Simulation titles are big in Japan. You can date, cook, manage a soccer team, and in Arika's case, deep sea dive from your couch. Everblue 2 takes anyone's love for the ocean and turns it into a search and explore simulator that doesn't dig deep enough into gameplay territory.

Everblue 2 stars Leo and Zuccho, two hardened deep sea divers that are set to uncover treasure in the Caribbean ocean. Before long the duo is caught in a storm and shipwrecked onto the resort town, Valencia Island. Here, Leo and Zuccho get to gripes with the new local and start to explore the new location for hidden artifacts and perhaps, treasure.

Valencia Island is like your average RPG town. Each location is littered with characters, and each area links to other destinations. By moving the on-screen cursor players can talk to characters, head to other locations on the island, or even make the island mariachi band play a different song. Each location is made up of FMV where on-screen characters sway back and forth, repeating the same animation yet remaining immobile. The menu-style interface is not at all immersive, but merely serves its purpose for the game.

Leo starts off the game by learning the basics of deep sea exploration. Once he dives in there are a number of factors that players have to be aware of. There's an HP meter, an air meter, a radar, a compass, and a depth gauge. They don't require constant monitoring since the game isn't that difficult. But when HP and air meters get low, that's the time to ascend back to the surface, which can be done at anytime.

Players start out searching for trinkets on the ocean floor. The left analog controls movement, while the right analog controls your view. Underwater movement is somewhat clunky but can improve later with equipment upgrades. To find treasure players simply keep tapping the sonar button until an indicator shows that an object has been found. You'll find exciting underwater trinkets like rusted CDs, iron plates, and screws. The searching itself isn't that much fun, but there is additional stuff to do after you collect underwater junk.

Back in town Leo can appraise his good and sell them. As you complete more dives, additional missions open up in the game to different kinds of gameplay. In one mission, Leo is commissioned to take pictures for a magazine editor's cover story. Later he has find a trophy in a sunken ship.

If you think the missions sound like the lamest thing ever, in actuality they aren't the worst thanks to the dialog you'll have with the island characters. Each character has that RPG sincerity that desperately calls for a hero to fix their problems. There are even times when you're given an option to act like a nice guy, or an ass, which makes the dialogue a bit more lively.

The underwater visuals are average. The graphics move at 60fps but you can't see more than what's directly in front of you. The ocean is a foggy mess where things will suddenly appear out of nowhere. Searching in claustrophobic wrecked ships is more satisfying, but not by much. The sounds that accompany the dive are adequate. You'll hear the heavy breath of air through your oxygen mask and distorted echoes as you swim underwater.

The biggest problem with the Everblue 2 is the gameplay. The underwater searches get old quickly and only die-hard deep sea sim lovers will want to customize their gear, sell their sunken treasure, combine treasure, or make a photographic marine life chart. The objectives are just too mundane for most people to care.

Everblue 2 will only please you if you absolutely love treasure hunting. The tools are there to let you simulate the adventures of deep sea diving. All others need not apply.