Airoheart review - "A retro RPG plagued by poor design choices"

• Poor controls make navigating narrow paths challenging
• A vast 2D world to explore
• Lack of guidance for quests may leave you feeling lost

Tensions are high in the land of Engard and war between the Bretons and the Elmers is brewing. Descended from both Elmer and Breton, Airoheart is destined to stop it. In this pixelated roleplaying adventure, you'll explore a vast world and battle enemies in real time. 

Airoheart: A Tale as Old as the RPG

Airoheart begins in a similar fashion to many retro RPGs; you are essentially the chosen one, and it's your duty to stop a powerful evil. Living on Elmer territory, you’re considered an outsider due to your mixed lineage. After teaming up with some gung-ho Elmers to hunt down Bretons infiltrating the land, you learn a devastating truth; your long-lost brother is attempting to begin a war by raising an ancient evil.

While the plot is engaging enough, Airoheart’s lack of clear direction in your quest journal makes finding your way a bit of a gamble. There is also no mini-map to help guide you. You can view your current destination by pulling up the map. However, it’s up to you to figure out how to get there.

Having an emphasis on exploration isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Unfortunately, the lack of map markers and quest directions means it’s hard to keep to the main story. Additionally, the controls are a bit wonky, making some would-be easy parts of your adventure quite frustrating.

Airoheart Suffers for its Controls

The controls for Airoheart, while simple, can also be rather annoying. This is in part due to your character’s stilted movement. Since Airoheart is a retro-inspired game, you can’t move diagonally - only up, down, left, and right. This presents a challenge when approaching an enemy at an odd angle. Birds can also fly diagonally at you, so you’ll have to determine which direction you should face to hit them. 

Further, the movement controls are a bit touchy making it all too easy to fall to your death when traversing slender pathways. I did find that using an external controller made for a smoother experience. Still, certain actions, like getting Airoheart to use his shield, didn’t translate well to my NEO S Frost Edition controller, making it impossible to cross a narrow bridge with arrow traps. Also, sometimes, your noble adventurer gets stuck in shield mode, which prevents you from changing the direction he’s facing.

Airoheart has Lackluster Combat

This pixel RPG features simplistic real-time combat. Coming into close proximity with an enemy will trigger it to attack. You can attack with your sword by tapping anywhere on the lower right half of the screen. You can also use your crossbow against your foes as long as you have arrows. To beat an enemy, you simply have to hit them enough times. Overall, combat feels kind of bland despite the vast number of foes you’ll encounter.

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As you explore, you’ll uncover new locations and discover new weapons and armour. You’ll also meet many NPCs, although many of them feel incredibly flat. Still, exploring is where Airoheart shines. The beautifully rendered pixelated world features lush jungles, arid deserts, secret caverns, and more. However, it’s not enough to save it from the bland story, lack of direction, and problematic controls.

Airoheart has the looks of an old-school RPG, but unfortunately, it doesn’t live up to expectations. While it offers a lovely world to explore, the fickle controls make it difficult to enjoy traversing the various locals. Further, the lack of a mini-map and clear directions for quests make Airoheart more work than play.

Airoheart review - "A retro RPG plagued by poor design choices"

Airoheart features a lovely pixel world that is unfortunately to frustrating to explore do to poor controls and a lack of guidance for quests.