Oceanhorn: A Zelda Clone That Falls Short

Originally published 2013.

From a distance, Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is a Zelda clone. Up close we see that our clone came out of the lab a little too early and with only a fraction of the charm and complexity that we all come to expect from the Zelda series. 

Let's take a closer look at the various elements that make up this game and examine where it feels flat. Warning: spoilers ahead.

Story

The game begins with the main character's father leaving to battle the ancient monster known as Oceanhorn and ends with father and son reuniting. The relationship between father and son, while cliche, is an opportunity for interesting story telling, and Oceanhorn fails to realize the potential of their story, resulting in a simple telling of boy finding lost dad.

You won't find any emotion in either of these characters. For example, the son could have had a complicated daddy complex, thinking that his father abandoned him, with dad's sudden disappearance being misunderstood. Instead we have a father that left to fight a monster, leaving a clear journal behind (no mysteries here) and when they are reunited the dad just spews out some light history of the world instead of exhibiting any ounce of emotion. 

The overarching story is that the world is not what it used to be and the only way it can be restored is to defeat Oceanhorn. Yet, other than the aquatic half-human half-fish people who claim the open sea is too dangerous for them to swim out in, everyone seems very normal and extremely happy in the game. The town people freely wander about their island, run shops, and even hold a joyous festival. Boats pass you in the open sea and relay cheerful messages in your direction as you sail past them. It's almost as if the person that wrote the primary story and history for the game never spoke with the person that wrote the character dialogue and events. 

Gameplay & Controls

The controls were relatively easy to get used to. They're also basic, primarily consisting of moving the character, an action button (attack, grab, talk, etc.), and a secondary action such as your shield or bombs. It all works well.

The world consists of a series of islands which are fragmented by open water. The player uses a small sailboat to traverse between the regions, and during travel some bombs and enemies occasionally (and in a very formulaic way) appear straight ahead of the player, which must be blasted out of the way with a pea-shooter. The process of traveling between islands, something that could have included interesting quests and moments of exploration, is instead filtered down into a boring mini-game that the player is forced to repeat over and over.

Enemies

At what felt like an early point in the game I earned an achievement for having seen all of the enemies. I though to myself really, that's the last unique enemy I'm going to see in this game? With only a handful of baddies the world felt rather small and uneventful, and with their limited intelligence I often felt like I was fighting only two enemies the whole game: the ones that charge directly at me and the ones that zigzag a little then charge at me.

There are four or five boss battles, all with a winning strategy that is discovered rather quickly. Toss bottles at this guy, block lasers with your shield against that guy... you get the point. The boss fights aren't terrible, they just aren't very fun or interesting either.

Items & Weapons

The weapons in Oceanhorn are what make for the most similarities to Zelda including arrows, bombs, and even a sword that shoots magic when your hearts are full, not to mention other cloned items such as quarter heart pieces you collect to make a full heart container.

One strange item worth discussing is a flute that you receive near the end of the game. The item itself isn't strange, but rather the way it is tossed in. The flute is in the final dungeon, sitting out in the open, on a narrow pathway that the player has to pass through. It felt as if the developers decided to add in the item after they had already fully planned out and started to develop the environments.

There are coins that are collected by chopping down bushes, defeating enemies, or discovered in treasure chests. Currency is a main staple of RPGs and usually provide for some added depth and customization, allowing players to purchase upgrades, refill items, unlock rare content, bribe guards, or change the appearance of a character. But in Oceanhorn you get only one shop with many near useless items and only one item worth purchasing, which is a heart container. Why would I spend coins on a potion that immediately refills my health or mana when I can quickly refill them by slashing down a couple of bushes next to the shop? Instead, a useful, similar item would be health and mana potions I can carry with me and use at a later time, such as when I am battling a boss and am in desperate need of a refill. In the end I had over a thousand spare coins and nothing interesting to spend them on, making me feel as if the time I took seeking out the various chests in the game was pointless.

Town

There is one town in Oceanhorn, consisting of one shop, some houses, people milling about, and some dungeon elements. This is where I expected to gather side quests and missions, the content meat that fits snugly between the bread that is the story arc. TO my displeasure I realized that there is essentially only one side quest in the entire game, and it is to collect red rocks to be later returned for a single prize. I enjoyed seeking out the red items, which forced me to fully explore each environment, but longed to see additional quests.

Dungeons & Puzzles

The dungeons and puzzles are both repetitive and predictable, only increasing in complexity or difficulty in a few select places. Most puzzles consisted of stepping on a button (or placing an object on a button) which opened a nearby door. I did this same "puzzle" so many times that I would walk into a room and hope that this would be the point where something unusual would happen, but it just never came.

The mechanics needed for generating more interesting challenges were present in this game, leaving one to wonder why the designers did not take advantage of the tools available. For example, some puzzles involved the player pushing a box aside to reach the other side, and in almost every case the player had to only push one box to get past. Why not have the player push multiple boxes in a unique combination in order to reach their goal? And with a little extra work the puzzles could have been greatly expanded, such as making a puzzle tied to the freeze spell, something I earned in the game and literally never used. 

Difficulty

Combine the simple puzzles, easy combat system, and straight forward story and you have a very easy game. A player can refill their hearts with ease by breaking a few bottles or cutting down some bushes (which are everywhere) and losing to an enemy is a rarity.

Summary

Overall, Oceanhorn feels rushed and simplistic. While it has the framework of a good game it came up short due to a lack of content, a lackluster story, and predictable elements throughout.