Ittle Dew 2 (Nintendo Switch)
Are you looking for an epic adventure? Don't look here, because you won't find any here. Well...at least that's what you're told in the opening minutes of this game. But it is most definitely a lie.
Ittle Dew 2 follows the story of Ittle and her fox Tippsie, off in the world looking for an adventure when they crash into an island. They decide to explore a bit of the island, and run into someone that says they look like adventurer's (which they are), followed by attempting to send them away with the promise of no adventure to be found on the island (which there is).
Ittle and Tippsie are in need of a way off the island, and their mysterious greeter accidentally lets it slip that scattered around the island are eight dungeons, each containing a piece of a raft. A raft that they can then build to escape the island. Ignoring the warnings of no adventure, Ittle and Tippsie set out to explore and find the eight raft pieces, and in the end sail away from this island of lies.
The Gameplay
Through the game, you'll be in control of Ittle. Tippsie follows along as your companion, offering you hints along your journey, and adding witty banter to the verbal spats with a lot of the island's inhabitants you'll encounter.
At it's core, Ittle Dew 2 is an adventure game with a lot of puzzle elements. The entire island is available to explore from the start, and each dungeon is marked for you as you need it. There's also tons of little caves scattered around, and i mean tons of them. In these caves you'll find other hints for things in the game, as well as special items that can't be found anywhere else on the island.
Ittle herself begins her adventure equipped with a stick that can be used in combat like a sword. As things progress, each dungeon will contain a hidden item that you'll need in order to complete that specific dungeon. But, in some cases, this item can also be used in combat as well, slowly expanding your arsenal. In addition to her weapons, Ittle can also roll to evade enemy attacks, as well as push heavier items in order to solve puzzles.
All the puzzles generally have some sort of clue as to how to solve them in the immediate vicinity. These are mostly locked doors that need to (obviously) be unlocked. You can whack the doors with Ittle's stick, and a series of green light trails will flash out from the door, highlighting any switches you need to hit to complete the puzzle. This can mean moving stationary blocks so they continuously keep a switch pressed down, or navigating an area within a room to activate numbered switches in the proper sequence.
The Look/Sound/Feel
When you first boot up Ittle Dew 2 you're greeted with beautiful, colorful cartoon graphics. In the opening cutscene, Ittle and Tippsie don't move very fluidly, their actions are explained more through their dialogue instead of actually done. It might make you think at first that the animations through the gameplay will mostly be the same, very blocky and moving in chunks. Instead, the island you're brought to is extremely vibrant, and moving around is extremely fluid and smooth.
Ittle responds so well to each and every one of her controls, and they are all perfectly placed around the joy-cons as well. Some games will have that one move that is annoying to try and pull off just because of the placement of buttons needed to do it, but not in this game. Everything you need is just naturally placed
I also really love the music that Nicalis used for this game. Or really, to be more accurate, the sound. When you're roaming through the island, there's a constant gentle breeze blowing, and it's backed by softest of music tracks, keeping an emphasis on the environment of the island you're exploring, but also providing a soft background theme to your unfolding adventure. While you're in the dungeon's though, the music gains more of an emphasis, while the environment sounds are still present, playing along to the seriousness of the pending boss battle that will come at the end of the dungeon.
Final Verdict
By now, I'm sure an image has been painted in your mind of a very similar game. If you're thinking of the original Legend of Zelda back in the NES days, then you're absolutely right. In the first moments when you gain control of Ittle, the top down view, the sword hacking, the life meter...all of it is an instant callback to the Zelda days of old. And Ittle Dew 2 does a great honor with this style of gameplay, and it is incredible from the very beginning. It's available on all platforms, but I got to play it on the Switch and personally, I feel like this game is just right at home on the Switch. This game is available in both physical and digital forms for $29.99 and it is more than worth every single penny. It might be a "quick" game if you only do the main dungeons, but believe me you will want to explore every inch of this game and milk it for every second possible. Definitely don't pass up an opportunity to play this game. I've got a digital copy of this one, but believe me I will be adding a physical one as well as soon as I can.
