The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Blood of Dawnwalker
Game
Game2023
Under The Waves
Developer Parallel Studio
Under the Waves is a 2023 adventure video game developed by Parallel Studio and published by Quantic Dream. Players control a professional diver who attempts to deal with personal trauma and a job that may compromise his principles. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
288 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
71
Fresh
158 positive · 65 negative
95% range 65–76%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 158 | 65 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 31 | 1 | 29 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
642 of 870 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
71% recommend · 149 yes, 61 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 210 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (1,703 of 2,204 positive).
Players praise the emotional story and beautiful underwater world. [1][2][3] Some reviewers warn the game is slow and not like Subnautica. [4][5][6] Several players report poor keyboard and mouse controls. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [7]
Before you buy this, make sure you have an controller. Its awful controlling with mouse and keyboard. So, the game tries to be a love letter to the ocean, and really nails the atmosphere of marine life. Unfortunetly the story is quite bare and clichè-filled. Although on paper; its an very intersting concept, the game falls quite short and becomes repetetive and boring after a while. Without an interesting ending. …
- [1]
At 81 years old, I thought my gaming career would mostly involve yelling at the TV during bingo commercials and accidentally opening 47 browser tabs. Then I played Under the Waves. What a ride. This game has everything an 81-year-old gamer needs: deep emotions, beautiful underwater scenery, and enough swimming around to remind me why I now make strange noises every time I stand up. The ocean looked so realistic I …
- [11]
What to say?........... This was such an amazing game, the story was constantly keeping me on edge, never being able to figure out the direction of the story, and that story was amazing, the ending had me crying, and i don't cry easily. After finishing the story i went back and 100% the game and that itself was amazing, it didnt feel like a chore, it felt like an acomplishment. what ill leave this review with was a …
- [2]
I went into this game blind, as I love all Quantic Dream games, and I also needed to fill that big hole in my heart after Subnautica. Oh boy, this game didn't disappoint. It took me on a rollercoaster of emotions, both with the story and the sudden crashes >.>
- [3]
Just now finished the game. One of the most beautiful story games I've ever played. Beautiful sea creatures, amazing environment with collectibles that appear in your base, even a guitar minigame once you find a guitar. The story itself covers grief and working through it combined with the loneliness of living at sea. 10/10 Also, absolutely evil move by the devs to put .--- ----- at the end of the credits. Made me …
Summarised from 34 of the 276 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Under The Waves talk about emotional and moving story; those who didn't talk about poor keyboard and mouse controls. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
On Metacritic, Under the Waves received positive reviews on Windows and mixed reviews on PlayStation 5. Reviewers said they encountered many bugs and technical issues. Though GamesRadar called it "emotionally resonant, thematically intriguing, and visually striking", they thought the environmentalist narrative was occasionally too blunt. Commenting on the bugs, Video Games Chronicle said it has "plenty of rough edges", but they said it is a memorable game that "handles distressing subject matter in a touching way". The Guardian and Push Square said they continued playing through the technical issues because of the game's immersion and soundtrack.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 288 · most liked firstAt 81 years old, I thought my gaming career would mostly involve yelling at the TV during bingo commercials and accidentally opening 47 browser tabs. Then I played Under the Waves. What a ride. This game has everything an 81-year-old gamer needs: deep emotions, beautiful underwater scenery, and enough swimming around to remind me why I now make strange noises every time I stand up. The ocean looked so realistic I almost checked my living room for leaks. The story pulled me in harder…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First and foremost, do not go into this game expecting another Subnautica. The game does feature survival and crafting elements, but they are definitely not the primary focus. Under the Waves is ultimately a narrative driven game with exploration. With that out of the way, would I recommend this game? Short Answer: Yes it's worth a try, but preferably wait until it's on sale. 3/5 Long Answer: The atmosphere and the music are well done. The environment is wide and deep enough to provide…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Before you buy this, make sure you have an controller. Its awful controlling with mouse and keyboard. So, the game tries to be a love letter to the ocean, and really nails the atmosphere of marine life. Unfortunetly the story is quite bare and clichè-filled. Although on paper; its an very intersting concept, the game falls quite short and becomes repetetive and boring after a while. Without an interesting ending. The camera is really confusing at some points. Especially inside of wrecks…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nope