Seaking Hunter Review

Games, regardless of what genre, platform and appearance they may take, should be enjoyable, shouldn’t they?

Whilst it may seem odd that I’m prefacing a review for Seaking Hunter with such an obvious statement, I found myself comparing developer Interactive Stone’s latest Switch release to the kind of flash games that my pre-teen self cut his teeth in back in the early 2000s. Whilst there were certainly standout titles, such as Red Lynx’s Trials, Alien Hominid and NANACA†CRASH!!, the vast majority were titles that you’d spend a minute or two on, before moving swiftly to the next guaranteed disappointment. It’s in this latter camp that Seaking Hunter confidently sits, and in doing so makes this near-impossible to recommend.

Playing as a member of the Unidentified Mysterious Animal Hunter Association, or UMAHA for short, you’re tasked with taking down the various creatures that appear underwater throughout the game. Regardless of the exposition being considered a necessary evil for a typical arcade game, this is particularly weak all things considered – no further details on creatures outside of an attempt at menial trivia, a relatively simple undertaking, are provided, leaving a barren, desolate world to attempt to get invested in. It feels more akin to an initial draft of a story as opposed to the final product, and should that disappoint you then you’ll at least be accustomed to the lacklustre gameplay that is lazily thrown at your retinas.

And that’s a shame. Enemies populate the single, static screen that you find yourself in, and you shoot at them whilst avoiding their attacks until their health bar depletes. Whilst largely par for the course with arcade-based shooting games, the execution of the core experience throughout is severely lacking – not managing to stand up even with the similar titles found on the eShop. After completing various objects and missions, you’ll earn enough coins to upgrade your arsenal, allowing you to take on tougher missions. The difficulty of the various challenges is unappealing; the allure of the eventual upgrades unappealing. It’s not an unfair criticism: the game is just plain boring. There’s little if any excitement to be had throughout, and an uninspired presentation does little to alleviate any onset of fatigue throughout this forgettable experience.

This being said, the various monster designs, particularly the latter ones, occasionally impress, yet this only manages to further disappoint in that a blatant opportunity to advance the most intriguing aspect of the game was missed. Even the monsters, which look vastly different from one another, emit a shriek which is almost uniform. The lack of character and individuality in Seaking Hunter would usually be the most damning of omissions in a game, but you just can’t overlook that this is simply not fun.

Considering, then, that this was originally released on both iOS and Android devices in 2017 to largely positive reviews, the minute or two-long bursts of pseudo-enjoyment you may find here might work better set against the more restrictive and somewhat-more primitive landscape of mobile gaming experiences. Should it have been built upon, expanded for the Nintendo Switch, Interactive Stone could have had an enjoyable arcade-lite romp, but expand they did not. What we’re left with is a port that doesn’t begin to deserve sitting near the bargain bin, let alone be in it.