Heart Forth, Alicia

Even though it may sound a bit nostalgia-driven, the '90s were a great time for video games, especially for the RPG genre. Nut looking back at it, it's not just nostalgia, but also it's that many of the biggest franchises and names in the industry started out in the '90s. That's why many of the indie developers use the style of the retro classics. Inspired by these retro games and fantasy stories, Alonso Martin, a 26 years old indie developer launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a game with that same essence, and that is how Heart Forth, Alicia came to be. So, what's this game all about? Well, let's talk about it.

About the game

Starting off, we have to say that Heart Forth, Alicia is a Metroidvania mixed with RPG. While it is a part of Metroidvania games to have RPG elements, in this game they are more present and important for the development of the gameplay. There are many items and upgrades to gather and unblock to progress in the game.

As for the combat, the developer makes a comparison of Alicia, being a wizard with fighting abilities, to characters like Gandalf from the Tolkien universe. We can use different spells and special abilities to progress, but there's also the magical whip to use for physical attacks. Not to mention that there are many different allies in the style of Navi from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, except that these fairies really do something this time, as they aid Alicia and give her power-ups to keep on progressing. This game is inspired by the classic The Legend Of Zelda and Castlevania games, especially Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

The story

This story takes place in a world where a giant star crashed into Earth, this only left a lone floating island as a sole survivor of the "old world". Inhabited by mages who took upon themselves the power of the island, and thus, were cursed by the spirit Elthëlian to never be able to have children of their own.

The last two young magicians, Alicia and Höstra are close to the coming of age, and with that comes a ceremony to commemorate the success. But during the event, Elthëlian kills one of the high mages and takes control of Höstra, and tries to throw Alicia out of the edge of the island. This is why Alicia is now looking for a way to go back to her home and stop Elthëlian.

Heart Forth, Alicia is a beautiful game with a lot of work put into making it as pretty as it is fun, well, at least that was the intention. The pixel art is really one of the stronger points of this game, and the design itself is simply amazing, it shows a lot of love was put into the development of this game.

Pros:

• Beautiful art
• Great designs
• Complex mechanics

Cons:

• Bland story
• Not much character development