Ittle Dew originally got my attention not simply due to its cute visuals and tomboy protagonist, but because one look at it was enough to tell it was inspired by The Legend of Zelda. That's a high bar to set for oneself, and I've seen many games that claimed to be like Zelda, but fell short. Upon playing, though, I was delighted to see that Ittle Dew could, indeed, cash that check.
Zelda is a long-time favorite series of mine. Bar the first couple of games (and excluding BotW, which is a different beast), it's a series that's very light on combat mechanics, most of the challenge coming from using your equipment correctly to a) navigate environments and b) solve puzzles. The amount of (a) and (b) varies from game to game, from 2D to 3D, among other things, but in any case, it's that mix that had the series see success for decades. This deceptively simple formula, however, requires great level design to work, which is where a lot of copycats fall short.
As Ittle Dew starts, the eponymous adventurer Ittle Dew and her magic fox Tippsie shipwreck into a mysterious island wherein lies a castle. They start heading inland looking for a way off the island and soon meet Itan Carver, the item salesman. He promises to make them a raft in exchange for an artifact hidden within the castle, and so, our pair sets off to explore it.
The castle is the main dungeon for Ittle Dew, being both the first place you enter and the location of the final boss, however, it's impossible to explore it all in one go without extra equipment. There are three special items in the game: the Fire Sword, the Portal Wand and the Ice Wand, all of which are found in dungeons to which Itan will take you... for a fee. To cover his expenses, you'll need to gather gold from the castle and return to his shop.
And here is the game's most insane twist: Ittle Dew allows you to obtain the items in whatever order you want. Depending on that order, the route through the castle will be completely different, both due to items affecting different parts of the environment, and because of the interactions between their mechanics. More than that, while the game does give you enough gold to buy all three items, it's possible, by finding the correct route, to finish the game with any of the three possible pairs of equipment.
The fun in Ittle Dew is not simply finishing it once, but replaying it and going for a different item combination. It's a mind-bending exercise that forces you to rethink your strategy according to your new set of tools. And make no mistake: the puzzles in Ittle Dew can get outright devilish, requiring the player to think long and hard about what to do. This is especially true for puzzles outside the main dungeons, which are either small caves hiding collectibles, or the two optional endgame dungeons that require the use of all three items to get through. That "Retry Room" in the menu is not there just for show.
This challenging gameplay is accompanied by an extremely charming presentation. Wobbly, colorful graphics make the world look alive, tunes stick to your head for hours after you're done playing, and the cast, while small, is lovable and well realized. Ittle is a nonchalant girl eager for adventure, which plays off of Tippsie's down-to-earthness -- although, to be fair, it's clear that, whatever the fox is drinking, it's not exactly health potions. And Itan, well, let's just say his love for carving goes a bit too far.
Surpassing every expectation and being sold at rather modest price point, I can hardly shower Ittle Dew with enough praise. Far from being a generic, forgettable Zelda-clone, it's a game of its own, building on tried-and-true ideas with fantastic original design. It's not a game for the impatient, nor people looking for action, but if you're willing to sit down and work on some brainteasers, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Zelda is a long-time favorite series of mine. Bar the first couple of games (and excluding BotW, which is a different beast), it's a series that's very light on combat mechanics, most of the challenge coming from using your equipment correctly to a) navigate environments and b) solve puzzles. The amount of (a) and (b) varies from game to game, from 2D to 3D, among other things, but in any case, it's that mix that had the series see success for decades. This deceptively simple formula, however, requires great level design to work, which is where a lot of copycats fall short.
As Ittle Dew starts, the eponymous adventurer Ittle Dew and her magic fox Tippsie shipwreck into a mysterious island wherein lies a castle. They start heading inland looking for a way off the island and soon meet Itan Carver, the item salesman. He promises to make them a raft in exchange for an artifact hidden within the castle, and so, our pair sets off to explore it.
The castle is the main dungeon for Ittle Dew, being both the first place you enter and the location of the final boss, however, it's impossible to explore it all in one go without extra equipment. There are three special items in the game: the Fire Sword, the Portal Wand and the Ice Wand, all of which are found in dungeons to which Itan will take you... for a fee. To cover his expenses, you'll need to gather gold from the castle and return to his shop.
And here is the game's most insane twist: Ittle Dew allows you to obtain the items in whatever order you want. Depending on that order, the route through the castle will be completely different, both due to items affecting different parts of the environment, and because of the interactions between their mechanics. More than that, while the game does give you enough gold to buy all three items, it's possible, by finding the correct route, to finish the game with any of the three possible pairs of equipment.
The fun in Ittle Dew is not simply finishing it once, but replaying it and going for a different item combination. It's a mind-bending exercise that forces you to rethink your strategy according to your new set of tools. And make no mistake: the puzzles in Ittle Dew can get outright devilish, requiring the player to think long and hard about what to do. This is especially true for puzzles outside the main dungeons, which are either small caves hiding collectibles, or the two optional endgame dungeons that require the use of all three items to get through. That "Retry Room" in the menu is not there just for show.
This challenging gameplay is accompanied by an extremely charming presentation. Wobbly, colorful graphics make the world look alive, tunes stick to your head for hours after you're done playing, and the cast, while small, is lovable and well realized. Ittle is a nonchalant girl eager for adventure, which plays off of Tippsie's down-to-earthness -- although, to be fair, it's clear that, whatever the fox is drinking, it's not exactly health potions. And Itan, well, let's just say his love for carving goes a bit too far.
Surpassing every expectation and being sold at rather modest price point, I can hardly shower Ittle Dew with enough praise. Far from being a generic, forgettable Zelda-clone, it's a game of its own, building on tried-and-true ideas with fantastic original design. It's not a game for the impatient, nor people looking for action, but if you're willing to sit down and work on some brainteasers, I wholeheartedly recommend it.