Thanks to Rainbite for the review code

Title: Reverie: Sweet As Edition
System: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Price: $12.99
Release Date: 02/07/2019

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Story

In this action adventure game, you take control of a young boy that goes on an adventure to explore Tomori Island and discover the cause of restless spirits troubling the tropical paradise.

Generally, this game’s story is pretty tame, thus Reverie isn’t really heavy on plot at all, but rather, the plot that’s here feels more like an excuse to go on a feel-good adventure to solve a few mysteries, and to me that’s a fine excuse for a relaxing romp.

Presentation

Right away, the game’s visual style did a good job at reminding me of the Game Boy Advance games of my youth, mainly titles such as The Minish Cap. The pixel art and the color choices here just fit that style really well, and I know I’ve seen several people who think Reverie looks an awful lot like Mother 3.

This even goes to some of the sound design, too. The sound effect of your main weapon is almost exactly the same as the sword slash from the GBA Zelda titles, and a lot of the game’s sound effects fit the nature of that system, having a satisfying crunch to them. Unfortunately, the music isn’t really anything like that at all, consisting mainly of relaxing ambience or mellow tunes. Still, this is a very pleasing game to look at, and I can at least give Reverie props for that.

Gameplay

Reverie is an overhead adventure game, not too unlike a Zelda title. Like such games, the main objective is to go into dungeons, discover treasures and items, and then use them to explore more of the world and find secrets. It’s pretty standard fare, though the tone of Reverie is vastly different from Zelda for several reasons.

For starters, there’s no super evil threat planning to take over the entire planet, rather it’s just an adventure on an island to find some secrets and solve some mysterious hauntings troubling the islanders. Also, the weapons you use in this game are not like the stuff you’d see in Zelda, instead being more traditional items such as a Yo-Yo, Shovel, Dart Gun, Stick, and Roller Skates.

Exploration is pretty simple, still following the linear formula of zelda-like adventure games. Going from dungeon to dungeon, getting a new dungeon item to use on the boss, before moving onto the next area using your new item, and repeating the process. So Reverie is still fairly linear in terms of dungeon progression, but there are at least a few fun secrets to find along the way.

The first of these are the bird feathers scattered all around the island. Either rewarded in a minigame, or discovered in a secret cave or area, these feathers are added to a scrapbook in Tai’s house, and are an interesting side activity to take up. Besides that though, you have some optional items and purchasable upgrades, along with a much-welcome in-game achievement system, offering more replay value for discovering some obscure secrets or doing certain tasks.

The combat is pretty basic as well, and dying doesn’t really do much besides send you back a bit, and it even lets you keep your progress in a dungeon or the overworld. So while Reverie is a relaxing zelda-like, it’s still fairly enjoyable, although I wish there was some more linearity and optional stuff early on.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Reverie was a fun little Zelda-like. It took me a bit longer than I expected to get around to investing in it, but I’m glad I did. While it’s basic and the gameplay itself isn’t all that great, the presentation here is very nice, and it’s an excellent port, with in-game achievements, lots of collectibles, and a smooth experience all around.

This may not be the first Zelda-like I’d recommend from the eShop, but this is definitely one that may appeal to you due to the art and simplistic nature, and I say that’s a fair reason to pick this charming game up, even if the price may be a bit steep at first, especially for a game that’s a bit shorter or more basic compared to others like it.

I give Reverie: Sweet As Edition a 6 out of 10.