There is a popular franchise out there called The Legend of Zelda, and it has inspired many titles over the years. Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas was one of the better ones, and now the follow-up, Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm, is available on the current generation of consoles. Set one thousand years before the first game, Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm will have you traveling the world of Gaia. The world is brimming with lore that you will come across both in main story quests and for any side quests you decide to complete. The world is in danger from Warlock Mesmeroth’s Dark Army. Of course, it is up to you to prevent armageddon from arriving.

Oceanhorn 2 Includes Everything You Know and Love About Zelda

If you have played any game from the Zelda franchise, you will know how Oceanhorn 2 plays. You have your standard sword, shield, bombs, grappling hook, and more. You can roll and dodge and use magical powers to help you advance in your quest. There are also pieces of heart strewn around the environment for you to find, with three pieces making a whole heart and giving you some additional health for when you are engaged in a big battle. One new thing that Oceanhorn 2 brings to the series is that you will have companions that fight alongside you. You will almost immediately meet Gen, a mysterious android that uses an old weapon and seems to know everything about you. After completing a few objectives, you will also run into Trin. She is the granddaughter of Archimedes, the leader of Arcadia.

These two will fight at your side and help you navigate the game’s challenges. You can leave them alone, and they will do their own thing, or you can also use contextual commands to direct their actions. This is especially true when trying to solve some of the puzzles in the game. For example, the first temple you must go through has several button presses you need to figure out. In one room specifically, there are three buttons on the ground. You need to have them each stand on one of those buttons and then find an item to sit on the third button so that you can do the next part of the puzzle that opens up that room.

Outside the main temples, there is an entire world to explore, and if something catches the attention of your party, they will be sure to bring it up. Once when I was heading back to the White City, one of my party members mentioned that there was an observatory nearby and that she wanted to check it out. I decided to do that and made my way there, only to find it was abandoned.

There was a bunch of paperwork there suggesting some research was being conducted at that location but with no one around. It was a mystery we would have to solve. Side quests can also help you get some items that will help you significantly on your journey. For example, doing a side quest in the White City allowed me to get the Shield of Chronos V1. This particular shield can deflect against blaster fire from enemies, and it will also protect me against laser turrets. As you can imagine, this is a handy item to obtain.

It’s An Enjoyable Experience, But There Are Issues

If you are ever playing the game and need help with what to do next, the menu system keeps you updated. The map system could be better, and the mini-map you use during the moment-to-moment gameplay could also be better. Still, some of the information you can get proves helpful. For example, if you go into the Quest area, you immediately get a lot of information at a quick glance. You see what quest items you have, what emblems you have returned, the amount of Bloodstones you have found, and more.

An adventure log also keeps track of what you have recently discovered. This covers conversations with townspeople, signs or books you might read, your interaction with vending machines and what you buy, and more. Then, just like in The Legend of Zelda, you will have to find several keys in the world to unlock different chests, and this is where you keep track of what keys you have found so far.

If you like mini-games, you can track down people and challenge them to Tarock. Tarock is a collectible card game that many NPCs you encounter love to play. As you progress through the game, you will find different cards. You will find some in battle after an enemy drops a card once defeated or simply by exploring the world. If you want to engage in a game to bolster your collection, you have to equip your Tarock board and then use the item button when speaking with a player. The game itself is set on a 9×9 board.

You will take turns with your opponent placing cards down on the board. The winner of the game is determined by who has the most cards on the board once all nine cards have been played. The way everything works is you put down a card, and then your opponent puts down a card. When you place a card down, you will attack in every direction. You want to have your attack power be higher than their defense value. If you succeed, their card will be defeated and turned over. There are different strategies you can employ that I will let you discover as you play the game, but this is a pretty enjoyable distraction from running around the world completing quests.

Oceanhorn 2 Will Constantly Throw Challenges Your Way

Another thing to consider is the different challenges this game will throw you. There are a total of 88 challenges you can try and master. Some will be done simply by going through the story and completing quests. Others will be optional, and you might have to go out of your way to complete them. One of those might be collecting all of the power shards or using a Sacred Emblem card during Tarock to flip four cards in one move. It is another way to keep you busy if you are a completionist and want to try to do everything, but it is also optional. If you wish to focus on the main story and nothing else, you are more than welcome to ignore all of this optional content.

Oceanhorn 2 will also provide some other challenging aspects at times but not necessarily in a good way. As I mentioned above, the map does need some work. Because of this, you might run around lost more often than you should. Sometimes your character doesn’t control as well as he should. During one of the boss fights, there was a time when I was swinging my sword, trying to hit him, but for some unknown reason, my character leaped forward and did something I didn’t want him to do.

There were also instances where I would try to use my grappling hook, but the prompt wouldn’t come up. That can be incredibly frustrating, especially if you are in the heat of battle and on your last heart. I was also slightly annoyed when I tried to do a healing spell, but it only recovered one heart. That may be more of a personal preference (as well as my experience with RPGs). Still, a healing spell usually means my character will get healed, not necessarily entirely, but definitely more than one heart. That eventually changes, but it was one of my early annoyances with this title.

If you are a new player to this type of game, there are instances where you will struggle. Some puzzles can be pretty obtuse, and some gamers will love that. For others, it might get in the way of their enjoyment of this game. Another thing about icons on the map is that it would be nice to have a more accurate representation of their location. For example, you can take an elevator to a different city level in the Capital of Arcadia. When I see an icon on the map, it would be nice if it was made clear where exactly it was in the city, whether on the top level or the lower sections of that area. Going through this adventure, I can see the immense potential here. Something isn’t quite clicking for me, though, and I find it hard to quantify exactly what that is.

Wrapping Up

Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm is a prequel and takes place one thousand years before the original. In some aspects, there are some welcome improvements. I’d like to see a patch or two that can resolve these issues in some other areas. The world can be fun to explore, and the game certainly looks pretty. If you are a Zelda fan you already have a baseline knowledge of the mechanics and should be at home here. Unfortunately, a few missteps prevent it from reaching its potential. If you are a fan of these games, I recommend trying it out. If there is a third game in this series, I hope they can iron everything out because if they can accomplish that, it could be a special game.

Rating: 7/10

This review originally appeared on Wealth of Geeks.