Preview: Ova Magica sprinkled in a lot of familiar mechanics, but did so in a way that’s fresh and delightful

Ova Magica came out today in Early Access! So, at the time of writing this, some things may be different in the final build. There’s definitely going to be more than the things that I mentioned in this article. As always, we don’t give scores to games that haven’t been fully released, but if we did, Ova Magica would be getting a high one. 

Honestly, I don’t really know how to go about talking about this game without drawing comparisons to several bigger titles. It’s like the dev team sprinkled a little bit of everything in a pot and I’m asking for seconds.

While I get some sense of Stardew Valley and Wylde Flowers; a farming game is a farming game. We can only expect so much to be different. In Ova Magica, the little twist we get is the influence of Pokémon on the blobs.

I’ve thrown a few franchises at you, upfront, so let’s rewind and talk about what Ova Magica offers. As I talk, you’ll see those influences that I’m mentioning.

In a move that is very much a match-3 mobile trope, you have inherited your family farm while your mother works overseas. This little farm is in a small place called, “Clover Town.” You know the song and dance by now. When we get to our little slice of heaven, it’s overgrown and we barely have a place to stay. Or… well, in this case, we actually don’t have a place.

We’re told that it used to be a family farm, but the best I can see is that it’s just a generational plot of land. Not that it matters, I just find it amusing. With the help of some very nice townfolk, we’re set up with a tent, our first blob, and some crops to get us started. 

There are several moving parts in Ova Magica, so why don’t I just list out the things that are very samesies in the standard farming game these days and then focus more on what makes Ova Magica special. 

Ova Magica Checklist

• Farming: You build the plots, till them, plant, and water. Yay, crops.
• Fishing: You pop your lure in, wait for a bite, and then tap a button. Yay, fish. Sometimes wild blobs can pop up, but you’ll know the difference since a fish presents as a black exclamation and blobs as red.
• Insect Collecting: You sneaky-sneaky, wait for the bug to get in range, and hit a button. Mmm, bugs.
• Crafting: All of this is done through a crafting table, but you will need to gather blueprints to make things. Pretty standard.
• Cooking: All of the crops that you get can be made into something else, but you’ll need a recipe to make yummies.
• Resource Gathering: Mining, cutting trees, hacking at bushes, and you’ve got building materials. Pretty simple.
• Relationship Building: Not everyone has a relationship meter. If they do, you’ll know it because of the heart above them. You talk to them and it fills up the heart. Woo, friendship. 

Okay, so with all the standard stuff out of the way, let’s talk about the blobs because they’re the star of the show. If you’re familiar with Pokémon, you understand the concept of taming and battling. This is pretty much the same idea. Except, as far as I’m aware, the elements of blobs don’t matter as much as the order of operation does.

Now… admittedly, I did just run around as I do and didn’t focus too much on battling beyond the one in the tutorial. So, don’t quote me on the element thing. What I do know is that the blobs are categorized as storm, magma, and forest. The tutorial mentioned them having strengths and weaknesses, so… it may come up later that they “rock, paper, scissors” with each other. 

I choose you, blobichu… We’ll workshop it.

When you engage in a battle, you have some options available to you. An action bar on the bottom of the screen has three words: recover, command, and cast. You’ll notice that there are two little icons that slide along this bar: your blob and your opponent’s blob.

The “recover” area is an idle zone; you just hang tight until your blob’s picture gets to the “command” zone. At that point, you can choose an action. It isn’t immediately executed, however, because every skill has a casting time. When your icon gets to the end of the “cast” zone, it will execute your choice.

You should always pay attention to where your opponent’s blob is on the bar because when your blob is in the casting zone it’s vulnerable to critical damage if it’s hit.

When anyone takes damage, their place on the bar will get pushed back a bit. This is useful if a blob is about to be in the casting zone and you can knock them further back in the command zone to give yourself more time.

You want that buffer because when you finish casting, you’re set back into the recover zone and won’t be able to defend.

If your blob is in the command zone and you’re about to take damage, it’s a great time to choose to defend instead of lining up an attack. This way, the damage is halved. Or, you can choose to use an item to recover your health.

Defending, I believe, will start you back in the recovery zone, but using an item just pushes you back to the start of the command zone.

It’s a lot of jargon, but it’s a pretty simple system. The blobs have their own moves that reflect their typing like storm type using “Cold Breath”. These moves do use up some MP, so you have to do a bit of strategic thinking, but it’s pretty simple from the start. 

But, wait! There’s more!

Now that I’ve told you about blob battling, I should probably mention that there is a blob-league. And yes, you can be the very best like no one ever was if you want to prioritize that.

Honestly, there’s so much to do that I haven’t even bothered figuring that out. I’m still living in a tent.

There’s an adventuring cave system to explore, but I’m locked out of it for being poor – that’s not a joke. Only people who join the adventurer’s guild can enter the cave system with success and it costs 1000 in-game currency. I’m choosing to prioritize my home.

So, what else is there? Of course, there are shops that sell a variety of things, but I have yet to see anything in them that is for customizing your character.

There are, also, festivals. I took part in the Painted Egg Festival which basically is just running around town collecting eggs that you can trade in for food, items, or even a blob. Naturally, I had to get a bunny blob and it was during this event that I saw the only customization item I’ve seen so far: bunny ears.

I think that’s everything, but I do want to touch on aesthetics for a moment. The blobs come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. I’m not kidding when I say I’ve seen dozens of different blobs. Bunnies, bees, cows, robots, etc. So many.

Happily, we can collect more than one. Unhappily, I’m not sure that we can collect them all or if some of them are just exclusive to a villager. It’s possible that they just haven’t been implemented yet since it’s early access and I desperately hope that’s the case. I need to collect them all. I gotta, even. 

I will take one of everything, thank you so much.

As for character customization, I was very pleased with the range. While you do start off with two base options, you don’t have to worry about being pigeonholed into “girl” vs “boy” aesthetics. As far as I can tell, you’re only referred to by your name and you’re not locked out of styles.

As Animal Crossing would say, you can make your character as cute or as cool as you’re comfortable with. All the longer and shorter hairstyles are there and while the clothing range is limited at the moment, you have a mix of dresses and pants that should work.

Happily, there were a lot of POC hairstyles as well as a hijab option, so everyone should be able to find something to feel more represented.

The only other thing I can touch on is the graphics and the music, which I found no fault with either of them. I even had one of the tunes stuck in my head while I took a break for lunch, so that’s a clear sign of a good musical score.

Oh! I forgot I wanted to say that you do have a backpack system and it is limited at first. You can absolutely buy more space, but you guuuuys… You don’t even really have to if you don’t want to. You’re automatically given a “magical” storage box at your farm that is several tabs long. And there are like… 5 or so more of them scattered around the sections of the map that are all connected. You never have to worry about juggling storage again.

If your pockets are full of flowers and bugs, but you want to fish, you don’t have to go all the way home just to unload. Seriously, this is a major, major win for cozy gaming. 

If I’ve ever influenced you to try a game, this should be up near the top.

I’ve barely scratched the surface of Ova Magica, but I’m having the best time. I’m kind of sad that I have to play a different game tomorrow for a different review.

If you want to try out Ova Magica, you can get it on Steam for $24.99. For a limited time, it will be 10% off at $22.49. If, for some reason, blobs aren’t your cup of tea – and I’m not sure we can be friends if they aren’t – you can check out our review of Été. It’s a gorgeous watercolor game of exploration and art-making.