Oceanhorn 2 Announced, Looks Stunning

For Zelda fans, Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is the closest we’ve ever come to getting Nintendo’s seminal franchise on smartphones and tablets. It was a beautiful homage to the series, full of charm and challenge — and now its developers, Cornfox & Bros, are crafting a sequel that looks like as big as jump for the series as Ocarina of Time was for its inspiration.

“Oceanhorn 2 will be built upon the same elements that were the heart and soul of the first Oceanhorn game,” reads the announcement on the Oceanhorn blog, “exploring a colorful world, a deep backstory with secrets and twists, amazing music, and most importantly – classic Action RPG gameplay with items, puzzles, battles, and badass bosses!”

Much like a Zelda game, the hero may look similar to the hero of the previous Oceanhorn, but isn’t necessarily the exact same character. “Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm is set in another time period on the Oceanhorn timeline. The game has a new Hero, a boy who has been trained to become a Knight of Arcadia.”

The game will still focus on swordplay and puzzles, but there will also be a new weapon: the Caster is a gun that shoots magical projectiles, letting players cast spells, and even lure enemies as they see fit. Cornfox & Bros spoke with Kotaku about the game, revealing that they’re drawing from modern adventures like Final Fantasy XV and Xenoblade for inspiration. When thought of in that respect, the Caster seems like a natural fit.

There’s no release date in sight, but as they’re promising to release more info “in the coming months,” I wouldn’t expect to be playing this one too soon. Stay tuned for more Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm news as it developers.

Walkthroughs
December 16, 2013
Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas Walkthrough
By Jillian Werner
Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is an action adventure game by FDG Entertainment. In this game, you take on the role of an unnamed hero as he seeks the truth behind his father's disappearance by exploring the islands and dungeons of his world. Gamezebo's walkthrough will provide you with detailed images, tips, information, and hints on how to play your best game."
Reviews
November 25, 2013
Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas Review
By Jillian Werner
Let's get this out of the way: Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is the Zelda-like to end all Zelda-likes. Its similarities to and inspirations from The Legend of Zelda—especially Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass—are numerous, pervasive, and obvious. From its silent, sword-wielding, pot-smashing protagonist to its Zora-like Gillmen to its secondary B-equipment—bombs, bow, and boots—Oceanhorn wears its muse on its sleeve. Despite its substantial list of intentional similarities, though, Oceanhorn manages to come across as a self-assured action-adventure as well as a respectful homage to one of Nintendo's finest.The story begins shortly after our unnamed hero's father sets out to find and destroy the great monster, Oceanhorn. The hero—a young boy who's already lost his mother—goes to stay with a hermitic friend of his father's on a small island. This friend soon recognizes that the boy shares the same fate as his father, and must also seek out Oceanhorn before it tears their world apart. What follows is a lengthy adventure across the sprawling, aquatic map of Oceanhorn as the hero seeks out items of power that will help him defeat the beast. While Oceanhorn's story is not its strongest point, it provides reason enough to make this journey and fills in more interesting gaps via logbook entries your father left around the world."The real star is that world, and the islands, dungeons, and challenges that populate it. Uncharted Seas is exactly that: a world built on ocean, pockmarked by separate islands that are only accessible by boat. Even without the added traveling between islands—which is much faster than in Wind Waker—the world still feels vast and open, with each island featuring its own characteristics and secrets. The Withered Lands is a desolate, sparse desert with striking rock formations; Graveyard Island is foggy and silent, with notably flat terrain; and Gillfolk's Drop—the fishlike Gillmen's home island—is a sandy paradise surrounding their shimmering hideaway. Despite these distinctions, every island shares certain structural elements that tie it to the others to create a cohesive universe: items and enemies, puzzles and logic, and a verticality that gives each area a 3D depth.

Jim Squires

Jim Squires is the Editor-in-Chief of Gamezebo. Everything you see passes his eyes first, so we like to think of him as "the gatekeeper of cool stuff." He likes good games, great writing, and just can't say no to a hamburger. Also, he is not a bear.