With so many flaws, why do so many people love Oceanhorn?

[Blackbaldrik]

Why do so many people like this game so much? I completed it, and I honestly didn't have very much fun at all. It came across as being a mediocre experience at best.

While the base gameplay itself (Swinging sword, running around) was fairly sound, and most of the music wasn't bad, I found a great many flaws in Oceanhorn that completely ruined the game for me:
-Extremely short dungeons.
-Uninteresting/Forgettable dungeon design. (Both in layout and visuals)
-Uninteresting items. (With the exception of Force Spell, and Trencher Boots.)
-No overworld to speak of.
-Boring sailing from island to island with almost no interactivity.
-No open exploration at all. (just level-unlocks hidden in other levels.)
-Terrible animation.
-Fire Spell had no animation at all.
-Bad voice-acting.
-Very limited enemy types.
-All of the enemies were too easy, including bosses.
-Late game enemies were very sword-spongy.
-Collectables took a long time to harvest, wasting time for no reason.
-No sense of urgency in the plot, ever. Because it does not actually progress at all until the absolute end of the game. (As an example: It is like if the entirety of "A Link to the Past" was spent just looking for your Uncle.)
-Shallow and uninteresting characters. (with the mild exception of the father due to narration on each island, but you never really get to know who he is, just that he did some stuff and has a kind of gravelly voice.)
-Painfully awkward "emotional" scenes, where you're supposed to really care about character(s) you've barely even seen before, let alone talked to.

And these are only the things I could come up with off the top of my head.
With so many obvious flaws, why do so many consider Oceanhorn to be a truly good game?

[cruste]

good reviews in most cases = professional review writer = commercials/marketing

It is is still a good zelda alternative, because there is no legal way to play zelda on pc.
The game benefits from all the good old memories about zelda.

[Blue]

I wouldn't say it is a great game, but I enjoyed playing it. Its all a mindless adventure of breaking pots and hitting bushes with a sword. And there are dungeons, with more pots and bushes to destroy. My guy has a scorched earth policy, and will smash anything of value even if it is in an npc's house. Throwing pots at npc's never gets old :)

As for the boat travel, it was probably unnecessary but it is more interesting than simply getting teleported to the next island. And it makes the game feel bigger.

[Roach]

Fenrir eredeti hozzászólása:

This is a great game. It isnt zelda and it wont be zelda. Dont play it expecting it to be the same and you will enojy it.

Reading comprehension ftl...

Stay in school.

[MeSako]

Here is why: It is fun.. 'nuff said.

[Blackbaldrik]

MeSako eredeti hozzászólása:

Here is why: It is fun.. 'nuff said.

Well, guess we can all go home, MeSako cracked the mystery! He thinks it is fun, therefore it is a great game.

[mm9m9m9m9m9]

Maybe. I thought the game was rather dull, but fun enough for me to finish (it didn't completely bore me). I wouldn't recommend it to people as it felt like a forgettable experience.

A steam friend made me realize I really wasted out on a great pun when I got stuck in a fence, too..
http://steamcommunity.com/id/Anatil/recommended/339200

[lPaladinl]

It's not a perfect game, but I found it to be a good attempt at least from a gameplay standpoint. It just lacks the polish and extra little nuances that we see in Nintendo titles, while obviously pulling a lot of inspiration from them.

I liked the art direction but there are definitely parts that feel a bit sloppy or cheap and unpolished, such as the animations. The story wasn't spectacular and neither was the writing, nor was the presenation or sceneplay that interesting most of the time.

Gameplay was solid but didn't evolve much throughout the game. Getting near gear didn't exactly change up how the game was played as much as you might see in Zelda titles or similar. Some of the game progression wasn't always clear, either, and I found myself stuck a few times, having to aimlessly wander about until I figured out what to do or where to go to do it.

Overall though, I just really want to see this company try for an Oceanhorn 2 or a similar game, and just pay close attention to what they can improve from Oceanhorn to give it that polish of a better game. Even if they make a different genre of game there's still a lot they can look at in Oceanhorn to improve upon and potentially make their next game a "great" game instead of a decent one.

[Dakki]

Without reading any comments, agreed.

[Royal Fool]

It's okay, though definitely in the lower half of the quality spectrum when it comes to Zelda clones. This game borrows so, so much from Nintendo without changing almost any of it. The level design is probably the game's weakest point, as there just isn't enough variety in the art and environments to sustain its length. Too much of it looks "samey".

I don't mind that it's a game designed for mobile platforms - as far as ports with touch controls go, this one is damned good. Unfortunately, that doesn't help pull up the other mediocre parts.

I'd say the music is probably the best part, even if that too is derivative.

