Ocean’s Heart

This is a solid zelda-like with a light-hearted tone. It's not at the lofty heights of Tunic or LttP, but as a one-man effort, it's pretty decent. The combat is a bit old-skool for my tastes, but the game is extremely forgiving, so it never feels frustrating. On default difficulty, it's actually too easy, but the developer put in a permanent hard-mode change, if you're feeling daring (you have to go to a temple and ring a bell -- it's not a simple slider in a menu).
On the plus side, it's got a bunch of items, a large number of side quests (so many!) and optional dungeons, it's very low frustration and it's the perfect length (not too short, not too long). The downsides are it's a bit too easy, the dungeons certainly aren't LttP calibre (they're OK, just not that clever), the controls are bit clunky, and your character has seems to have banana peels on her feet, so she is constantly falling off of ledges. The last part is a little absurd, but it's hard to be too upset since the game is so forgiving.
One thing worth mentioning: the game doesn't seem to ever point out that you can actually jump small gaps, even though there's no jump button (she jumps automatically). At only about 40% of the way through the game it becomes necessary in order to progress, so I stumbled around like an idiot for a half hour trying to find the path before I accidentally jumped a small gap and realized it was possible. I'm not sure who's at fault here -- me or the dev, but an audible groan was heard coming from the direction of my couch.
Also, the sword is inexplicably mapped to the right most button on the controller face. you should swap it to the left button (i.e., the square button if you have a ps5 controller) if you're American, or it will feel weird.

Decent Zelda-like, if you enjoy Zelda games you will probably enjoy this. That being said as others have noted the game is a bit rough and it can get annoying semi-regularly. Few specific annoyances that regularly occur: getting blocked by NPC while walking in town, jumping off a cliff when trying to walk on narrow path, and puzzles having poor timing so if you missed a window you sit there twiddling your thumbs for far longer than you should have to. Overall though I had fun playing it, cute world to explore, couple quests are pretty funny, optional content hidden just well enough that it's fun to search for without going crazy.

Overall it's fun! I binge-played it right after getting it and itched to play after work so as a game, it did what one should do.. make you want some more to finish.
If there was any cons it would be Map Labels, Cheap Shot Spawns, and Final Island .
- There were some locations important to visit that had title cards but didn't show up on the map which made me need to look online for guides/other peoples' playthroughs.
- Sometimes enemies would spawn right at the doorway of rooms you're loading into. In later game it isnt so bad as you get hearts but early game when you're pounding down berries to keep above water, it can be frustrating.
- Final Island is mostly a writing standpoint. You go through everything on Isle of Storms and get the 'this is the final battle you cant save beyond this point ' trigger which is fine for saving! But you can also leave the island to finish quests/get upgrades still needed/etc. Good for competition runs, bad for pacing IMO. Considering the way you need to get there (Lily my girl) and the intensity of the island.. I feel like putting up a warning of ' once you go to isle of storms, you cant come back until it's done ' would give people the chance to complete things, stock up, and head there so that everything at the end is cohesive. Being able to leave and come back for final fight X amount of time later after getting buffed was my choice, but also made it feel a little anti-climactic..
Also Talia, girl... you can't fight forest gods and say that the ocean heart is fake because you're mad your crush didn't come home right away. Glad she called you out for that.

A lovely homage to the classic Zelda games, with tight controls and a great soundtrack!

Great game all around. Id just fix the menu navigation since i coudnt play the game until i got an external controller - the default controls didn't let me navigate on mouse and keyboard. Otherwise very funny / sardonic sense of humour and clever game.

I enjoyed playing this game. It has an interesting and engaging story with creative locations, quests, puzzles and enemies. Sometimes the characters deliver a funny line and the music is great. It was a bit too long for my taste but overall it was worth it.

Ocean's Heart delivers a solid adventure experience with a story that's decent—not too gripping but enough to keep players engaged. 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. It’s a game that thrives on nostalgia, combining exploration and challenge in a way that's enjoyable and refreshingly straightforward.