Feels like an unfinished product or a showcase demo, the game itself feels empty and the gameplay is very repetitive.

Wavetale is a short but charming adventure that's easy to recommend. Its colourful art style and relaxing soundtrack create a great atmosphere, but the real highlight is the surfing and traversal. Zipping across the waves and flowing through platforming sections always feels fantastic.

The combat is simple but that's okay, the game is at its best when you're freely surfing around the world. Unlockable cosmetics add a nice extra incentive to explore, making for a fun, laid-back experience that's well worth a play.

Given its relatively short runtime though, it's a game that's best picked up on a sale for the best value.

An easy, charming 3D exploration-platformer with a fun, fluid movement system, fitting music and a lively, vivid aesthetic. If it wasn't so buggy and had some QOL updates done, I think it would be a strong option for a casual gaming experience for younger audiences. The story and worldbuilding ranges from just okay to fun and interesting.
However, it is *buggy* in a way that really detracts from the game. The journal-opening button only works sometimes, there's sometimes environment objects you fall through, but the worst one is that any side quests need to be completed in one sitting because they do not save in your quest log between sessions, so you'll need to go back to the original NPC and get the quest again... The only people who will have a smooth play experience are people who only do the main quest and make sure to do nothing else, and even then...
The only marker that can be made on the map is the main quest, so it's also just hard to locate side quests and you can't place your own marker on the map to help with backtracking for missed side quests or collectable journal entries.
There's also an instance of poor environment design that flings you into walls of death at one point.
And whilst the story is fine conceptually, it just doesn't feel good playing as Sigrid. You're constantly nagged, complained at, told to hurry up, on the wrong side of things... I don't feel attached to these characters because of their annoying dialogue, and in a way I kind of resent them... That one is more subjective, though.