Wooden Ocean

96%
Game Brain Score Based on 140 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • music
Wooden Ocean Game Cover
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"Wooden Ocean" is an open-world dungeon crawler set in a dark, sunless realm. Battle monsters, gather loot, and establish your own town while uncovering a compelling mystery. The game emphasizes exploration, discovery, and creative building as you navigate its unique, ocean-themed environment.

  • PC
  • Windows
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

96%
Audience ScoreBased on 140 reviews
story17 positive mentions
atmosphere3 negative mentions
  • Wooden Ocean offers a vast, interconnected world filled with secrets, engaging exploration, and a unique blend of humor and darkness in its writing.
  • The combat system is deep and strategic, allowing for a variety of builds and elemental synergies, making battles feel rewarding and challenging.
  • The game is a true passion project, with frequent updates from the developer, showcasing a commitment to improving the experience and expanding content.
  • The game suffers from bugs and crashes, which can disrupt gameplay and lead to frustrating experiences, especially with save progress issues.
  • Some players find the writing to be inconsistent, with moments of humor that can feel forced or juvenile, detracting from the overall narrative experience.
  • The sheer size and complexity of the game can lead to feelings of being lost or overwhelmed, making it difficult for some players to navigate effectively.
  • story63 mentions

    The game's story is described as a unique and intricately crafted experience, blending elements of cosmic horror, high fantasy, and meta-narrative, which invites players to draw their own conclusions from its bizarre and cryptic lore. While the storytelling is praised for its depth and creativity, some players note that certain quests can feel shallow or broken, and the overall narrative can be confusing at times. Despite these issues, the world-building and character interactions contribute to a rich and engaging journey that many find thought-provoking and enjoyable.

    • “An amazingly crafted world and artful story; it's a real labor of love.”
    • “The game is a very tender mixed fantasy story that pulls from cosmic horror, high fantasy, and modern fantasy before looping back around to a really elegant kind of meta-narrative.”
    • “The story is wild, the characters are likable, and the battle system is decently deep.”
    • “The story and worldbuilding were genuinely interesting and clearly a lot of thought was put into them, but at a certain point the tedium of combat and terrible writing wore me down.”
    • “The plot is strange as hell, will make little sense at the beginning but you start to ease into the weirdness of Wooden Ocean's world and things start to make more sense as you progress towards your ultimate goal in the game.”
    • “That game was a complex, beautiful mess of underexplained systems, convoluted storytelling, and confusing maps.”
  • gameplay21 mentions

    The gameplay is characterized by its deep RPG mechanics, extensive build variety, and engaging town management system, offering a rich experience that rewards exploration and interaction. While some players find the combat design and leveling system slow and convoluted, the game provides a satisfying and enjoyable loop for those who appreciate complex mechanics and nostalgic RPG elements. Overall, it presents a vast, immersive world filled with unique challenges and interactions, though it may overwhelm players seeking a more straightforward experience.

    • “There is a crazy amount of gameplay here; I've played about 40 hours and still have way more to see.”
    • “If you like esoteric RPGs with deep mechanics that you can break beyond all belief, this is the game for you.”
    • “That same approach also goes for its gameplay, letting you find your own path through the gargantuan world in whatever way you want using whatever tools you have on hand.”
    • “Yeah, sure, I think the leveling is slow, the combat is objectively poor in design, and the mechanics of the game are needlessly obfuscated.”
    • “Mechanically slow, like how you need to press enter, wait a few seconds, press enter, then wait a few more seconds before pressing enter one last time to load your game.”
    • “Gameplay is kind of a mixed bag, since Wooden Ocean is so sprawlingly vast (seriously, do not try to 100% this. You'll just drive yourself crazy) that it would be a nightmare even for a full team to keep everything fine-tuned.”
  • music19 mentions

    The music in the game has received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with many players praising its unique blend of electronic and dark combat themes, as well as eerie piano melodies that enhance the game's atmosphere. Reviewers frequently express a desire to purchase the soundtrack, highlighting it as one of their favorites and a key element that contributes to the immersive experience. Overall, the soundtrack is described as gorgeous and integral to the game's world-building and emotional impact.

    • “The music is perfect, a mix of electronic and drum-filled dark combat music and eerie piano music that immediately makes the world unique.”
    • “One of my favorite soundtracks of all time.”
    • “The music is wonderful, and the visuals are this filtered mirage that reminds me of painted velvet and arcade floors, black lights, and fever dreams.”
    • “I don't know who composed it, whether it be the dev or someone else they worked with, but I can't believe I can't buy the soundtrack.”
    • “Is this secretly a Zelda-puzzle-forest? Only to stumble out into a new locale, with new monsters, usually a wildly different color palette, and almost always a new music track.”
    • “The atmosphere, music, and creative usage of RPG Maker RTP is all great.”
  • humor17 mentions

    The humor in the game is described as bizarre, engaging, and often hilarious, blending well with its darker themes and complex lore. Players appreciate the unique dialogue and character interactions, which range from absurd to thought-provoking, while some side quests and NPC lines add to the comedic experience. However, there are moments where the humor can feel forced or overly edgy, but overall, it contributes significantly to the game's charm and depth.

