Ocean’s Heartstars a young female adventurer, Tilia, who is searching for her father. The game opens with Tilia going to a secret stash for a villager. When she comes back the village has been ransacked by pirates and her father disappeared after them. Six months pass before Tilia finally decides to make the journey herself.

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Can she find her father and stop the pirates from whatever it is they’re doing to rules the seas? It’s time to get adventuring inOcean’s Heartto find out. There is a lot tothis indie gameinspired byThe Legend of Zelda, but hopefully, these tips will help make the journey’s start a pleasant one.

7Before You Leave Your Island

There is an important quest players should tackle before leaving their home island. After the six-month time skip, head to the northwest corner of the starting area map. There are ruins there that have opened up because ofthe bombing raid. Inside these ruins is a health upgrade.

It will be a huge advantage for players to begin their real adventure with four hearts rather than three. If players do leave without it don’t worry. It will be waiting there whenever players unlock fast travel.

Getting a health upgrade in Ocean’s Heart

The first area players will visit after their leave is Goatshead Harbor. For a small game likeOcean’s Heart, there is a lot to see from the get-go. Talk to everyone in town to get a few quests. One of the essential quests can be acquired in the bar to the northwest corner of town.

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Getting bombs in Ocean’s Heart

Some workers want players to dive into a dungeon to remove their spider problem. Inside these tunnels is a pack of ten bombs. These items can open up hidden pathways justlike the bombsinThe Legend of Zeldaseries. Do not leave town without them.

5How To Unlock Fast Travel

After acquiring the bombs, another good early quest to tackle involves unlocking fast travel. Exit to the left, or west, of Goatshead Harbor. Players will now enter the Forest of Tides. At the bottom of this first screen is a girl named Lily who is being attacked by monsters. For saving her, Lily will let players use her boat to fast travel to any unlocked harbor in the game. This will make getting around inthe mini open-worldmuch easier and the earlier this is unlocked, the better.

4How To Earn Money Fast

After Lily, take the exit in the bottom corner. On this next screen, head down to about the middle bottom of the map. Players will find a sign warning them that some monsters are too strong early on like the White Mandrake. While this creature can kill players in one hit, it can be easily defeated in the cheapest way possible.

Hit it through the top of the stone fence. It cannot damage players at all. The White Mandrake will drop a root that will sell for 40 Crowns,which is the moneyofOcean’s Heart. Exit the screen to the cave just behind this fence and return multiple times to get as many roots as possible to sell. It is almost too easy.

Talking to an NPC in Ocean’s Heart

3How Upgrading Works

Ocean’s Heartismore of an RPGthan most games inThe Legend of Zeldaseries. Players will not gain experience points and level up like a traditional RPG. There are stats that are matched to the player’s weapons and armor.

Players can increase their sword or bow attack power by giving a blacksmith coral and money. Armor can be upgraded simply by finding or buying new pieces. They all look the same though. Imagine someone wearing ten suits of the same armor.

Exploring the world in Ocean’s Heart

2How Saving And Checkpointing Work

Ocean’s Heartstarts off on what could be considered easy mode. Some enemies will knock players down in a few hits, but thankfully death doesn’t take anything away from players. Except for major dungeons, players will respawn where they last entered with health regenerated.

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For healing purposes, it might be a better idea to die on a screen if players are having trouble. This will save on healing items like berries or potions. Players can also save wherever they want and then restart where they last left off.Ocean’s Heartputs the player first which is an admirable thing.

1You Can Make The Game Harder

If players find the game too easy then there is good news. There is not anadjustable difficulty menuin the options like most games. However, there is a place in the world that can give players a reverse set of assist options. From Goatshead Harbor, take the right, or northeast, exit out of town.

On the next screen, head north to about the middle of the map. There is a set of ruins here and players will have to fight a boss inside. After that, they can get cursed by a god. This opens up a variety of shrines that can increase enemy damage or reduce the power of healing items as just two examples. It would be more convenient to have these settings in a menu but it is still appreciated all the same.

The item menu from Ocean’s Heart

Ocean’s Heartwas released on July 20, 2025, for theSwitch. It is also available onPC.

The continue menu from Ocean’s Heart

Exploring the world in Ocean’s Heart