Ocean's Heart

81%
Game Brain Score Based on 596 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • music
Ocean's Heart Game Cover
Hankering for a great indie 2D Zelda? Here’s one for you.
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"Ocean's Heart" is a top-down action adventure game with RPG elements. Players explore a vast ocean, uncovering secrets and battling enemies as they search for their missing father. The game features crafting, character development, and underwater exploration with a charming pixel art style.

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

81%
Audience ScoreBased on 596 reviews
story84 positive mentions
grinding14 negative mentions
  • Ocean's Heart is a charming homage to classic Zelda games, featuring beautiful pixel art and a delightful soundtrack.
  • The game offers a solid exploration experience with numerous side quests and hidden secrets that reward curiosity.
  • The light-hearted story and witty dialogue add a fun layer to the gameplay, making it enjoyable for both casual and dedicated players.
  • The controls can feel clunky, especially with the roll and interact actions mapped to the same button, leading to frustrating moments.
  • The difficulty curve is inconsistent, with early-game challenges feeling much harder than later encounters, making the game feel unbalanced.
  • Some players may find the lack of a detailed map and the absence of autosave features frustrating, leading to potential loss of progress.
  • story262 mentions

    The story of *Ocean's Heart* is generally regarded as straightforward and somewhat light, often described as a basic adventure plot reminiscent of classic Zelda games. While it features engaging dialogue and humorous moments, many players feel the main narrative lacks depth and can be overshadowed by the abundance of side quests and exploration opportunities. Overall, the game offers a charming experience with a decent storyline, but it is the gameplay and world-building that truly captivate players.

    • “The story is interesting enough, and getting more hearts, armor, and attack power doesn't seem to be that big of an issue.”
    • “Very reminiscent of early Legend of Zelda games with an engaging story, various puzzles, and surprisingly silly dialogue that startled a laugh out of me a time or two without distracting from the story itself.”
    • “The main story is wonderful and the dialogue is fun and sometimes snarky and I love it!”
    • “The story isn't very deep.”
    • “The game's inability to take anything seriously hurts the story.”
    • “The story is, unfortunately, the weakest part of the game.”
  • gameplay127 mentions

    The gameplay of "Ocean's Heart" is heavily inspired by classic Zelda titles, featuring enjoyable combat mechanics, exploration, and a variety of quests that maintain player interest. While the game offers a nostalgic experience with its top-down perspective and familiar mechanics, it suffers from some clunky controls and a lack of challenge, particularly in boss encounters. Overall, players appreciate the fun and charm of the gameplay, despite some minor flaws and a straightforward story.

    • “While the plot may not be groundbreaking, the game shines through its fun combat mechanics and well-designed quests, which keep things interesting and offer variety without overwhelming complexity.”
    • “Great pacing, familiar gameplay with new mechanics, and generally a lighthearted atmosphere.”
    • “Ocean's Heart is an excellent game that mixes old school SNES action RPG elements with modern gaming mechanics such as side quests and material collection and item crafting like what you would find in a game like Breath of the Wild or the Witcher series.”
    • “The gameplay is clunky/sluggish and the story is very bland and linear.”
    • “Bosses don't use unique mechanics related to the tools you've picked up - they're just zergs...assuming your opening lightning spell doesn't one-shot them or they don't get stuck on a piece of terrain.”
    • “By having an uncapped number of healing items that are used from a pause menu, you so dramatically undermine the risk of combat that the main gameplay features are undone.”
  • music106 mentions

    The music in "Ocean's Heart" has received widespread praise for its nostalgic and immersive quality, often compared to classic Zelda soundtracks. Many players found the soundtrack to be catchy and memorable, enhancing the overall gameplay experience, although some noted that certain tracks could become repetitive and lacked distinct themes for boss encounters. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's charm and atmosphere.

