Fly though the Arcadian skies in the cockpit of a jet plane! It is cool to be given this choice to see the land from an overhead view. Personally, I enjoy nautical adventures on the high seas, but for those who think sailing is tedious, there is a new method of travel. This time, instead of a one-person canoe, the player gets a reasonably-sized trawler for carrying a crew. Like Link in The Wind Waker, our Hero has a ship to sail about the kingdom. Being a knight in a world succumbing to more and more advanced machinery feels delightfully anachronistic. It is unlike any game I have played before. The world of Arcadia is a hybrid of medieval lifestyle and post-industrial (and sometimes futuristic) technologies. When Breath of the Wild introduced motorcycles, Sheikah technology, and a literal iPad into the world of Hyrule, I pondered a question: What would it be like if we had an even more futuristic Zelda game? Oceanhorn 2 is the answer. And unlike most Zelda clones, there is also a Hookshot equivalent to get in some vertical exploration. This gun uses a variety of elemental munitions to defeat enemies and solve environmental puzzles. The player’s Hero, who sports a familiar blue shirt and brown hair, engages his foes with a trusty blade and old-fashioned firearm. For example, there are pots to smash, heart pieces to collect, macguffin emblems to pick up, and an ocean that brings out my nostalgia for The Wind Waker. While there are new items and quirks, the game carries many familiar elements and themes. Like its predecessor, the gameplay in Oceanhorn 2 pays homage to the Zelda franchise. The way the sunlight wraps around the scenery looks like something out of a Pixar movie. More notably, Oceanhorn 2’s lighting and shading are so vibrant that it could give Breath of the Wild‘s incredible atmosphere a run for its money.
The port’s graphics are both fresh and clean, especially considering its mobile game lineage.
Now the camera follows behind the Hero in the same vein as a 3D Zelda game. The isometric view has been removed in favor of a fully three-dimensional world. This game is leaps and bounds superior to the original Oceanhorn when it comes to presentation. The following are some spoiler-free thoughts on the game’s qualities. Oceanhorn 2 was ported to the Switch last year and is available on the Nintendo eShop for $22.49 USD. Story-wise, this new game would serve as a prequel to the original and would be set centuries in the world of Arcadia’s past. Fast forward six years to 2019, and Cornfox & Bros.