what you see here, you’ll be happy to know that a) Abzu is out August 2 and b) we do many more of these Let’s Play thingies over on the PCGamesN YouTube channel.