Even the Ocean

This Platformer creates a lovely, surreal, unnerving, inviting atmosphere, like only this team can. You'll explore all kinds of environments from the dreamlike to the more realistic but rarely discussed kinds of beauty, like snow under a sunset. Each area has its own little story, and they don't always add up to much or tie into the main narrative, but that's not a knock against it, because this isn't just a game or a story, but an experience, and all those strange little details become part of it. If you are of the belief that a game's value lies solely in its gameplay and/or its story, this one might not be for you. If you are of the belief that all of a story's elements have to be contrived in service to that story, this might not be for you. If you want something that goes beyond that, and maybe makes you question later whether or not any of it was even real, then this should be right up your alley. As for the gameplay, it's interesting, fairly unique, and won't leave you with blistered thumbs, but it wasn't ever supposed to. Typical Platformer stuff, but with a Mega-Man-X-style wall jump, a neat shield mechanic that can be pointed and locked in any direction, and a lifebar that's more about balance than keeping it full. If your lifebar goes more toward the dark side, your jump gets lower, but you move more quickly; if it goes more toward the light side, you slow down, but jump higher; hit either extreme, and you die. The more action-oriented segments have just the right amount of challenge for something like this; they've got a little bite, but won't have you biting your controller. It is also more puzzle-focused, and most of the puzzles work very well. This isn't going to be for everyone, but it's something most anyone can complete, and if you're looking for such an experience, I highly recommend it.

The core gameplay is good. Tight controls, lots of different gameplay elements for variety, and the use of the two-sided energy bar instead of a traditional health meter is absolutely brilliant. It's a bit on the easy side, but I'll take too easy over too hard any day. The big problem with the game is how restricted and linear it all is. 90% of the time when you're on the world map, there is just a single location you can visit and everything else is closed off. There are a few times when you can choose the order in which to tackle challenges, but it's a meaningless choice. There is very little optional side content, none of which involves actual gameplay. The linearity is particularly irksome towards the end of the game, where the genre-savy player knows that they are doing the wrong thing, but is forced to go through with it anyway because the game doesn't give them any choice.

Loved it!

Even the Ocean is a really great game. It has a good story and fun levels. I like the idea not to die because of monsters or similar, but because of an "overload" of light or dark energy. As no "story-guy" I really appreciate the Gauntlet-Mode which let's you play the levels only and with the speedrun options you can for example skip the dialogues. But first you should play the Story-Mode, it's really great. A great thing about the levels is that in each of them a new game mechanic is introduced and mainly used, which makes every level unique and it doesn't get boring.

Even the Ocean is a platforming puzzle game with a heavy focus on narrative. The core mechanic of the game is fresh and innovative, changing the health bar into an energy balancing system that changes how the player moves through the game (which makes speed-running very interesting). This offers a risk-reward style of playing, that allows players to manipulate the difficulty of the game naturally, rather than using an "easy", "medium", or "hard" configuration. Though, honestly one of the best things about Even the Ocean is its world. Diversity is portrayed in just about every faucet in the game's world, and it never calls attention to itself. Diversity isn't a "feature" of the game, instead it's embedded into the narrative and the characters, never feeling forced, but instead building a better and believable world. On top of that, there is an astonishing array of configurations that players can make to change how the game plays to be more accessible to people with handicaps or just prefer different play styles. Even the Ocean is a shining example of how we should be treating diversity and accessibility in games And I mean that, honestly. Best of all - the game is actually fun too. I recommend this game for players that enjoy interesting stories and worlds, but also like a bit of challenge and exploration. Review by: AffinityChris