Acknowledgement

This game was provided for review purposes by the developers. Thank you!

Follow our Curator page, Summit Reviews, to see more high-quality reviews regularly.

In Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm, players take control of a knight on an adventure to deliver the three sacred emblems to each nation. The game's intro cutscene begins promisingly: on a rainy night, a baby is placed in Master Mayfair's care. Eighteen years later, the young man will be put to the test that will determine whether or not he will become a Knight of Arcadia. To do so, he must return to the Island of the Outcasts and retrieve a box stolen from Master Mayfair by pirates. After obtaining the box, he discovers that his hometown has been attacked by dark knight invaders who pose a threat to the entire realm of Arcadia. The main goal of the game is therefore to stop evildoer Mesmeroth from attempting to take over the planet with his army of dark knights. Thus begins a quest to unite the peoples of Arcadia, which is also the setting for Oceanhorn: Monsters of the Uncharted Sea (sequel story-wise) a 1000 years later.

Anyone who has played the original Oceanhorn will recognize the universe of Oceanhorn 2. Despite the 3D transformation, enemies and places look familiar, even though you now control your hero in third person. The mostly linear, partially free-roaming game environment provides more options than the previous game. As the journey develops, you'll find yourself in larger locations that you may explore at your leisure without losing focus. The key reason for this is a mini-map that makes it easier to go to interesting spots. Not only will you face diverse foes, but you'll also have to solve interesting puzzles in order to locate the many hidden prizes or to simply advance the plot.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3012963216

The hero has a number of abilites at his disposal to do so. Running, climbing, and, of course, the fighting system, which is symbolic of The Legend of Zelda, are all there. Real-time battles allow you to slash your opponent immediately by pressing a button. Holding down the action button allows you to launch a strong series of strikes, but it will take a few seconds to recharge. Not only do the foes differ in appearance and attack style, but they also have unique vulnerabilities. Some foes, for example, take many strikes to show their vulnerability, but others require just one attack from behind to gain the upper hand. You may even sneak up on enemies via the dense grass and deliver a surprise attack that deals more damage than usual.

Aside from fighting, the extremely low stamina is a hassle, especially when traveling long distances. Many pathways are needlessly long in general. It's also sad that the travel system is so restricted, relying on only a few portals. At the very least, there is a useful map function that automatically tracks where treasures may be found when journeying. On the other side, I had to become accustomed to unintended automatic jumping. You can't leap on your own; the hero does it for you on the edges, which was kind of frustrating at times.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3012963807

The riddles and trials in the game are undeniably the highlights. The flexible magic gun is used in addition to the standard switches and keys. You can not only use fireballs to destroy enemies, but also certain obstacles. Frost missiles may be used to either freeze a foe or to create a standing surface in the water to help you navigate dangerous shoals. Lightning ammo, on the other hand, may be used to shock opponents and activate electrical devices. You can also use standard ammunition to target opponents, or other things.

As you move through the story, you'll also discover numerous shards that you may attach to your equipment to gain a boost in stats. So, despite the real-time combat, there are tactical parts that are well worth your time. During your mission, you will either find new shards in one of the numerous treasure chests scattered around the game, or you will be able to purchase them in one of the numerous shops or vending machines found in each town. Various in-game challenges are also rewarded with experience points, which grant you extra ranks and rewards; however, there are no conventional RPG leveling increases accessible. Instead, like in The Legend of Zelda, you'll be searching for heart pieces to gain more life points.


Oceanhorn 2 features a few issues, whether it's the absence of manual jumping, checklist or the relatively rough controls/battle system. I certainly encountered a few issues as a result of unintentional jumps, but after I got beyond them, I was rewarded with a world I couldn't help but explore. The narrative is enjoyable, albeit slightly too predictable and the dungeons and riddles in the world are varied and just the right degree of challenging. It also doesn't hurt that the game is visually amazing. Oceanhorn 2's genre-blending gimmicks assist to elevate it beyond its shortcomings. Even if there are some hiccups along the way, this is an adventure worth embarking on and especially supporting.

