We had the pleasure to interview one of my personal favorites! The studio behind the mobile-pc-console hit Oceanhorn, Cornfox & Bros. Before we dive into the interview, let’s give a little insight into the game they are currently developing – Oceanhorn 2 Knights of the Lost Realm. And yes, we asked them all about it!
Oceanhorn’s Background:
With over a million copies sold over the years, 2013’s Oceanhorn established itself as one of the most beloved action RPGs available on mobile, PC and consoles alike. In 2019, Cornfox and Brothers will be back on iOS (through Apple Arcade!) with Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm, an epic journey across Gaia that will take our hero on a brand new quest for the fate of the world. Developed with the contribution of Epic’s Unreal Grant, Oceanhorn 2 raises the bar set by its predecessor in all departments: it’s bigger, better, and packed with new features. Cornfox & Brothers’ goal is to release the most exciting action RPGs to ever appear on mobile. I personally can’t wait (for the port, since I don’t own any Apple devices..).
Cornfox Bros. Interview:
As always, our first question is for our guests to introduce themselves, so please tell us all about Cornfox & Bros!
We are a small team of seven people, operating from Helsinki downtown. Most of us have been working in other gaming companies in the past. The first game developed as Cornfox & Brothers has been Death Rally, in collaboration with Remedy Games. After that, we embarked on a journey to create our first original IP, and that turned out to be Oceanhorn: Monster of the Uncharted Seas. Since its first release on iOS in 2013, and through each subsequent port, the game has encountered the favor of both critics and players. We’ve now been working on Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm for the better part of five years, and we plan to release it before the end of 2019.
As developers, do you personally prefer to develop for the iOS and Android platform or are you more comfortable with Nintendo or Microsoft hardware. I can imagine that the ‘bigger’ systems have more to handle the game you want to deliver.
Each platform comes with its strengths, not only from a hardware standpoint, but also because of the audience it reaches, the services and options it provides to both developers and players, and the style of play it supports. As we’re now using Unreal Engine 4, our games could, from a technical standpoint, run well on many recent devices. That said, our publishing choices are based on opportunities rather than hardware per se.
Which sounds promising for those hoping to see the Oceanhorn sequel on other platforms then iOS! As you stated before Oceanhorn 2 is bigger, better and packed with new features. One of those is the addition of new characters. Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm promises three, namely the Hero, Trin and the automata Gen. Will the story be one where you play chapters with each character, or will the characters be interchangeable?
Trin and Gen are supporting characters, and you always play Hero. They are both central in the story, and they help you in combat or with puzzle solving. As a player, you can issue them specific commands, but they are not usable as fully playable characters for the time being.
Hero – Age: 18
Trin – Age: 23
Granddaughter of Gran Regent Archimedes and his spouse Calliope, Trin is the accomplished pilot of the Yellow Bird, an Arcadian ship that has seen the thick of battle more than once. Secretly ashamed of her royal origins, she has been growing up amongst the ordinary citizens of the White City. She’s a good-hearted, opinionated young woman, with plenty of victories under her belt. Trin wields the Daggerang, an iconic tri-bladed weapon that could be used both at close and long range. Trin is ace against flying enemies and a life-saver when a remote switch needs to be activated.
Gen – Age: ?
Gen is Master Mayfair’s automata comrade and Hero’s friend. He doesn’t shy away from playfully commenting on a situation, and wears clothes and armor over his steel limbs. His behavior and relationship with the old Knight suggest that the two have experienced many adventures together. Gen’s weapon of choice is a mighty battle oar, perfectly fitting his relentless, high-damage combat style.
I know you get this all the time, but any top-down adventure game will be compared with The Legend of Zelda. How do you guys handle this? Aren’t you ever getting tired of the comparison between the two?
We’re all big Zelda fans here, but we’re also into a much wider range of Action RPGs and JRPGs. Oceanhorn 2 is inspired by all the best titles that could be grouped under the “Classic RPG” label. That said, both the lore and the gameplay of Oceanhorn 2 have quite a bit of personality, and we invite you to discover more on our blog, reachable from https://www.oceanhorn.com. A couple of examples: you will control a whole party, and the Caster Gun plays quite a significant role in the game.
You probably can’t talk about when you want to publish the game on the Apple Store, but can you shed some light on how far the game is in development? Or can you guys give us a sneak into the development of Oceanhorn (besides from the stuff I read in the newsletters).
We’re very advanced with the development, and quite soon the game will be content complete. I believe we’ll spend all the time left before release just polishing the game and making sure there are no bugs left.
Last, but not least, favorite console and game that it’s currently holding?
Working on a game doesn’t leave you much time to play anything else, but we’re trying our best! Our tastes vary quite a bit. Currently, people at the studio are busy with Resident Evil 2 Remake, Fortnite, Red Dead Redemption 2, Skyrim VR, Armello and Spiderman. (We reviewed a bunch of those, check them out on our website).
I totally get that, but it seems good games also find their way towards Finland! Before we thank you for the time and energy you guys and girls put into this interview.. Anything you want to add or share with the fans of Oceanhorn (and Gaming Boulevard?)
We know you’ve all been very patient with this, and appreciate that. We read every comment and make notes of what the community is asking us. So even if at times we can’t comment, we’re listening. News about Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm will start to intensify soonish – hang in there, it will be worth the wait.
We want to thank Cornfox & Bros. for their honest anwsers and time! If you want more information about Oceanhorn or Cornfox & Bros. check out their website: http://oceanhorn.blogspot.com/ or http://www.oceanhorn.com
