Written by Bernard Julius Paje
Title: Ittle Dew 2+
Developer: Ludosity
Publisher: Nicalis, Inc.
Price: $29.99
Genre: Action, Adventure, Puzzle, RPG
Also Available On: Steam, PS4, XB1
One of my most favorite games growing up was The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past (which I will now refer to as 'Zelda: ALttP' elsewhere in this review), an action/adventure game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Until this day, Zelda: ALttP is still one of my favorite SNES game of all time, as well as my favorite Zelda game of all time—although I am now reconsidering the latter of my personal awards for this game because of last year's awesome 'open-air' adventure The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. Back then, Zelda: ALttP was a really huge game that featured a large overworld map and spanned the course of at least a dozen main dungeons. It was truly a cult retro classic—a title that a lot of modern games strive to emulate even until this day.
One of the more recent games that took inspiration from Zelda: ALttP was an indie classic called Ittle Dew. Released in 2013 by developers Ludosity Interactive, this game featured great graphics and animation, and it garnered praise for its unique take on the action/adventure genre. An aptly-titled sequel called Ittle Dew 2 was released in 2016, which improved upon the original game in many ways. And now that a lot of new (and old) indie games are being released (and re-released) for the Nintendo Switch at a steady pace, the definitive edition of the game—cheekily labeled Ittle Dew 2+—has also been released late in 2017 for Nintendo's record-selling console/portable hybrid (with help from publisher Nicalis).
In Ittle Dew 2+, you once again assume the role of sassy adventurer slash treasure hunter Ittle and her weird and snarky flying fox sidekick Tippsie. The game begins with our duo seemingly stranded in a raft, and then all of a sudden it crashes and gets destroyed, leaving them marooned in a strange island. The weird thing is, they were on a body of water that is barely ten square feet in length—how they got stuck there in the first place, I have no idea. Ultimately, hunting for treasure is secondary as they embark on a quest to find eight raft pieces so that they can build a new raft and leave the island.
Ittle Dew 2+ starts out just like every other action/adventure game inspired by the traditional Zelda games—it immediately guides you towards a tutorial dungeon of sorts so that you can learn the game’s basics. Unlike most Zelda games though, Ittle Dew 2+ lets you tackle all of its dungeons in any order you desire. During my playthrough, I just went wherever I pleased and did go through the dungeons out of order. The dungeons that I cleared earlier than I should have felt rather difficult for my not-yet-powered-up heroine, but are ultimately accomplishable despite the tougher challenge. Overall, the game is also slightly punishing at times, which may leave you nearly cursing in frustration at some of the more difficult areas. Running from some of the tougher enemies is a valid tactic of course, unless you have to clear a room full of opponents to proceed.
When you are not getting lost or killed inside one of the game's dungeons, you are out in the game's massive island overworld. This mysterious island Ittle and Tippsie are stuck in is teeming with many dangerous monsters and even more hidden secrets. Dozens of secret challenge rooms are waiting to be discovered all over the game's overworld. Some of these challenge rooms will task you with defeating all of the enemies inside it, while others will attempt to stump you with some kind of puzzle. Getting through these rooms will mostly net you a treasure chest that contains either an upgrade item (that makes you stronger or gives you extra hearts) or a Secret Shard (which you should collect a lot of to access even more secret areas). The game also has a hint system similar to some Zelda games, where your pal Tippsie will give you helpful advice with regards to your current predicament at the press of a button. This feature will be very helpful in some of the puzzle areas because many of these single room brain teasers will definitely stump you, so be prepared to call on your fox pal a lot! Oh, and don't worry, because he does not say 'Hey, Listen' everytime you call on him.
Early on, it is very apparent that the game’s developers have infused this game with silly, tongue-in-cheek humor. The game’s witty banter from our heroic duo—either among themselves or with the island’s various non-player characters—is mostly very funny, thus making the kind of simple story more fun to follow to completion. There are also a lot of instances where characters break the fourth wall—Ittle and Tippsie are seemingly aware that they are just inside a game, even giving out spoilers for one dungeon and the game’s final boss. While I personally find the game’s humor top notch, it may not be for everybody. Either way, the gameplay of Ittle Dew 2+ is top notch, and those who opt to ignore the silliness of the story will still have a great time and a lot of fun with the game.
The game’s cel-shaded graphics are gorgeous, and the animation quality is also very detailed as well. The game runs in 60 frames per second on the Nintendo Switch, both docked and undocked (although minor frame hiccups happen quite often). Each of the game’s various themed environments are littered with things that are silly at times (like seeing stop signs in the forest or bees with corks on their stingers) but these details add more charm to the game's already merry art direction. The game’s audio is also of great quality, with simple but effective sound effects and mostly catchy background music unique to each area. Some of the music samples do seem to loop rather too quickly, but considering this is a game with a fairly limited budget this is a minor nitpick on my part.
Ittle Dew 2+ includes all the content of the original game release as well as a new area called the Dream World. This is a collection of five extra dungeons that will truly solve your puzzle solving skills, as each dungeon will limit you to using only using one or two of your main items at a time. You can access these dungeons fairly early in the game, so once you get a new item feel free to try your hand in getting through one of them. Of course, it is recommended that you sink your teeth into this area after finishing the main quest for some of the challenges in it will really test your puzzle solving skills. Some of the game's puzzles are really, really clever, so solving a puzzle that you thought was very tough but actually has a relatively simple solution once you figure it out feels so good.
Overall, Ittle Dew 2+ is a phenomenally polished Zelda-like adventure that is fully worth the $19.99 price of admission on the Nintendo Switch eShop—although I recommend that you get the slightly more expensive, $29.99 physical edition if you can find a copy for an even better deal. It will take you around 8-10 hours to beat on your first playthrough and then several hours more to get 100% completion. There is a lot of gameplay in here to keep you hooked until you find everything; and even when you do find everything you can replay the whole adventure and get through the dungeons in a different order than your first playthrough. If you have played any of the traditional 2D Zelda games then this game is definitely for you. Don't let the game's silly and humorous premise fool you too, because this is a highly polished indie game of great quality—it'll more than do.
YAY!
- Huge adventure that exudes polish and hits the right notes in all areas.
- Very clever puzzle designs—this game takes block-pushing puzzles to the next level.
- Plus version has more content compared to Ittle Dew 2 on other consoles. (NOTE: At the time of writing, Ittle Dew 2+ is console exclusive to the Switch)
- Funny character dialog that sometimes breaks the fourth wall.
NAY!
- Certain boss fights and puzzles will really, really, REALLY test some players' skills and patience.
- Once you find everything the game has to offer you may not want to replay the game again (unless you want to tackle the game's dungeons in a different order).
REVIEW SCORE: 9/10
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