Wavetale

Welcome to the amazing world of Wavetale! Jump on the high seas and skate your way around with ease, discovering incredible islands filled with interesting characters and brilliant sights. If you are looking for an adventure game that tries something new, has an adorable art style, and will tell a story that grips you from start to finish, then you are looking for Wavetale. Jump into the action and battle some unique enemies with a fresh combat system that keeps your movement and momentum going. I found this game to be an absolute dream to play, and I know you will too. Let’s get into it.

Gameplay

So, the gameplay of this title feels like it takes inspiration from a few other games. You are free to travel around the choppy seas and investigate many of the different islands that populate the local waters. This functions a bit like Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. While travelling around, you will encounter some enemies that need to be destroyed and combating them requires you to leap around and attack their weak spots, some of which can be quite high off the ground. I found the combat to be strongly reminiscent of titles like Sonic Frontiers. It possesses a fast-paced combat that requires regular attacks and good timing.

Exploration plays a large part in this title, as does a social aspect. Wavetale is filled with interesting characters all across the world, and you must find them and talk to them to discover who they are and what they are like. You are free to ignore everyone and just fight monsters, of course, but there is something distinctly impressive and welcoming about the world that makes you want to get to know its inhabitants. It’s a big part of what makes playing this game special so try not to ignore it.

Visuals

The visuals of Wavetale are brilliant. It has a very unique art style that you don’t see in many other titles and, if you do, they are rarely as well done. If you’ve ever played Okami, you’ll get an idea for the cartoony sort of vibe the world puts out. Its really very good and I thoroughly enjoyed playing and investigating the world.

Story

The story of this is somewhat typical for the genre. You take control of Sigrid and travel around your decaying archipelago attempting to figure out why you are having a problem with rogue monster running around breaking stuff. The player is assisted by a shadow that stands in reverse from you just underneath the water, their presence there allows you to stand on the surface and slide across it as though you were surfing. With this ability and your trusty net, its time to put a stop to some evildoers. It’s really cool and makes for unique visuals and gameplay.

I cannot say much about the story without spoiling anything, but I will say that focuses heavily on themes such as loss and reconciliation. So, if you need a little of that in your life, maybe give this game a go.

Pro

• Great visuals and art style
• Interesting story and great use of themes and mood
• Excellent controls and combat system
• Very fun exploration mechanics

Cons

• The game was a bit too easy