Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm | PC Review

Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm by developer Cornfox is a love letter to the Legend of Zelda series, especially Wind Waker. It’s ambitious, particularly as a mobile title, though once ported to console and PC, it finds itself amongst much more robust competition. In certain ways, it’s a technical achievement, but at the same time, a lack of polish and questionable design choices hamper what is otherwise a decent adventure.

A Hero’s Quest

Oceanhorn 2 puts you in the shoes of Hero (yes, that is his name, even on the developer website), our mute and otherwise nondescript main character. He starts out on an island somewhere on the terraformed planet Gaia, charged with finding a MacGuffin to prove his worth as a knight. Slash some monsters, solve some puzzles, and you get your proof of knighthood. You’ll then recruit the robot Gen and the wayward princess Trin, both of whom are used as meat shields during combat and tools for solving puzzles, and you’re off on a grand adventure.

The world (the aforementioned terraformed planet Gaia) is at the same time a typical fantasy setting, but also one with advanced technology lying around (such as Gen, a humanoid robot) and no one really seems to remark on it. The game itself notes the planet has been terraformed, implying everyone knows they’re on a planet that used to be hostile to human life, but everyone still lives in a pre-industrial society. It’s an odd juxtaposition of clearly advanced technology with a society that appears to shun most of it.

As far as the gameplay itself, “basic Zelda” is an apt description. The first Oceanhorn game was more Link to the Past with an overhead isometric view, but the sequel goes full Wind Waker, with a 3D camera, world map covered by ocean, and lots of pots to break. You’ll utilize your various tools, such as the elemental shots of your gun, alongside ordering your two party members around to stand on or hit far-away switches to proceed.

No Rolls, Please

Combat is pretty simplistic as well: you swing your sword in an easy three-hit combo and can either pull up your shield to block attacks or dodge roll away. While there’s a stamina bar to prevent you from spamming dodge rolls, you really only need to dodge away from the enemy to avoid their attacks, then run back in and smack them a couple more times before dodging again. Once you get the hookshot, any enemy can be hooked, allowing you to zip straight to them and smack them immediately, which can also allow you to sneak attack enemies (how it’s a sneak attack when you’ve lodged a hookshot in their torso, I have no idea). Unfortunately, combat isn’t varied, both in the enemy types or your options with engaging them, and most enemies can be avoided without any consequence.

Fortunately, the game shines more in its puzzle solving and exploring than its combat. The world is varied and gives you a lot of opportunities to explore. One design feature I love is each area automatically shows you how many chests and how many bloodshards (collectable items) are still remaining in that area. So if you enter a house and see a chest icon next to the mini map, you know something is hidden, and likewise know when you’ve cleared an area of all the important loot.

 

All this put together makes for a decent game with a lot of questionable design choices. The stamina bar, for instance, is reminiscent of Breath of the Wild, but there’s no way to increase it, making running pointless since it takes longer for the bar to recharge. Dodging drains your stamina as well, which would be meaningful if dodging to avoid attacks were the key to combat like it is in a Souls-like, but it’s not. Most enemies don’t attack nearly often enough to necessitate multiple dodges in a row, so it’s really just punishing the player for wanting to roll everywhere like you would in a Zelda game.

Likewise, the stamina meter seems to be a nod to Breath of the Wild, but you can’t jump, meaning you’re at the mercy of waist-high walls and fences. There’s also technically a charge attack you can use in combat, but because you can’t cancel out of it and it drains your stamina entirely, it’s way more risk than reward when you can just use regular attacks, dodge, and not open yourself up to damage.

The Final Verdict

At the end of the day, Oceanhorn 2 is a very pretty and ambitious, but flawed, Zelda-like for mobile. However, once you enter the console and PC game ecosystem, it’s up against a lot of bigger and more competent titles in that space. The question then becomes, is Oceanhorn 2 worth your money? It’s a fair offering of a game, clocking in at 10-12 hours, and as mentioned, does a good job with its exploration and puzzle solving. Combat is uninteresting, but can generally be skipped without consequence (aside from bosses).

And the big drawback? It’s $30 USD. At that price point, it’s competing with other indie Zelda-likes such as Tunic, Death’s Door, Nobody Saves the World, and if you’re willing to spend a bit more, you can get Actual Zelda. Bottom line, Oceanhorn 2 is a game that doesn’t do anything especially well, or at least not well enough to recommend it over other games at a similar price point. It’s a good example of a game competently made, but not especially compelling unless you’re a huge fan of Zelda-likes.

To hear me talk more about Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm, be sure to listen to the August 9, 2023 episode of The Gaming Outsider podcast.

This review is based on a PC copy of Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm provided by FDG Entertainment for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Apple Arcade.