The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human
From kickstarter: "The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is a metroid-vania styled action/adventure game where you play as the navigator of Argo 9, a spaceship/submarine hybrid, thrust back to Earth in a time after humans have gone extinct. Whereupon one will have to explore to uncover the reasons for humanity's downfall meanwhile encountering monstrous sea creatures. The focus of this game lies in exploration, story and boss battles. It is up to the player to determine if the ruins of our species is a travesty or an inevitable conclusion."
SCREENSHOTS
HISTORY
The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is a 2D metroidvania action-adventure video game. Developed by YCJY, the game was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux in January 2016. Ports for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, developed by Stage Clear Studios, were released in January 2018, followed by a Nintendo Switch port in January 2019.
Gameplay
The game takes place in the far future. The player character returns to Earth following an extended trip in space to find that humans have become extinct. The ice caps have melted, the magnetic poles have shifted and mass sub-tectonic water reservoirs have been breached. Players must navigate through the drowned Earth in their submersible to piece together the story of humanity's downfall.
The game is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up presented in a pixel art style. The game is largely exploratory, and most of the sea life is non-threatening, however players encounter multiple boss monsters. In typical Metroidvania fashion, players can acquire upgrades to their submersible, and these upgrades allow the player to access more of the game world. Completing the main game unlocks a "Boss Rush" mode, where players face off against the game's bosses in succession.
Development
The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human was developed by YCJY, a Swedish development studio consisting of Josef Martinovsky and Christopher Andreasson. The soundtrack was composed by Karl Flodin. The game was part funded through Kickstarter, raising 61,777 kr on the crowdfunding platform in 2015.
YCJY did not set out to make a game dealing with climate change, but felt the theme was a natural fit for their underwater environments. Aside from the genre pioneers such as the Metroid and Castlevania series, YCJY also cite games such as Shadow of the Colossus, Teleglitch and the Dark Souls series as inspirations. The game's bosses, which can both dwarf the player character and defeat the player character in a few hits, were designed to make players feel insignificant and fragile. YCJY likened the contrast in mood and difficulty between the exploration and boss fights to the Pixies song "Tame", the loud and soft parts accentuating the other.
Reception
The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human was generally well received by critics, scoring 76/100 on reviews aggregation website Metacritic based on 11 reviews. Critics praised the game's sense of place, Alexander Chatziioannou, writing at Hardcore Gamer described it as "an entrancingly desolate world, its beauty emphasizing the awareness that in this land of majestic undersea giants you’re the invader". Ben Davis at Destructoid found the "painstakingly hand drawn" environments "[coming] to life in movement" to such an extent that screenshots did not do the game justice. Mat Paget, at GameSpot, noted how the music enhanced the atmosphere, that it could "[ignite] a sense of wonder". He did however find the player character difficult to pick out against the background at times, which could lead to unfair deaths.
The boss encounters were found to be fun. James Davenport, writing at PC Gamer described them as "massive and multifaceted", and despite him taking approximately thirty tries in one particular encounter, he still persevered, feeling that he was responsible for the failure, not the game. Davis agreed, writing that the bosses required "puzzle-solving skills, strategy, quick reflexes, and most of all perseverance." According to Paget, overcoming such challenges granted "a feeling of immense satisfaction", the "reward for patient, measured play."
Paget felt that the story fragments were written exceptionally well and its approach neither pretentious or preachy. Chatziioannou disagreed, describing the writing as "a series of cringeworthy snippets of eco awareness with all the subtlety of high school activism", a message awkwardly juxtaposed with gameplay that encouraged the destruction of wildlife. Davenport considered his motivations as he killed creature after creature, continuing on through the sake of play and pleasure, and they caused him to reflect on how his real world actions too could harm others.
STORY
From official web: "In the far future humanity is no more. The earth has been flooded for centuries and without humans the wild-life is thriving.
Take control of the long lost space ship-submarine hybrid Argo 9 on a spectacular adventure to a not so familliar homeworld."
TRAILERS
STORES
Prices are cached from each storefront and may be out of date. Last checked 24 Sept 2026. We do not track prices at PlayStation Store, so we link there without quoting one.
PRICE HISTORY
Every price change we know of, per shop. Flat means the price held; PC shops reach back through IsThereAnyDeal's archive, console shops start when this site started watching.
GOG low: $0.99 (21 Nov 2023) , Humble Store low: $0.99 (1 Jul 2019) , Steam low: $0.99 (16 Mar 2023) , Xbox low: $14.99 (26 Aug 2026)
REVIEWS
Published elsewhere, collected here. Every score is the outlet's own, on the outlet's own scale. Follow the link for the full review.
“Jaws made it scary to go into the water; this makes it seem all tranquil and comfy. A game absolutely worth playing if you love collecting or just want to relax.”
“Aquatic Adventure distills the Metroidvania into its most essential parts and says something meaningful with it.”
“If you're a fan of the Metroidvania genre, then you should definitely get The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human. The gameplay is solid, and the game is a lot of fun with plenty of content to offer on PS4. You'll explore colorful areas as well as other more post-apocalyptic dark spaces that will keep you coming back for more as you secure more power-ups that allow you to progress further and further into the game. Defeating enemies and bosses and searching for audio logs as you learn more and more about the lore of this universe feels great, and I'm sure you'll love the polished writing for b”
“I really enjoyed my time with The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human. It may be a bit on the short side, especially for players who are able to take down the bosses with relative ease, although most players are probably looking at about six to seven hours of playtime. But in that short amount of time, it manages to pack a satisfying amount of action, tranquility, and exploration into a concise, captivating adventure. Just don't be afraid to dive too deep into the ocean depths, no matter what horrors might lurk in the dark abysses below.”
“The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is an interesting minimalist 2D Metroidvania that favors exploration for most of its gameplay loop while also throwing some bosses at you here and there at a steady pace. It's the right length as to not overstay its welcome, and is a game on PlayStation 4 you should check out.”
“The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human offers challenging boss battles and serene exploration in a vast, beautiful world.”
“With plenty of upgrades and beautiful environments, its core gameplay is solid, but poor navigation and frustrating difficulty prevent it from being a flawless experience.”
“The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is a contemplative metroidvania with good boss fights. It is a captivating adventure that mixes action and exploration through evocative scenarios that tells the story of our future extinction.”
“The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is a short, but memorable journey. Whether it's taking down a pair of seahorses, or exploring the last remnants of humanity, the title is full of memorable setpieces that will delight, even in the face of existential horror.”
“"Immersive Metroidvania with unique bosses."”
“Part far-future sci-fi, part Metroidvania, and part Shadow of the Colossus, The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is a worthy action-adventure title.”
“If you love this style of game and really like a tough challenge then I highly recommend The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human.”
“The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human may have its share of flaws, but is a highly original and mostly enjoyable entry into the increasingly congested metroidvania subgenre. That it would acquire some of its inspiration's inherent flaws was inevitable; that it would manage to replicate, even partly, the experience of traversing a hauntingly beautiful world populated by majestic creatures and generate a similar sense of guilt in destroying them, marks it already as a success.”
“In the end The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is a decent but bare bones Metroidvania experience whose greatest asset is just being a little different. People who like to be challenged may find the tough bosses to be a fun test of skill but the dead periods in between as you figure out where to go would probably detract from the enjoyment for them. It’s not a bad title, it’s just hard to get excited about it when there are just better and more fleshed out titles available in the eShop.”
“The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human has a neat concept, good presentation and clever boss fights, but nearly nonexistent navigation features and some other annoying aspects hold it back from being truly special”
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