It goes without saying that the early months of the Switch saw the new console effectively being defined as a portable Breath of the Wild machine that you could also maybe play other games on if you really wanted to. Still, those who snooped around the eShop could find some gems that were certainly worth a punt, and one of those early titles was Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas.
Played from a top-down perspective, Oceanhorn was rather forthright with how heavily it was cribbing from Zelda’s playbook, but it was largely received well due to how effectively it emulated Nintendo’s storied franchise. Now, three years later, Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm has seen a release on Switch, bringing with it the promise of evolved gameplay built upon the strengths of the original. It still ultimately remains trapped in the shadow of its clear inspiration, but Oceanhorn 2 nonetheless proves itself to be a nicely enrapturing action game that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
The story sees you assuming the role of a nameless and mute hero who loves smashing pots (sound familiar?) just after he’s granted the rank of Knight by his father. The two live in a peaceful and quiet village, but the hero’s skills are soon called upon when a plane comes crashing down in a nearby forest, hotly pursued by a contingent of evil robotic warriors. These warriors are led by none other than Mesmeroth, an evil warlock who was defeated in a decisive battle in generations past, and it’s up to your hero to stand up to the threat by collecting three ancient MacGuffins scattered around the world and finishing Mesmeroth off once and for all.
The narrative is fine for what it is, but it’s the sort of thing that feels like it gets in the way of the main experience just a little too much. For example, your companions on this journey have some excellent voice work that does a great job of instilling them with personality, but the lines they actually speak mostly consist of thinly-veiled exposition dumps and passive commentary on mundane objects or enemies in the environment. Many times, then, it feels like the thin story doesn't add much to the overall game, but neither does it necessarily take away from it. The story is just sort of there, acting as a way of getting your hero from one point on his quest to the next.
Since the original Oceanhorn, gameplay has seen an interesting shift to a much more impressive third-person action style that still maintains the gameplay loop of the original. The core of the experience is centred around exploring a semi-open world in search of treasure chests and secrets, with the occasional enemy encounters or simple puzzles acting as rewarding distractions. Combat is handled much akin to the swordplay in the older 3D Zelda releases, although here, it unfortunately feels far less engaging.
For one thing, you have no means of locking on to the enemy you want to face, aside from when you have your shield up and are expecting a strike. As soon as you press the attack, the lock-on fails and the camera subsequently returns to its previous position, which can sometimes throw you off enough to miss attacks or get hit. It’s not a terrible combat system and it’s easy enough to get to grips with, but it’s simply off just enough that most enemy encounters are a bit of a slog.
Matters are not helped by your nearly useless AI partners, who essentially just act as walking paperweights to sit on switches or to activate levers. You can order your allies to attack specific enemies, and sometimes they even do just that, but we had one too many instances where they evidently forgot what they were doing in the heat of battle and decided either to do something else or to just not participate in the fight any longer. There are occasional brief glimpses, both in combat and in puzzles, where you can see the potential of having these AI partners at your command, but that potential unfortunately goes mostly unused.
When you’re in dungeons or just poking around in one of the overworld sections, you’re sure to come across the odd puzzle that dangles an enticing treasure chest or reward just out of reach. Rarely do these rise beyond the typical ‘bomb the wall’ or ‘light the torches’ sort of conundrums, but they still introduce some nice variety to the gameplay and make progression slightly more cerebral than simply marching through dungeons.
Part of the simplicity of these puzzles is no doubt due to the relative shallowness of the hero’s inventory, which consists of the basic grappling hook, gun, bombs, etc. These things are each used well, and some of the puzzles require you to use them in tandem in some interesting ways, but those of you with an extensive background with the old 3D Zelda games have already seen these puzzles countless times before.
If anything, that perhaps speaks to the largest issue that we had with Oceanhorn 2. It does a fantastic job of aping the core concepts of Zelda games. It has the combat. It has the puzzle design. It has the lighthearted, yet semi-serious tone. But, other than some light RPG elements, Oceanhorn 2 doesn’t really bring anything new of substance to the table. Moreover, it doesn’t execute any of the copied concepts nearly as well as its source material.
