Fishdom H2O: Hidden Odyssey (Nintendo 3DS) Review

One of the better known representants of the genre is Fishdom H2O: Hidden Odyssey by Playrix Entertainment, at least as far as the gameplay is concerned. The story, on the other hand, deserves quotation marks and is told by voice actors who would have a difficult time to win a cookie at an elementary school's annual theatre event. Still, it does get the job of providing a background for the object finding done.

The gameplay consists of two activities: staring at the bottom screen and trying to spot the items that are listed on the top screen, and then using the earned cash to purchase fish, underwater plants, and decorative items for the presently active aquarium. When a tank is filled with more than just water, the next chapter of the game unlocks and the process is repeated. Fishdom H2O offers two modes that can be freely switched between: relaxed and timed. The latter adds a time limit for the hidden object portions of the game, the former shockingly doesn't. It's recommended to play with a bit of time pressure as otherwise things get duller more quickly.

The relatively low resolution of the 3DS doesn't work extremely well with this kind of game. The 3D effects are only used for the aquarium view (which does look almost stunning in 3D), but not for the somewhat blurry object images and backdrops. This makes items harder to find and "better hidden," but also invites eyestrain. Unlike with the tablet version of the same game, it is also necessary to scroll and pan around as only a small part of the picture is visible.

A bigger issue is that Fishdom H2O does not always register stylus taps properly, which leads to "let's see if it works here" experiments that spoil the fun not only in the timed mode. On the upside, the game includes a very large number of items. It also attempts to break up the monotony by offering different variations of hidden object challenges such as finding all occurrences of a specific item, discovering the items listed on the upper screen, tapping all golden objects, and so on. The faster and more accurately each hidden object challenge is completed, the more cash is awarded and the faster the current aquarium can be filled up. The game ends when all aquariums have been decorated after a handful of hours.