Warden: Melody of the Undergrowth

I respect that they were trying to recreate the magic of the N64 era style of games, But some things should just be left in the past.

Warden: Melody of the Undergrowth developed and published by Cardboard Keep is a clear love letter to the era of late-90s and early-2000s 3D adventure platformers, blending exploration, light RPG elements, and puzzle-solving into a colorful fantasy setting. It doesn’t hide its influences—in fact, it leans into them with confidence—presenting a semi-open world that encourages curiosity and rewards players who take the time to wander off the beaten path. The result is a game that feels nostalgic in both its strengths and its shortcomings, offering a sense of adventure that is earnest and engaging, even when it struggles with execution. The narrative follows a young prince, Tavian, who becomes entangled in the mysteries of a magical forest filled with ancient forces and unusual inhabitants. As the story unfolds, additional playable characters join the journey, each bringing their own abilities and perspective. This multi-character system adds a layer of mechanical variety, allowing players to switch between companions to solve environmental puzzles and navigate different challenges. While the story itself is relatively straightforward and leans heavily on familiar fantasy tropes, it …

Decent if a bit janky, the writing could be better and depth of field makes anything not immediately close to you so blurry it hurts your eyes so remember to turn it off. A critique is that the only time you are actually feel you need to fight enemies is when you need to defeat them to open a door otherwise it is just a waste of weapon durability. After the first crystal i never fought any enemy i didn't have to.

[b]The good / mostly everything:[/b] [list] [*]This is absolutely the greatest Wind Waker clone I've experienced and it's awesome [*]It's so close to being incredible, but the items in my wishlist below hold it back pretty hard [*]It has target locking / z targeting which is amazing. That feels rare noawadays [*]The visuals, shading, and aesthetic, even character design, is basically identical to WW and I absolutely love it [*]Gameplay overall is very enjoyable especially with controller [*]World is pretty and nice. But too much of the same tileset in the forest area and gets bland [*]I like playing as the 2nd character you get because she reminds me of Tetra. Also she has a power so why would I use the starting character besides for holding extra weapons lol [*]Okay my wishlist is pretty long. But I still recommend it, but now only on sale (<$10 imo) [/list] [b]Wishlist:[/b] [list] [*]The music, for the love of god please. It's so repetitive and bland, and gets old really fast. I had to put over the Wind Waker soundtrack lol [*]It's infuratingly confusing how to navigate and figure out where you want to go. It wouldn't be so bad if there was either A. a map or B. a walkthrough …

Zelda-like structure brought down by middling puzzle, janky physics, and some of the most tedious broken combat I've ever experienced. Paired with meaningless collectibles and arbitrary weapon degradation. Don't know if the dev is still alive but I do think if they try again with more polish they could make something good, but this outing is a pass.

This game has way too many bugs that I don't think the developer even cares about fixing. I've run into several game breaking bugs where its impossible to continue, forcing me to start a new game. It also has horrible hit detection, and the physics are completely off, where you can jump onto platforms and then it will act like you didn't land, or it pushes you off. Unless you want frustration in your gameplay experience that's completely out of your hand, I'd avoid this game like the plague.