'Abzu' game creator finds endless inspiration in the sea

(AP) — After designing grassy knolls and desert vistas for the landmark artsy video games "Flower" and "Journey," there was only one place video game designer Matt Nava wanted to go next: underwater.

Following the success of thatgamecompany's 2012 indie hit "Journey," which swept that year's Game Developers Choice Awards and whose score was nominated for a Grammy, Nava formed his own studio to create an ethereal undersea odyssey called "Abzu."

In a sea of role-playing games and first-person shooters, moody experimental games like "Abzu" remain an anomaly and are especially difficult to design.

"Abzu," out Tuesday for the PlayStation 4 and PC, casts players as a nameless diver exploring an immense three-dimensional seascape that's teeming with marine life and fantastical topography.

The 10-person team at Nava's Giant Squid studio found that one of the biggest challenges in creating a game that's entirely set within the ocean was directing light and forming terrain that undauntedly guides players.

Abzu" is among several games out this summer exploring the depths of the sea, following the ominous aquatic moments in Playdead's "Inside," the folksy oceanic atmosphere of Insomniac Games' "Song of the Deep" and a diving segment in Naughty Dog's "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.