Oh yes, Seaman, a game that I have been wanting to review for quite some time. Although more than anything because the game is long.
Before starting the review I will tell you about the challenge that one faces when playing this type of games: accessibility. Many older games have a sense of creativity and effort that is not always seen today. But sometimes its experience for modern people can be diminished by a number of factors. Accessibility is always something I value in older video games, but unfortunately very rare, even for some of the best games. Let's not even talk about old obscure niche games, like the Japanese ones because those must surely be the pinnacle of the inaccessible. And don't get me wrong, I don't consider things like the different culture, since that is subjective and depends on each person (Japanese culture personally fascinates me, and the world of entertainment, especially video games, benefits greatly thanks to it). What I'm referring to are three crucial factors, their gameplay/mechanics (often unclear or extremely complicated for the average or even experienced players), the language itself (with exceptions of course), and their status as niche content (which makes them very unknown to most, even Japanese people themselves at times). These things makes many Japanese games either go unnoticed or are not given the merit they deserve, which is a shame, because if you are a fan of retro video games and their innovations, you would be surprised to know the number of Japanese games ahead of their time that no one mentions, and even in Japan some of them were forgotten. Of course, there are the Japanese games that "feel" American too (like Phoenix Wright), or those that are known around the world thanks to their impact (like Pokemon). My point with all of this is that it is a miracle to find obscure accessible Japanese games, so they really care about it when they do it. An example may be the Choro Q series (although some of its first installments were only released in Japan, without mentioning of course that nowadays they can be played with patches in English). Which is something that people should appreciate, since it allows you to experience the innovation of Japan and the creativity of old games, without having to eat your head.
But after all that book I wrote, what is Seaman like... Is he accessible? Well, to which I answer: It's as accessible as you are willing to play it. The aesthetics may be strange, and the gameplay unclear at first, but if you have the manual and dedicate a little to it each day without being impatient, everything will make sense plus you'll find Seaman strangely endearing. I say this because the first time I played the game I also didn't understand what it was about. Seaman is also a virtual pet, but that doesn't mean he has to be immortal or overly cute. This is the problem I have with new virtual pets... and also the old ones... Because although the new ones are technically more accessible and so on, it is at the cost of making them all the same, unimaginative, and so ridiculously easy and lacking mechanics, being more of a festival of minigames. On the other hand, the old ones are more reminiscent of a life simulator. Pets can die, sometimes they handle genes (like Creatures), or other complex mechanics, unfortunately at the cost of more modern people not being able to access them. I think Seaman, in my opinion, strikes a good balance between these two worlds. It handles some of the concepts of old virtual pets such as the evolution and care of Seaman day after day (otherwise he will die and you will have to start over, without ifs and buts and as it should be), but it gives a good margin of error so that neither be ridiculously difficult and tedious. Of course, something I value about old video games and virtual pets in general is that they are not copy and paste, and Seaman has something that would make it so revolutionary, that in fact, it is revolutionary even outside of the video game industry. His AI. Seaman's AI is so far ahead of his time that I would almost classify it as the beginning of AI as such; i could honestly see an IA build up from Seaman (and in fact, the Seaman developers after this game, worked with actual AIs) and it is unfortunate that no other game of this nature exists. Once Seaman grows and evolves it's your turn to answer his questions, and he will remember some of your answers, as well as give his opinion on what you have said. Seaman's dialogue and responses are extremely varied (in fact, I think Seaman has 20 hours of dialogue in total, so crazy consider this is 1999). Many of his dialogues sometimes make me feel like Seaman understands me and it seems like a psychologist made Seaman's character. I think the best way to describe Seaman would be a combination between Insaniquarium and Akinator, but even that is an understatement.
The game is even able to provide a different experience for each person, or even some replayability, considering that you lie in your answers.....if you don't want them to find out the location of your house.................... Nah, don't worry, it's not online.
