izigame.me

1) Story: 4/5. It was a fresh narrative with a some basic tropes. The real intrigue of the story comes from the water shadow, but the game is short so you don't get too much of a deep dive (pun intended). For a game about riding the ocean the story isn't that deep (pun also intended), but it's tied up nicely and wholesome by the end.
2) Characters: 3/5. There's a lot of unique NPCs, some with some charm, some with some...nothing really to them. Similar to the story, this game is a bit too short to really offer much depth to any of them. The only characters who get much depth and growth are the main characters.
3) Setting: 4/5. This whole game is about exploring the ocean and seeing the havoc the dark fog has wrecked upon the seas. Each area isn't all that different from another since it's mostly just ocean, but with this short time is still does a good job of setting the scene here and there. However, down-side is there's no fast travel and just sometimes the ocean feels a little too big...
4) Music: 4/5. It's a game about exploration and vibing on the ocean so the music helps with that vibe. Heck, there's even some combat to it and the music seamlessly shifts to a more energetic riff to match. When you're alone on the ocean just cruising, or at the sadder parts of the story, the music does a good job matching the mood.
5) Gameplay: 5/5. For a game about riding the ocean you can bet the controls feel good as your surf and swing with your spark-net at break-neck speeds. The movement controls is honestly the biggest thing that kept me coming back. Like a Hat in Time, this game has some movetech to it in regards to diving. When you're jumping over the ocean, your character highlights pink indicating you can dive. When you dive you travel under the water at increased speed. At any point until you run out of breath you can release the dive early to launch far forward over the surface. If you time your launch well enough with a mid-air dash and double-jump, then your character highlights pink again allowing you to chain the dive movement. It does have a timing window though else you lose your pink highlight opportunity and the only way to reset it so to get on dry land. It feels good and rewarding to chain-dive to get around!
All in all, that comes out to an 80%. I'd give it a B- and a definitely wait until it's on sale. Not really worth it for the current price, but would definitely recommend it on sale.