I often find myself looking for Indie games inspired by classics. This isn’t always to relive those nostalgic days, sometimes I want to see how a new developer (with time and distance) can iterate on a classic idea. Airoheart has the inspirational DNA of early games in the Legend of Zelda franchise. However, some issues with difficulty and clunky controls really stop it from being truly great.

Created by Pixel Heart Studio, Airoheart puts you in the role of the titular protagonist, in a world where two races are at war. The Bretons are a race of humans that wield devastating offensive magic and seek to conquer the continent, while the Elmer are a peaceful (at least seemingly peaceful) race of elves who use non-combative magic.

Airoheart is half Breton and half Elmer and is not really accepted by either culture. He finds himself embroiled in events that could very well lead to war. So, it is up to you to help Airoheart collect the fragments of the Draoidh Stone before his enemies do. This is a simple enough plot, and the game tends to just drop you right in the middle of it.

There isn’t much preamble as to where the animosity between the races comes from, other than anecdotal evidence that the Bretons tried to take over. You don’t see Breton characters until a little way in, and they are far from the warmongers you’d expect from the game’s exposition.

Aside from this, Airoheart plays like a typical Zelda game. Airoheart can roll around, use a sword and shield, and equip various secondary items like bombs or his Rune Staff. The Rune Staff (once you have runes) can be used to cast spells, which cost Mana. The big issue is, while you can remap the buttons, the default button configuration is very clunky. On top of that, sometimes aiming Airoheart is a nightmare.

I can’t count the number of times I died in-game while trying to attack an enemy, only to take repeated damage from behind because Airoheart wouldn’t turn around. Between fighting the controls and the somewhat harsh difficulty, Airoheart is a frustrating endeavor. If you’re a fan of classic Zelda games I think you might like it, but between the frustration and the lackluster story, I just wasn’t into it.

There are a variety of side quests you can undertake, and you can find Heart Melons (like Heart Pieces) to increase your max health. However, after a while, I found myself wondering why I was playing when I kept having to redo sections because either the game crashed or I died from Airoheart not turning around as he should.

If you’re looking for a challenging game inspired by the Legend of Zelda franchise, pick up Airoheart on sale. I wouldn’t necessarily say that it is worth a full-price experience, but if you can put up with its proverbial warts I think there’s something to enjoy here. I’d love to see the developers take some of the ideas from this game and either make a more polished sequel or a similar-style game with a new plot and setup. Their intentions were good, but this missed its mark.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Airoheart was provided by SOEDESCO for this review.

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Airoheart

$39.99

4

Score

4.0/10

Pros

• Interesting Concept
• Gorgeous Pixel Art

Cons

• Clunky Controls
• Crashes
• Aiming is Buggy
• Story is Slow
• Harsh Difficulty Spikes