Indie video games do not have to do their very own factor to achieve success (simply take a look at one thing like Prodeus), however Airoheart, a 2D The Legend of Zelda clone by way of and thru, by no means feels assured in its construction or design when it is not instantly aping Nintendo’s timeless sequence.

The motion journey title tries to set itself aside by introducing a extra nuanced narrative to the traditional formulation. It tells a story of neighbouring nations getting ready to battle, sprinkling a small solid of named characters into the combination as silent protagonist Airoheart tries his greatest to take care of peace. Anchoring a Zelda-like to a wider story is an attention-grabbing concept, however the writing is not particularly participating, and the personalities are pretty flat.

Airoheart may have doubled-down on the gameplay facet of issues — trying to enhance on its inspirations — however the harsh fact is that it does not match as much as its forebears. Combat may be frustratingly finicky when it comes to hitboxes and enemy positioning. Puzzles usually really feel overly fundamental, or annoyingly obscure. Exploration can appear utterly unrewarding at occasions, and the shortage of dungeon maps results in numerous backtracking, particularly in a while.

We just like the rune system, at the very least. Instead of lugging round a shed’s price of instruments, Airoheart makes use of a magical workers that may be imbued with varied runes to change its results. Some runes assist out in battle, whereas others are wanted to resolve particular puzzles, or open the best way to a brand new space of the overworld. It’s only a neat method to preserve your entire skills underneath one roof.

Airoheart’s, er, coronary heart is in the correct place — and it is an okay Zelda clone total — however the recreation’s received noticeable flaws. A possible suggestion in case you’re determined to play one thing resembling retro Zelda on PlayStation, however that is about it.