With releases like Journey and Abzü we have seen a new adventure genre emerging. A genre in which the actual gameplay isn’t as important. It’s all about the atmosphere and the soothing experience you have traveling the game world. Koral by developer Carlos Coronado fits in perfectly amongst those previously mentioned games.
On a boat
Koral is a love letter to the ocean. Inspired by scuba diving, Carlos Coronado set out to make the ultimate homage to the sea. Making the underwater world look truly breathtaking wasn’t done by accident. Carlos Coronado hired a small team to develop what would become Koral, on a boat in the ocean. You’ve read that right, Koral was made on a boat to ensure the connection with their main subject, the ocean. Scenes you’ll encounter during Koral, came from the experiences the team had while scuba-diving. You heard about method acting, well this could be named method developing I guess.
Sea current
In Koral you only use a joystick to navigate a sea current through different parts of the ocean. Along the way you’ll encounter some blockades in the form of plant life or polluted water. Figuring out how to get by these obstacles is the main game element in the experience. Gathering energy while invigorating the coral reef will help you along the way towards the next part. Each level of the ocean introduces a new game mechanic which helps with keeping each journey fresh. How to work out each level is never explained and the figuring out is all part of the experience.
Multi-layered
Koral uses all 2D made textures layered on top of each other to create an immensely satisfying looking world. The addition of great lighting and perfectly placed particle effects really helps the immersion this game needs. Adding schools of fishes, sharks, turtles, and other aquatic wildlife in addition to the sad look of floating plastic gives the world a defined character. Flowing around and solving the puzzles presented, all result in an explosion of color which felt strangely fulfilling.
Soothing soundtrack
Games like these benefit greatly with the right audio. Koral’s soundtrack sets the scene just right. The soothing minor piano chords alternating with some uplifting music when you get caught in a strong current were one with the visuals. The rhythms used during different scenes fit the metre of the game perfectly. The muffled ocean sounds, felt genuine enough. All these factors added immensely to the immersion factor.
Educational
Koral is all about the soothing atmospheric experience. On the other hand, making a love letter to the ocean wouldn’t feel nice if you didn’t want to address the elephant in the room. How we treat the ocean can be much improved. During gameplay, the hints of man’s involvement in messing with the ocean are hinted. The floating plastic mentioned earlier is pretty obvious in that respect. More things will pop up during your time playing Koral. Next, to these subtle hints, the game hides collectibles which are snippets of information about the ocean. These were very informative to me.
Conclusion
Koral is a three-hour experience you’ll likely never had with any video game. Carlos Coronada set out to make something truly unique and fully succeeded. Calm yourselves down like the ocean with Koral.
