Review Fix chats with Thomas Kern (FDG Entertainment); Producer of Oceanhorn, who details the creative process and goals for the upcoming Xbox One and PlayStation 4 adventure.
About Oceanhorn:
Explore the islands of Uncharted Seas, a world filled with many dangers, puzzles and secrets. Fight monsters, learn to use magic and discover ancient treasures which will help you on your quest. Use all your wits and skill to unravel the mysteries of ancient kingdom Arcadia and sea monster Oceanhorn.
Oceanhorn is a carefully crafted love letter to Action Adventures. With influences from the Zelda series (Nintendo), Final Fantasy and Seiken Densetsu (Square-Enix) the game combines captivating storytelling, breathtaking 3D visuals and exciting gameplay into one massive action adventure experience you will never forget.
Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this game?
Thomas Kern: Both the development team at Cornfox & Bros. and the whole staff at FDG have a lot of favorite classic games in common.
We got inspired by the Zelda franchise, Seiken Densetsu and of course Final Fantasy. We still treasure the memories playing these outstanding games.
Oceanhorn is a love letter to all these games.
Review Fix: What has development been like?
Kern: It was a big adventure :D We learned a lot in our development process, mostly that it isn’t easy to create a game that pays tribute to such masterpiece games.
It took over 3 years from the idea to the final game. Today we’re still very happy with how it turned out and we still enjoy playing through the story despite having tested the game like a thousand times.
One of the key moments was when Nobuo Uematsu and Kenji Ito, our childhood hero composers, joined the project. That was beyond anything we could imagine and gave us an extra boost of motivation.
Review Fix: What games did you play as a kid and how did they play a role in this game?
Kern: My favorite games often combined Action and Adventure but I also loved RPG’s and Platformers. To name a few besides the ones I mentioned before: Metroid, Gargoyles Quest or the Wonder Boy in Monster World series.
Everything with an interesting story caught my attention. That’s the reason why I felt the story in Oceanhorn was really important and we spent a lot of time together with Cornfox & Bros. to write and discuss it.
Review Fix: Who will enjoy this the most?
Kern: Everyone who enjoys a good action adventure that doesn’t require a ton of preparation and control manuals. You switch it on and dive right into the world of Oceanhorn.
Each of the islands offers unique challenges in the form of various enemies, obstacles, environmental puzzles and huge bosses. Explore, talk to NPC’s, breathe the cheerful atmosphere of the colorful visuals and beautiful music.
On the way you’ll grow from a boy to a hero who can cast magic and makes use of ancient items to progress in the world.
Review Fix: Why do you think RPGs still matter?
Kern: I know many people who love RPG’s so that’s the reason why they still exist, right?
Review Fix: How does this game change the adventure/RPG mold?
Kern: We are not changing the genre, but we felt it’s time for a new game in this genre that carries players back to the golden age of cartridge games – simple and enjoyable entertainment but with modern visuals and sound.
I think this combination works really well and there’s not too many games of this category out there.
Review Fix: What does it feel like to have music from Nobuo Uematsu and Kenji Ito featured in the game?
Kern: Unreal – it meant the world to us.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Kern: Our next console game is Monster Boy. Have you heard of it ?
Please check out www.monsterboy.com . This is a sequel to another favorite game series of mine – the Wonder Boy in Monster World series. We even got Ryuichi Nishizawa on board, the original creator of Wonder Boy (WESTONE).
Review Fix: Bottom line, what makes this game special?
Kern: It’s got plenty of soul.
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