I can therefore recommend Castle of Heart only to those who are up for an extreme challenge or who have something to prove to their punk children (or punk parents). It’s a beautiful game and the development is almost flawless, but the rewards don’t come often enough to help you past the game’s brutal difficulty.
Castle of Heart
7LEVELS · Mar 23, 2018
About
CASTLE OF HEART, available exclusively for Nintendo Switch™, is a classic action platformer at the genre's best… and most challenging, with plentiful of new twists on formula to experience. The players take control over a cursed knight, turned to stone by the evil sorcerer's spell, but ready to prove that love and courage can conquer even the darkest magic.
The brave hero must travel all the way from the petrified village to the dark ruler's castle, mastering 20 levels set in 4 distinct environments – full of enemies who require different strategies to face them successfully and sudden gameplay changes, which translate to exciting, dynamic action sequences. The selection of progressively more powerful additional weapons, from flaming grenades to powerful magical arsenal, as well as power-ups, will help him in his quest. But remember – the body of stone has its limits! It disintegrates permanently as the knight loses the energy, which he can supply only by defeating his enemies, and if the process reaches the critical level, he may lose one of his arms and the ability to wield additional weapons with it.
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Critic reviews
- I’m not able to recommend Castle of Heart. It doesn’t look good, it features subpar gameplay with input lag issues, as well as really disappointing level design. It feels more like a mobile title that got ported at the last minute to the Switch than a full-fledged exclusive the console needs right now. There are tons of other side-scrollers for the Switch right now, so just grab them instead of this one. If I want to play a medieval side scroller with clunky controls, I’d just rather play an old school round of Ghosts n’ Goblins instead.
- It’s a shame, really. This game had a lot of potential. Heck, I’d even say that it still has potential, whether that be in the form of an update or an eventual sequel. But, for now, it’s just okay. Castle of Heart makes a decent attempt to bring classic platforming action to the modern day genre, does have its good point, but ultimately ends up tripping over itself due to floaty controls and an ever-dropping health bar. It’s not a bad game by any means, but there are definitely other platformers that I’d recommend before this one.
- Needless to say, Castle Of Heart isn’t a good game. Its humdrum platforming mixed with shoddy animations and sluggish controls makes for a rather dopey gaming experience. While the game’s main gimmick of keeping your life afloat does have some potential, it’s never quite implemented well enough to stir up anything new or interesting.
- 7.0For an indie title, this is an extremely solid debut. The Switch as a whole is excellent for indie platforms, and Castle of Heart is a very welcome addition. It’s an ambitious title that hits a lot of the right notes, and 7Levels should be very pleased with what they ended up producing with this title. It’s an enjoyable side-scroller with very enjoyable combat, and there isn’t quite a title like it in the shop. For those aiming for their next difficult game fix, Castle of Heart can definitely scratch that itch.
- 6.0Castle of Heart looks great and offers a stern challenge to those who don't mind repeatedly playing the same level over and over before finally beating it and moving on. There's definitely some fun to be had finding the best route through each stage and delicately picking off enemies, but the constantly-depleting health bar and frustrating combat will have many players giving up and moving onto games which are less harmful to their general well being.
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