I love puzzle games and problem solving BUT, with no clue how to do the tasks or not knowing what you need to fix a simple leak in a pipe while you burn thru 5 oxygen bottles (brief example) ... I just finally quit. I don't want my hand held but leaving you with no clue is just a waste of time. Also, the CONSTANTLY turning a wheel with rotating the left thumbstick is going to ruin your left controller module and cause stick drift, it's already ruined my KontrolFreek Precision Rings (and they aren't cheap). Good idea executed badly ... I can't recommend ... just pure drudgery!
Just sad, as a 15 year ex-scuba diver ... I had high hopes for this game.

2/10

Love this game. The atmosphere is amazing, the score is as if Vangelis did an OST for a Jacques Cousteau documentary. Exploration is very cool, you can traverse the ocean in your submarine, then get out and dive at any time you want to explore tighter spaces. You'll find shipwrecks, lost containers, planes lost at sea, whales, giant squids and more. Many of the wrecks have cool treasures and a bit of environmental storytelling as well.

The plot and art direction are very strong. The story deals with death, life, grief, isolation, moving on and family. The ending will stay with you after you finish game. Stan works great as a main character, he is very likeable and his voice actor did a stellar job.
At a time in which many developers (especially Western) cannot help but ruin their games by telling you about their politics; I really appreciate that this is just a story that beams creativity and heart. It does deal with environmentalism and corporate culture, but it's done in a fairly nuanced way, the game never feels preachy.

As for the art; the games uses lighting very well to set the tone, it has a bunch of bloom and film grain but tastefully done. The designs of the buildings and devices are neat, they have a bit of retrofuturism going on. You keep seeing new species of marine life through the entire playthrough, some you'll only find if you look for them. The game also knows how to build a believable, fairly grounded world, then have moments in which it intentionally does a 180 and becomes ominously and beautifully impossible and surreal.

If you are ok with a AA, non combat (but exciting and with many game systems) title, and the above sounds appealing; then Under the Waves is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.