Prodigal

The game was already cemented as a favorite gameboy zelda-like by the time I got to the credits for how good exploration felt and how clever the puzzles and items were, but then I find out there's a massive chunk of extra content that feels like I'm fighting for my life!
On top of this, I adore how the devs made this world feel alive despite the limited style they went with. It was always a treat wandering into a building and getting a little cutscene between the protag and the residents. It really shows how much care they had for the idea. Colorgrave quickly became one of my favorite developers, and I'm super excited to play their other games!

I admit I haven't experienced many but...this is the best Zelda inspired game I've ever played.
It does a lot with a little, you don't have as many tools as most Zelda games but they stay on your main buttons which keeps the action going without menu interruptions and the developer kept adding more and more caveats and interactions with the few tools they went with.
Starts easy but keeps ramping up the challenge and the dungeons and things to find just seem to keep on coming, even (maybe especially) after the credits roll.

Looked like a Zelda GBC clone but it's not! The MC doesn't even use a sword.
It's a clever adventure game with date sim mechanics, you can finish it under 5 Hours but there is a lot of postgame to squeeze even more fun.
You can't marry the Monster Girls, this is the only serious issue. get it at a discount 9/10.

This game reminds me of the old gameboy games I used to play as a kid.
The progress feels fluid and also pretty straightforward.
The only qualm I have is the font for dialogue as some letters can be confused for others.
The music also sounds nice as you progress through the game, so would consider purchasing the soundtrack as well.
I would recommend this game to just about anyone. It provides good progression, challenging puzzles that don't seem over complicated, and pretty easy to follow along for ADHD people.
However, I would like to have a directory list of characters I meet so I can recall what they look like and location, along with a quest journal imo.

So a few months back, I wrote about a similar game from a different developer (Void Stranger) and how it's something that I'm glad that exists, but was too rough for me to recommend. Prodigal is essentially what I wanted that game to be, and after finally putting it through its paces, it's getting a recommend from me.
The first big recommend is that like that other game, Prodigal has an absolutely dizzying number of secrets to mine out before you're truly done. But unlike that other game, it respects your time, gives you tools to vary your preferred difficulty level, and gives you skips and warps upfront to make putting the game down and coming back easier. It also has a lot of interesting lore to dive into that's of its own character, and while there are shoutouts, they're a backseat to the world the developers created here.
The developers also really, really, really want to tell you about the world they've created, and it shows both through this and through the game's platformer sequel Curse Crackers. There's a lot to love in the characters here, and the payoff is seeing the story bits get realized across both games so far, and presumably their upcoming games as well. Giving players the expected payoff for their hard work instead of being subversive or angsty about it feels great, and I'm glad they do that here.
The second big recommend is that the game is very, very replayable, and the developers encourage it. In addition to a built-in randomizer and challenge modes, I've been running the (unofficial) Archipelago randomizer with friends, and it's held up very well. Being given so many different options and choices is a thing this game encourages, and being creative with the equipment you've been given is extremely rewarding.
So yeah, it's not bad. Recommended.

This is a great 2D zelda-like, and the dungeons are all really good. I was a bit hesitant to try this game because of the "dating sim" aspects, but it seems like that's a pretty small part of the game so you can mostly just ignore it if it doesn't appeal to you.

Amazing little indie game in the style of the old Gameboy Color The Legend of Zelda games.
The overall atmosphere of the game with all the different characters, the changing seasons and the music is incredible.
It has tons of secrets, lots of optional quests and so many different scenarios depending on what choices you make.
I randomly stumbled across this game and decided to buy it because of the artstyle and the fact that it reminded me of TLoZ. Honestly, I hesitated at first, but I'm really glad I gave it a shot, because this game is truly a little gem. I'm definitely looking forward to playing the other games ColorgraveGames has made.
To add to that, if you are someone that likes to 100% games on steam, you will probably need the wiki and some guides eventually and the randomizer playthrough is a bit exhausting, but overall it's a very pleasant experience.
Also... Oakley best girl! :3