There is something wonderfully calming about slipping beneath the ocean’s surface, and Jupiter & Mars: Definitive Edition understands this from the very beginning. Rather than throwing you into another frantic adventure filled with enemies, weapons and constant danger, this is a game that asks you to slow down and look around. You play as Jupiter, a young dolphin travelling through a future Earth alongside Mars, exploring an underwater world that is both beautiful and quietly heartbreaking. It is an experience that feels less like a traditional action-adventure and more like an interactive journey through a world that has already suffered the consequences of humanity’s mistakes.
The setting is particularly effective because the game does not need to constantly lecture you about environmental destruction. Instead, it lets the world itself tell the story, with the remains of once-familiar locations hidden beneath the waves. As you explore, you will encounter the submerged remnants of cities, including recognisable landmarks from places such as London and New York. There is something strangely haunting about seeing these familiar locations transformed into underwater environments, especially when the colourful marine life swimming around them makes the contrast even more striking.
Meet Jupiter And Mars
At the heart of the adventure are Jupiter and Mars, two dolphins who spend much of their time exploring the ocean together. The third-person camera keeps both animals visible, giving the pair a real sense of companionship as they swim, investigate their surroundings and work together. Jupiter is the primary character you control, while Mars can be given commands to help solve environmental challenges. It is a simple idea, but it adds just enough cooperation to make the pair feel like genuine partners rather than one character with an unusually decorative companion.
Their relationship also gives the game much of its charm. Dolphins have always been associated with intelligence and curiosity, and Jupiter & Mars makes excellent use of those characteristics. There is a lovely sense of freedom as you move through the water, with the controls allowing you to dive, swim and investigate at your own pace. It never feels as though the game is desperately trying to hurry you towards the next objective, and that relaxed approach suits its subject matter perfectly.
Listen To The Ocean
Echolocation plays a major role in exploration, giving Jupiter a way to interact with the environment and uncover things that might otherwise remain hidden. It is an important ability because the underwater world can sometimes be difficult to read by sight alone. Sending out an echolocation pulse helps reveal objects, points of interest and elements of the environment, turning exploration into something more active than simply swimming from one marker to another. There is a pleasing rhythm to exploring an area, listening, discovering something new and then working out how it fits into the larger world.
This mechanic also reinforces the idea that you are experiencing the ocean from a dolphin’s perspective. You are not simply an invisible human observer swimming through a pretty level. The game wants you to think about how these creatures might perceive their surroundings, and echolocation becomes an important part of that identity. It is not the deepest gameplay system you will ever encounter, but it fits the experience extremely well.
A Dolphin With A Job To Do
Although Jupiter & Mars is peaceful for much of its runtime, there is a genuine purpose to your journey. The oceans have been dramatically affected by humanity’s disappearance and the consequences of environmental damage, leaving ecosystems in need of restoration. Jupiter and Mars are tasked with helping reclaim parts of the ocean, restoring habitats and encouraging marine life to return. This provides a gentle sense of progression without turning the experience into a traditional checklist-driven adventure.
As you gain new abilities, previously inaccessible areas become available and the world gradually opens up. There is satisfaction in returning to locations you visited earlier and discovering that Jupiter can now interact with something that was previously beyond reach. The progression is straightforward, but it works because the game is more interested in encouraging curiosity than in rewarding you with increasingly powerful weapons or increasingly complicated skill trees. Every new ability feels like another way to understand and interact with the world.
Saving The Ocean
The environmental message is central to the experience, but thankfully it rarely feels overbearing. The flooded Earth offers a powerful visual reminder of what rising sea levels and environmental neglect could leave behind. At times, the sheer beauty of the underwater environments makes the darker implications even more effective, as you constantly see both nature’s resilience and the damage inflicted on the world above.
The game does not present its message with the subtlety of a documentary, and there are moments when its intentions are very clear. Even so, there is something refreshing about an adventure that wants players to care about the environment without simply making conservation another objective on a mission list. Restoring the ocean becomes part of the adventure itself, and watching areas become more vibrant as you progress gives your actions a tangible sense of purpose.
Puzzles Beneath The Surface
The environmental puzzles are generally straightforward, but they provide welcome variety between exploration sections. Working with Mars to activate objects, clear obstacles, or reach particular areas gives the adventure a little more structure. The two-dolphin approach means that some challenges require you to consider where both characters are positioned, although the game never becomes frustratingly complicated.
That accessibility is important because Jupiter & Mars is clearly designed to be an experience that almost anyone can pick up. It does not try to test your patience with fiendish puzzles or punish you for making mistakes. Instead, the puzzles encourage you to pay attention to your surroundings and experiment with your abilities. They complement the exploration rather than competing with it, which is exactly what they need to do.
A World Of Light And Shadow
Visually, this is easily one of the game’s biggest strengths. The underwater environments are filled with vibrant colours, glowing marine life and beautiful lighting effects that create an almost dreamlike atmosphere. Bioluminescent creatures and neon-coloured underwater landscapes give the world a distinctive identity rather than simply attempting to recreate a realistic ocean.
Yet beneath all that colour is a constant sense of loss. The contrast between beautiful natural environments and the ruins of human civilisation creates memorable imagery. Submerged buildings and recognisable structures can suddenly appear through the darkness, reminding you that this was once a very different planet. The Definitive Edition benefits enormously from such an evocative visual style, with plenty of moments when it is worth stopping simply to admire what is around you.
The Sound Of The Deep
The soundtrack is another important part of the experience, with its synth-driven score complementing the futuristic underwater setting beautifully. Music often becomes background noise in many games, but here it contributes significantly to the mood. The combination of electronic sounds, gentle melodies and the ambient noises of the ocean creates an atmosphere that is peaceful without ever becoming completely lifeless.
Sound effects also help sell the sensation of being underwater. The movement of the dolphins, distant marine life and environmental sounds all contribute to the feeling that there is a living world around you. It is not an audio experience designed to overwhelm you, and that is precisely why it works. Everything feels carefully placed to maintain the game’s calm, contemplative tone.
A Slower Kind Of Adventure
If there is one thing that will determine whether you enjoy Jupiter & Mars: Definitive Edition, it is whether you are comfortable with its deliberately slower pace. There are no huge boss battles, no sprawling combat system and no constant stream of dramatic set pieces. Instead, the adventure asks you to explore, observe, solve environmental puzzles and gradually restore the world around you.
That will undoubtedly make the game feel too gentle for some players, particularly those seeking a more traditional action-adventure. For me, however, the slower pace is one of its defining qualities. There is something refreshing about a game that is happy to let you simply swim through its world and take it all in. It feels almost meditative at times, and those quieter moments are where Jupiter & Mars is at its most effective.
Final Verdict
Jupiter & Mars: Definitive Edition is not a game for everyone, but those willing to embrace its peaceful approach will find an adventure with plenty of heart. Its underwater world is beautiful, its central duo are charming, and its environmental message gives the journey a genuine sense of purpose. The exploration and puzzles are relatively simple, but they work because the real attraction is the world itself and the sense of discovering it at your own pace.
Most importantly, the game manages to make its environmental themes feel integral to the experience rather than simply bolted on. Watching damaged areas recover, seeing marine life return, and exploring the remains of a drowned civilisation give the player plenty to think about once the credits roll. It is an imperfect adventure, and its relaxed pace will not suit everybody, but there is something genuinely special about its combination of beauty, tranquillity and quiet melancholy.
