Right away one can tell that Ocean’s Heart, by developer Max Mraz and publisher Nordcurrent, is a Zelda-inspired experience. And if you happen to be a fan of the franchise you will know exactly what they are diving into. A retro feel game that is filled with dungeons and pirates.
Ocean’s Heart starts with Tilia, the main character of the story, dealing with her friend being captured by pirates. This story may not seem too exciting, however, the gameplay is the star of this experience. This gives you that Zelda itch, especially Link To The Past, that one could be craving.
Now the gameplay is pretty simple with the use of weapons such as the sword, bombs, magical abilities, and bow. These will, in turn, help progress the story and allow you to delve into the dungeons to face the different enemies. The combat is a combination of hit and dodge movement from the enemy attacks as this is how most encounters will progress. The combat was basic enough and keeps you in the action just enough though nothing revolutionary for the genre of game.
However, the exploration is the star of this game through side quests from the NPCs you will meet, gain crowns the currency of the game. I found it interesting to make my way through the world with the map as I never became lost as there was a path, however, also never felt restricted into a certain path. I found some new areas that gave me the itch of being able to explore and find those different areas. Even with fast travel allowing the character to move around the world easier gave the game a good touch when it came to exploring easily. But not overwhelmed and becoming confused with the path the game wanted me to go. This became the highlight of the game for me being able to explore these dungeons. These brought me great joy and nostalgia with the design choices and boss fights that kept me in the game throughout the hours I played. Even the puzzles, which weren’t too crazy but added variety to the game and kept me engaged. The gameplay reminded me how much I love these adventure retro-style games filled with simple combat, dungeons, NPCs, and bosses throughout.
The graphics and sound bring you right into that retro feel and brought me into the experience even more. The pixel art will bring you incredible joy throughout with well-done animations that you can’t help but love. While the sound kept you engaged as it would change based on the environment with the upbeat and relaxing medley of the village to the darker medley in the dungeons. Nothing blew me away with the soundtrack but it does its job in engaging you enough.
While the main story left much to be desired, the retro feel of the graphics, sounds, and exploration captured my interest for hours. I definitely recommend checking Ocean’s Heart out. Ocean’s Heart is truly a great reminder of how effective this genre can be to this day.
Score: 8/10
Check Out the Ocean’s Heart Trailer:
For more information, please visit: https://www.nordcurrent.com/games/oceans-heart
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Steam Review
Gaming has always been an outlet for me to interact with different people and explore all kinds of possibilities. I play a wide variety of games always willing to try different mechanics and storylines that developers are trying to create for their games. I grew up delving into MW2 and World of Warcraft, I miss the Wrath of The Lich King days, and as I have gotten older I have found a love for RPGs and strategy games, my favorites being The Witcher 3 and Total War. Always looking forward to the next great game.
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