TouchArcade Rating: I appreciate games that seamlessly blend disparate gameplay styles into a cohesive whole. Think Blaster Master's blend of side-scrolling platforming and top-down shooter segments, or the recent hit Dave the Diver, which cleverly combines roguelike diving with restaurant management. Ocean Keeper from RetroStyle Games joins this elite group, offering a compelling gameplay loop and upgrade system that keeps you coming back for more.
In Ocean Keeper, you crash-land your mech on a bizarre underwater planet. You'll explore underwater caves, mining resources in side-scrolling segments, before returning to your mech to defend against waves of enemies in a top-down twin-stick shooter with light tower defense elements. Mining yields resources and coins, providing upgrades for both your miner and your mech. The time spent mining is limited before the enemy attacks begin.
Resources fuel upgrades across extensive branching skill trees for both your mining equipment and your mech. The roguelike nature means death ends a run, resetting progress. However, persistent upgrades and customizations unlock between runs, ensuring continuous progress even after setbacks. Overworld and cave layouts also vary with each playthrough.
Ocean Keeper starts slowly, with initially frustrating runs. Persevere, though! As upgrades accumulate and skills improve, the gameplay flow becomes clearer, transforming you into an underwater force of nature. The synergy between weapons and upgrades is the game's core strength, encouraging experimentation with diverse builds and strategies. My initial reservations about the slow start quickly vanished as the game's addictive loop took hold. Once it clicks, it's hard to put down.