sorry. I love walking simulators, they were some of my favorite games over the years. But this isn’t it. I was really intrigued because I love the ocean. I was hoping for some focus on the awesome wildlife and some awe inspiring moment when you meet them. Instead I found marine fauna that’s always at the same place and only serves as a backdrop to a story that’s just not interesting enough to be told that slow. As far as walking simulators go, this is a slow one. Yes it makes sense…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →WARNING::: Controls for PC are convoluted and make it impossible to play. They put a warning at the start of the game to say its meant to play with controller, which is a polite way of saying "We were too effing lazy to make the standard controls for your platform work properly so we are providing this warning to let you know it's your fault if you cannot play properly, not our lazy ass's fault" No, if you are giving a substandard experience for another platform because you are too lazy to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →5/10 And devs should know that not everybody has a controller, so movement using keyboard was a clear torture around 70% of the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Under the Whelms A game where any fun is sacrificed to the narrative. The mechanics are tedium at its core: Moving from A to B, slowly and painfully. Constantly picking up items along the way. Completing frustrating puzzles which consist of finding a poorly highlighted object in a literal sea of trash. Dream levels where you walk (yes, walk) underwater at a snail's pace to discover what kind of PTSD our protagonist is suffering from. Movement is slow, oxygen is limited, controls are sloppy.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →okay so the gameplay and visuals of this game are gorgeous and relatively solid. I love underwater exploration and recycling mechanics. but good god the story. This is an ungenerous take, and I'm sure some people found something in this game that I didn't, as a quick disclaimer, but this game was Not For Me. david cage is a guilty pleasure and I devour quantic dream games with enthusiastic masochism for their campy twists and experimental attempts at immersion. This one's story wasn't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty cool game, although sadly it seems to have been abandoned by developers. I've played most of the other Quantic Dreams games and this seems to be a great story-led game as well. Sadly, about 3.5 hours into the game it's crashed multiple times and the scuba diving is increasingly frustrating as swimming whenever close to the sea bottom or some other object, you are constantly getting stuck even when you are a decent distance away from it. Sadly the swimming is so bad, I may not be able to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I ran into this game quite by accident and decided to take the plunge (literally). It turned out to be a delightful underwater adventure with a sweet story and a lovely environment to explore. The story opens with Stan – a man in the midst of a personal crisis who has chosen to retreat to the deep sea. As a maintenance/trouble-shooter for an oil and gas company, he plans on staying for the long term. He is connected to the outside world by computer and radio, receiving instructions and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Weak story Bad ship controls (keyboard/mouse) Unengaging game play UNSKIPPABLE CUTSCENES! This game was just miserable, At the start of each day you had to make coffee that takes 3 f****** Real minutes every day and no skipping it, And then the fever dream that happens at random times, Why in the world must every game make dream state levels that make me want to puke figuratively and literally. I finished the game and can say the story sucks, Main guy (big baby) won't get help and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this game during a sale and didn't know much about it except it's about diving and I was eager for a diving game that let's me explore under water, but I got a very emotional, sad and moving game. Pros: Gameplay is simple and fun, no weight limit, no carry limit, story is sweet and emotional, achievements are fun to do, map is reasonably sized so exploring for collectibles and secrets don't feel like a chore, minimal grind makes crafting and upgrades so fast. Cons: A bit unoptimized,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →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…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I went into this game blind, as I love all Quantic Dream games, and I also needed to fill that big hole in my heart after Subnautica. Oh boy, this game didn't disappoint. It took me on a rollercoaster of emotions, both with the story and the sudden crashes >.>
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →No important spoilers in this review! [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45534557/]@MatureContent ─────────────────────────── It is very rare that I do not finish a game and still decide to review it, but here it is. In this game, you play a professional diver named Stan, who seeks to escape his troubled life on the surface by working at the bottom of the North Sea. You work for a company known as UniTrench, who does deep ocean drilling and since Stan is the only diver in that area,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Happy Free Play Days! Game Pass members can hop into The Survivalists this weekend, while all XBOX players can try out EA Sports College Football 27, The Lonesome Guild, and Under The Waves, no membership needed. news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/0...
