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Some are obvious, such as using the fire spell on lanterns to light them up, while others are a bit more obscure and take a bit of trial and error such as using lightning to light up electrical poles to create a flowing current to activate something. While you can fire those spells at enemies they can also serve a secondary purpose.
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I mentioned that you can obtain several types of spells for your Caster gun such as fire and ice. Early on there are a couple of times where the latter came into play. Solving a puzzle should come from taking it all in and seeing how everything works together, not by stumbling upon the answer by sheer luck. In games like this that has various puzzles throughout the game, it’s a great feeling when you’ve studied a room or area for a bit, take in your surroundings, and figure out how everything works to solve the puzzle. I’ll get more into it in a bit but the puzzles are my favorite aspect about the game…to an extent. You can also have Gen and Trin attack specific targets, have them follow you or stand on switches, and even have Trin hit levers from afar to solve puzzles. Gen has a sword while Trin uses a boomerang-type weapon that has blades on it letting her attack enemies from a range. You’ll be aided by Gen and Trin throughout your travels. Thankfully you aren’t alone in your quest.
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Items can only have two shards inserted into them at any one time but you can remove and change around shards at your convenience. Thankfully throughout your journey you can find various shards that you can insert into your weapons and items to strengthen them in a couple of different ways, including how much damage your sword can do. Throw in having to dodge after nearly every hit since the enemy will usually take a swing at you afterwards and combat can be a bit of a chore, especially early on. Given how cameras can be in 3D action games the lack of a lock-on button makes combat a bit more tedious than it should be. However, you can’t swing your sword unless you let go of the shield button, and using your shield is the only way I’ve found to strafe around an enemy. You have a shield to defend yourself which takes a small bit of stamina away every time you block an attack stamina recharges after a few seconds. The combat itself can be a bit tedious as enemies can be rather relentless, even in the early game. Even shots from your Caster have to charge after use, meaning you can’t rapid fire shots against enemies. Granted it’s not a long wait, only a few seconds, but it’s still weird to have to charge up a bomb or even the Grappling Hook to be able to use it again. You actually have to wait for them to charge up again. This isn’t the case in Oceanhorn 2 as when you use those items. In The Legend of Zelda games where you have bombs or a Hookshot, you can use them, and then once the animation is complete (or explosion in the case of bombs) you can immediately use them again. You’ll also pick up some other items such as a bomb and grappling hook that you’ll use to traverse the world of Gaia and help solve puzzles, though sometimes using all of these items and elements can be more puzzling than the puzzles themselves. You begin the game with your sword and a Caster gun that can initially just shoot out bullets, but over time you’ll acquire several spells you can use such as fire, ice, and lightning.
#OCEANHORN 2 REVIEW SERIES#
As I’ve learned in the past though, just because a game looks similar to another series doesn’t mean it plays like one. The first thing you might notice about Oceanhorn 2 is, as stated, its resemblance to the later Legend of Zelda games, in particular Breath of the Wild or Skyward Sword. To prevent this the trio must journey to find the three Sacred Emblems of the Sun, Earth, and Ocean. Set a thousand years prior to the events of the original game, Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm sees a knight in training named Hero, along with two other knights named Gen and Trin, who learn that a demon named Mesmeroth is planning to take over the Kingdom of Gaia. Given that this is the second game in the series, I’d say the first option might be correct, but let’s take a look at Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm on the Nintendo Switch and find out. The question now is if it’s as good as one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises. I haven’t played the original Oceanhorn, but when I looked at Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm and saw how much it resembled the later Legend of Zelda games, I figured I’d give it a shot. With the popularity of The Legend of Zelda over the years we’ve seen games released that are similar in style going back at least as far as Neutopia on the TurboGrafx-16. Something else I’m a sucker for are games that bear a resemblance to another series I enjoy. I’ve stated in past reviews that I’m a sucker for 8-bit and 16-bit games, be they older NES and Super NES games or newer games created in those styles.