ABZU ACHIEVEMENT GUIDE FULL
If you're not the type of person who likes to explore everything, and you just want to go from point A to point B, try to stick to areas that are full of fish. Some areas are vast and shaped more like squares, which can be overwhelming. As a bonus, they sometimes hint at hidden areas rife with collectibles. If you're completely lost, start looking at schools and seeing where they are headed. They're always ready to help and generally swim in the direction you need to go. It doesn't really matter what type they are. Your first line on where to go lies with the fish. If you're unsure whether or not you're in the correct area for interaction, you can spam the square button as often as you like to ensure that you eventually grab or open anything nearby. This includes picking up collectibles, opening up doors and grabbing helpful robots that can burn through coral walls. Press square to use your scanner, which acts as a use button of sorts for anything within reach. If you get the rhythm down, you can start exploring areas twice as fast. Time the first two roughly a half second apart, and then press the third at any time afterward as long as the boost is active.
To use what we refer to as the "golden boost," you'll need to press the boost button three times. But what Abzu doesn't tell you is that you can actually trigger a super boost of sorts, which is communicated with a shiny glowing effects on your fins. This initiates a quick burst of speed over roughly five seconds, at which point you can repeat the process. Consider keeping swim pitch inverted but everything else normal. There are a few light control options, so try them all out before you get used to one particular scheme. And you'll trade speed for less direct control. You can also ride fish with L2, which doesn't really provide any bonuses outside of speed. This isn't because you're in an air pocket - just let go of R2 and press it again to restart your normal movement. Occasionally, the game may lock up, and you'll start to notice your avatar moving very slowly. Diving is your basic form of swimming, and you can control it with the left analog stick, with a few caveats. This is how you'll control most of your movement in Abzu. Note that there is no fear of running out of air, so you can roam around any zone as long as you want. We won't spoil the story, but after you do the shrine-like areas, look at the drawings on the wall, as they explain the narrative. Abzu doesn't explain anything for more than a few brief seconds, and there's no easy way to locate the full control map, so keep these instructions close if you get confused.