Kernel Hearts

With its charming presentation, exceptionally fun 3D combat, and rewarding unlockables and level-up systems, Kernel Hearts is a blast.

Kernel Hearts impressed me with its sense of style and its epic boss fights and narrative scope, though it gets in its own way with poorly tuned enemies and frustrating late-run platforming. If you can persevere, it’s a relatively short experience well worth playing; it just may have been better served as a narrative action-adventure than a roguelite.

Kernel Hearts is a competent debut project that clearly showcases the creativity of the Argentine studio Whitethorn Games. The team succeeds in delivering an interesting universe, beautiful environments, and satisfying combat. However, it falls short in areas that hinder the roguelike experience—such as weak bosses, repetitive enemies, and a limited range of available moves. Even so, it is an experience I recommend, especially since most of the aforementioned issues would not be difficult to fix.

Kernel Hearts is fun, visually appealing, and is best enjoyed in co-op mode. The design is great, and the story is interesting, but the gameplay loop is long and can get tedious when playing solo.