Wavetale [PC] | REVIEW

The Stadia brought with it a selection of exclusive releases that console and PC gamers missed out on the first time around, but with its demise, those titles are starting to see the light of day elsewhere. One of those titles is Wavetale, a stylish third-person adventure from the creative minds at Zoink Games. It’s a delightful little escapade too, so it’s nice to see the shackles of the now defunct streaming service have been released for a wider audience of players to enjoy it.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Taking place across a beautiful ocean-filled landscape, Wavetale puts players in the role of Sigrid who lives in the submerged land of Strandville with her grandmother. Making their home in a lighthouse, they’re tasked with keeping an ominous dark presence known as the Gloom away, but an unfortunate power outage sees the Gloom and a villainous group known as The Dirty Paws become a bigger threat. Fortunately, Sigrid also obtains the ability to run across water during this time thanks to a shadowy figure which joins her, so dashing through the waves and across the archipelago in order to nullify the Gloom for good becomes an easier task.

On paper, the tale of Wavetale seems like your typical ‘hero adventures out to defeat an evil threat’ sort of affair, but it feels like a lot more than that. There’s an emotional story to be told here that delves deeper into Sigrid’s life and her relationship with her deceased mother, whilst the ongoing battle to stop the Gloom plays heavily too. I found myself invested in the characters, whilst the interesting backstory of the world kept me intrigued right until the very end. Wavetale isn’t a big game (I beat it in just under four hours), but it feels like the perfect length to tells its meaningful story.

“Surfing across the water, leaping up the waves, and gliding through the skyline always feels impressive and makes traversal in the game feel sublime.”

One of the main gameplay mechanics at play is Sigrid’s ability to run across the water, which doesn’t only feel satisfying to do in-game but also looks mesmerising. There’s something so alluring about seeing Sigrid’s shadow companion dash underneath the water with her, whilst the wonderfully stylised aesthetic ensures each moment spent exploring looks beautiful. Surfing across the water, leaping up the waves, and gliding through the skyline always looks impressive and makes traversal in the game feel sublime.

The actual gameplay when you reach the islands is a little bit more basic. Everything you do feels simple, whether that’s collecting items, activating objects, or beating up enemies, with the game rarely doing anything that you wouldn’t have done plenty of times before in other third-person adventures. Being able to dash through speed boosts, slide down pipes, and soar through the air does make exploring the structures on these locales feel more interesting, but again, it all feels very familiar.

Check out some screenshots down below:

The same applies to the combat, which is a quick-paced button-mashing affair that sees you taking out the monsters roaming around. Whilst there are encounters with some enemies that feel a bit more impressive, most of the time I felt like I was taking out harmless fodder that rarely put up much of a fight. It’s not bad at all, but at the same time it wasn’t exciting when I came across enemies, with each encounter feeling like a bit of a formality where some thoughtless button-pressing did the job.

Despite these issues with the game’s simplicity, I had a really good time playing Wavetale. Sure, it keeps things basic, but the short runtime ensured it never got boring – there were some neat cosmetics to earn and pieces of lore to find too, so at least tasks brought with them a fun little reward. The fact that traversal feels SO good makes up for some of the shortcomings too, with soaring across the waves NEVER getting old. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s far from perfect, but nothing ever feels bad… just a little bland in places.

Developer: Zoink Games, Thunderful
Publisher: Thunderful
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
Website: https://thunderfulgames.com/games/wavetale/