Of course, a game so ahead of its time, and still impressive today, couldn't be perfect, so let's talk about some of its flaws (which is a shame, since if it didn't have them, it would surely be a 9 or a 10). First of all, Seaman's AI is flawed, and that's to be expected. Seaman feels intelligent, very intelligent, surprinsingly intelligent, but we must recognize that he is so intelligent since many of his dialogues are scripted. While the game reminds some answers, it is not Chatgpt by any means (a remake of Seaman like that would be incredible). It is not fully utilized, and part of Seaman's AI also feels real thanks to the fact that he does all the talking. The developers clearly put a lot of effort into implementing it in a way that feels as natural as possible, however, it still feels a little strange that most of the time we talk to him is just to give a short answer, just so that answered us with a wall of text (like me, resist it). Plus Seaman has hearing as good as Lou The Coonhound. There were a lot of times were he didnt understand what i mean, and while my English isnt perfect, it is perfectly understandable! Dont treat me like a fool! There is also some serious technical issues, despite the game looking like an early PS1. The facial animations of Seaman are very impressive for its time, i give the game that, but apart from that, i struggle to see how this is demanding for the Dreamcast, and lets not even speak of the glitches the game has that can ruin your save file, at least in the US Dreamcast version. However for now i wouldnt take that into account since im not sure if it happens in real hardware (Don't start with your moral discourse of legality).
And for last the damn spiders... Those things can make you waste 10 days for the sickness, and the way to remove them is ridiculous, almost like if the devs didnt program it properly (just put them on Seaman aquarium and leave the game quickly, thats it).
After finishing the game, there is nothing more to do, other than waiting for specific days for specific Seaman dialogs or playing around with the Seaman limited AI (seems that he get a bit tired...). There is also a PS2 port that came out in 2001, and it seems that it fixed various issues and improved both the microphone aspect and gameplay mechanics, but its only in japanese... Japan, why you always get the best games?
Other than that... Its honestly one of the most impressive games in the 90s, arguably the most impressive. The AI despite everything is believable even to this day, and Seaman has a good balance between being realistic, but not impossible, so it has a bit of good for every virtual pet fan out there. If you have enough time, please take good care of him... So lets get over to the tank...
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Before starting the review I will tell you about the challenge that one faces when playing this type of games: accessibility. Many older games have a sense of creativity and effort that is not always seen today. But sometimes its experience for modern people can be diminished by a number of factors. Accessibility is always something I value in older video games, but unfortunately very rare, even for some of the best games. Let's not even talk about old obscure niche games, like the Japanese ones because those must surely be the pinnacle of the inaccessible. And don't get me wrong, I don't consider things like the different culture, since that is subjective and depends on each person (Japanese culture personally fascinates me, and the world of entertainment, especially video games, benefits greatly thanks to it). What I'm referring to are three crucial factors, their gameplay/mechanics (often unclear or extremely complicated for the average or even experienced players), the language itself (with exceptions of course), and their status as niche content (which makes them very unknown to most, even Japanese people themselves at times). These things makes many Japanese games either go unnoticed or are not given the merit they deserve, which is a shame, because if you are a fan of retro video games and their innovations, you would be surprised to know the number of Japanese games ahead of their time that no one mentions, and even in Japan some of them were forgotten. Of course, there are the Japanese games that "feel" American too (like Phoenix Wright), or those that are known around the world thanks to their impact (like Pokemon). My point with all of this is that it is a miracle to find obscure accessible Japanese games, so they really care about it when they do it. An example may be the Choro Q series (although some of its first installments were only released in Japan, without mentioning of course that nowadays they can be played with patches in English). Which is something that people should appreciate, since it allows you to experience the innovation of Japan and the creativity of old games, without having to eat your head.