This doesn’t make it a bad experience by any means, but it does make for one that frequently feels hamstrung by its own lack of ambition. There are plenty of interesting ways in which other releases have built upon the tried-and-tested Zelda formula and made it their own, but Oceanhorn 2 seems content to simply tick off the boxes of what people like about Wind Waker or Ocarina of Time and to go no further. The final product, then, could be likened to the generic variant of a popular cereal. It’s cheaper, it’s pretty much the same thing, but that extra little bit of something that it’s missing is ultimately what makes it feel thoroughly inferior to the real deal.
Luckily, presentation is one area in which Oceanhorn 2 redeems itself somewhat. The world of Gaia is simply gorgeous, with diverse terrain, foliage, and wildlife making each area a sight to behold. Advanced lighting effects help to instil locales with plenty of atmosphere, whether that’s the shadows in an ancient temple or the light filtering through a tree canopy, and the animation remains fluid throughout. This is all backed by a relatively laidback soundtrack and the excellent voice work mentioned earlier, which all combines to make for an experience that both looks and sounds great – even if the gameplay doesn’t always fulfil its potential.
Conclusion
Oceanhorn 2 is a decent game, albeit one that doesn't do enough to stick out from the crowd. Excellent presentation and a clear understanding of the mechanics underlying the Zelda franchise make for a game that is satisfying and ultimately worth the price of admission. At the same time, however, a slight pervasive shallowness in the various gameplay systems keeps it from ever becoming too engaging of an experience, as it never delves as deep as it could with many of its ideas. We’d give Oceanhorn 2 a light recommendation, but with the caveat that you might want to wait for a sale on this one.
Comments 55
interesting! it actually looks really pretty graphically. but i remember the first game being a slog to get through, especially with how slow the main character moved
The Legend of Zelda, an ultimately shallow Hydlide clone.
I assume as it wasn't mentioned that Nobuo Uematsu didn't work on this one's soundtrack? That's a shame. It looked pretty good on the eShop store but it's price wasn't appetizing at all.
Well Zelda is just a clone of Minecraft according to the highly educated YouTube comments section! Take that.
Sorry guys- but I gotta say I told you so.
@TheFrenchiestFry LOL
Does exactly what a Zelda game does, but it’s shallow. That begs the question, what exactly does a Zelda game do that is deep?
@TheFrenchiestFry And Roblox and Minecraft are copying each other according to scientists, so take THAT.
The first ones biggest problem was that the puzzles were very obscure (you got stuck constantly) and I have never gotten stuck in a zelda. Other than that highly recommend first one can't speak for second.
@nessisonett it's no super hylide
This could have been a bit more interesting if they would have at least let the player customize their character. If your protagonist is going to be a nameless mute anyway, why not write the protag as an adopted or taken-in youth and let the player decide how he or even she would look like? As it stands, everything about this game seems generic and forgettable.
This is like Ocarina of Time mechanics with pretty art but somehow stiffer animations. For the Zelda-starved, perhaps.
I'll wait for a deep discount
@TheFrenchiestFry The developers of the original Zelda went into the future, found Minecraft, went back and copied it in the past.
@TG16_IS_BAE This game actually got me thinking about that. I would say that most Zelda games usually have additional gimmicks on top to keep that core gameplay loop fresh. WW, for example, had the open sea island hopping gameplay, which added some cool twists on the traditional style. SS (for better or worse) had a huge focus on motion controls and building everything around that. The point being, there are lots of places you can take the traditional Zelda formula and the series has reflected that well as it's gone on, but Oceanhorn (though decent) doesn't really do anything with that.
