Review: Castle of Heart (Nintendo Switch).
Castle of Heart I was already interested in the first announcement on Switch. Polish production, which combines an action game and a 2D platformer, resembled it from the beginning Ghosts n ‘GoblinsI grew up on. Too bad the title qualitatively Level7 did not live up to my hopes.
An evil wizard appears out of nowhere, kidnaps the chosen one of our knight’s heart, and then casts a spell on him, the final effect of which is to merge him with the rocks. Of course, the brave hero copes with it and sets off to save the kidnapped lady. Story Castle of Heart is an example of the most clichéd history that can be written. Not that I would need a plot in platformers, but still – there is a lot of room for more sensible action here.
The Polish studio advertised the game as an extremely difficult platformer with a demanding combat system. Some 16-bit productions immediately came to mind – Castlevania whether Ghosts n ‘Goblins – but Castle of Heart it does not copy ideas from those old games very well. Yes, it is difficult, but due to the underdevelopment of both pillars of the game.
As a platformer Castle of Heart it’s too stiff and too numb. Our character jumps as if she had a rope with a stone tied to her leg all the time. Of course I understand that the protagonist has been turned to stone that crumbles over time, but I doubt the weird collision detection is deliberate. The game notoriously encounter problems with jumping to the platform, which manifests itself simply by sliding from the edge into the abyss. Movement is also problematic when you use the attack after jumping. Then our character, as it were, runs forward from the march, which – needless to say – is irritating when we fall into the abyss or into the water for the first time.
As an action game Castle of Heart it works a bit better, but it’s still far from perfect. The combat system, like the platform elements, is incredibly stiff. Despite dozens of seemingly different weapons, the fight comes down to waving your basic attack as quickly as possible to kill the enemy before he reaches us. The biggest problem is the lack of any dynamics of the clashes. There are no parrying blows, no combinations. Dodges are extremely slow and it looks as if it was made underwater. So I tried to avoid the fight, but the constantly falling health, which we replenish mainly by killing enemies, made it impossible for me.
So we got a poor game? Not necessarily. Castle of Heart looks extremely nice on Switcheven when I played the title on a large TV. Of course, the whole thing looks best in portable console mode. The style referring to dark fantasy, as well as the design of the locations, which were diversified during these five chapters, make their own in the graphic presentation. I also have nothing to complain about when it comes to level designs. They are interesting, transparent and, what is important, a lot of neatly hidden secrets in them. Castle of Heart it ends in about six hours, which is tolerable for a game of this type.
Ultimately, even though I was a bit disappointed with the game, I wouldn’t name it Castle of Heart unsuccessful project. It could have been better, without a doubt. Is PLN 49 the right price for the game? I would wait for some discounts.
The code for review was provided by the developer via Outreach PR.
