This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2018) |
Even the Ocean | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Analgesic Productions |
Publisher(s) | Analgesic Productions |
Designer(s) |
|
Programmer(s) | Melos Han-Tani |
Artist(s) | Marina Kittaka |
Writer(s) |
|
Composer(s) | Melos Han-Tani |
Engine | HaxeFlixel |
Platform(s) | |
Release | November 16, 2016 |
Genre(s) | |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Even the Ocean is an action-adventure platform video game developed by Analgesic Productions. The game was released on November 16, 2016 on Steam, itch.io, GOG.com, and Humble Store, for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.
The game includes platforming and story elements, putting the player in the role of Aliph, a Power Plant engineer working for the game's central city of Whiteforge.
Even the Ocean is played by moving and jumping through side-on view places, such as beaches, cities, and the interiors of the world's mechanical and dangerous Power Plants. The game uses an energy bar mechanic that allows the player to gain more Light or Dark energy in order to jump higher or run faster.
Gameplay varies from cutscenes where Aliph talks with other characters in the game, to exploration of smaller towns and areas, to action platforming sections set inside of Power Plants.
The story of Even the Ocean follows the events of Aliph as she begins her first day of work in the area of Fay Rouge. She is accompanied by senior technician, Cassidy, who dies in a disaster at Fay Rouge. After Aliph returns to Whiteforge City, the mayor, Richard Biggs, assigns her and two other technicians to repair other Power Plants in the world outside of Whiteforge. As she continues her travels, Aliph learns more about forces putting her world at risk, and eventually needs to step in to try and save it.
In March 2013, Even the Ocean began as two separate games, Even and The Ocean. [1] Eventually the two games were combined into the final game, Even the Ocean, and the game was released onto Steam, itch.io and other storefronts on November 16, 2016. Regarding the mix of platforming and story, Han-Tani has stated that "the different segments of the game arose from wanting the game to incorporate reading-heavy and platforming-heavy sections—to show their interesting contrasts to players". [2] The game was translated into Chinese, German, Russian, and Spanish. The Chinese translation was released on June 4, 2017, while the German subtitles as well as the Russian subtitles were added on November 27, 2017. An update on June 24, 2017 added Spanish localisation.
Even the Ocean's soundtrack was composed by Han-Tani. At the time of Even the Ocean's release, the soundtrack was made available as a download-only on Han-Tani's online Bandcamp store and Even the Ocean's Steam store page, with the 88 songs in the game, as well as many bonus tracks, consisting of outtakes and unused songs. The total runtime, including the bonus songs, is almost six hours.
Danielle Riendeau of Vice Media's Waypoint placed Even the Ocean at the #1 spot of her Top 10 Games of 2016 list, [3] citing "its intricate level design, its quirky and colorful world, its characters and their awakening as citizens of a corrupt government".
Chloi Rad of IGN listed it on her list of 13 Awesome Games No One Talked About In 2016, [4] citing that it was "all about balance — between the Light and Dark energy that fuel its world, but also the other contrasting forces that influence every facet of our lives. Nature and industry. Wealth and poverty", and that "in place of demanding difficulty, Even the Ocean instead provides a thought-provoking story with varied mechanics (like its interesting spin on an HP bar) that run gracefully parallel to its message".
Chris Priestman of Killscreen finds that "Perhaps even more intriguing, though, is how this energy system affects the logic and culture of Even the Ocean‘s world." [5]
Sonic Adventure 2 is a 2001 platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. It features two good-vs-evil stories: Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, and Knuckles the Echidna attempt to save the world, while Shadow the Hedgehog, Doctor Eggman, and Rouge the Bat attempt to conquer it. The stories are divided into three gameplay styles: fast-paced platforming for Sonic and Shadow, multidirectional shooting for Tails and Eggman, and action-adventure exploration for Knuckles and Rouge.
In the video game industry, digital distribution is the process of delivering video game content as digital information, without the exchange or purchase of new physical media such as ROM cartridges, magnetic storage, optical discs and flash memory cards. This process has existed since the early 1980s, but it was only with network advancements in bandwidth capabilities in the early 2000s that digital distribution became more prominent as a method of selling games. Currently, the process is dominated by online distribution over broadband Internet.
Anodyne is an action-adventure video game developed by Analgesic Productions. After a nearly year-long development through developers Melos Han-Tani and Marina Kittaka's last years in college, the game was released on February 4, 2013, for Windows PC, Mac OS X and Linux. An Android version was released as part of a Humble Bundle on October 15, 2013. The PlayStation 4 version of the game was released on September 9, 2018, the Xbox One version was released on September 21, 2018, and the Nintendo Switch version was released on February 28, 2019. The Anodyne soundtrack was also made available for purchase at the game’s initial release, including all of the music in the game as well as a few bonus tracks.
Ronin is a turn-based action platform video game developed by Polish indie developer Tomasz Wacławek, designer at Polish indie studio Flying Wild Hog, and published by Devolver Digital. It was released for Microsoft Windows on 27 May 2015 into Steam Early Access and left it on 30 June 2015. A later update for the game introduced builds for OS X and Linux on 15 October 2015. A PlayStation 4 port of Ronin was released on 1 November 2016.
