Player movement is really good in this one. Jumps inherit momentum, and it's often possible to dart across the platforming courses with impromptu shortcuts.
Combat is serviceable. Being adequate compared to its genre ancestors, though not nearly on the same level as some of its contemporaries such as Spark.
Aesthetically and narratively this whole outing felt like an interactive animated family film. Quite cozy overall.
Albeit the polish is flaky here and there. I ran into a couple of sections of building that lacked collision, facial animations could occasionally feel ill suited to the spoken lines, and the ending felt a tad rushed.
Despite the short runtime I almost felt like it was too long. Likely due to how the game does little to escalate and explore its mechanics. About two thirds of the way through it felt like I was in a repeat of past themes. Thankfully the experience is short, so I'm left looking back at another pleasant bite-sized game to recommend.

Wavetale is one of those games that I wish I could give a higher score to, but there just isn't enough game to warrant it. I finished it in just over 4 hours, and there is so much to love about the game but I just wish there was more space to let it shine.

Let's start with some positives. The movement is some of the best in any game I've played, and mastering the timing of riding the waves is really satisfying. It's definitely the thing that I wanted more of the most. There is so much potential with the movement that it feels criminal that the game is short. There's also the level design, which is overall very sound. The locations in the game are fun to explore with the fluid movement mechanics, and some platforming/grappling sections feel just as good as the ocean movement. The OST is brilliant - Joel Bille's unique sound really contributes to the atmosphere. Visually the game is very easy on the eyes, and the character designs are super cute.

There are, however, some downsides to the game. I've mentioned already the disappointing length. Even if the story remained the same length, adding in more characters to interact with, more side quests and puzzles, or even more islands to explore; anything to make the game last just that little bit longer would have been welcome.
The story is fairly on the nose with its messaging, but it didn't detract from the experience much. What did however, was some of the writing. Some lines were bordering on cringey, and a few lacklustre performances didn't help. Not all the dialogue mind you, but enough for me to be annoyed by at times. There is also some combat in the game, but it is essentially just mashing the attack button and occasionally using a heavy attack. Not a bad thing necessarily, as combat definitely isn't the focus of the game, but there was enough combat for me to mention it.

Overall, Wavetale is a charming, if a little underwhelming experience. More locations to explore to flesh out the world would've been great, as would a longer story. Ultimately, I wouldn't pay full price for this game, but definitely a fun way to spend an afternoon if you can get it on sale.

After playing some triple A games, an indie can feel like eating hand-made cookies at your grandma's house, maybe they aren't as good as cookies from a bakery, but they make you feel a sensation of warmth inside you.

Wavetale is charged with love, the game looks gorgeous, the artwork, character design and overall aesthetic of the game is really really good. And in the same pack comes a really awesome soundtrack that fits it perfectly and some very loveable and charismatic characters.

The protagonist Sigrid feels AMAZING to control, she has a ton of very fun mechanics to toy around and move freely that made exploring the world the best part about the game.

And as i said the best part for me by far, is the world. The worldbuilding is insanely good, the background of how things happened and ended that way isn't just told by the story, but just looking at the world itself and how well crafted it is. That's why it saddens me a little how simple and nothing sandwich is the story, like, it isn't bad by any mean but i almost everything is told at the end in long cutscenes and I feel bad that all the very noticeable work in world building gets used for almost nothing in a very simple and predictable story carried by their lovable characters.

And by the love of god, DO NOT PLAY IT ON THE SWITCH WORST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE, the game looks good and plays fine most of the time but the framerate is almost HORRENDEOUS in certain parts, my experience got tainted because of getting stuck in various floor clipping, bugged missions and bosses that makes your console a powerpoint slide, I know the switch is a difficult console to port games but the game plays really really poorly even for a Switch game and it's a shame because on other hardware the game looks way way better.

In conclusion, great game, not much else to say about it, it excels on anything except story and is a neat little adventure. Awesome characters, gorgeous visuals, lots of creativity and really great game overall.