I wanted to recommend this game because I loved the first one. I'd recommend getting it on sale and not full price though. I tried playing this on my iPhone when it was released via Apple Arcade awhile ago and didn't like the controls. I attributed it to being on mobile and me never enjoying mobile gaming that much. The controls are still wonky on here and the auto-jumping is atrocious.

So lo and behold it's released on steam and I've been following it intermittently in anticipation.

The game itself looks great though I personally prefer the old art style. I won't say the game is bad but to me, it isn't worth $30. (Maybe buy it when it's 50% off)
I don't remember how the first one played since it has been awhile but overall the game just seems empty.

I have to go to the menu to view the map and even then, the collectibles aren't displayed. If you're a completionist like me, have fun going to every area to find your missing collectible. The companions SUCK. I have to wait quite a while for them to respond to my actions if I got somewhere quickly via climbing or grappling .

Another gripe is there are (few) side quests but no quest log to read it unless you want to scroll through every dialogue you've had in the game. So really, your side quests are based off your memory or you opening the menu and scrolling through past dialogue to find it which is tedious.

The card game is meh. There are times where it's a close match and I lose the 50/50 every time.

I'm still going to complete the game because it isn't terrible but I regret buying it for full price.


Update after completing the game: The over-world or whatever you call it is empty. You travel from point A to point B and find very little monsters to kill. Later on you unlock a faster way to travel this land but it is BORING and there's no creativity in it.

The card game is just a big NO for me. "Experienced" NPCs have nothing to do with skill. They have the same OP cards that you do that it ends up being mostly "50/50" and like I mentioned before, I've gone 10+ times in a row losing my 50/50s. Which I get, it's not mutually exclusive but talk about annoying. Sure, maybe once I grinded my way to max the most OP card I would beat everyone.

Overall a huge decline in quality compared to the first one. I'll reiterate the auto-jumping feature sucks on this game. I've fallen to my death multiple times because the game will auto roll and jump off a cliff.

I liked Oceanhorn. I really wanted to like Oceanhorn 2. Unfortunately it is worse than the first, just littered with poor design choices. There isn't one central problem just a feeling of endless papercuts preventing enjoyment.

One of the devs wanted to make a movie instead of a game, so you get tons of cut scenes, 90% of which are meaningless. Most (but not all for some reason) are skippable. Some scenes when skipped will immediately continue into a second cut scene.

Map. Map bad. Bad map bad.

Chests. Ugg. There are chests to find. Opening them takes you into a nauseating 360 degree camera spin. Most chests only contain gold. Gold is nearly useless.

What finally made me quit was the XP pickup. Not only do you fight endless amounts of the same 2 basic monsters, but you don't auto-collect XP ??? After combat you have to run around even more to pick up the XP gems so you can get 0.1% closer to the next level. A level that will give you barely any advancement anyways.

it's far from perfect, but this is the closest we can get to 3d zelda on steam.
worth buying for fans of the first oceanhorn or fans of old zelda games.

Set a thousand years before the events of the first chapter, the evil warlock Mesmeroth threatens to send the world of Gaia into perpetual darkness. With the help of new alliances and the cooperation of warring factions, you embark on an epic journey to save Gaia.

Follow IndieGems and Indie Blast! for more reviews like this one.

I enjoyed Oceanhorn 2. The world of Gaia is very beautiful with an impressive number of places to visit, indoors and outdoors. I found navigation a lot easier in this installment with the freedom of a massive 3D environment and main quests and side objectives marked on the map. The main characters were voiced very well (apart from the obvious omission of the main character) and the world of Gaia felt alive and populated with lots of different inhabitants. The music was grandiose and whimsical creating a nice adventure like atmosphere.

The main enjoyment for me was derived from the exploration and puzzle elements.

Puzzles were challenging in places, especially if you are looking to open all chests or complete all side quests, but mostly they were interesting and had just the right difficulty to feel satisfying when completed. Some puzzles require you to control members of your team in a rather clunky fashion.

Exploration is let down by the ridiculous stamina bar which impedes the ability to run any distance without stopping to recover; the ludicrous swimming mechanic which causes you to drown if you don’t make it to land within ten seconds or so, even though your head is above water; and the automatic jump which often causes unnecessary damage, when all you’re trying to do is pick up an object or you venture too close to an edge. Otherwise, you will have fun discovering all the secrets each area has to offer, but it would have been nice if extreme exploration was rewarded more, as often I was a little disappointed at what my endeavors produced.

