Her footage has consistently appeared in all of Apple’s promotional materials, and many users admit that Ocean horn subscribed only because of Ocean horn. But is such a project worthy of this title?
If by default we consider the most complex and expensive project as the flagship, then yes. But, for example, I personally liked Assemble with Care much more, which I went through in 2 hours without a break, while in Ocean horn 2 I sometimes forced myself to play in order to talk about it competently.
As far as I understand, now all the games available in Apple Arcade can be run on compatible devices, including the iPad mini 4.
So, if on iPad Pro or new iPhones (maybe even on older devices) you get high resolution, and cool lighting, and anti-aliasing, then on iPad mini 4 everything looks … I took a lot of screenshots, so just see for yourself .
I am absolutely indifferent to graphics from a technological point of view. In my opinion, style is much more important, but when an initially beautiful picture shrinks, the overall impression also changes for the worse.
Is it Zelda?
Most of Ocean horn 2 was compared to The Legend of Zelda before release. I have not played any of the parts safely, but I have watched video reviews of the latest Breath of the Wild, and I understand where users can see similarities: nice cartoonish graphics, bright scenery, variability of gameplay mechanics.
However, in reality, all similarities are dispelled. Ocean horn 2 is just a copycat in this regard. However, I do not think that such a characteristic should belittle the developers of the game, because they play on a completely different field.
The Legend of Zelda is like an adventure that you don’t want to jump out of. Ocean horn looks more like just quality entertainment. Still one of the best on mobile.
Beginning of the game
To be honest, the first 30 minutes of Ocean horn 2 was disappointing. The developers, for some reason I don’t understand, decided to send the player into a cave, which, although it looks good, does not reveal the game as well as subsequent natural locations do. So if you seem to enjoy Ocean horn 2, but feel that “something is not right”, just be patient.
You can’t do without dungeons in such a game, and the legendary introduction of TES V: Skyrim should not be forgotten, but it’s still not a game from a series with a 25-year history. I would like a brighter start!
Story and gameplay
The game tells the story of a young guy who, as is often the case in such adventures, finds himself embroiled in a conflict on an important day and is forced to protect the weaker.
A couple of characters help him in this. The solution is ambiguous. On the one hand, partners are already the norm for this kind of games. In Ocean horn 2, they do sometimes have to be used for puzzles, and it can even be interesting, but in combat they do not behave at all effectively.
Yes, there are puzzles here, and to solve some of them you need not only partners, but also magical weapons that shoot fire or, for example, electricity.
But the combat system here is not up to par. In fact, it is built on several actions: hitting weapons with just one button, defending with a shield, and somersault-dodges with a double tap.
Don’t expect much from boss fights. They take more time when compared with ordinary battles, but they do not create a real test.
The story is told through in-engine cutscenes and dialogues. The last one is an interesting situation. Some of them immediately make it clear that this is a mobile game. But sometimes the characters throw more interesting lines. Thanks to them, both the plot and the world of Ocean horn 2 are perceived with great interest.
The game world itself is very unusual – the usual fantasy elements here coexist perfectly with technology. Perhaps if the developers did not focus on the mobile audience, but made a project for large platforms, it would have turned out to be a really good analogue of The Legend of Zelda.
There is a pumping, but it happens automatically. By accumulating experience, you get various abilities that make your character stronger.
And as you explore the world, you will find various artifacts that will help you pass certain episodes. Weapons can also be upgraded.
There are also completely unexpected moments, such as riding an aero cycle. You should not expect a difficult race, but in general it dilutes the passage very cool.
findings
I remained indifferent to the game. Maybe I’ll play a little more to see if it can drag out, but I’m much more interested in, for example, Neo Cab and Jenny Lecture. And this is not to mention Assemble with Care, which I went through excitedly in a couple of hours and was completely delighted.
With Ocean horn 2, I finally became convinced that major releases on mobile are not needed. We used to have mobile crafts (mostly) and PC ports. The first ones were enough for rare sessions, and the second ones I preferred to leave on the same PC, where there is comfort and a larger screen.
But now there is an example of a game that is made according to all the rules of AAA projects, but for mobile devices. And for me, as it turned out, it is of no interest. Occasionally playing on mobile, I prefer the portioned story or short puzzle levels. Ocean horn 2, on the other hand, is a full-fledged adventure for 15-20 hours with an open world, different mechanics and a plot. The perfect game to… play on PC.
In my opinion, Ocean horn 2 and future potential Apple Arcade exclusives are a great choice for those who don’t have a PC that can play games or consoles. If you’re a gamer waiting for mobile gaming to flourish, just go play on your primary device, and check out Arcade for more intimate games.