    • “A lovely homage to the classic Zelda games, with tight controls and a great soundtrack!”
    • “The soundtrack is amazing--usually I listen to a podcast or what-not while playing games, but I have been deeply immersed in the lovely music of Ocean's Heart.”
    • “The music fits the theme and atmosphere of the environments you explore, and the pixel art graphics are terrific.”
    • “The worst part of the music, by far, was that there is no miniboss or boss theme.”
    • “The music loops can get a little repetitive.”
    • “Areas I visited had the same music loop repeating for what felt like every 30 seconds, and the music sounds the same between areas as well.”
  • graphics77 mentions

    The graphics of the game are generally praised for their cute and nostalgic pixel art style, reminiscent of classic Zelda titles like "A Link to the Past" and "Minish Cap." While many reviewers appreciate the colorful and detailed visuals, some note performance issues and battery drain that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the art style is considered charming and well-executed, contributing positively to the game's atmosphere despite some criticisms regarding sprite quality and gameplay mechanics.

    • “The graphics are cute and coherent; sometimes you can see some seams, but it didn't bother me.”
    • “I love the colorful and simple yet beautiful art style.”
    • “The pixel graphics and animation are superbly done and bring a lot of life to the game.”
    • “The worst part by far, in my opinion, is the terrible performance relative to the graphics.”
    • “Battery drain was equally bad and consumed battery similar to a graphical 3D title.”
    • “The graphics are cute, but gameplay-wise, it's a mediocre throwback to GBA-era 2D Zelda games.”
  • humor55 mentions

    The humor in the game is generally well-received, with many players appreciating the witty dialogue, charming characters, and light-hearted tone that often elicits genuine laughter. While some found the humor to be hit-or-miss, with occasional flat jokes, the overall consensus highlights a delightful blend of sarcasm and charm that enhances the gameplay experience. The writing is noted for its cleverness and ability to keep the atmosphere enjoyable, making it a standout feature of the game.

    • “The world was incredibly fun to explore and the humor was right up my alley.”
    • “I quite enjoyed Tilia's sort of deadpan, matter-of-fact humor a lot of the time and I definitely had plenty of smirks and full-on, actual, laugh-out-loud moments with the game.”
    • “The game's art style is great and I enjoy the tongue-in-cheek humor that is sprinkled all over the game, really enjoyed playing this.”
  • grinding16 mentions

    Overall, players have mixed feelings about the grinding aspect of the game. While many appreciate the fluid gameplay and minimal resource grinding, some find certain elements, like backtracking and resource farming, to be tedious and detracting from the overall experience. The game offers a balance of exploration and side quests, but the necessity of farming items can lead to frustration for some players.

    • “It's a very fluid game with a lot of resources that require almost no grinding.”
    • “A bit grindy sometimes.”
    • “You don't find hearts around and instead have to use items, so you'll find yourself farming the areas where you collect the few there are, or you just die and restart to get 3 hearts.”
    • “I understand that it's a new IP and doesn't have the pre-existing lore that Zelda does, but it is just tedious and annoying.”
    • “Traveling from place to place can get tedious even with the fast travel system in place.”
  • replayability11 mentions

    Overall, the game's replayability is considered low, with many players noting its linear structure and lack of engaging mechanics that would encourage multiple playthroughs. While some found enough enjoyment and humor to consider a rerun after some time, the consensus leans towards a moderate to poor replay value, with scores averaging around 2/10.

    • “While I wouldn't say this game has replayability, if I could play it again for the first time, I would.”
    • “It's well worth the time it takes to romp through, and while the replay value is moderate at best, I think there is enough humor and depth to warrant a rerun after a few months have passed.”
    • “🔲 infinitely replayable”
    • “The less than good stuff: consumable items were eh (I don't think I used any of the special bombs, arrows, or potions outside of healing), spells were either obtained so late in the game or had little function that they were fairly forgettable, all enemies and bosses were pretty much just whack it with your sword, puzzles were pretty simple, at least for me, not much replay value.”
    • “That's not really good for replay value, because there doesn't seem to be any other replay-related mechanic.”
    • “Not too much replay value, because it's fairly linear, but I feel I got my money's worth of entertainment.”
  • stability11 mentions

    The game has been widely reported as unstable, with numerous bugs and glitches affecting gameplay, such as phasing through NPCs and unexpected damage from monsters. While some players noted minor issues, the overall consensus is that these stability problems detract from the experience and hinder recommendations for the game.

