All Dew Respect
One of Nintendo's most beloved games is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. An undebatable SNES classic and also one of the most revered games of any generation, it is the top down action RPG upon which every other is judged. Now that Link has gone in to 3D, flattened onto walls and even gone hybrid after 1991, it takes substance as well as style to go toe to toe with the Hylian hero.
Enter Ittle Dew, an adorable little adventure that first surfaced on WiiU in 2013 combining exploration with combat and puzzle solving. It's improved edition sequel Ittle Dew 2+ arrives on the Nintendo Switch with a wealth of extra content. While intimidatingly prestigious heritage surrounds Nintendo's latest console, Ittle Dew 2+ is a charming, if familiar jaunt.
The game tells the tale of a pair of adventurers Ittle and winged canine (?) companion Tippsie, who have been stranded and have to find eight different fragments of a raft in order to escape a mostly hostile island. In terms of gameplay, it will be instantly familiar to anyone who has invested time in a top down Zelda game. Navigating the vibrant, varied, if not exactly revolutionary overworld is smooth and you can take on the eight dungeons in any order you wish. There are collectables, power ups and handy signage to guide you to your next location, as well as checking off areas you have visited.
When it comes to the dungeons themselves, they are a mechanically a mix of clearing rooms of enemies, solving puzzles, collecting weapons and taking on a boss. While all this might sound derivative, it's the lovingly crafted hand drawn art style, the wacky themed interior locations and self aware witty banter that makes Ittle Dew more endearing than most. Never afraid to be meta or a bit surly on occasion, the exchanges between The protagonists, NPC's and bosses are constantly entertaining. The game is also deceptively challenging. Enemies are quick and inflict a fair amount of damage, requiring skills of dodging and weaving as much as brute force. The puzzles are similarly basic on the surface, but require a satisfying amount of brain power.
A cute, funny and charming yet pretty standard experience for seasoned action adventure fans, Ittle Dew 2+ is still a game worthy of your time and money. The humor is plentiful, the overall presentation is bold, bright and colourful- definitely an enjoyable experience.
Final Score: 7.5
(Review code provided by the publisher)
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