For more information on this game, or to purchase it, go to www.ittledew.com
Ittle Dew 2 follows the story of Ittle and her fox Tippsie, off in the world looking for an adventure when they crash into an island. They decide to explore a bit of the island, and run into someone that says they look like adventurer's (which they are), followed by attempting to send them away with the promise of no adventure to be found on the island (which there is).
Ittle and Tippsie are in need of a way off the island, and their mysterious greeter accidentally lets it slip that scattered around the island are eight dungeons, each containing a piece of a raft. A raft that they can then build to escape the island. Ignoring the warnings of no adventure, Ittle and Tippsie set out to explore and find the eight raft pieces, and in the end sail away from this island of lies.
The Gameplay
Through the game, you'll be in control of Ittle. Tippsie follows along as your companion, offering you hints along your journey, and adding witty banter to the verbal spats with a lot of the island's inhabitants you'll encounter.
At it's core, Ittle Dew 2 is an adventure game with a lot of puzzle elements. The entire island is available to explore from the start, and each dungeon is marked for you as you need it. There's also tons of little caves scattered around, and i mean tons of them. In these caves you'll find other hints for things in the game, as well as special items that can't be found anywhere else on the island.
Ittle herself begins her adventure equipped with a stick that can be used in combat like a sword. As things progress, each dungeon will contain a hidden item that you'll need in order to complete that specific dungeon. But, in some cases, this item can also be used in combat as well, slowly expanding your arsenal. In addition to her weapons, Ittle can also roll to evade enemy attacks, as well as push heavier items in order to solve puzzles.
All the puzzles generally have some sort of clue as to how to solve them in the immediate vicinity. These are mostly locked doors that need to (obviously) be unlocked. You can whack the doors with Ittle's stick, and a series of green light trails will flash out from the door, highlighting any switches you need to hit to complete the puzzle. This can mean moving stationary blocks so they continuously keep a switch pressed down, or navigating an area within a room to activate numbered switches in the proper sequence.
The Look/Sound/Feel
When you first boot up Ittle Dew 2 you're greeted with beautiful, colorful cartoon graphics. In the opening cutscene, Ittle and Tippsie don't move very fluidly, their actions are explained more through their dialogue instead of actually done. It might make you think at first that the animations through the gameplay will mostly be the same, very blocky and moving in chunks. Instead, the island you're brought to is extremely vibrant, and moving around is extremely fluid and smooth.
Ittle responds so well to each and every one of her controls, and they are all perfectly placed around the joy-cons as well. Some games will have that one move that is annoying to try and pull off just because of the placement of buttons needed to do it, but not in this game. Everything you need is just naturally placed
I also really love the music that Nicalis used for this game. Or really, to be more accurate, the sound. When you're roaming through the island, there's a constant gentle breeze blowing, and it's backed by softest of music tracks, keeping an emphasis on the environment of the island you're exploring, but also providing a soft background theme to your unfolding adventure. While you're in the dungeon's though, the music gains more of an emphasis, while the environment sounds are still present, playing along to the seriousness of the pending boss battle that will come at the end of the dungeon.
Final Verdict
By now, I'm sure an image has been painted in your mind of a very similar game. If you're thinking of the original Legend of Zelda back in the NES days, then you're absolutely right. In the first moments when you gain control of Ittle, the top down view, the sword hacking, the life meter...all of it is an instant callback to the Zelda days of old. And Ittle Dew 2 does a great honor with this style of gameplay, and it is incredible from the very beginning. It's available on all platforms, but I got to play it on the Switch and personally, I feel like this game is just right at home on the Switch. This game is available in both physical and digital forms for $29.99 and it is more than worth every single penny. It might be a "quick" game if you only do the main dungeons, but believe me you will want to explore every inch of this game and milk it for every second possible. Definitely don't pass up an opportunity to play this game. I've got a digital copy of this one, but believe me I will be adding a physical one as well as soon as I can.
For more information on this game, or to purchase it, go to www.ittledew.com
