Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas
| Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Cornfox & Bros. |
| Publisher(s) | FDG Entertainment |
| Designer(s) | Heikki Repo |
| Programmer(s) | Jukka Viljamaa Antti Viljamaa Kalle Hämäläinen Erik Hakala Tim Wiren |
| Artist(s) | Heikki Repo |
| Writer(s) | Heikki Repo |
| Composer(s) | Kalle Ylitalo Kenji Ito Nobuo Uematsu |
| Platform(s) | iOS, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation Vita, Android, Nintendo Switch |
| Release | iOS
|
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is an action-adventure video game developed by Cornfox & Bros. It focuses on a boy protagonist's quest to find his lost father and defeat the sea monster, Oceanhorn. It was first released for iOS in November 2013, and later had ports for Android, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, with plans for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation Vita.
The gameplay and graphic design of Oceanhorn closely follows that of The Legend of Zelda video games, notably The Wind Waker and A Link to the Past.[1] Players explore dungeons, fight monsters with various weapons, and throw pots and cut bushes to find hidden coins or hearts. The music of Oceanhorn was composed by Kalle Ylitalo, with a few additional compositions by Kenji Ito and Nobuo Uematsu.
A large update to the game was released in late 2014, adding "more than two hours of gameplay" with a new island, a background story for one of the main characters, and a competitive fishing minigame.[2]
A sequel, titled Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm, is in development.[3]
Critical reception
The game has a rating of 85 out of 100 on Metacritic for the iOS version of the game, based on 19 critic reviews[4]; however, the console versions scored substantially lower, with the PS4 and Xbox One versions scoring 66 and 71 on the site, respectively, based on 22 aggregated reviews.[5][6]
That said, critical reactions to the game appear to be mixed, with most of the praise going to visuals and music but criticism aimed towards the puzzles and the story. CNET commented that "if The Legend of Zelda were to come to mobile ... we don't think it could do a better job [than Oceanhorn]",[1] and TouchArcade praised the "excellent music, occasional voice-acting, and vibrant, lush 3D graphics," concluding that the game "might be a flawed, blatant rip-off of Zelda, but it's worth playing."[7]
References
- ^ a b Starr, Michelle (14 November 2013). "Oceanhorn: a loving tribute to The Legend of Zelda". Cnet. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ Stead, Chris (2014-06-13). "Oceanhorn Update To Add New Island, New Story and Competitive Fishing". Grab It Indie Games Magazine. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
- ^ "Oceanhorn 2 in development!". Oceanhorn - The Adventure Game. 22 August 2016.
- ^ "Oceanhorn for iPhone/iPad Reviews - Metacritic".
- ^ "Oceanhorn for PS4 Reviews - Metacritic".
- ^ "Oceanhorn for Xbox One Reviews - Metacritic".
- ^ Carmichael, Stephanie (14 November 2013). "'Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas' Review - Zelda Is Better Without the Princess". Touch Arcade. Retrieved 14 November 2013.