Welcome to Indiewatch, a series where every Friday, we take a look at a good, yet unknown, unappreciated, and overlooked indie title. In order for a game to be covered on Indiewatch, it must fit into the following criteria:
- It must be an indie game
- It was not covered (or it was given minimal coverage) by mainstream video game websites and YouTubers
- It must be good! Nothing below 7 out of 10 will be covered.
This week we are taking a look at the adventure puzzle title Ittle Dew. Ittle Dew is developed and published by Ludoisty. It released July 23rd, 2013 on PC, Mac, Linux and SteamOS. The game also released on Android and iOS through their respective stores.
Ittle Dew is a fun title with similar gameplay to that of the early Zelda games. With a good sense of humour, no gruesome violence and a beautifully cartoonish art design, it is a game that can be enjoyed by all ages. It is however held back due to little content for its price and poor character development.
The Spirit of Adventure
The plot follows the characters of Ittle, an adventurous young girl and her companion Tipsy, a flying fox type creature that drinks far too many health potions. After time stuck at sea, their raft hits a rock, smashing it to pieces, forcing them to swim ashore to the mysterious island ahead.
With adventurous spirits, the two begin exploring the island in hopes of finding treasure. Eventually, they reach the shop of an old pirate called Itan, who offers to make them a new raft in exchange for an artefact located in the castle of the island.
And so their adventure to find the artefact and get a new raft begins. The plot to Ittle Dew isn’t that bad and has a bit of a twist that you don’t quite see coming. The biggest problem with the plot is the characters themselves.
There isn’t any character development. You have plenty of jokes and gags throughout the whole plot but there isn’t any backstory into the main characters. You know just as much about them when you finish the game as you did at the start.
It is a shame, as they are interesting and witty characters and are quite likeable, I just wish I could relate to them a little bit and knew a bit more about them. Aside from that, the plot is fun, silly and ultimately there is a good time to be had from it.
A good mix of action and puzzle
The gameplay of Ittle Dew revolves around a mixture of action and puzzle solving. Throughout the game, you will acquire three weapons, a fire sword, a portal wand and a freeze wand. These are bought from Itan the pirate at his shop, after obtaining gold from chests in the castle. As you progress, you will need to use each of these items to help you battle new enemies and solve more complex puzzles.
Each room that you enter that has a puzzle to be solved, hints to you what you need to do in order to open the door. The obstacle is figuring out how to do what the hint is telling you. The puzzles are mostly a case of moving blocks to specific places, other times you will need to put out fires or kill all enemies in the room.
The items that you obtain also play a massive role in defeating bosses. Each of the bosses in the game has a particular weakness that you must find and exploit in order to defeat them. If at any point you become stuck, Tipsy will always have a hint available to help you out.
Overall the gameplay is well-balanced, it is fun and is about the right difficulty that anyone of almost any age can pick it up and play. While the puzzles of pushing blocks around may at first feel monotonous, they do get more creative as you gain the new weapons.
Lots of collectable to keep you busy
This is where my little content for its price criticism comes into play. There are quite a few collectables throughout the game that comes in the form of cards. These cards have no purpose other than giving a small amount of detail on each of the enemies within the game.
There is also a secret cave that is explored for no other reason than an achievement, and a cave called the Master Cave, that has no other purpose than giving more cards. If you put aside these collectables, the game is actually very short, especially for an asking price of $9.99 on Steam.
Finding the collectables and making your way through the two optional caves, easily adds in another two to three hours. Especially with the difficult puzzles of the Master Cave. The game itself can easily be completed within that amount of time if not less.
While I have no issues with a game having collectables, it feels in this case they are a filler that is designed to make the asking price better value. I just wish that the overall storyline was longer or at least gives a reason to go out of your way to explore these additional areas.
If you are interested seeking out collectables and looking to have 100% completion of Ittle Dew then the game is worth the time and money. If you are playing for the plot and general gameplay, then it may be a bit too pricey for what it gives.
A good game that needs a bit more
I am not going to deny that Ittle Dew is a good game, I just wish that I got a bit more character development and a bit more gameplay for my $9.99. At the end of the day, it is a fun experience, it has humour that both kids and adults alike can laugh at and it is something that everyone in the family can play and enjoy. That alone is something of a rarity these days.
If you enjoy Zelda style games, then you may enjoy it, especially if you like gathering in-game collectables and achievements. If it is a case that you don’t and are looking for a game that gives a lot of content for its buck, then it may be worth a miss.
Interested in seeing more Indiewatch reviews? Check out my review of Knock Knock and Gunman Taco Truck
Published: Apr 5, 2017 11:50 am