Itch.io is a website for users to host, sell and download indie video games, indie role-playing games, game assets, comics, zines and music. Launched in March 2013 by Leaf Corcoran, the service hosts over 700,000 products as of April 2023.
Nina Marie Freeman is an American video game designer known for her games with themes of sexuality and self-reflection. A former game designer at Fullbright, she developed and published numerous video games and is a co-founder of the Code Liberation Foundation, a non-for-profit organization that makes an effort to diversify employment within STEAM fields.
Hob is an action-adventure game developed and published by Runic Games for Microsoft Windows and Playstation 4 on September 26, 2017 and in 2019 for Nintendo Switch. It is set in a science-fiction world filled with bizarre wildlife, over-grown architecture, and arcane machinery.
We Know the Devil is a visual novel developed and published by Date Nighto. It was released on September 12, 2015 for Microsoft Windows and MacOS, before receiving a Steam release on February 15, 2016. On July 4, 2016, a separate art book titled, "The Art of We Know the Devil," was published on itch.io by game artist Max Schwartz, followed by a March 19, 2017, itch.io release of the game, this time with a free supplementary demo serving the purpose of a prequel.
Momodora is a series of platforming video games developed by Bombservice. The series follows several priestess heroines who utilize magic maple leaves as weapons against monsters and other cursed entities. The series consists of four games: Momodora I, Momodora II, Momodora III, and Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight. A fifth game, Momodora: Moonlit Farewell, was announced in January 2022.
Video games that include elements that use blockchain technologies, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), allow players to buy, sell, or trade in-game items with other players. The game publisher takes a fee from each transaction as a form of monetization. A subset of these games are also known as play-to-earn games because they include systems that allow players to earn cryptocurrency through gameplay. Blockchain games have existed since 2017, gaining more widespread attention from the video game industry in 2021. Several AAA publishers have expressed intent to include this technology in the future. Players, developers, and game companies have criticized the use of blockchain technology in video games for being exploitative, environmentally unsustainable, and unnecessary.
Ravenfield is a low poly first-person shooter game developed by Swedish programmer Johan Hassel, who goes by the pseudonym SteelRaven7. It was released on 18 May 2017 as an early access title for Windows, macOS and Linux.
Paloma Dawkins is a cartoonist, animator and video game creator who is known for works that blur the line between natural and game environments. Her works include Gardenarium (2015), Alea (2015), Palmystery and Museum of Symmetry. Her games from game jams include Paint Bug (2016) and Egg Boss (2014).
Flotsam is a survival simulation video game developed and published by Pajama Llama Games, which released in early access on Steam, Kartridge, GoG, Itch.io and Humble Store on September 26, 2019. It was previously published by Kongregate, until the developers self-published it in 2020.
Among Us is a 2018 online multiplayer social deduction game developed and published by American game studio Innersloth. The game was inspired by the party game Mafia and the science fiction horror film The Thing. The game allows for cross-platform play; it was released on iOS and Android devices in June 2018 and on Windows later that year in November. It was ported to the Nintendo Switch in December 2020 and on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in December 2021. A virtual reality adaptation, Among Us VR, was released on November 10, 2022.
Aquamarine is a turn based survival video game developed by the American developer Moebial Studios. It was released for Linux, macOS, and Windows in January 2022. The game is set in a vast alien ocean where the player character explores and learns more about the world.
Raft is an open world survival-sandbox video game developed by Swedish developer Redbeet Interactive, and published by Axolot Games. The game was released as an early access title on 23 May 2018 on Steam, after initial release as a free download on indie platform Itch.io in 2016. On 20 June 2022 Raft was taken out of early access with the release of its final chapter. Taking place in a flooded apocalypse the player takes on the role of a forward scout, a survivor who ventures out into the open sea in search of habitable land and resources.
Valheim is an upcoming survival and sandbox video game by the Swedish developer Iron Gate Studio and published by Coffee Stain Studios. It was released in early access on 2 February 2021 for Linux and Windows via Steam, and for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on 14 March 2023. The game was developed by a five-person team, building on development work which Richard Svensson had undertaken as a side project in his spare time. Since its early access release, Valheim has achieved both critical and commercial success, being praised as a "rare exception" of a refined early access game. A month after its release, it had sold over five million copies and was one of the most played games on Steam.
Yo! Noid 2: Enter the Void is a freeware platformer fangame developed by Dustin Bragg and a team of indie developers for Waypoint's 2017 New Jam City game jam. It was released on August 1, 2017, and received a remastered update titled Yo! Noid 2: Game of a Year Edition on June 28, 2018. The game is a parody of, and unofficial sequel to, Yo! Noid, a 1990 platformer redesigned as an advergame for American audiences to promote Domino's Pizza.
Sokpop Collective, also known as simply Sokpop, is an independent video game development studio located in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The studio was founded in 2015 and consists of four people. The studio is run as a collective, with no formal leadership structure or managers, but a flat hierarchy where everyone works as equals.