![]() ![]() When taken out of context, this may appear on its face to be a bit lazy, especially when you compare Ocean’s Heart to today’s RPGs. Without a character leveling system in place, players must rely on improving their gear piecemeal through blacksmiths and treasure chests, and can only increase their health bars (or hearts, whatever) by looting them from secret locations or progressing the storyline. Similar to its inspirational predecessors, Ocean’s Heart offers limited opportunities to upgrade health, armor, and weaponry. Crafting can only be done at certain shops and I often found it easier to gather health boosts and bombs en masse by competing in an underground fighting ring, but it does add another layer of complexity to the game (and is easily the best source for accruing plenty of Elixer Vitae). Overall the combat system is fairly simple, but the enemy and weapon varieties kept the whole affair from feeling stale at any given point.Ĭombat and exploration aside, Ocean’s Heart also provides players with a limited opportunity to craft potions, buffs, and bombs using resources gathered from slain enemies and the land itself. Skirmishes early in the game boil down to rolling into range, striking with a very short sword, and backing away from telegraphed attacks, but as Tilia’s arsenal grows, players will find it easier to lay down a barrage of exploding arrows or lightning bolts before diving in with their melee attacks. Player attacks themselves are limited to one melee and two equippable ranged options, so the game’s variety largely stems from the plethora of weapons, spells, and bombs you acquire along the way (including an exploding mace that may or may not be the best invention since sliced bread). While a lot of emphasis is placed on exploration, a great deal more is devoted to combat. True to its RPG roots, Ocean’s Heart also promotes exploring and worldbuilding through plenty of secret encounters scattered throughout the land, the rewards for which often being well worth the effort. Alongside the main mission are a handful of intriguing side missions that range from a single errand to an entire laundry list of quirky chores, with each one building upon Tilia’s growth and the world around her. Dragged from her comfy home on Limestone Island, Tilia must take on massive sea beasts, haunted dungeons, and Blackbeard himself, whose mission to locate an ancient relic threatens the world at large. ![]() ![]() Set across a sunbaked archipelago amidst crystal blue seas, Ocean’s Heart focuses on Tilia, a young woman whose traditional coming-of-age adventure begins when her father disappears. It’s the pinnacle of passionate creativity that elevates the indie scene, and while I have a couple incidental gripes, Max Mraz’s Zelda-like RPG Ocean’s Heart is a triumph that I will continue to play long past this review. Indie game developers really run the gamut between one-person operations and full-blown teams that are just several million dollars shy of a Triple A title, but my heart really goes out to the former, especially when they crank out an absolute gem with what appears to be minimal support. ![]()
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