neutral · AI labelView post →The soundtrack and voice acting in this game are outstanding. When you surface, you'll see an overcast sky and turbulent waves whipped up by the stormy wind. As a game that unfolds its story under the sea, it doesn't give you any sense of thalassophobia or claustrophobia, which I consider a failure in creating the game's environmental atmosphere. If you want to play this game, I recommend buying it on sale.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What to say?........... This was such an amazing game, the story was constantly keeping me on edge, never being able to figure out the direction of the story, and that story was amazing, the ending had me crying, and i don't cry easily. After finishing the story i went back and 100% the game and that itself was amazing, it didnt feel like a chore, it felt like an acomplishment. what ill leave this review with was a OVERWELMING Recomendation, if you're reading this..... Just buy the game you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The demo ver much piqued my interest, but the game let it down. It starts interesting but becomes ver badly boring before long. Everything is so slow and drawn out. The camera is a constant fight and has an odd fascination with dutch angles. The crafting system is almost superfluous and separated from most of what you're doing during the story. Several crafting blueprints shown on the map are not accessible in the world itself. One dream sequence requires you to do something you've never needed…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sadly, I got to the middle of the game and, during a rather lengthy and fairly boring section, had the game crash twice. Both crashes recovered to a save before the lengthy section, forcing me to redo all of it. After the second crash in the same place I decided I would put the game to rest. It was fairly enjoyable up to that point.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just now finished the game. One of the most beautiful story games I've ever played. Beautiful sea creatures, amazing environment with collectibles that appear in your base, even a guitar minigame once you find a guitar. The story itself covers grief and working through it combined with the loneliness of living at sea. 10/10 Also, absolutely evil move by the devs to put .--- ----- at the end of the credits. Made me cry a second time after finishing the game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gameplay is too slow and boring. I had to real interest in the storyline, it is like watching an adult man acting like a teenager in selfpity. So I didn't finish the game, sadly, even though I tried. You will have to wait for elevators, dialogs, animations, slowly moving from point A to point B, etc. I even stopped picking up resources as getting in and out of the submarine takes ages. Besides, why bother? There is no challenge, as resources are excessive, while upgrades and crafting are…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was such a long journey for me, I think it took me a couple years to actually complete 100%; not because it's hard or time consuming, but because I didn't really want it to end. I absolutely love scuba diving in real life, so having a game like this to hand is convenient for me. There won't be any simulation which will ever come close to the actual feeling of being beneath the waves, in that alien environment, but this is a nice second place and still conjures up the feelings you get…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Score: 2/5 "Corporations bad. Especially for environment. Except ours. Ours good." I don't like being preached at and boring games. I hate having my time wasted. I'd rather play more Subnautica than ever touch this again, with Under the Waves being an inferior experience in every way I could think of. Visuals are unpleasant. Like some crappy filter degrades the art style/direction in almost every environment, giving me a slight headache over time. You can tell what you're looking at most of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finished Under the Waves. A game that tackles grief with some nice atmospheric ocean exploration. Nothing particularly challenging. More of a W̶a̶l̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ Swimming Simulator game than anything. It was good though and had a nice style to it. About 8 hours long.
positive · AI labelView post →Can't really comment on the story, but these are some of the worst swimming controls ever made. Let alone one where the game takes place under water. I'm playing on controller and I could swim forward for 5 minutes and not go anywhere. They should've just made the swimming controls identical to the submersible controls.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to love this game but the story is average, it's badly optimized and the gameplay is very poor
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I want to like this game but the bugs and crashes don't help my character gets stuck all time time.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →91% off "Under The Waves is a narrative-driven adventure game about the engulfing power of grief. Set in the depths of the North Sea in the techno-futuristic 1970s, professional diver Stan is struggling to overcome a life-changing loss and embrace a new future." 🎮 #IndieGame
neutral · AI labelView post →Good game, some kind of mix of Subnautica (some resource grabbing and crafting) and ABZU (exploring and 3rd person view). Wonderful chilling soundtrack. As for cons: not the best controls, blurry image and VA.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was cool, sad, slow, but interesting. Not sure what would have happened if i chose the other choice, but im not gunna play it again to find out lol since the only "choice" we truly get is at the very end, ill just be happy with the one i made.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Highly recommend. Beautiful game, amazing music, fantastic story, too emotionally devastating though. I would 100% recommend to exploration loving gamers, fair warning, I can't play through a second time cause I don't think my heart can take it to find out the second ending.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Started playing Under the Waves. An open world, narrative driven game that takes place in the ocean. I’m not too far into the game yet, but I played the first few story missions and immediately started exploring and checking out the wildlife. It’s so peaceful while swimming around.
