It’s mentioned that imitation is the sincerest type of flattery, and if that’s certainly the case, then Airoheart is among the most sycophantic releases on the Swap at present. There is definitely no scarcity of ‘Zelda-likes’ obtainable on the console, however this can be a recreation that stretches the time period “impressed by” to its absolute limits, because it finds as some ways as attainable to be The Legend of Zelda: A Hyperlink to the Previous with out really tempting Nintendo into releasing its famed copyright ninjas for harm management. Consequently, followers of that top-down Zelda fashion will little doubt discover a lot to like right here, as Airoheart does an satisfactory job of presenting a large linear action-adventure expertise, however it as a rule feels such as you’re a funhouse mirror reflection relatively than the actual deal.
Airoheart is about within the fantasy land of Engard and follows the story of two feuding teams: the Elmer and the Breton. The Elmer are masters of peaceable types of magic whereas the Breton are proficient in additional offensive and violent magical skills, and there’s been pressure between the 2 teams for so long as anybody can keep in mind. Your character, a half-Breton named Airoheart who lives among the many Elmer together with his grandpa, is brothers with a Breton chief who’s instigating more and more extra aggressive maneuvers in opposition to the Elmer in what seems to be a prelude to struggle. He appears to be most , nevertheless, in retrieving the fragments of the legendary Draoidhe Stone, a magical MacGuffin that can all however assure a swift Breton victory. Guided by a mysterious disembodied voice, Airoheart thus units out on a quest to retrieve the fragments earlier than the Breton can get their arms on them.
It is not a really involving story, however it does take issues in a deeper, darker route than the everyday ‘save the princess’ narrative. The eponymous hero is supported on his quest by a various solid of characters on each side who assist so as to add some colour to the slower bits between dungeons, and although we didn’t discover this storyline to be significantly memorable, we will recognize the trouble that went into giving the land of Engard a extra nuanced social system that provides extra texture to your dungeoneering.
Gameplay in Airoheart takes closely after A Hyperlink to the Previous, following the identical fundamental gameplay loop of touring between dungeons, amassing new gadgets and talents, and exploring an overworld filled with secrets and techniques to uncover. The primary gameplay innovation right here is the inclusion of Runes, that are selectable spells you may solid utilizing mana that’ll create results like a lightweight heal or a moveable block to assist clear up puzzles. Virtually talking, Runes are only a totally different identify for one more set of things at your disposal, however their makes use of are distinct sufficient to really feel like their differentiation from the usual merchandise pool is warranted.
Once you’re not in dungeons, you’ll seemingly busy your self with testing out any new toys to unlock new pathways and caves to discover, or spend a while shopping for or attempting on new gear that flippantly mixes up your stats. We didn’t really feel that the gear and stat system right here was sufficient to qualify Airoheart as an RPG, however the little buffs to, say, the harm of your crossbow bolts does make a distinction now and again. The overworld feels sufficiently dense with worthwhile aims, too. This isn’t the type of recreation with an entire lot of nothing between factors of curiosity to offer you a way of scope; each grotto and cave often has one thing significant to take a look at and you’ll’t go various steps in any route with out discovering one thing else attention-grabbing.
Although you’ll spend a lot of your time exploring the overworld, dungeons are the primary draw of the expertise right here, and each incorporates a potent thematic mixture of appropriately difficult puzzles and enemy encounters which are satisfying to beat. That mentioned, the shortage of a localized map that will help you navigate looks like an pointless handicap. Checking the map will solely inform you the place you’re within the overworld, which is about as useful as asking somebody the place the toilet is and having them inform you the town you’re presently in. Dungeon design is streamlined sufficient that you simply don’t waste too a lot time looking for the suitable path, and the challenges you face alongside the way in which are decently enjoyable, however it’s issues like a nonexistent dungeon map that are inclined to take the wind out of Airoheart’s sails. It has potential, and with a couple of modifications it may very well be nice, however it as a substitute settles with being merely good.
And that is the issue with Airoheart; it’s nice, however simply looks like a much less polished copy of a a lot better recreation. There’s nothing improper with taking after the method of a well-regarded traditional, however merely repackaging the concepts of 1 with solely the subtlest of tweaks right here and there does not makes for a must-play expertise. Even when Nintendo itself returned to the properly with A Hyperlink Between Worlds, it took care to incorporate huge gameplay improvements, with a extra versatile method to the merchandise system together with high quality of life modifications like a refilling magic bar. Airoheart merely feeds in your want to play extra of a 30-year-old recreation you already personal and might simply entry on Swap, whereas including no important new concepts of its personal. It’s the sport model of the member of your group venture who throws their identify on the slideshow with out contributing something of substance to the content material.
Airoheart doesn’t mess up any of the broad strokes of its recreation design, however an absence of consideration to the smaller particulars accumulate to make it much less satisfying general. For instance, there’s a merely baffling overuse of an especially loud and sudden gunshot sound impact that always feels misplaced. When bombs go off, it looks like a becoming noise, however it’s way more obnoxious each time you get hit, fireplace a crossbow, shut a door, roll over a pit (!?), open a chest, or breathe. You get used to it with time, however it’s such an annoying and admittedly bizarre presence all through that it really drags down the entire recreation to a level. Little issues like this aren’t outright damning on their very own, however there are various of them and their presence is sort of a fly in your soup; simply eliminated, however bothersome and unsightly in the event that they’re left in.
We skilled some bugs and glitches, too, a few of which have been type of humorous, most of that are a nuisance. For instance, after dying to the ultimate boss of a dungeon, we had a pair occasions the place we respawned in the beginning of the dungeon with zero well being, which meant that Airoheart simply keeled over once more proper there. We additionally noticed many situations the place traps capturing out timed projectile assaults would glitch and a number of the projectiles would get hung up on the entice’s hitbox. The worst of them was the sport outright crashing again to the Residence Display, necessitating a full reboot and having to retrace our steps to make up for any misplaced information. Hopefully some patches will come, however in its present state, you will virtually actually be working into some type of glitch or technical hiccup that can impede your journey.
As for its presentation, Airoheart isn’t shy about lifting the visible fashion of A Hyperlink to the Previous wholesale. Every part from the colour palettes to the character spritework to the form of the rocks you may choose as much as toss at enemies may virtually be mistaken for direct asset rips. Issues get a little extra artistic right here or there, however we’d’ve preferred to have seen larger effort to distinguish Airoheart and provides it extra of its personal id. Nothing seems dangerous, however generally that lack of originality offers you the sense you are taking part in a ROM hack.
The music, in the meantime, is way much less memorable, consisting of a collection of generic and repetitive 16-bit chiptunes which are simply type of there. On the very least, this soundtrack doesn’t get in the way in which of 1’s enjoyment of the gameplay, however it looks like there was a missed alternative right here to combine audio that would elevate and assist form the general expertise to a larger diploma.
Conclusion
Airoheart is a satisfactory recreation, however hardly one we’d advocate you rush out to purchase until you merely can not get sufficient of the 2D Zelda method. It follows A Hyperlink to the Previous’s template so carefully that it may by no means be classed as ‘dangerous’, however in a crowded market of homages, tributes, and variations on the theme, it does little or no to face out. We might recommend you choose this up solely after you’ve performed via A Hyperlink to the Previous, the Hyperlink’s Awakening remake, and each the Blossom Tales video games, and also you nonetheless don’t really feel you’ve gotten sufficient of that particular model of top-down gameplay. Airoheart offers an satisfactory journey, and for $40 on the time of writing, we merely count on extra.
