The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is an interesting 2D release on PS4 you should check out. Find out why in our The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human review!
After the water rose on Earth by an unpredictable amount due to a huge climate change, the entire surface of the planet ended up freezing over, which forces humans to live underwater to carry on with life, harvesting energy as needed and growing new food sources. But by the year 2917, resources began to dwindle, which is why sub-aquatic spaceships were sent to a growing wormhole to try and find new planets to inhabit. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned, and you’ve returned to Earth thousands of years after this situation.
As you start to explore the facilities that have been left behind, you find holo-tapes you can access by pressing the X button to learn some valuable information on what has happened, and when. At first you will be exploring a couple of areas with no hazards and no enemies that can hurt you, but you will quickly find the first big and nasty thing to watch out for: claws that will do some serious damage to your ship’s hull if you get too close. And right after that? Sewage pipes that are leaking dangerous chemicals into the water.
If you press the Options button on your DualShock 4 you will get to access the pause menu from which you can check your map. Unlike the more detailed map you can look at on the upper right corner of the screen as you play the game, the map in the pause menu is more rudimentary, showing only rectangles for each area. Blaack ones are for where you can go and blue ones mark where you have been. You can also check which square you are on by looking for the sub icon as well as for the yellow edge on said square. On top of this, you will get to see which area is a boss room and which area has a save station where you’ll be able to save your progress. They will also work as quick travel stations, so be sure to unlock as many as you can!
What can you do with your exploration ship to stay alive in this harsh environment? Find a ship upgrade to gain access to a lower harpoon! You can fire this with the R2 button, and you can hold down the button to charge your attack, so that the harpoon can travel longer distances. The harpoon is not only useful for damaging enemies below you, since it can also be used for pressing buttons to open up new paths in the game. You can aim the harpoon with the right analog stick, which is why you fire it with the R2 button and not with a face button.
And once you use the harpoon to open a door in the next area, you will run into your first boss: a huge worm that can destroy you in an instant if you are foolish enough to get in his way. You will need to charge up your harpoon so that you can shoot at it from a safe distance since it’s a very quick and nimble worm for something of its size. You will need to hit it dozens of times before you can kill it and move forward with your adventure. It will sometimes shoot smaller worms at you, so you should always be on the move and trust your instincts.
Kill the giant worm and you will get your first creature to mark out of your list, as well as your first trophy. Speaking of trophies, the game includes a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy, and its objectives have a lot to do with killing things. You’ll get trophies for killing the octopus, the anglerfish, the hammerheads, the gross parasite, the lobster, the bloodray, the ironjelly, or killing the flower. There’s also a trophy for killing 100 fish, for reading all the holo-tapes, for completing the game, for unlocking hardcore mode and for completing the game in hardcore mode.
As you explore each area you might also find upgrade crates floating in the ocean. These crates are very important since once you collect them you will receive a boost to your stats. There are 26 upgrades in total, and they can give you an upgrade for your hull, upgrading the speed at which your hull is repaired, or for increasing the speed at which your harpoon attack charges up. You’ll also get new things added to your ship such as, for instance, a saw you can switch to by using the L1 or R1 buttons to cycle through your options, or which you can activate directly with the Triangle button to cut through any seaweed that is blocking your way. There are more items to find, but I’ll let you collect them on your own!
The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is an interesting minimalist 2D Metroidvania that favors exploration for most of its gameplay loop while also throwing some bosses at you here and there at a steady pace. It’s the right length as to not overstay its welcome, and is a game on PlayStation 4 you should check out.
Disclaimer
This The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by Digerati.