positive · AI labelView post →Slow, Slow, Slow grind with cumbersome movements, dry story and the all too familiar save the planet theme. You seem to be a deep water garbage man fixing oil leaks and picking up trash. it's nothing like Subnautica, which is fun and has a water tight story line. This is just not my "cup of tea" as its target audience would probably say.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game itself is not bad, but I didn't finish the game, while trying yo find J0 you get into this labyrinth of narrow tunnels, and the sub keeps bumping into the wall, besides there's no light in there you'll have to directly turn the head of your sub to lighten a path. Overall just a pain in the arse and I really let it got to me. rage quitting
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The world and underwater mechanics are smooth and well-implemented, but rather boring. The story is just absent. The premise is obvious almost from the start and the only thing that could be interesting is the end choice of the main character. There is no development, no significant events. Unless you want to collect stuff underwater, photograph wildlife and explore the world (which is mundane, but relaxing), I would not recommend it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I went into Under the Waves expecting a chill game about exploring the ocean, but I wasn't ready for how much it was going to weigh on me. The history of the world and Stan’s past is so deep. It’s not just some background lore; it feels like you're digging through the layers of a broken life. Every time you find a piece of his history or hear him talk to himself, it adds another layer of sadness to everything you're doing. It’s a very lonely, very heavy experience. But the real reason this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Seems to be listed as not supported on Deck for one reason alone (like some other games) - if you open Steam overlay with Steam button, the OS freezes. So don't. Playing it fine with latest GE-Proton on default settings, no stutter at all, text is readable, glyphs show correctly. And for being a fan of QD type of games, it delivers in every aspect for me so far. Living near the North Sea, it all feels close to me. The British main voice with that signature dry humor, the heavy use of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →☢️ SURPRISE DUAL UPLOAD DAY ☢️ DI(V)E Under the Waves! An indie game where @howtobehayes.bsky.social and @missspelled.bsky.social are a part of its creation! I had alot of fun playing this one. And I ACTUALLY got startled! 🐟 #PNGTuber #VTuber #IndieGame www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLhC...
positive · AI labelView post →A truly beautiful game. It's an emotional, heart wrenching at times, narrative experience. The writing and voice acting are fantastic, with great characters. It's extremely atmosphereic with one of the best soundtracks in a video game. Do not go into this expecting Subnautica. It's a slow, narrative driven game with crafting and resource gathering in the back seat and no combat. But it's worth playing to experience Stan's story and exploring what this little slice of the North Sea has to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolutely awful writing. Every other line trying to be some clever quip. Terrible controls. I was already on the ropes trying to find a reason to keep going when luckily the game saved me from further torment by crashing while I was in the settings menu.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →a very drawn out and boring over all story with very limited time to connect to the charicters it wants you to feel for. no first person makes navigating tight spaces very janky and difficult. very unoptimised as well pulls a lot of power on high and ultra settings when it shouldnt,
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is Definitely A Great Game, Though It Does Have Several Noticeable Flaws. The Ocean World is Beautiful, And There Are Interesting Things To Learn, Like The Photograph-Collecting Concept, Which Feels Unique. However, The Controls Are Rough. Sometimes I Wasn’t Able To Switch Out My Resolution From The Main Menu Also, While Playing The Controller Stopped Working in The Middle Of The Game, And I Had To Restart The Entire Game. Stuff Like This Breaks Immersion Fast. The Gameplay Mechanics Are…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A lot of "The Abyss" vibes this game. So this game is the tragic story of a father who had lost his daughter and is sent to work at a rig in the bottom of the sea. Don't let the story deter you, it's actually a great game, featuring one of the best underwater visuals in a game. You can move around in a mini sub or swim. Crafting is also part of the game as well as exploring. For lovers of the Deep it's a must, for the rest grab it at a discount.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was recommended to me some time ago, but I don't recall by who (Sorry!). I purposefully didn't read the description, so I don't actually know what it's about, but so far, I like it. I especially love the underwater theme 🤿 #UnderTheWaves #VideoGames
positive · AI labelView post →The new Video Podcast is live with DadsGameReview We talk about my fav experience of 2023 Under the Waves from @quanticdream.bsky.social publishing. Your RTs last time got us the most views yet on Youtube!! Will you continue to help? Share Share Share youtu.be/oeLNLfKQao8?...
