Find your father, free your friend.

When pirates kidnap your friend and your father leaves in pursuit to never be seen again, you must take up the sword yourself! Sail into a dangerous world of corruption and mysterious magics to discover your loved ones’ fates and foil the Pirate King’s dastardly plans. Created by Max Mraz and published by Nordcurrent, Ocean’s Heart is a fantasy RPG reminiscent of early Zelda titles.

GRAPHICS 10/10

Longtime Zelda fans will feel right at home with the beautiful pixel art graphics of Ocean’s Heart. Each of the many unique environments has its own eye-candy to offer and monsters to fight, all viewed from that familiar bird’s-eye perspective. I was especially impressed with the visuals in the civilized areas. Each town and city is distinctive in its architecture and decorations, displaying its culture and wealth (or lack thereof). I highly enjoyed the visuals; not only are they gorgeous, but they also help to sell the world as a real place.

SOUND QUALITY 10/10

Ocean’s Heart’s music demonstrates an excellent understanding of the setting and mood.

The soundtrack of Ocean’s Heart really stood out to me. Each area has its own track that masterfully complements the atmosphere, adding to the experience without being distracting or monotonous. The sound effects vary from the bleeps and bloops of a beloved bygone era to more modern effects, providing the best of both worlds.

GAMEPLAY 6.5/10

As you adventure through Ocean’s Heart, you’ll explore many environments, find new equipment, and fight a multitude of monsters. You’ll solve your way through puzzle dungeons and become a force to be reckoned with. Your best friends are your sword and a dodge roll that doubles as your main mode of transport AND primary cause of death whenever deep water’s around. When not accidentally drowning yourself, you’ll have to fight off multiple enemies at once while using various items to stun, zap, or push them back before finishing them off. The variety of enemies and equipment keeps things fresh, though the upgrades and health items you get from side quests quickly make you nigh unstoppable. The puzzle dungeons mix things up nicely and aren’t too difficult either. You’ll need to avoid traps, find keys, and do some problem solving using your special abilities to get to the end. It may be fairly simple, and it may not be too challenging, but there’s enough variety to keep you engaged the whole way through.

CHARACTERS 6.5/10

Ocean’s Heart is chock full of characters who add so much charm to the world, but they’re not the characters you’d expect. Unfortunately, we don’t get much from the main characters. Our girl Tilia only shows a small amount of meaningful personality in an argument she has at one point, and her flippancy toward finding her father feels bizarre. Instead, it’s the NPCs that give the world life and personality. Their frequent randomness and twisted logic always gets a laugh from me. Another thing that strikes me is how frequently even the old men would speak like total, super millennials--but I can’t even with this anymore, so let’s move on to story.

STORY 7/10

The story of Ocean’s Heart fits perfectly with the rest of the game: simple and to the point. Once you discover your loved ones’ fates, you must stop the Pirate King from obtaining a magic item of legendary power. As interesting as that sounds, I most enjoyed the moments when the main story wasn’t relevant. It was the unrelated political corruption, monster threats, side conversations and odd characters that established the world and gave me an appreciation for the worldbuilding.

OVERALL 8/10

Ocean’s Heart is a charming experience the whole way through.

If you’re looking for an enjoyable retro RPG experience with few frustrations, Ocean’s Heart has you covered. Navigation is easy and combat is a breeze if you do a few side quests. The sizable world has a large selection of enemies and environments that are perfectly accompanied by the soundtrack. The dialogue, though limited, is often highly entertaining, and the puzzles add a welcome change to the gameplay.

Ocean’s Heart was released on January 21st, 2021 on Steam and GOG for PC.  The reviewer purchased this game at full price.