[Echo]

I can see your point of view, but honestly (and obviously) not everyone is going to feel the same way. Everyone has their own taste of fun. If you did not enjoy the game, I'm sorry (if that means anything, lmao). Hopefully the next title you purchase makes you feel like it was worth the money you paid for -insert mighty thumbs up-. Personally I enjoyed the game. It feels a bit jumpy at points of the plot, but hell, it had everything I enjoyed about in puzzle games. I will admit I bought it for a zelda feel and honestly, after playing almost every zelda up to date it somewhat hit the nail. Especially for a game that released for IOS.

[TheLightningYu | Mike]

You call yourself Zelda-Fan, then again you say that Darksiders is a good Zeldalike Game? Oceanhorn is more Zelda than Darksiders ever could dream of, and Guys like you were the reason, why i was so dissapointed in Darksider at first, because a lot of people claimed it's an Zelda for Adults, while the Game mostly have nothing to do with Zelda at all. The Gameplay/Combat were more like God of War or Ninja Gaiden, and the setting was very post-apokalyptic. While Zelda is Fantasylike. There may some little Features which reminds at The Legend of Zelda, however this doesn't make Darksiders to zelda(and the second installment reminds of Prince of Persia).

#Oceanhorn: I actually wouldn't put it anywhere near on par with Zelda(i mean common, its Zelda, like you said - there may people who are talented enough to make an proper Zelda-Like Game, however until now no-one did), however it actually is a pretty good indie-zelda-like Game(i would give it a 7/8 out of 10, which is above avarage while Zelda obviously would get 9/10 out of 10). I mean if i have to, i would say that 3D Dot Game Heroes is the much better Zelda-like Game, however it isn't as bad as you claim.

[Blackbaldrik]

TheLightningYu eredeti hozzászólása:

You call yourself Zelda-Fan, then again you say that Darksiders is a good Zeldalike Game? Oceanhorn is more Zelda than Darksiders ever could dream of, and Guys like you were the reason, why i was so dissapointed in Darksider at first, because a lot of people claimed it's an Zelda for Adults, while the Game mostly have nothing to do with Zelda at all. The Gameplay/Combat were more like God of War or Ninja Gaiden, and the setting was very post-apokalyptic. While Zelda is Fantasylike. There may some little Features which reminds at The Legend of Zelda, however this doesn't make Darksiders to zelda(and the second installment reminds of Prince of Persia).

#Oceanhorn: I actually wouldn't put it anywhere near on par with Zelda(i mean common, its Zelda, like you said - there may people who are talented enough to make an proper Zelda-Like Game, however until now no-one did), however it actually is a pretty good indie-zelda-like Game(i would give it a 7/8 out of 10, which is above avarage while Zelda obviously would get 9/10 out of 10). I mean if i have to, i would say that 3D Dot Game Heroes is the much better Zelda-like Game, however it isn't as bad as you claim.

I am honestly unsure as to how you don't see the similarities DarkSiders has to the Zelda series. The Combat and Setting are different, but basically everything else works identically to Zelda; The world progression, the Dungeons, how Items work, how you fight Bosses, etc.
I have completed every Zelda game ever released, and the DarkSiders games are some of the best, most Zelda-like games I have ever played. (I enjoyed the first DarkSiders the most out of the two, because it stuck closer to the Zelda formula.)

As for Oceanhorn can you tell me exactly what you liked about it?
I'm not trying to be confrontational, but my experience with the game is that it has: No unique mechanics, short and utterly uninteresting Dungeons, easy and sometimes tedious enemies, a boring story, terrible cutscenes, bad animations, mostly bad Voice-Acting, and no actual overworld to explore.
The only things I actually liked about it were the decent controls, and the fact that the music wasn't that bad.

[Cross Kamui]

Hi.
I do not know why so many people like this game so much. However I do know why do I like it.

1. Atmosphere. Indeed, it is not a legendary story which chains you down from dusk till dawn. But it has a certain calmness, a bit like being the main protagonist of those old tales which are were read to children from big old books.

2. Simplicity and still fun. There is nothing complicated things in this game (maybe some puzzles?), but not a lot of skill points, inventory management, item augmentations, alchemy etc. In spite of this still offers a decent relaxation.

3. Graphics. I don't want to say that it has some uber hardcore graphics, but it has it's own "bright" style, which is kind of a refreshing after playing 200 hours of survival horror.

And something more personal: I do not compare this game to any other one, nor Zelda, nor Diablo. As such for me there are no flaws, it is a game made buy some other dudes. It offers a decent fun? Yes. (You may think that my standards are too low, however there are a bid deal of games I do not like too.)

Wit respect, Me. :)

P.S.: You seem like the more action oriented guy. Maybe try Van Helsing? :) Or just get some shooter :D

[YORGOS]

Well, kid, you clearly expected too much

[CndnPhoenix]

Okay, I just find the game fun. I don't even know why, I just do.

But here is my question to you: Why did you finish a game you disliked so much? Don't you have games you like? (I mean, I'm not even working right now, I can barely find time for the games I love.)