Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is an action-RPG title developed by Cornfox & Bros and published by FDG Entertainment. It heavily follows in the vein of The Legend of Zelda but still retains its identity as you play the game. Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is small but yet one of many RPG titles to release this year. Despite being one of many, Oceanhorn has managed to impress me with not only the visuals but gameplay as well.
Graphics
The graphics in Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas are very cartoonish and very colorful. They’re very reminiscent of something you’d see from Disney or Dreamworks films. Each island gets represented by the color scheme and tone of the place. The villages are bright, vibrant, and bursting with color; the temples are desolate and have this dark color scheme to them depending on the style of the temple. The colors and art style in Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas are done extremely well. Also, Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas keeps up a locked framerate throughout the game.
8.5 out of 10.
Story
The story of Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is about a boy (in the picture above) on a quest to find his lost father and defeat the evil living fortress named Oceanhorn. As you progress through the story, you begin to unravel more about why Oceanhorn continuously attacks and destroys islands, where the gods have mysteriously disappeared to, where your father ended up, and who’s the central evil behind the entire ordeal. The story is presented from both past experiences in a journal your father leaves you and new experiences that you’re meant to have as well.
6.5 out of 10.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is where the game gets the biggest The Legend of Zelda inspiration possible. You have a dedicated attack button, spell button, blocking button and buttons to switch between individual level needed items like the trencher boots, bow and arrow or bombs. The gameplay here is very simple to learn and memorize from both a combat perspective and a puzzle and dungeon solving perspective.
But, since the gameplay is simple. Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas also suffers in difficulty as well. The enemies and bosses are way too easy to defeat. I found myself not having a challenge in any of these as every boss was easy to beat, and that includes Oceanhorn.
6 out of 10.
Audio
I saved the audio portion for last because Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas shines with the music. Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas has both Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy Composer) and Kenji Ito (Super Smash Bros composer) at the helm of this soundtrack and they both craft an incredibly pleasurable listening experience. Every island, boss fight and area of exploration has a fantastic orchestral theme playing behind it. They both capture the adventure feeling through the pianos, violins, and flutes that are played throughout Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas.
Although I love the music of Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas, The game takes a hit in the voice acting department. The characters sound uninspired and boring. There isn’t any emotion or hint of actual interest in their lines. Not even during the emotional final boss battle and recovery. That’s where Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas takes a hit.
8.5 out of 10
Verdict
My playthrough of Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas was brief yet enjoyable. It presented to me that not only can it gain inspiration from another game it can also still keep its identity in the process. It also showed me that mobile games that are ported to consoles have the potential to be more than pay to wins, running games and block breaking clones. I found myself enjoying Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas a lot despite its weaker areas. It’s not perfect, but it’s still something I highly recommend everyone experiencing at least once.