Combat is very easy and has a hack and slash kind of feel. Two hits and then a roll and repeat are all you need to defeat almost every foe, but I did enjoy the long-range attacks with pistol or magic, and these can reward you with sneak points and extra damage. Boss battles are more intense and require a little strategy and perseverance, but in the main they are quite easily achievable.

The story was okay. I felt it was nicely presented with some decent cut-scenes but it lost me a little in places and the overall feeling I had was I felt it was a bit average and predictable. I certainly wouldn’t recommend it solely for the narrative experience, but the characters were quite well developed and had personality and charm.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3015047812

Main quests and side quests are easily identified on the map, and navigation is made simpler with a mini map on the main screen, which also shows the positioning of enemies and chests.

Apart from driving the story forward, completing quests gains you experience points, which earns you extra ammo slots, more spells, and replenishes your health. Collecting heart pieces can gain you permanent health boosts.

There are no fetch quests or combat based side quests, rather challenges. Most involve collecting special keys to open their corresponding chests, but it is a bit of a hassle trudging around the area looking for some of these chests as they are not marked on the map. There is an interesting bounty hunter type challenge where six escaped convicts are wandering Gaia and you can hunt them down and kill them, but other than that they’re not very imaginative or add any story elements to proceedings.

Most exploring is done on foot, but occasionally you can sail a boat or pilot a plane to faraway locales. Once found, you can also open portals for quick travel.

There are lots of things to find and collect like sixty blood stones scattered throughout the world; Chests, containing either treasure or upgrades; Fifty Taroch cards, needed to play the Taroch game; and nineteen mysterious daggers. In each area of Gaia, the game screen shows how many blood stones and chests are left to collect, although this can be deceiving as some are hidden indoors and only show when you enter that area. If you’re not sure there is also a percentage explored in the menu which will indicate if you have got them all. There’s enough stuff to collect to appease collectors, and there are achievements attached to them.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3013960575

If you acquire the grappling hook you can launch up to predesignated points and swing between them. This can save a lot of time and is quite fun to do.

Towards the end of the game, the diving helmet is found meaning you can dive under water and find chests, cards and treasure previously unreachable. Underwater scenes are done very well.

There is a plethora of items to pick up, and plenty of pots, barrels, and sacks to destroy to reveal items too. I never had a shortage of ammo or magic because there was always something around, and it always seemed to give you what you needed most.

There are no skill trees, but you can upgrade your gear or spells with shards located in chests. These improve damage and recharging speed and can be configured to your liking. Synthetic shards can occasionally be found in shops for a very high price and are often more powerful than anything you will find.

Combat is very easy with most foes being dispatched without problems. The grappling hook can be used to grapple on to enemies from afar or in high places, or you can take them out with long range weapons, and even command your allies to attack, but they will fight without prompting. There is a shield which can block attacks but I never needed to use it, as rolling away is more effective.

Magic can be used to attack also, with fire, ice, and electric spells but they travel very slowly and opponents can easily dodge them. There’s also the ability to heal yourself.

Enemies and collectibles re-spawn if you leave and re-enter the area, which I always find annoying.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3015605966

Puzzles mostly require magic to succeed. Symbols in the areas usually denote which magic is needed, like electric to start up generators, fire to destroy wooden gates, and ice to create floating platforms in water. Bombs can destroy certain walls revealing new passageways.

There are some puzzles that require dexterity and timing, like running through spikes, and the usual switches and lever types of puzzles.

I got stuck on some of the puzzles and others required some thinking, but once you understand the mechanics, as they’re not explained, it becomes easier. On the whole they were imaginative and enjoyable to solve.

Oceanhorn 2 is an enjoyable ARPG in the main, especially if you like exploration and puzzle elements, but aside from the boss battles, combat is far too easy, and the story didn’t feel as exciting as it could have been. There are a few minor frustrations here and there but the world of Gaia is certainly a beautiful place to visit, and production values are very high.

