The top-down action-adventure gameplay in Airoheart is very similar to the seminal SNES game, albeit with some engaging wrinkles all of its own. Graphics and assets aren't the only things that conjure comparisons to A Link to the Past. Other indie titles like Blossom Tales II and Ocean's Heart have managed to evoke the visual spirit of Zelda without copying it wholesale, so it's a little disappointing Airoheart couldn't do the same. There are plenty of unique items, monsters, NPCs, and biomes in Airoheart, no doubt, but most of the time it feels more like a mod of A Link to the Past and less like something built from scratch. Visually, the game maintains an uncanny resemblance to the Super Nintendo classic, with models, assets, and animations that look nearly identical to those from 1992.

In your very first minutes with Airoheart, the similarities to A Link to the Past reveal themselves. Read on to see how Airoheart measures up.

Inviting comparisons to one of the greatest games in video game history is a bold move, no doubt. The latest indie Zelda-like game to grace the Switch is Airoheart, a love letter of sorts to that most famous of top-down Zelda games, A Link to the Past.

These include Nintendo's official offerings, Breath of the Wild and Link's Awakening, plus ports of seventh-gen games like Darksiders, and more than a few independent titles forged in the Zelda mold. By Evan Norris, posted on 03 October 2022 / 3,810 ViewsĪfter five-plus years on the market, the Switch has accumulated a significant number of Zelda-like games.

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