But after all that book I wrote, what is Seaman like... Is he accessible? Well, to which I answer: It's as accessible as you are willing to play it. The aesthetics may be strange, and the gameplay unclear at first, but if you have the manual and dedicate a little to it each day without being impatient, everything will make sense plus you'll find Seaman strangely endearing. I say this because the first time I played the game I also didn't understand what it was about. Seaman is also a virtual pet, but that doesn't mean he has to be immortal or overly cute. This is the problem I have with new virtual pets... and also the old ones... Because although the new ones are technically more accessible and so on, it is at the cost of making them all the same, unimaginative, and so ridiculously easy and lacking mechanics, being more of a festival of minigames. On the other hand, the old ones are more reminiscent of a life simulator. Pets can die, sometimes they handle genes (like Creatures), or other complex mechanics, unfortunately at the cost of more modern people not being able to access them. I think Seaman, in my opinion, strikes a good balance between these two worlds. It handles some of the concepts of old virtual pets such as the evolution and care of Seaman day after day (otherwise he will die and you will have to start over, without ifs and buts and as it should be), but it gives a good margin of error so that neither be ridiculously difficult and tedious. Of course, something I value about old video games and virtual pets in general is that they are not copy and paste, and Seaman has something that would make it so revolutionary, that in fact, it is revolutionary even outside of the video game industry. His AI. Seaman's AI is so far ahead of his time that I would almost classify it as the beginning of AI as such; i could honestly see an IA build up from Seaman (and in fact, the Seaman developers after this game, worked with actual AIs) and it is unfortunate that no other game of this nature exists. Once Seaman grows and evolves it's your turn to answer his questions, and he will remember some of your answers, as well as give his opinion on what you have said. Seaman's dialogue and responses are extremely varied (in fact, I think Seaman has 20 hours of dialogue in total, so crazy consider this is 1999). Many of his dialogues sometimes make me feel like Seaman understands me and it seems like a psychologist made Seaman's character. I think the best way to describe Seaman would be a combination between Insaniquarium and Akinator, but even that is an understatement.
The game is even able to provide a different experience for each person, or even some replayability, considering that you lie in your answers.....if you don't want them to find out the location of your house.................... Nah, don't worry, it's not online.
Of course, a game so ahead of its time, and still impressive today, couldn't be perfect, so let's talk about some of its flaws (which is a shame, since if it didn't have them, it would surely be a 9 or a 10). First of all, Seaman's AI is flawed, and that's to be expected. Seaman feels intelligent, very intelligent, surprinsingly intelligent, but we must recognize that he is so intelligent since many of his dialogues are scripted. While the game reminds some answers, it is not Chatgpt by any means (a remake of Seaman like that would be incredible). It is not fully utilized, and part of Seaman's AI also feels real thanks to the fact that he does all the talking. The developers clearly put a lot of effort into implementing it in a way that feels as natural as possible, however, it still feels a little strange that most of the time we talk to him is just to give a short answer, just so that answered us with a wall of text (like me, resist it). Plus Seaman has hearing as good as Lou The Coonhound. There were a lot of times were he didnt understand what i mean, and while my English isnt perfect, it is perfectly understandable! Dont treat me like a fool! There is also some serious technical issues, despite the game looking like an early PS1. The facial animations of Seaman are very impressive for its time, i give the game that, but apart from that, i struggle to see how this is demanding for the Dreamcast, and lets not even speak of the glitches the game has that can ruin your save file, at least in the US Dreamcast version. However for now i wouldnt take that into account since im not sure if it happens in real hardware (Don't start with your moral discourse of legality).
And for last the damn spiders... Those things can make you waste 10 days for the sickness, and the way to remove them is ridiculous, almost like if the devs didnt program it properly (just put them on Seaman aquarium and leave the game quickly, thats it).
After finishing the game, there is nothing more to do, other than waiting for specific days for specific Seaman dialogs or playing around with the Seaman limited AI (seems that he get a bit tired...). There is also a PS2 port that came out in 2001, and it seems that it fixed various issues and improved both the microphone aspect and gameplay mechanics, but its only in japanese... Japan, why you always get the best games?
Other than that... Its honestly one of the most impressive games in the 90s, arguably the most impressive. The AI despite everything is believable even to this day, and Seaman has a good balance between being realistic, but not impossible, so it has a bit of good for every virtual pet fan out there. If you have enough time, please take good care of him... So lets get over to the tank...
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