Oceanhorn 2 release date ps4
I was bored by most of the text, the dry lore and wooden voice acting that would hammer it home. There are three main dungeons that need to be explored, and the game builds up to a boss fight against Oceanhorn, which is a robot fish monster or something. That would’ve normally had bugged me, but considering how little I enjoyed exploring each island I was glad that I didn’t have to stumble around lost. I was never lost as to where to go, as the game was constantly telling me where to go and what to do next. While there are a bunch of islands to explore, Oceanhorn is a pretty straightforward affair. It often had my character dropping down larger distances than it had blocked elsewhere, it makes little sense and there just isn’t any logic to the exploration. If it was something like a 10-foot drop I could understand, but the game isn’t even consistent with this idea. I often found myself inches away from where I needed to be, but I couldn’t get there because the game wouldn’t allow me to jump down. What’s frustrating is that the character can only drop off a cliff if the fall isn’t deemed too much. Each island has the player dropping off edges to reach other platforms, and each area is almost a labyrinth in itself. That is perfectly fine on iPad, but when using a DualShock 4 to conduct the action it just feels shallow.Ī larger issue than the boring combat is that the game’s levels are designed with verticality in mind. Considering players had to use a touchscreen to control both the character and to pull off attacks, it makes sense that it wouldn’t get too complex. This simplicity is probably due to Oceanhorn‘s mobile origins.
There is no timing involved, just walk around with your shield up at all times and that will easily get you the advantage on every enemy encounter. I eventually got used to it, but I definitely spent a lot of time early on swiping thin air instead of enemies. Once I understood the distance the combat just felt boring, as all it required me to do is to hold my shield up in order to deflect attacks and then counter with offense once they were staggered. Despite brandishing a long sword, the young hero has a short reach that threw me off at first. The disappointment manifests itself in the gameplay, which looks like Zelda, but fails to actually feel like it.Įverything from the combat to just general movement feels clunky in Oceanhorn. It all comes across as a fan fiction story that had a lot of work put into it, but clearly lacks the polish and knowledge to make something as special as the original works. That is a really difficult task to achieve for any developer (be it a AAA studio or a small team), and sadly Monster of Uncharted Seas provides a lacking imitation. Without any original ideas to hang its hat on, Oceanhorn has to rely on how good of an imitation it is of one of gaming’s greatest series. Even its aesthetic and world feels ripped from Wind Waker, as it has the player sail from island to island in a red boat.
This is very much a top-down Zelda game with nothing new to offer. To be blunt, if anyone is looking for fresh ideas they won’t find them here.