    • “With how bizarre and brooding it felt, and how cryptic and impenetrable its lore, story, and secrets can feel, on top of its bizarre dialogue and humor, the entire experience really felt like playing the genuinely inspired work of a mad artist made with an uncompromising drive to create the game he wanted.”
    • “The writing has a character to it that I find hard to put into words, but every new conversation is either weird, funny, intriguing, or often multiple of these.”
    • “The dialogue is very unique and once you get your other two party members, a lot of funny banter ensues which helps offset the darkness of the world.”
  • graphics11 mentions

    The graphics of the game are described as a unique blend of homogenized visuals that create a surreal and dreamlike atmosphere, reminiscent of painted velvet and arcade aesthetics. While some users noted minor graphical glitches, the overall artistic direction is praised for its beauty and ability to evoke a sense of dread, earning a solid rating of 8/10. The visuals contribute significantly to the game's immersive experience, enhancing both the combat and narrative elements.

    • “The combat feels amazing, the writing is top tier, the aesthetics are weird but beautiful, and I can't wait to play more and follow this project as it continues to evolve and expand.”
    • “The setting lore and the often grotesque artwork convey a creeping sense of dread, one that builds as the protagonist slowly confronts the nature of her existence.”
    • “The music is wonderful, and the visuals are this filtered mirage that reminds me of painted velvet and arcade floors, black lights and fever dreams.”
    • “The graphics are so homogenized that things bleed into each other, making you wonder what you're even looking at.”
    • “This is the final evolution of runtime packaged, stock graphics'd, one-man poverty-dev'd games.”
    • “Usually if it's a game-breaking/crashing bug, it gets addressed pretty fast... if it's little things (like I tend to find) like some graphical glitches, layer errors, or typos... not exactly high priority, but they do get done.”
  • atmosphere7 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is described as unique and otherworldly, creating a dense and immersive experience that captivates players. It features a somber and dreamlike quality, enhanced by effective music and creative design, though its jarring tonal shifts may alienate some players. Overall, the atmosphere is a standout element, contributing significantly to the game's identity and appeal.

    • “An experience so unique and bizarre, as dense in its otherworldly atmosphere as it is in its overwhelming amount of content, that it may stand as one of the defining games in all my years of playing video games, truly encapsulating what I am always searching for in a game experience.”
    • “The trailer doesn't show much of the game, but it was enough to pique my interest when it was on sale, and the prologue continued to do that, establishing a somber and dreamlike atmosphere that I wanted to see more of.”
    • “It's jarring, and the contrast between its earlier tone and atmosphere to that is something that I feel would cause most people to drop the game a few hours after.”
    • “The trailer doesn't show much of the game but it was enough to pique my interest when it was on sale, and the prologue continued to do that, establishing this somber and dreamlike atmosphere that I wanted to see more of.”
    • “This game oozes atmosphere.”
  • grinding6 mentions

    Reviews indicate that grinding is a mixed aspect of the game; while it is somewhat inevitable, the XP reward system encourages players to engage with tougher enemies rather than mindlessly grinding weaker foes. Some players find the combat tedious and feel that excessive grinding is necessary to defeat the final boss, leading to a sense of fatigue in the latter stages of the game. However, the inclusion of town management elements can mitigate grinding by providing passive rewards, making it less burdensome if players choose to engage with that system.

    • “Grinding is... in some ways an inevitability, but in others heavily discouraged by the relativistic XP reward system; in which defeating enemies more powerful than you rewards you far more than mindlessly bullying orcs in the beginner dungeon.”
    • “The final boss is nigh unbeatable unless you've spent literal hours grinding.”
    • “Eventually, the grinding wears out its welcome, and the latter half of my run was simply spamming bombs to clear out enemies.”
  • stability4 mentions

    The game's stability is currently criticized for being plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, with players expressing a desire to revisit it after significant improvements are made. While major game-breaking issues are addressed quickly, minor glitches tend to be lower on the priority list for fixes.

    • “I will come back after a few years when everything is finally set in stone and not just a buggy mess.”
    • “Bugs and glitches are rampant in this game, some of them inconsistent.”
    • “Usually if it's a game-breaking or crashing bug, it gets addressed pretty fast. However, smaller issues like graphical glitches, layer errors, or typos are not exactly high priority, but they do get fixed eventually.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is marked by a delicate balance between dark themes and poignant character development, often leading players to encounter heart-wrenching moments that resonate deeply. While some may find the tone misanthropic, others appreciate the clever and heartfelt writing that enhances the overall experience.

    • “But if you dive deep enough, be prepared to run into a heart-wrenching 'future content' message every so often.”
    • “The game threads a knife-thin gap between obnoxious misanthropy and genuinely clever and heartfelt character writing.”
  • replayability1 mentions

    Players note that the game features a complex new game+ system, suggesting significant potential for replayability, although some have not yet fully explored this aspect.

    • “It seems like there's a very complex new game + system, so there's potentially a lot of replayability, but I haven't gotten quite that far.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

17hMedian play time
33hAverage play time
3-80hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs

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