Abzu, trip to the depths of civilization in search of ourselves – The Messenger

There is a video clip that music lovers will remember well: is to Pyramid Song, wonderful first single Amnesiac, Radiohead, dated 2001. A video made entirely on the computer (which then was not very common), that with a minimalist 3D graphics in video game style showed a man, a figure no body nor face, dive into the sea and there, wandering among the ruins of a submerged city, still and dark.

an image poetic and sad, in a ‘ of deep nostalgia atmosphere in which, it is appropriate to say, you will find yourself completely immersed. And it is the same image that brings to mind Abzu, new video game for the PlayStation 4 and PC published by “505 Games” August 2 and developed by “Giant Squid”, Californian indie studio headed by visionary Creative Director Matt Nava and became famous thanks to beautiful Journey, adventure research and exploration that opened a new frontier in the games industry.

as with Journey indeed it is inaccurate to define Abzu a video game: it is rather an experience, intimate and profound (perfect for this torrid August), possibly living in the dark, with a pair of headphones firmly planted on his head and relaxing, without distractions. If Journey catapulted us into a desert of sand and snow, Abzu takes us into another desert: an underwater desert that extends deep, made of water but, unlike Journey, teeming with life. lush vegetation and tens of thousands of marine creatures inhabit this fact underwater world, each with its own lifestyle and behavior, just like those that actually exist in nature. The protagonist of the story, a humanoid with fins and bob but that does not need oxygen tanks (the developers call it “The Diver”, the diver, and say that it is female, although it is entirely irrelevant ), it is not going to look and explore, becoming part of the wonderful ecosystem that surrounds it.
 

What is the purpose of this experience? Understand the purpose. Abzu (which is the combination of two Sumerian words, “Ab”, which means “ocean” and Zu, meaning “to know”, so Abzu is the ocean of wisdom) is a poetic journey through the ruins of a lost civilization looking for something: the origin and history of (or of) the protagonist, but also the sense of what as it turns out, and the strange relationships that are established with the creatures or entities that meet in this magical place, made of whales, sharks, giant squids that you can ride, but also indecipherable machinery, esoteric symbols, hieroglyphs, by which to understand how to proceed.

a mixture of irresistible atmosphere oriental flavor, accompanied by a sensational soundtrack , in which the goal is to enjoy the ride, diving headlong into the vortex created by a school of fish jumping out of the water with the dolphins and waving through the vegetation or contemplating and observing the peace of the world in which we are located. A world that is also able to be threatening, dangerous and hostile traits, because that’s part of the journey. Soon we realize, however, that the evil never comes from wildlife that is around it, which in fact helps make everything more exciting and behold that a white shark, the most feared among the inhabitants of the sea, becomes a trusted friend to rely on.

in Abzu not talking, there is no need: the sea is a place where the interaction is only made up of movement and instinct, in some ways the opposite of that for which we, with our ubiquitous (and often empty) communication, we are accustomed. Probably this is what happens in this dimension it is perceived as something very personal: we choose when and how fast to proceed, give us an interpretation of what we see, the identity of the protagonist and his purpose . We decide if, when finished, start from scratch making everything completely different. We are, in short, to choose what to go looking if a lost memory, friendship or simply found ourselves. But to do so, we must have the courage to jump.

andrea.andrei@ilmessaggero.it

 Twitter: @andreaandrei _