Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas

80%
Game Brain Score Based on 1,248 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas Game Cover
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In Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas, you play as a young boy on a quest to find your lost father and defeat the sea monster, Oceanhorn. Explore a beautifully designed world filled with puzzles, dungeons, and mythical creatures as you sail across the seas. Along the way, you'll discover ancient treasures, learn magic spells, and uncover the truth about your family's mysterious past. This action-adventure game is heavily inspired by classic titles like The Legend of Zelda.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Steam Deck
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

80%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,248 reviews
story110 positive mentions
grinding42 negative mentions
  • Great graphics and vibrant art style that captures the essence of classic adventure games.
  • Engaging gameplay with a nostalgic feel reminiscent of the Legend of Zelda series.
  • Fun puzzles and exploration elements that keep players entertained throughout the game.
  • Combat can feel clunky and lacks depth, making encounters less satisfying.
  • The game is relatively short, with some players feeling it doesn't offer enough content for the price.
  • Several bugs and glitches, including crashes and issues with saving, detract from the overall experience.
  • story372 mentions

    The story of "Oceanhorn" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it to be generic and uninspired, often comparing it unfavorably to classic Zelda titles. While some appreciate its simple premise and engaging moments, others criticize the lack of depth, character development, and a coherent narrative, leading to a feeling of disconnection from the game's world. Overall, the storytelling is seen as a weak point, with many reviewers suggesting that it fails to deliver a captivating experience despite decent gameplay and visuals.

    • “Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is a great 3D action-adventure RPG with a solid story.”
    • “The exciting story is picking up speed quickly and is told partly in pretty video sequences, partly in the form of your father's diary entries.”
    • “Oceanhorn takes all the greatness of the Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time, mashes them together and adds a fresh story with rich lore and fun gameplay.”
    • “The story is seemingly non-existent.”
    • “The characters, quests, and the story are quite boring; the islands in the game look nice and most levels are well designed from the perspective of pure game mechanics, but they don't feel alive, they don't have character, and there is barely any interesting lore at all.”
    • “I'm gonna put story & character into their own separate point, because this was a big one for me: whoever wrote 'captivating storytelling' on the Steam store page should be ashamed of themselves, because that is a massive flat-out lie.”
  • gameplay296 mentions

    The gameplay of Oceanhorn is often described as a charming homage to the Legend of Zelda series, featuring familiar mechanics and a vibrant aesthetic. However, many players find it repetitive and lacking depth, with clunky controls, uninspired puzzles, and frustrating fishing mechanics detracting from the overall experience. While some appreciate its nostalgic feel and solid presentation, others criticize its linearity and simplistic design, leading to mixed reviews on its overall enjoyment and value for the price.

    • “Great when you want to spend a weekend and enjoy the classic styled gameplay.”
    • “The gameplay is very fun and familiar.”
    • “Oceanhorn takes all the greatness of the Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time, mashes them together and adds a fresh story with rich lore and fun gameplay.”
    • “Story and characters are boring, the gameplay is repetitive, and the boss fights are garbage.”
    • “The gameplay is clunky and a bit confusing.”
    • “On the downside, nothing is really fun, most things are more tedious and the fishing mini-game has the worst mechanics of any fishing game that I ever played.”
  • graphics258 mentions

    The graphics of the game have received a mixed but generally positive reception, with many praising the vibrant, colorful art style reminiscent of classic Zelda titles. While some players noted issues such as freezing and graphical bugs, the overall aesthetic is described as charming and engaging, contributing to a pleasant atmosphere. Many reviews highlight the game's visual appeal, especially considering its origins as a mobile title, with some even calling it one of the best-looking games in its category.

    • “The graphics are impressive - vibrant and full of life, much like El Dorado itself!”
    • “It's been a while that I have played a simple but very good game like this.. the graphics are stunning (on a big HD smart TV) and the sounds and music are well selected.. I want to say just to buy the game, you will not regret it.”
    • “The graphics are gloriously bright and colorful.”
    • “In between glitchy fighting and fighting the controls, or trying to make sense of the map that looks like a child spat paint on a topographical scale, you will never be bored of exploring the same area over and over again until you stumble accidentally into the proper path.”
    • “But, for me (and for several others, it seems), the graphics freeze every five minutes to an hour.”
    • “It seems like it could be a good game, but myself and several others have encountered major graphical bugs, which render the game unplayable.”
  • music216 mentions

    The music in the game has received a mixed reception, with many praising its quality and ability to enhance the atmosphere, often drawing comparisons to iconic soundtracks like those from the Zelda series. While some tracks are described as beautiful and engaging, others note issues with repetition and mismatched moods during gameplay. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a highlight, contributing significantly to the game's charm despite some criticisms regarding its implementation.

    • “The music in this game is fantastic, and noticeably enjoyable to listen to.”
    • “It’s hard to believe that Oceanhorn is a port of a standalone mobile game, given its impressive soundtrack and fun gameplay.”
    • “The graphics are not particularly good, but the artwork and direction are very nice, there’s a pleasant atmosphere throughout the gameplay, and the soundtrack is just fantastic.”
    • “The music sucks, especially at the beginning.”
    • “The game is constantly playing music that doesn't fit the mood of the scene, many times being just too cacophonous (works great in boss fights, not elsewhere) and, ultimately, tiring to listen to.”
    • “There are also other immersion killers such as the poor implementation of the soundtrack.”
  • grinding42 mentions

    Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be overwhelmingly tedious and boring, particularly due to the slow and repetitive boat travel between islands and uninspired mini-games like fishing. While some appreciate the leveling system and the occasional engaging puzzle, many feel that the grinding detracts from the overall enjoyment, leading to frustration and a lack of motivation to continue playing.

