Ittle Dew 2+ Review

Developer: Ludosity Interactive

Publisher: Nicalis, Inc.

Release Date: November 14, 2017

Platforms: Nintendo Switch

Fluxtaposed

What a frustratingly beautiful but troubled game Ittle Dew 2 is. The wildly-imagined enemies, uniquely-designed dungeons, and brain-breaking puzzles are insanely enjoyable but ultimately brought down by spongy controls and irrational difficulty spikes.

That’ll Do Pig/Donkey/Floating-Fox

What luck! Ittle is stranded on another island in Ittle Dew 2. This is a go-anywhere-from-the-start, top-down, action-adventure game that immediately drew me in with its gorgeous art style and sharp-wit dialogue. It’s difficult to turn away from Ittle Dew 2 even though the first couple hours require a little patience. Exploration is the key and while the optional (easily missable) tutorials are available, the best way to experience Ittle Dew 2 is to wander.

A quick frustration was the lack of Pro Controller support in Tabletop Mode. This was made only more upsetting when the Pro Controller magically worked in TV mode, reminding me how much less comfortable and accurate the Joy Cons are in comparison.

The island signs and map indicators explicitly direct Ittle along the linear path to collect eight wooden planks to build a new raft. So players looking to b-line towards the finish will find sufficient direction. But natural exploration is both more enjoyable and highlights Ittle Dew 2’s strengths in design. Armed with just a stick, you can really only go so far before the super-strength enemies will make quick work of Ittle and direct you to a more appropriate area. It can be maddening to encounter a constipated-sounding cactus only to be quickly murdered by its spikes but genuine satisfaction lies in discovering a new area with surmountable puzzles and enemies. Even better, regardless of the chosen path, new weapons, loot, and player skills are gained with every defeated dungeon.

For a good while, I was worried the entire game consisted exclusively of block-pushing puzzles. In the end, this is the most prevalent puzzle style in the game but they are always interesting and, at times, brain-busting. New weapons and abilities gained after clearing dungeons and generally progressing through the game open the experience to new challenges logically enough – until it doesn’t. But we’ll come back to that. I kept waiting for the ability to “pull” the blocks but it never came. Instead, freezing and smashing them with the Ice Ring or pushing them diagonally with the Force Wand proved to be much more interesting and rewarding.

While cute in its design, Ittle Dew 2+ requires pixel-perfect movement but offers spongy controls. Ittle can roll to dodge attacks, projectiles, or even damaging obstacles. But it’s a little spotty and I wasn’t able to rely on it fully when in tricky combat situations. Moving quickly enough to avoid attacks but maintaining control of Ittle to prevent falling off cliffs is particularly frustrating and feels more like the game’s fault for failure than user error.

The dungeons are creative, challenging, and unique. Sadly, each is capped by one of only three boss types. For all the imagination on and character in Ittle Dew 2, the bosses feel a little mailed in. Luckily, most of your time will be spent exploring every nook and cranny of the eight dungeons. Secret paths exposed by destroying decrepit walls and locked doors opened with hard-to-attain gold keys are littered throughout the world and encourage endless exploration. There is a ton of game to be played on this expansive island. In fact, it’s best experienced – and best finished – after fully exploring the world. Racing through the dungeons, in consecutive order, is clearly possible but it isn’t the most desirable way to complete Ittle Dew 2. In fact, without discovering every pack of crayons – to maximize the number of hearts – you will find the final boss incredibly frustrating and difficult.  This seems to be a staple of Nicalis and I encountered this with Cave Story + earlier this year.

By the way, once you get to the final boss, you cannot leave the dungeon until you beat him. In fact, the entire final dungeon is a shocking disappointment. Ittle Dew 2 presents such a natural and organic gameplay progression – it’s truly magical. Until the end. Absolutely brand new ways of using my upgraded weapons and items were required to solve the puzzles. There was not a single instance where I had to use the Force Wand as is required in the Final Dungeon. This should be the ultimate culmination of puzzles experienced throughout the game. Instead, I was stumped.

A Little More Dew 2

New on the Switch version is a super-challenging Dream World. I was incredibly discouraged by this area because the game, with a risky case of sarcasm, explains that the area presents no benefit to the player. It’s completely optional and not intended to impact the non-Dream World in anyway. But I found myself actively avoiding the Dream World because of this introduction. It’s extra content and Ittle Dew 2 is great so this should be a good thing but the rest of the game is so well-designed, so inclusive and open, that this Dream World felt too disjointed and unnecessary.

Of course, playing on an airplane, in a hotel room, or back at home on the TV is incredible. So it’s worth mentioning that playing Ittle Dew 2, whether for five minutes or five hours, feels perfect on Switch – other than no Pro Controller on Tabletop. And as a Zelda-like, it is comfortably at home on a Nintendo console.

Final Verdict

Go on a journey with Ittle Dew 2+ on Nintendo Switch. Newcomers will enjoy the respect offered by the game’s nonlinear, no-hand-holding approach. By the time I got to know how the puzzles works, how to attack the imaginative enemies, and where secrets are typically discovered, Ittle Dew 2 had its hooks in me. Its simple, addictive, cute, challenging, and expansive. While lacking in boss variety and a supremely disappointing final dungeon, Ittle Dew 2+ is a great game for Switch owners.