Every so often, there comes a game that tries to replicate what others have done. If they succeed, it is by doing just one thing a bit differently and gaining some uniqueness that way. others try so hard to be their inspiration that they fall short at having a good experience. Oceanhorn is clearly inspired by the Legend of Zelda, and that in itself is not a bad thing. There are many amazing games that are inspired by Zelda, but Oceanhorn does take it quite a bit further.
A lot of people have taken issue with Oceanhorm and its similarities to the Zelda series, and to be fair they take a lot from Zelda, but it does try to add some of its own ideas. Oceanhorn originally came out around the time of A Link Between Worlds, and actually has some concepts that were later done in Breath of The Wild. This isn’t to say that Nintendo took from Oceanhorn, but rather that Oceanhorn has ideas that it tried to innovate on.
But is Ocearnhorn a fun game? Well that is another issue. It plays a lot like Zelda as mentioned, but has its own ideas for controls. The buttons have more specific designations and the puzzles are more straightforward. In fact, the puzzles start out very easy but do have more thought involved as the game goes on. Another positive is that the game actually makes backtracking a more involved process which helps it stand out more than its inspiration. I liked this aspect of the game and feel that it did add something.
The issues I had however are with various technical issues that hold it back. The camera is at an awkward position and it can lead to several mistakes. As well, there can be a lot of confusion about where to go at times and where you can go. By the latter, I mean that especially early on, getting from place to place on an island is not easy. You don’t have a jump, there is a limited swim due to a stamina meter that drains fast, and some of the falling mechanics are not clear. You cant fall off most areas, only certain ones but this can be as much of a hindrance as it can be a help. You might find yourself falling off areas you didn’t mean to and needing to retrace your steps all over.
It is understandable that an indie game like this would not have the same level of polish as a Nintendo game though, but it can be frustrating at times. That said, the game does constantly add new things to do to keep the experience fresh and prevent it getting stale. I do love the fact that the game has more RPG elements, and not really like Zelda II, but more in its own way. This really did help give the game more of a sense of identity for itself/ I think that for what it is, it is an acceptable game that does offer that 1 little difference to set itself apart. I do hope however, future titles in this series will do even more to differentiate themselves from their inspiration.
As it stands now, I would say this is worth checking out, especially if you like some of the older Zelda titles.