This game is generally about exploring in a submarine. You catalog new species you find, you can descend, ascend, or go left or right.
Perhaps the best thing about this game to me is the ability to make and execute plans. I had an idea from the beginning of what I wanted to do, and the game let me do it very well. You are constantly presented with choices to explore, to go deeper, to chase something, to return.
You have an air meter that goes down when you make choices. The beginning is more linear than the midge me and endgame.
I only played once, but it seems to be highly branching.