    • “Sailing from island to island can quickly become tedious.”
    • “Boat travel between the islands is boring and tedious.”
    • “The boat travel was extremely boring and tedious, and disabled any exploration on the open sea (which was my favorite part of Wind Waker).”
  • stability32 mentions

    The game's stability is a mixed bag, with many players reporting frequent freezing issues that disrupt gameplay, although some users experienced minimal glitches. While a few players noted that enabling high performance settings helped, others encountered significant bugs that could hinder progress, particularly during boss fights. Overall, the game is still enjoyable, but stability concerns remain a notable drawback.

    • “I encountered no glitches and was able to unlock all the achievements without issue.”
    • “No glitches, no complaints, just fun.”
    • “The only problem I've been facing is that the game freezes often every few minutes of opening the game and playing.”
    • “But when it freezes, it either freezes the game with just music playing, or just the screen itself is frozen apart from the game playing and you end up being unable to see what your character is doing.”
    • “One tiny problem, though: I'm not sure what causes it, but every so often, my game picture freezes and while the sound indicates it's still functioning, I can't do anything, and when I minimize and open it back up, it crashes.”
  • atmosphere18 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its charming, Zelda-like graphics and extraordinary art style, complemented by a relaxing soundtrack that enhances the overall experience. While the visuals may not be technically impressive, the colorful art direction and fitting sound effects create a pleasant and immersive environment. Players particularly enjoy the sailing aspect and the exploration of beautifully crafted islands, although some note a bit of musical repetition across similar settings.

    • “The colourful art style, sound effects, and music are good and create a nice atmosphere altogether.”
    • “The sailing atmosphere is gorgeous, and it's fun visiting new islands and charting them out, learning what secrets and people dwell there.”
    • “It has nicely created areas with fitting atmospheric music - the gameplay is very enjoyable and the puzzles are great!”
    • “The graphics and atmosphere are charming and Zelda-like, but the progression and gameplay are anything but.”
    • “The graphics and atmosphere are charming and Zelda-like, but the progression and gameplay are anything but.”
  • emotional18 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game elicits mixed reactions, with some players finding it deeply moving, even comparing it to personal heartbreaks, while others criticize its reliance on poorly developed characters and awkward emotional scenes that fail to create genuine connections. Despite its nostalgic inspirations, many feel that the game does not adequately invest players in its emotional narrative.

    • “Turns out it's more emotional than my last breakup 💔”
    • “Not gonna lie, I shed a tear like my cat when I accidentally step on its tail 😿”
    • “There's a girl that wants to go exploring but can't because [reason not found] and immediately has an emotional connection with the hero despite speaking with him once.”
  • optimization12 mentions

    Overall, the game is reported to be well-optimized and polished on Windows, with smooth performance in most scenarios. However, some users experienced resolution problems and stuttering, particularly related to graphic settings, which can be mitigated by adjusting options. While performance issues have largely been addressed, a few bugs remain, especially in specific situations like boss fights.

    • “Seems to be a very polished and optimized game on Windows.”
    • “The performance issues the game had a while back have been fixed, and outside of one boss fight, the game is pretty great.”
    • “+ Smooth performance”
    • “There also were many reports of resolution problems and stuttering issues, but I didn't notice anything like this.”
    • “The graphic problem on PCs stems from graphic options that cause slow-down and need some optimization for PCs, which isn't all too bad on custom settings or medium settings as the game itself looks fantastic visually.”
    • “However, it was very buggy until I figured out to enable it in the Catalyst Center for high performance.”
  • humor6 mentions

    Players appreciate the humor in the game, noting that it features amusing bugs that add to the experience without impacting gameplay. The game is praised for its funny ending, contributing to an overall enjoyable and lighthearted atmosphere.

    • “Of course, there are a few funny bugs, but nothing that affects the gameplay at all.”
    • “Great game has a funny ending. I would recommend it; it's short but not too long either. I had fun playing this game.”
    • “Great game has a funny ending. I would recommend it; it's short but not too long either. I had fun playing this game.”
  • character development6 mentions

    Character development in the game is criticized for being shallow and lacking depth, with players expressing a desire for more distinct and engaging character arcs to differentiate it from similar titles like the Zelda franchise. The character designs are described as soulless and generic, contributing to an overall sense of boredom in the narrative. Despite these shortcomings, some players still find enjoyment in the gameplay.

    • “It's enjoyable, though I kind of wish this game would have explored more with character development to provide some distinction from the similar Zelda franchise.”
    • “The environments themselves are your typical puzzle/adventure environments in terms of design and fairly generic when it comes to their looks, while the game looks decent at first glance. The completely soulless character designs, unimaginative monsters, and downright boring environments quickly overwhelm anyone who has played any decent fantasy games with more artistic creativity behind them.”
    • “I kind of wish this game would have explored more with character development to provide some distinction from the similar Zelda franchise.”
    • “There is no real mystery to character development and the storyline is petty.”
  • replayability4 mentions

    The game is enjoyable but lacks significant replayability, making it a one-time experience rather than one that invites repeated playthroughs. Despite this limitation, many players still find it worthwhile.

    • “It's a really fun game, but not much replayability; still worth it though.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

17hMedian play time
18hAverage play time
12-20hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 34 analyzed playthroughs

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