So I played this for a few hours and I don't understand the somewhat poor rating. The game is even better than some AAA titles. Graphics are sweet, exploring is fun and it plays just nice. Yes the combat is a bit clunky but this can be overlooked if your a fan of zelda-like adventure games. I would give this a 7.5 - 8 out of 10. It's time to let go on phrases like this is a clone of that / nothing new here and so on. It's 2020 and we've seen all sorts of games and genres more than one time! english is not my first language, so hopefully someone gets my point and won't miss out on a really good game. peace
Imma still getting it!
Even the protagonist's outfit is derivative of Link's iconic BotW tunic. There is certainly space for more open world fantasy games in the spirit of Zelda and the like, but the fact that Zelda has been referenced so pervasively in the review speaks for itself. Why go for the dollar store imitation when you can have the real thing?
@HollowSpectre that's the spirit! 👍
The first one got so much praise and I bought it for Switch because there basically zero alternatives in June 2017. I hated the game and only finished it because I paid for it and had nothing to play.
Now this one has rather poor reviews. Maybe it's twisted logic and I will enjoy this one?!
Six actually sounds harsh reading the review content. Maybe a seven would have been more representative
Reviews are not going well for this game anywhere (71 on Metacritic).
It's interesting b/c it was seen as a darling on mobile - and it only leaves me to believe what one review said: when there is no real competition it is great, but when you have to go up against console quality games like Breath of Wild, it no longer is that great.
I wanted to love the first b/c let's face it, these guys get visuals! However it had animations there were just off and the combat was dreadful. I was hopeful this one would fix things, but it is clear that designing for mobile made them simplify the controls to a point where they hurt the experience when compared to having all the buttons on console. The only question is why they didn't change things, like add a trigger for lock-on, as you'd expect on a console.
That is where mobile games fail when coming to console - not making use of the console controls.
I know mobile games can look great - I want them to play great.
I'm disappointed this game doesn't play great based on all the reviews I've read. That consistency says there is a problem that should be resolved.
Hopefully part 3 will focus more on console controls!
@TheFrenchiestFry people have been mining and crafting since long before taking virtual adventures.
Just like the first game, it's an uninspired Zelda clone that brings nothing new to the table. Being an Apple Arcade exclusive for that long didn't help either.
It was "meh" on Apple Arcade it is "meh" on Switch. Different hardware was never going to make this game any better.
Genshin Impact is 100X better than this.
It's a small studio really living their dream of making Zelda games, basically. I think they have much more growth to go. There are some strong features, but the actually play loop and combat controls — the game feel — they need to work on.
I think it's good for this review to set expectations.
The art is great, though, and feels "inspired by" while still maintaining something consistent between the two titles — and improved — that they can build on. I'm still rooting for the Studio.
(Played some of this via Apple Arcade, and may give it a second chance)
I'm a Zelda fan, but don't put it on the pedestal that it seems some others do. I thought the dungeons in BotW were too samey (although overall a great game), generally liked but bailed on Skyward Sword due to reusing bosses, and bailed on Minish Cap as it became tedious to me. I plan to buy OH2, and may end up agreeing with the reviewer, but to me it's rare that any media (books, movies, games, etc.) add anything truly ground breaking.
Sounds like a fair review, but I grabbed it all the same. I really enjoy the classic Zelda gameplay loop and am willing to put up with the downsides to get my exploring, puzzle-solving, dungeoneering fix.
Why is an indie game being compared to a triple A? If the studio had the resources, it might have been comparable. As it stands now, though, this seems a mite unfair, don'cha think?
I heard about this game but never tried it. I don't know if it's a good game that will last long.
Mobile port of a generic clone... did anyone really expect a whole lot more than this score?
Time to get oceanhorny
Generic, overpriced mobile leftovers. Didn't need a review to see that.
@koldKat I mean considering the games supposed to be a Zelda inspired game it’s no surprise it’s going to be compared to that series and it being an indie game isn’t going to give it a free pass from actual criticism, you don’t have to agree with me but I just thought I’d put my two cents in
There seem to be so many of these clones. They should give up making them!