I really enjoyed Oceanhorn so I was looking forward to this. However, it falls short. The landscapes are large and empty and feel like you should have a vehicle rather than running and running and running to explore all with a very limited stamina bar. The combat is not any fun and the puzzles are poor. The progression of new equipment unlocking new areas also does't flow well and feels forced. Where the first Oceanhorn felt surprisingly well put together, this one feels more rushed and thrown together willy nilly. I found myself rather disappointed in this title.

Its exactly what you think it is, and its great.

Very sad to give this a thumbs down, but it sorely lacks the magic of Oceanhorn 1 (OC1). Questing feels like a chore through barren open worlds rather than jubilant but carefully guided and curated exploration. Combat is repetitive and unrewarding. Navigation between islands is slow and uneventful; no shooting minigames (tetraodds or boxes) across the water with airborne travel equally hollow. Such a missed opportunity. Worse, the excellent, extremely enjoyable hovercraft is only accessible for specific plot-progression points and can't be used to explore freely (not even as a 100% completion prize). Even the music, a triumph of the prequel (especially Gillfolk's Drop and Sky Island) could not save Oceanhorn 2 (OC2). OC1's puzzles were better designed and somehow the story (with less VA and no friendly AI to help you press buttons) was more compelling. On the plus side, OC2's third person camera is great and far less restrictive than the isometric viewpoint of OC1. The hookshot was a fun gameplay upgrade and the bosses were decent (originality wise the fire bird 'chora tuyk' was definitely the best). But these good bits get swallowed up by the unnecessary enormity of everything...Ron Gilbert once said "constraints and limitations can sometimes be a driving force for inspiration", so if/when Oceanhorn 3 gets made, I hope it's tiny but mighty like OC1.

Oceanhorn 1 review (game review copy provided for free): https://steamcommunity.com/id/tafferknight/recommended/339200/

I almost hate to give this a "no" because there's nothing terrible about this game. It's actually quite polished and it does deliver a game.

It's just that, rather than anything being BAD about the game, nothing is particularly GOOD. Everything from the graphics to the combat to the puzzles and world design feels like it's just "good enough to be a game". This would be fine if there were one or two things the game excels at, but it really excels at nothing.

The game has this weird "default Unity mechanics" vibe with its mechanics, like what you'd see in one of those clickbait videos like "I remade Simpsons Hit & Run in Unity". Sure, they WORK fine, but they feel very uninspired. That said, I don't want to give the impression that this is an asset flip or something. It's an actual game with actual original art and content, and the music is pretty decent too.

If you're REALLY clamoring for a Zelda-like, particularly older 3D Zelda titles, this might be fun, though don't get your hopes up thinking that this is nearly as good as those games are.

This game is a breath of fresh air.

Baldaurs Gate just released (which i've owned since Early Access) and yet somehow i find myself wanting to play Oceanhorn 2 instead for now. That isn't a knock against Baldaurs Gate but its just that this game took me by surprise and delivered a feeling that i didn't know i needed to feel so badly. Just a pure sense of childish wonder and glee that recaptured how i used to feel as a kid when playing video games siting on the living room floor infront of the TV getting lost in some fantastical world.

The franchise leans heavily into its influences (the main one being the original zelda games) but there are traces of other game sin here too. Oceanhorn 2 manages to capture their charm incredibly well while at the same time being its own thing.

Oceanhorn 2 offers some significantly updated visuals and a much more immersive 3rd person camera position compared with the first game and really feels like a way bigger and better game as a result.

Everything about this oozes charm. The music, the color palate, the character, creature and environment design. Its all really well done and is quite wonderful to play. The graphics are simply stunning. It really is one of the best looking games with this type of art style. It is just so crisp and vibrant. It makes me feel happy and cozy just playing this game and looking at the scenery.

In a flood of overly gritty and realistic titles that more often than not try to be punishing for the sake of it, it feels fresh to play something that is so care free and charming. The puzzles will tickle your brain at best. The enemy encounters are fun and enjoyable without making you smash your controller and the world is interesting enough to want to explore.

Its very much a cozy game wrapped into a gentle RPG experience and i'm quite satisfied with what they have done here and glad that we finally get to play this on PC.

The game runs flawlessly for me on both my high end PC and on the steam deck.