Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas

Justin Clark spent five hours cruising the sea for the dread monster Oceanhorn. He's made a sworn vow that, given enough money, he would pay to have Nobuo Uematsu score his life for a week. It's good to have goals. GameSpot was provided with a complimentary download code for the purpose of this review.

If you've got a hankering for a game with a stamina meter, sword swinging, and pot smashing, there is at least one other better title on the Nintendo Switch that I can think of, but Oceanhorn is an alright little throwback to retro Zelda titles that could help you bide your time between Nintendo's slow trickle of AAA games this year. Now, when do I get to play the sequel?

Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is an ambitious title that does some things rather well, finding a way to endear itself to players. It has a few problems, some from design choices and others from its mobile legacy that should have been adjusted for console, but what it doesn't lack is heart. The desire of the developers to pay homage to classic adventure series, but in their own way, shines through. It's a flawed title, but if you're willing to overlook those issues you may find it to be an enjoyable experience on the Switch eShop.

As a homage to the likes of A Link to the Past and The Wind Waker, Oceanhorn is a brief comfortable experience that can now be enjoyed on the big screen.

While it has been around for quite awhile, Oceanhorn on PS Vita feels like the best way to play the game.

All told, one can do far worse than Oceanhorn for a shot of Zelda nostalgia. The basics are all present and accounted for, and the game offers good presentation values for a ten-hour-or-so stroll down memory lane. It may not quite nail the sense of charm we’ve seen in similar world design or exploration, but it certainly never goes so far in the other direction as to outright disappoint.

On the whole, Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is a decent, if not overly spectacular game. I get that they are clearly massive fans of the Zelda series and wanted to do their own game in the same vein, but I would have liked to have seen a little bit more originality and uniqueness in there. That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy my time with the game because there were moments where I didn’t want to put it down.

Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas certainly isn't a bad game, but it gives the impression it wanted nothing more to be like Zelda, and because of that, that's all it really is. It feels like Zelda-lite, a sort of homage to the classics that follows the pattern well enough without infusing enough charm on its own to help it stand out.

I genuinely had fun with Oceanhorn, and I hope that the upcoming sequel irons out of some of the original's kinks. For those wanting a more traditional Zelda experience, I recommend giving this one a shot.

Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas has a few problems in it’s design choices and others stemming from its mobile roots. But the developers did do a fitting job paying homage to the classic adventure genre and giving that Legend of Zelda formula their own spin. Even with that though, it’s not fun. It got frustrating, not to mention it has that simple combat. If you’re a fan of the adventure genre and looking for something to play on your Switch, maybe look elsewhere. At $15 it seems a little much for what it is, especially when the iOS version is $8. If you’re willing to overlook the issues I had with this game though, you may have some fun and find the $15 perfectly suitable. It’s not for me though.