Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas

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Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas
Oceanhorn logo.jpg
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, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation Vita, Android, Nintendo Switch
Release
November 14, 2013
  • iOS
    • WW: November 14, 2013
    Microsoft Windows
    • WW: March 17, 2015
    macOS
    • WW: May 19, 2016
    PlayStation 4, Xbox One
    • WW: September 7, 2016
    Android
    • WW: December 15, 2016
    PlayStation Vita
    • WW: May 17, 2017
    Nintendo Switch
    • WW: June 22, 2017
Genre(s) Action-adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is an action-adventure video game developed by Finnish studio Cornfox & Bros. It focuses on an unnamed boy protagonist's quest to find his lost father and defeat the living fortress, Oceanhorn. It was first released for iOS in November 2013, and later had ports for Android, Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation Vita.

Contents

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 prequel, titled Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm , was released in September 2019. [2]

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; [3] 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 positive, with most of the praise going to visuals and music but criticism aimed towards the puzzles and the storylines;. CNET commented on the iOS version of the game, saying 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 , also speaking on the iOS version of the game, praised the "excellent music, occasional voice-acting, and vibrant, lush 3D graphics," while concluding that the game was "a near-perfect, rendition of Zelda" for mobiles. [8]

Sales

By October 2016, the game had sold over one million copies across all platforms. [9]

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References

  1. 1 2 Starr, Michelle (14 November 2013). "Oceanhorn: a loving tribute to The Legend of Zelda". Cnet. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  2. "Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm releases today on Apple Arcade". Oceanhorn Blog. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Oceanhorn for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  4. "Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas for PC Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  7. "Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas for Switch Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  8. 1 2 Carmichael, Stephanie (November 14, 2013). "'Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas' Review – Zelda Is Better Without the Princess". TouchArcade . Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  9. Paget, Mat (October 14, 2016). "Zelda-Like Oceanhorn Sells 1 Million, Coming to "a Nintendo Console"". GameSpot . Retrieved July 3, 2017.