Oceanhorn Review PS Vita

The Legend of Zelda has been an Nintendo exclusive for the longest time. There are rumors about a Zelda game being developed for mobile but until we confirm that, we need alternatives, alternative like Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas a beautiful Zelda like game that was first released for IOS, Android, PS4 devices and now being released for PSVITA.

Oceanhorn was developed by Cornfox and Bros studios and features music from the legendary Nobuo Uematsu(Final Fantasy Series) which makes this game feel like an AAA game. Gameplay wise, the game resembles the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker because of the island based dungeons,travels via boat, and also some familiar mechanics from Zelda games like the use of key/master key system.

The Story is about a young man waking up knowing his father went missing. The only lead he has is his father's notebook and necklace. The protagonists sets on an epic journey across the seas to uncover the secrets of Arcadia.

The Graphics is superb, the graphics for IOS and Android are a bit better and polished but it is still superb more of 95% difference. The surroundings are well polished and beautiful. It's fresh and has its own character. The graphics is even better than Dragon Quest Builders for PSVita wishing that, that game has the same graphics as Oceanhorn.

Controls, I didn't enjoy it much on the mobile version because of my fingers obstructing the screen, but for the PSVITA having its own built in physical buttons makes this game even better. The controls is smooth and user friendly. You'll sometimes use the touch screen to scroll shop menus and I can say that this is one of the best controls I have used in a game ported to PSVITA. It feels like this game is at home for the system.

Gameplay wise, if you've played Zelda games before then you will be at home here. There are lots of dungeons, puzzles that make you backtrack and revisit dungeons, items you'll need to progress and lots and lots of secrets to uncover. It's great and it feels good that it plays like Zelda. The areas is Island based, you don't control your boat but the game lets you shoot down enemies and items along the way while its travelling from Island to Island. Unlike Zelda, you level up in this game, you gain experience as you kill monsters along the way. You gain items which will help you solve puzzles and also gain an extra heart if you gather four heart containers. You'll be really at home if you're a fan of Zelda.

When I mentioned Nobuo Uematsu, not all music for the game has been composed by him but the music and sound detail are all superb and were made with quality. This is intended for a mobile game thinking the budget might make them tone things down a little bit, but no, this game delivers a music quality worth remembering and unique.

So far, I am all praises for the game. Graphics, Music, Controls, Gameplay. But one thing the game fall short, and falls short hard is the game design. The game levels is poorly designed. Yes the graphics is beautiful, but the things and surroundings are off. First, You start off on the upper left corner of the map which is an odd way to place the protagonists home on any videogame. The map is not organized and difficult to track areas unlike on real Zelda games, and there's no way for you to enlarge the map. None Zelda fans will have a hard time learning the mechanics of the game. The character designs could be better and might be great if it resembles Zelda more than a none heroic NPC. Some objects stack on each other and most of the time activates things I don't want since its cramped in one place. Some NPCs walkaround beside each other make it difficult to talk to a certain NPC since you need to wait for that NPC to move before you can talk to it. If you're planning on playing the IOS or Android versions, this is going to be a real pain since its already on the PSVITA.

It's nice to see creators pushing the limits of mobile videogame in terms of production level. A lot of effort was given to this game, but under delivered on design which is one of the most crucial and important part of any game. It's the heart of the game that will make it interesting and will lasts in a gamers memory forever. But setting that part aside, for the price and effort, Oceanhorn: Monster of the Uncharted Seas is worth checking to.

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