Lost in Blue 2 DS Review

Imagine a disaster of the greatest variety. Traveling across the seas on an elaborate school trip, the cruise ship you're on mysteriously begins taking on water. In panic you have the time to grab one thing, and obviously your Nintendo DS is the first thing that comes to mind. The water rushes in and with it consciousness rushes out. You wake to the sound of seagulls and open your eyes to a scuttling crustacean. He seems busy. You're on a deserted island, but thank goodness you've remembered your DS. For a moment you think you should have gone for the cellphone or flare gun. "Poppycock," you say, and open your DS case hoping all is dry and in working order. Immediately, you face more fear than the sinking of a cruise ship could ever have instilled. There's only one game rattling around in the case. It's Lost in Blue 2. You're in trouble.

It shouldn't take gamers too long to realize why Sonic doesn't need to eat. That sort of realism, it just isn't fun. To an extent it could add something to gameplay, but Lost in Blue 2 is relentless. The characters need to eat and drink so often that it is almost literally impossible to gather enough food to actually stifle their hunger, and the food gathered adds a measly almost insignificant bonus to their hunger meter. It is possible to overcome this, but it's definitely never enjoyable.

Lost in Blue 2 clearly fails at delivering the point of most games: fun. If anything, at least the game succeeds in looking good while not being very enjoyable. The 3D visuals are admirable for the DS, and you'll get the opportunity to see lots of different animals and objects, most in the cooking minigame, which in reality isn't much of a minigame at all. Cooking is like the actual game, and exploration and everything else are the minigame.

It's a damn shame too, because exploration is where Lost in Blue 2 excels. Exploring the island is the most enjoyable aspect of the game. It channels other lonely, solitary game experiences like Myst, and the subsequent feeling is haunting and fantastic. It could have been even more so if the sinking of the original ship was more of a mystery. As it propels, the story doesn't ever really deliver. Instead of propelling the storyline the game says, "That's a silly idea. Now look, your hunger meter is dropping. Better get some food."

There could be, in some way, a niche market that finds the grueling experience that is Lost in Blue 2 enjoyable. Diehard survivalists or the kind-of too old Boy Scouts with a seriously concerning collection of Merit Badges could be right at home with this game. Or maybe not, there's always that girl/relationship element in there, and I hear these guys are scared of those strange girls. Their strange smells and strange breast things tend to freak them out and make them lose their focus on the kindling and rabbit traps. Yeah, I lose focus too guys, nothing to worry about.