Airheart: Tales of Broken Wings
- August 14, 2018
- Blindflug Studios
- 5h median play time
Airheart: Tales of Broken Wings is a game whose crafting mechanic is a lot more interesting than the rest of the gameplay. It doesn’t feel broken, it just feels like the flying gameplay is secondary to the inventive crafting.
Get on Xbox Games Store"Airheart: Tales of Broken Wings" is a single-player shooter game with excellent graphics, great mechanics, and an impressive soundtrack. In this dieselpunk airplane action game, you play as Amelia, a sky fisherwoman in the floating city of Granaria, battling pirates and salvaging scrap to craft and customize your airplane. With free-roaming gameplay and over 40 weapons and parts to combine, get ready to soar to new heights in this reimagined airplane game.
Mac OS
Nintendo Switch
PC
Playstation 4
Xbox One
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- Beautiful visuals and a charming art style that enhances the overall experience.
- Engaging gameplay with a fun crafting system and satisfying twin-stick shooting mechanics.
- Offers a unique blend of roguelike elements and environmental themes, making it enjoyable for players who appreciate a challenge.
- Repetitive gameplay that can lead to a lack of motivation due to the need to start from the beginning after each run.
- Crafting system is frustrating and poorly explained, leading to trial and error without clear guidance.
- The game can feel grindy and unfulfilling, with harsh consequences for failure that may deter casual players.
- gameplay26 mentions
- 46 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is generally praised for its engaging mechanics, charming visuals, and a satisfying crafting system that enhances the experience. While it features a steep learning curve and some minor bugs, players appreciate the challenge and variety offered by the combat and exploration elements. Overall, the game provides a fun and addictive experience, particularly for fans of roguelite and action genres.
“An awesome dieselpunk action rogue-like twin stick shooter that is challenging yet a lot of fun to play and has a ton of charm and solid core gameplay.”
“The harpoon gun mechanic is simply brilliant and allows for some interesting combat techniques such as whipping harpooned enemies into rocks or better yet, other bad guys!”
“The mechanics feel very fluent and are easily understood, which allows for a fast immersion into the gameplay.”
“There's also story cutscenes which make little sense and have even less bearing on what happens during gameplay.”
“The crafting system is also not persistent so it becomes a chore when crafting items you have made and lost/used... the tutorial instructions clearly skip critical gameplay mechanics like harpooning planes/guns/big fish and then diving back to base with them in tow.”
“It doesn’t feel broken, it just feels like the flying gameplay is secondary to the inventive crafting.”
- music18 mentions
- 78 % positive mentions
- 6 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with many reviewers noting its orchestral quality and fittingness to different environments. The soundtrack effectively evokes feelings of adventure and anticipation, complementing the game's visuals and gameplay experience. Overall, the combination of a captivating soundtrack and stunning visuals contributes significantly to the game's immersive qualities.
“A beautiful game with a great atmosphere, wonderful music and unforgiving enemies that will punish you for reaching too high, too fast.”
“It's hard to describe, but the skyscape and the music just evoke a feeling I haven't gotten from many other games; of loneliness and adventure, anticipation and hope.”
“The visuals are great and the music really supports the overall flowing experience, even though I sometimes find it a bit too calm for the heavy fighting.”
“The aesthetics are very good and it is a very joyful, relaxed game, but the music feels repetitive and lacks variety.”
“While the different areas have different music, it often feels disconnected from the gameplay and doesn't enhance the experience.”
“The music, although orchestral, fails to create a memorable atmosphere and often fades into the background.”
- graphics14 mentions
- 71 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charm, beauty, and polished art style, with many reviewers highlighting the appealing dieselpunk aesthetic and colorful visuals. The soundtrack complements the visuals well, enhancing the overall experience, although some players feel that the graphics can occasionally distract from gameplay. Overall, the game's visuals are considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to its appeal.
“The graphics are charming and colorful.”
“The visual art style is so beautiful, the soundtrack throughout the game is so fitting.”
“The graphics are refined and the music just fits perfectly (props to that, great work done here!).”
- grinding11 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight that while the game features a fun concept, the grinding aspect is often seen as tedious and unfulfilling, with players noting a lack of engaging story and slow progression. Despite the grind, some players appreciate the challenge and the "just one more run" appeal, suggesting that those who enjoy grind-heavy gameplay may still find enjoyment in the experience. Overall, the game is characterized by its reliance on grinding for crafting and progression, which can be both frustrating and rewarding.
“It's just so damn grindy and unfulfilling.”
“It's very grindy and lacks a story.”
“It's way too tedious and boring.”
- story10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game receives mixed reviews, with many players finding it lacking in depth and substance, often describing it as almost non-existent or pointless. While some appreciate the cute elements and the diesel punk aesthetic, others criticize the disjointed cutscenes and the overall grindy nature of the gameplay that detracts from the narrative experience. Overall, players express a desire for more engaging storytelling and context to enhance their experience.
“The whole idea and story, everything.”
“+ fascinating story of a dream.”
“I also liked the story :d”
“It only took me about 8 hours to beat the story, and once you do that, there's no reason to try for the end again.”
“The story is almost non-existent, but also cute.”
“There's also story cutscenes which make little sense and have even less bearing on what happens during gameplay.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has limited replayability, as players feel that once achievements are completed, there is little incentive to play again. Its short length further diminishes replay value, leading some to suggest it may only be worth purchasing on sale.
“Once you finish the achievements, the game has no replayability whatsoever.”
“If you can get the game on sale, it's probably worth it, but I don't know if I would pay full price for a game that destroys its own replayability.”
“Since the game is short, I'm not sure if there is much replay value in the game.”
- atmosphere3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its beauty and charm, enhanced by captivating music and a unique, whimsical setting featuring airborne fish. Players appreciate the immersive experience, though the challenging enemies add a layer of intensity to the overall ambiance.
“A beautiful game with a great atmosphere, wonderful music, and unforgiving enemies that will punish you for reaching too high, too fast.”
“A cute, very atmospheric game.”
“I love the game idea, the crazy setting (I mean fishes in the air - come on!), the music, and the whole atmosphere.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The game demonstrates strong initial performance with quick loading times and smooth operation; however, it suffers from frequent crashes and notable performance issues that detract from the overall experience.
“Starts fast and runs smoothly.”
“At the time of writing, this game crashes regularly and has performance issues.”
“The optimization is so poor that it makes the game nearly unplayable on mid-range systems.”
“Even on high-end hardware, the frame rates drop significantly during intense scenes.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game experiences occasional glitches and bugs, indicating some stability issues that may affect the overall gameplay experience.
“There are some glitches and bugs, though.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it hard to enjoy.”
“I experienced several stability issues that disrupted my gameplay.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's humor is highlighted by clever design choices, such as the 'cratefish' health pickups that visually resemble regular health items but inflict damage if collected, adding a comedic twist to gameplay and challenging players to discern between them amidst the action.
“There are health pickups, and also ones that are 'cratefish', a hilarious joke by the developers that will damage you if you try to collect them - they are visually a few pixels different, so good luck identifying which is which in the heat of battle.”
Critic Reviews
Airheart: Tales of Broken Wings Review
Airheart: Tales of Broken Wings is a game whose crafting mechanic is a lot more interesting than the rest of the gameplay. It doesn’t feel broken, it just feels like the flying gameplay is secondary to the inventive crafting.
60%Airheart: Tales of Broken Wings Review
71%