neutral · AI labelView post →Under the Waves — Review The game is fantastic in one word — the history, the game music, and the environment all come together beautifully. At first, the game might feel a bit boring to get into, but it quickly becomes very interesting once you're in. It's not the most mouse-and-keyboard friendly experience — controlling the Seamoth was a bit hard and a little confusing at times. Overall, I'd recommend buying and playing this game. If you catch it on a sale, you're getting a great…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We’ve been used to walking simulations for many years. Why shouldn’t we have a good swimming simulation? The developer team has created a game that offers 10–12 hours of enjoyment, allowing you to explore a small, beautifully designed underwater world. There isn't much mechanics involved. A few tools can be used. A bunch of doors can be opened by solving puzzle-like challenges. Let’s get to the real point. The story this game tells is a true drama. If you say, “I don’t like sad stories…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a game! Grapics are realy good, the music is awesome, handling you can used to it, but the story is another level. Amazing game, depressing and sad, emotional, lovely, and prototype.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →By no means a good game, or even a very good story, but if you want some undersea vibes it's a fine way to waste a few hours. Baffling choices made throughout. Occasional bugs. Heavy-handed moralising.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bugs. You want people to pay $30 for this? You must be out of your minds. Reduce your prices and fix your game. Less than an hour into the game and my character got stuck in a wall on the little home base pod thing while trying to interact with the phone intercom thing. Didn't even get out into the actual ocean and already my save had something break it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Forced bed rest with a busted ankle means I’m checking out #UndertheWaves by #ParallelStudio today on the projector. I’m terrified of the ocean but can’t stop playing underwater exploration games. Ehat’s your favourite? #Indiegames #gaming
neutral · AI labelView post →Well I stuck it out to the end. Beautiful graphics and sound design and i liked pottering around in the mini sub "Moon". It tackles heavy subject matter regarding loss but fails by being too aware of itself. It became a slog in the end and the swimming can be damn infuriating when you are stopped by what seem like invisible walls.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's atmospheric and quite inventive with the underwater environments. But it crashed on me and required me the replay quite a long part of it in the hope that it wouldnt crash at the same time again, no thank you! The story is told a bit too slow and its very much a walking sim rather than a real game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is incredibly good—far better than I expected. It is deeply emotional and sad, conveying a powerful message about reality. You play as an underwater diver working for an oil company, a lonely figure struggling with loss. The monotonous routine of daily work gradually deepens your despair, eventually leading to increasingly serious problems. It is a haunting and thought-provoking experience that stayed with me long after playing. 10/10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →10/10 - Emotional Damage
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lovely and pretty sad underwater adventure. It's not in any way similar to Subnautica, Under the Waves is kind of a story-driven "walking simulator" with ability to discover the whole map, but without any base bulding. You will get a very personal experience with several endings. It is an indie story-heavy game, so don't expect perfect visuals or deep mechanics. I had no any bugs during my playthrough. The only gripe I can mention - I did not like controls, they are mamageable, but not as good…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Under The Waves lies an ocean of caveats. The overarching narrative is compelling and the environmental storytelling is effective, but the personal side of the story, while heartfelt, is laboured and full of cliches. The voice acting is great, but delivered so so slowly and the facial animations and lip syncing very often don't match up. The graphics can be gorgeous, especially on an OLED monitor, but the animations are are a 50/50 split between fluid and natural and strangely janky, plus the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Higly recommended for people who loves deep story games. Good story and good under water world to explore. Being allrounder gamer sometimes playing different kind of game feels good. No killing no violence just pure deep story. Also i saw some negative reviews saying it has bad controls for keyboard, well i played on keyboard and didnt felt that bad. It just takes some time to learn and get used to it cuz every game is different. Must buy game specially on sales, its totally worth it. i enjoyed…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I finished Under the Waves and I had a good experience with it. The game recommends playing with a controller, but I used keyboard and mouse. Movement felt mostly fine for me. It can feel a little clunky from time to time, but it wasn’t a major issue. Exploration works well for the type of game this is. Since the focus is on story and atmosphere, moving through the underwater environments feels relaxing and fits the tone of the game nicely. The gameplay loop involves exploring,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
Posts are quoted from public profiles with links to the original. Want yours removed? Contact us.
