Koral

The one thing I always loved about the Ecco the Dolphin series is how it used the ocean to paint a fascinating world that was every bit as mysterious as it was gorgeous. Unfortunately, Sega's underwater franchise was also a bit hard to control and littered with obtuse puzzles. Koral is the brand-new game from Infernium developer Carlos Coronado, and it's basically Ecco the Dolphin without all the stuff people hate about those games. It's a relaxing and deeply personal adventure with stunning graphics that will make you fall in love with the ocean all over again.

Developed on a boat off the coast of Northern Catalonia, Koral is an adventure game that has you taking control of an underwater sea current to solve a series of increasingly complicated puzzles. It's a love letter to the ocean that is clearly made by somebody who is passionate about diving and exploring the mysteries below. And at the very same time, this is a loud warning siren that we can't take the ocean for granted.

As a sea current, you don't have a lot of control over what happens. You can swim around in any direction, but that's about it. The idea is to search the 2D environments for healing energy and then use it to bring life back to the coral reefs. You'll find that certain parts of the ecosystem will require you to collect specific amounts of healing energy, which you'll need to find and unlock in order to solve the puzzle and move on to the next stage.

All this starts out simple, but Koral is quick to shake things up with plants that perform different tasks. Resurrecting some types of coral will make you go faster, which you can use to open gates and discover new parts of the level. You'll also create levers that will move parts of the level and find plants that will send you on a scavenger hunt. The game is good about teaching you the ins and outs of this undersea world without saying a word, instead choosing to use the text to highlight facts and alarming data about Earth's oceans.

Koral is not an action game and there is no combat. This is a relaxing exploration of 15 different ecosystems, each with their own unique look and atmosphere. About the closest the game comes to action is when you run into a plant that wants you to collect six objects in a set amount of time. These race bits are a lot of fun and also offer the most challenge, though I wouldn't call the game difficult. Some of the later puzzles are more involved and require a bunch of different steps, but they are all fairly straight-forward and easy to figure out.

The easy puzzles are disappointing because it can sometimes feel like you're just going through the motions. There are times when you're doing busywork in order to marvel at the next background and swim amongst the incredible sea life. The often peaceful and calming stages are almost meditative at times, so maybe pairing such a relaxing environment with tough-as-nails puzzles may have been too jarring, but each section needs a few more steps and misdirects. I was able to solve each problem in my first attempt, mostly because there weren't any other solutions that made sense.

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Another problem I ran into is how our little sea current can sometimes get stuck inside the backgrounds. This happened more than a few times and in different spots, but the result was always the same -- try to break free from moving around until I give up and restart the stage. The good news is that Koral has a lot of checkpoints, but I'm hoping the developer will be able to squash all of these bugs in a future update.

Of course, the real star of this game is the underwater world Carlos Coronado has created. Everything from the colors to the lighting effects to the fish swimming about sucks you into a breath-taking setting that feels almost alien at times. I love the look of the game and wanted to live in these different ecosystems as long as I could, which is why the brief 90-minute run time is a little disappointing. Much like Ecco the Dolphin a quarter century ago, Koral renewed my interest and appreciation for our incredible oceans.

A mix of puzzle solving and exploration, Koral is an underwater adventure game with beautiful graphics, a relaxing theme and all kinds of sea life to swim around with. Although occasionally heavy-handed in its messaging, this journey sees the player doing everything they can to bring life back to the coral reefs and spread beauty throughout the ocean. And while it's a bit on the short side and the puzzles are often too easy, Koral offers a satisfying adventure that is worth diving into.