NL please also stop reviewing these clones!
One question: do the weapons constantly break?
Seems like a missed opportunity from part of the devs, despite the graphics overall. Still i doubt we will see a third.
@TG16_IS_BAE i was thinking the same. XD I suppose Zelda is seen with a kind of nostalgic feeling, and i do have fond memories of Ocarina of Time, but the rest of the Zeldas, at least in my opinion, don't deserve all that fuss. Even BOTW.
@CarlosM87 Right? When BOTW was first revealed with gameplay I just thought, oh, more Skyrim and moved on. Plus, it’s another game that interrupts itself way too much, which I can’t handle lol
I like it. Certainty doesn't scream breath of the wild at me. More and older type of Zelda experience. If this is the best apple had when it was part of their system. Well Nintendo games win hands down. But as an experience.. I kind of like ocean horn 2 as well.
@TG16_IS_BAE it’s original and has a fresh sort of creativity, foundation and inspiration and it had a larger team who took time to tend to every nick and cranny
@TG16_IS_BAE bow is nothing like Skyrim it’s more so inspired by the souls franchise imo
@koldKat a game is a game and the sole foundation of the series is built off Zelda so it’s going to and have to be compared. If you don’t want it compared to royalty then don’t aim or imitate royalty
@cyrus_zuo at the end of the day don’t Buy too much stock In Others opinions everyone’s experiences and tastes are different. If you like it don’t tell others otherwise and if they don’t don’t tell the otherwise
I might play it, the original was pretty fun.
I am playing the game and grade 6 seems like a punishment for no real reason. 76/100 from me.
Honestly why would I be interested in playing a game that's trying to resemble a better game? I'll just be thinking about it's shortcomings, since there's nothing of its own.
@MindfulGamer There weren't really any dungeons in it, they were basically just puzzle rooms scattered about the world for the most part and a lot had the same kind of puzzle types.
I bought and played it last night through the first boss battle, and I agree with @goldener 's assessment above. So far I'm enjoying it, and expect to continue. I recommend that anyone who likes these types of games give it a chance.
@jbreez00 Assuming that you are talking about BotW, when I said dungeons, I was referring to the Divine Beasts. Although they were obviously based on different animals, I found the look and feel more similar than I would have liked, compared to other Zelda games, but I enjoyed playing through them. And I generally enjoyed the shrines, but thought that there could have been fewer of them. Just my opinion. And overall I enjoyed the game and finished it (does anyone ever really finish BotW lol).
I enjoyed this much more than the 1st Oceanhorn. Tried it out on Apple Arcade and loved it and thought i would wait until it ends up on the switch to complete it. The graphics are gorgeous and I give it a solid 8 its a really enjoyable game. Do not compare it to BOTW and you will be fine its more like a Windwaker in some regards there is subtle zelda references like the upside down triforce symbol on clothing and things like that but it is an enjoyable game.
@pixel_jones that's great, can't wait to get it. I enjoyed the first one...just finished it.
@goldener @goldener thank you. Too many people came here complaining about a game they never played. I was like like "wow, what a bunch of soy boys." I enjoyed the first one and am about to get the second...although I'd like to pay less than $29.99 for it. I like how you negated the "clone" issue and mentioned the good without comparing. I wish I read your paragraph before reading this review.
@goldener
I get your point and appreciate your score. It's probably realistic.
If it says it falls short of BotW then I'm in because BotW was ***** *****.
It's currently on a big sale on the eShop and decided to check on the reviews for this game. Didn't enjoy the first game, played the available demo and it just didn't do it for me, but I really liked the aspect of this one and wanted to check out more and lo and behold, I'm finding exactly what I was expecting to see:
It's a SS clone, no doubt, and doesn't do much to stand out, but if anyone likes the style, it's definitely worth getting it.
Given that it's on 40% sale right now, I'm definitely going to give it a shot. I'll blame you guys if I don't like it.
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