Diving tours are limited to a certain area around the player's boat, which can be freely moved about a map of the whole game world. Unlike in the similar Aquanaut's Holiday, only a small area of the full game world is seamlessly accessible at any one time. There are still treasures to find, but as Endless Ocean is mostly freeform exploration and has no overarching plot, the player is in no obligation to look for these items to progress through the game. Endless Ocean slightly differs from its predecessors in that the traditional 'game elements' have been mostly removed - where Everblue 2 set a goal for the player by having them search for treasure underwater, Endless Ocean is more freeform and just lets the player explore at their own pace. The main focus of the game is exploration of the game world and cataloguing the various species of animals found there.
Endless Ocean is the third installment in the Everblue series, games focused on exploring an underwater world.
