Surf a magical archipelago in Wavetale, a former Stadia exclusive coming to Steam

Thunderful Development’s former Stadia exclusive Wavetale hits Steam this week, bringing its island-hopping story to the broader world just before Stadia’s demise. Wavetale tells the story of Sigrid, aided by her wave-surfing shadow, on a quest to save a magical and ruined archipelago from its own past.

It’s definitely an example of the genre of open-world exploratory platformers and action games that have proliferated in the wake of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but its stylish world and creatures do have a charm distinct from those games that are blatant copies of previous concepts. It’s especially notable that it has two main ways of getting around: Speeding across the waves for one, and swinging with your net for another.