    • “It seems to be a common problem, which is apparently due to the engine's controller API that is buggy, which kind of sucks.”
    • “That's not a bad thing, but when the game starts out kind of slow and buggy and frustrating, it kind of makes me not really want to recommend it.”
    • “The game is quite buggy, e.g. phasing through walking NPCs, monsters damaging you upon entering an area.”
  • optimization9 mentions

    Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing significant performance issues such as stuttering and crashes, particularly on lower-end PCs. While it is considered well-optimized for casual gamers, the poor performance during critical gameplay moments detracts from the overall experience for others. Despite these issues, some players still find it enjoyable compared to other titles in the current generation.

    • “Aside from performance, I gladly recommend the game!”
    • “It's well optimized for casual gamers like me who don't like very hard games.”
    • “It's more like I cannot dislike this game than I like this game; it's not outstanding in performance, but it's great compared to games in this generation.”
    • “The worst part by far, in my opinion, is the terrible performance relative to the graphics.”
    • “Not sure if it's my computer or just poor optimization, but the game will stutter after taking big hits or giving big hits.”
    • “This makes the second problem I have even more frustrating, too, because after you get out of the mountain of dialogue, you get into a poorly optimized, poorly designed, and unfun game.”
  • atmosphere8 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its nostalgic charm reminiscent of older Zelda titles, featuring engaging world-building, beautiful pixel art, and fitting music that enhances the exploration experience. While the overall ambiance is lighthearted and enjoyable, some players feel that the gameplay and story do not fully match the quality of the atmosphere, leading to mixed feelings about the game's heart and soul. Nonetheless, those who prioritize atmosphere, exploration, and collection will find much to appreciate in the game's enchanting environments.

    • “Very fun game reminds me of older Zelda games with a nice story and cool atmospheres!”
    • “Great pacing, familiar gameplay with new mechanics, and generally a lighthearted atmosphere.”
    • “Music fits the theme and atmosphere of the environments you explore and the pixel art graphics are terrific.”
    • “However, although the overall atmosphere and the secondary aspects of the game (i.e. side quests, tangentially-important NPCs) are well designed, Ocean's Heart struggles with its heart and soul: gameplay and story.”
    • “But if story, exploration, atmosphere, and collection are more what you look for in this type of game, then I wholeheartedly recommend Ocean's Heart.”
  • emotional5 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by a blend of humor and heartfelt moments, with players appreciating the beautiful pixel art and engaging combat. However, there is a notable disappointment regarding the sidequests, which many feel lack depth and emotional impact, leading to mixed feelings about the overall experience.

    • “The combat is good, the writing is funny but heartfelt when it needs to be, and the pixel art is beautiful.”
    • “It would be easy to note right upfront all the things about Ocean's Heart that left me wanting, but I think that it's telling that instead of going that route, I would much rather share how the game made me feel and respond.”
  • monetization2 mentions

    The monetization aspect of the game is criticized as a cash grab, with poor controls and limited settings contributing to a negative experience. Additionally, the misleading advertising of full controller support, despite many buttons being non-functional, further detracts from its value.

    • “The controls are mapped awfully, there are barely any settings, and this all adds up to what this game amounts to: a cash grab Lttp clone that pales in comparison.”
    • “That being said, advertising full controller support when half the buttons don't function is an issue.”
  • character development1 mentions

    Reviewers praise the character development for its depth, particularly highlighting the guard's journey towards finding inner strength. The integration of humor and engaging side quests adds richness to the narrative, enhancing the overall experience beyond a simple quest structure.

    • “I'm super impressed with how small the team is that made it for such a good product, and I really enjoyed the secrets, the side quests, the humor in the dialogue, and the character development of the guard searching for inner strength. The random elements here and there broke up the straightforward 'go here and do this, now come back and do this' energy.”
    • “The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with the characters on a meaningful level.”
    • “I was disappointed by the lack of growth in the main character; it felt like they remained static throughout the game.”
    • “The side characters had potential, but their development was rushed and left me wanting more substance in their stories.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

74% average critic score

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Play time

13hMedian play time
13hAverage play time
8-18hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 14 analyzed playthroughs

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