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Wavetale

Wavetale encourages you to explore to its fullest a beautiful aquatic world, with fluid animation that makes for thrilling action and a profound story that reinforces the importance of community and compassion.
Wavetale Game Cover
82%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
replayability, stability
88% User Score Based on 177 reviews
Critic Score 78%Based on 13 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchXbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 5Playstation 4Xbox OneXboxWindowsPlayStation
Wavetale Game Cover

About

Wavetale is a single player action adventure game. It was developed by Thunderful Development and was released on December 12, 2022. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

Explore an open sea and the decaying archipelago of Strandville in Wavetale, a story-driven action-adventure game introducing you to fed-up fishermen, secretive hermits – and maybe a pirate or two. Traverse calm waters and surging waves as Sigrid, a young girl who befriends a mysterious shadow that provides her with the power to walk on water.

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88%
Audience ScoreBased on 177 reviews
story50 positive mentions
replayability3 negative mentions

  • The movement mechanics are incredibly fluid and satisfying, making traversal a joy.
  • The art style and visuals are beautiful, creating an immersive and charming atmosphere.
  • The game features a heartfelt story with relatable characters, providing an emotional experience.
  • The game is quite short, with a playtime of around 4-6 hours, which may not justify the price for some players.
  • Combat is simplistic and lacks depth, often feeling like an afterthought rather than a core gameplay element.
  • Many quests are repetitive and primarily consist of fetch quests, leading to a lack of variety in gameplay.
  • story
    152 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of Wavetale is generally well-received, characterized as a charming and lighthearted coming-of-age tale with themes of environmental recovery and personal growth. While some reviewers noted its predictability and simplicity, many appreciated the engaging characters and beautiful art style that enhance the overall experience. However, the brevity of the narrative and reliance on fetch quests left some players wanting more depth and exploration.

    • “The story is engrossing and profound; the quest for Sigrid to help others and save her world is beautiful.”
    • “Wavetale's story is exceedingly brief, but it is delivered with such grounded and relatable voice acting that it doesn't feel slight.”
    • “The art direction is stunning, the story is powerful and perfectly paced, the movement felt incredibly fun on a fundamental level, and the world building was to die for.”
    • “The writing is at best on the nose and at worst kind of cringey; the story was extremely predictable (not necessarily a bad thing, but the game isn't going to challenge anyone's worldview).”
    • “The idea is nice, but the whole production makes it boring and a repetitive, tiring experience with characters that just get on your nerves or childish plot points.”
    • “The story threads hardly get the time to set themselves up (much less resolve successfully), gameplay features that clearly got cut, and a campaign that hurtles headlong into the finish line just minutes after building up intrigue.”
  • gameplay
    72 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is characterized by simple platforming and enjoyable surfing mechanics, reminiscent of titles like Wind Waker, providing a fluid and engaging experience. However, many players note that the mechanics lack depth and variety, leading to repetitive gameplay as the core mechanics are introduced early and not expanded upon throughout the game. While the traversal and movement are praised for their smoothness, the overall experience feels somewhat stretched and simplistic, with combat and exploration elements that could benefit from more complexity.

    • “The surfing is especially good with some nice touches like a diving mechanic, a power jump, and a little glow that lets you know when you're over water, along with the gorgeous water itself.”
    • “Wavetale's core gameplay consists of simple platforming, free skating across the sea, some collecting and exploration combined with easy combat.”
    • “The gameplay feels pretty smooth and I love the characters, music, and the game design.”
    • “It's the gameplay that could use some work, though.”
    • “The platforming never meaningfully develops past what you do in the first leg of the game, the combat is bare bones and basically a space filler, there are some cool platforming setpieces throughout but between them is a lot of samey-looking islands with samey-looking buildings and samey-feeling platforming where you fight the same enemies over and over again... the game is not long but even then the gameplay feels a bit stretched thin at spots.”
    • “The main critique is that the gameplay is a little basic and repetitive, you get all your basic movement, like sprint, jump, double jump, attack, but there is not much depth to it, I would have loved to have something more to do when traveling, like propel myself forward to gain even more speed, or ride some waves to do some tricks.”
  • music
    58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, creating a relaxing and immersive experience. Many reviewers highlight the soundtrack's adaptability, seamlessly shifting to match the game's mood, whether during exploration or action sequences. While some note occasional mismatches between the music and on-screen events, the general consensus is that the soundtrack is a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's charm and appeal.

    • “The music by itself is worth listening to over and over again; I cannot overstate how much I enjoy the music and the atmosphere it creates.”
    • “The visuals are delightfully colorful and the music elevates the experience even further by evoking a true feeling of wonder and adventure.”
    • “Overall, this game is very relaxing and offers an enjoyable experience with a wonderful soundtrack, unique art style, and excellent movement controls in this 3D platformer.”
    • “The music takes a while to start, so sometimes you might stay in silence for a little while; don't go into audio settings just yet.”
    • “Soundtrack is charming, although it can be unfitting at times.”
    • “There's little to no music.”
  • graphics
    57 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are widely praised for their gorgeous and colorful art style, reminiscent of titles like Wind Waker, which enhances the overall experience with beautiful environments and charming character designs. While some reviewers noted inconsistencies in character models and animations, the majority found the visuals captivating and well-suited to the game's narrative and gameplay. Overall, the combination of stunning graphics and a delightful soundtrack contributes to a relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere.

    • “The visuals are delightfully colorful and the music elevates the experience even further by evoking a true feeling of wonder and adventure.”
    • “The art style is absolutely gorgeous and the soundtrack is also quite beautiful.”
    • “A big part of the appeal is also the gorgeous visuals, underlined by a surprisingly great soundtrack.”
    • “It's off-putting and weird, and even with the cartoony art style, this just feels incredibly lazy on the part of whoever did the 3D modeling.”
    • “Various inconsistencies in character art, from skin tones being different between models to faces being drawn completely differently, which you would think would've been more of a focus in a game that's going for a specific art aesthetic.”
    • “Pair that with a really basic, ugly menu screen with relatively minimal graphics options and it ends up feeling... weirdly unfinished, for a game that's technically been out for a year?”
  • emotional
    11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is described as emotionally moving, blending themes of grief and joy in a wholesome narrative that resonates with players. While the story may lack depth, it is ultimately heartwarming and touching, featuring enjoyable gameplay and a stellar soundtrack. Some reviewers noted that it occasionally falters in emotional impact but still manages to evoke strong feelings, particularly in its conclusion.

    • “The game is emotionally moving - it combines grief and joy just perfectly.”
    • “The story is cheesy and touching, the gameplay enjoyable, the soundtrack stellar, the art style gorgeous.”
    • “Bonus: the ending actually made me cry - a rare thing for any media, let alone a video game to do.”
  • atmosphere
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its Mediterranean charm, enhanced by a superb soundtrack that complements the visuals and gameplay. Reviewers highlight the heartwarming and immersive qualities of the environment, noting that the music significantly contributes to the overall experience, making it both enjoyable and engaging. The combination of simple mechanics and a fitting ambiance creates a fun and smooth gameplay experience.

    • “I would unrepentantly call this 'the most Mediterranean game ever made.' Music, atmosphere, mechanics, story - it's all simple, but that's not a bad thing.”
    • “The music by itself is worth listening to over and over again; I cannot overstate how much I enjoy the music and the atmosphere it creates.”
    • “[Absolutely wondrous atmosphere complete with a superb soundtrack, excellent sense of speed, lovely visuals, and immersive world.]”
  • replayability
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players find it satisfying and enjoyable enough to revisit due to its chill vibe and great soundtrack, others feel that the lack of additional objectives and content limits its long-term appeal. The consensus suggests that while it can be replayed, it may not justify the cost for everyone.

    • “The game is short but replayable, with a super satisfying movement system and an incredible soundtrack that creates a chill vibe.”
    • “Infinitely replayable.”
    • “It feels like a whole bunch of wasted areas that could've held more objectives and replay value.”
    • “There isn't a lot of replayability in the game to warrant the higher cost.”
    • “Replayability varies.”
  • stability
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game exhibits several stability issues, including buggy animations, minor glitches, and problems with quest tracking, particularly when using mouse and keyboard. While these issues can be annoying, they do not significantly detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.

    • “But it's very buggy, especially in menus with mouse and keyboard.”
    • “Both times I quit the game resulted in two separate quest tracking glitches, a permanent waypoint on the map for a quest I definitely completed, and a main story mission displaying twice, completing once and leaving the other.”
    • “It does have some annoying minor glitches.”
  • optimization
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews; while some players appreciate the smooth performance and character depth, others report frequent lag, bugs, and screen tearing, indicating that it requires further optimization to enhance the overall experience.

    • “The superb performances allowed the developers to imbue their characters with more life, roundness, and motivation in this short window than I experienced in all of 1164 hours of Horizon: Zero Dawn.”
    • “Performance is smooth!”
    • “The game is not optimized very well, so expect to use high TDP to achieve consistent FPS.”
    • “Another thing that bothered me is that this game needs more optimization because of frequent lag and bugs. While it wasn't unplayable, it was definitely annoying.”
    • “The game has a lot of screen tearing and other performance issues, contributing to an overall lack of challenge.”
  • humor
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of clever jokes and endearing moments, particularly highlighted by amusing cursing from a grandmother character. Players find the humor to be fresh and engaging, contributing to the game's overall heartwarming and enjoyable atmosphere.

    • “Cursing, mostly from grandma, is also funny rather than just stale.”
    • “This game is heartwarming, funny, atmospheric, and above all incredibly fun and smooth to play.”
    • “Other jokes are also funny.”
  • character development
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Reviewers highlight the charming character design and art style, noting that the voice acting enhances the overall appeal of the characters. However, there is no specific mention of depth or growth in character development.

    • “The voice acting adds depth to the characters, and the character design is absolutely adorable.”
    • “The character design and art style are very cute, enhancing the overall experience.”
  • grinding
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be engaging rather than tedious, suggesting that it maintains their interest and enjoyment throughout the process.

    • “The grinding feels endless and repetitive, making it hard to stay engaged.”
    • “I found the grinding to be a chore rather than an enjoyable part of the game.”
    • “The amount of grinding required to progress is overwhelming and detracts from the overall experience.”
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4h Median play time
6h Average play time
3-10h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Wavetale is a action adventure game.

Wavetale is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5 and others.

On average players spend around 6 hours playing Wavetale.

Wavetale was released on December 12, 2022.

Wavetale was developed by Thunderful Development.

Wavetale has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its replayability.

Wavetale is a single player game.

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