Compile Heart has a really weird reputation with most of their games being very flawed, but have tons of charm that really make or break the experience. They mainly specialize in JRPGs with some of their more popular series being Record of Agarest War, Mary Skelter, and their most popular series Hyperdimension Neptunia. I love their fun writing, charming characters, and their amazing music but when it comes to gameplay sometimes they hit but when they miss it can be some of the most frustrating experiences ever in Kusoge (Crappy Game) territory.
That’s why when I saw they were making a 2D metroidvania game with a focus on magic combat and exploration I wanted to know if Ariana and the Elder Codex would finally be the Compile Heart game that would not only have a fun story, but also engaging gameplay. Did Compile Heart finally strike gold with Arianna or would it be a story not worth telling?
Magic librarian saves the world
The world was once filled with magic until the books that gave the world magic suddenly were vandalized and brought the entire world into peril. Ariana is a rookie librarian who is the only one with the magic to fix these books by making sure their stories play out in the way they were originally intended. By fixing all seven codices, magic will return to the world and maybe during this process Ariana can find clues regarding the whereabouts of her missing parents.
I was genuinely impressed by this game’s story as the writing was really solid and veered off from the developer’s normal focus on more comedic and anime heavy games like Neptunia. All seven codices are framed around a very straightforward tale that is very reminiscent of a fairy tale. For example, the first four codices are based on the four primary magical elements that you can wield and each of their stories reflect the spirit of those elements. Water is all about healing and caring for others, wind is about freedom, fire is about building a better tomorrow for the next generation, and earth is about the importance of faith and standing your ground. Not only do we get the stories within the books but we also see how Ariana thinks about these stories and we get hints of who the culprit is that messed with the books in the first place. It’s a great narrative throughline that really makes the lore and history of this world feel very rich and enthralling.Â
I really enjoyed the pacing of the game where after each codex we get time to explore the library and talk to all of the different characters found throughout its halls. We can learn new magic from Divina, we can craft new from Vester, and read lore found in the different bookshelves scattered throughout. Even the more basic NPCs have their own little sub-stories, and if you talk to them enough they will even give you magic tools that can make your journey through the game more manageable. Throughout the game you even learn about how magic came into the world and the conflicts between demons and humanity. This really makes the game feel like there are thousands of years of history and we are just seeing a small sliver of what this game world has to offer. I want to see more.Â
Magic combat rules
Magic is the name of the game when it comes to the combat. You have access to four elements and each one of those elements has five unique spells with unique behaviors. You have fire, wind, earth, and water magic which all have their unique gimmicks that make building your playstyle very compelling if not a bit cumbersome at times. You do have access to a fifth elemental magic called spacetime but that acts more as a neutral magic which ends up being really useful in the endgame. Every time you complete a codex you gain access to all of the spells available to that element which allows you to slot six spells altogether. It’s not all fun and games though because enemies can become imbued with a specific element and the best way to beat them is to hit them with their opposite element, those being fire versus water and earth against wind. If you hit them enough with a certain element you can cause a huge element explosion which does critical damage and can even stun them for a short period. So the big gameplay loop is picking your spells carefully and doing your best to destroy your enemies with massive damage. This whole system is very fluid, especially with countering, air dashing, and double jumps which make the game very chaotic but rewarding.Â
Along with the magic system we also have a leveling system and an item magic system. Every time you defeat an enemy you gain experience which can lead to Arianna leveling up which increases their magic attack power and their HP. Alongside that you have magic items which can be obtained by either completing certain challenges, talking to certain characters, and crafting them by using the currency you earn from defeating enemies. These items can do small things like increasing HP and making you more resistant to a certain element, but you can also find items that decrease magic casting times and decreasing the amount of time it takes to overload enemies. Each magic item has a star cost and at the beginning you can only hold a few magic items. To increase the amount you can use you have to repair tears in the codex which if you get a rank you can get bonus health, extra attack power, or more magic item storage. The progression is really solid and about everything you do in the game is helping you become stronger which resonates really well with the story being told.
Bosses and balance issues
While I did enjoy the combat for the majority of the game there were times especially during the early game where I did feel like I was being funneled into favoring one type of magic over all the other types. Earth magic also felt very weak compared to all the other magic types because two of the spells are defense spells which are so situational I couldn’t justify using them in most scenarios. One of your slots is dedicated to your melee sword attack and you need to have a healing spell because the game will not give your natural healing otherwise so realistically you only have four slots to mess around with. I figured out having a mix of fast and slow casting spells was the way to go so most of my loadouts consisted of area affect fire spells and constant damage wind spells with a touch of water spells for damage.Â
Bosses are a huge highlight with this game featuring some of the most creative and engaging bosses I’ve encountered in a while mixed with some absolutely cheap bosses in the mix as well. None of the bosses veer into unfairness but some of these bosses have some really huge difficulty spikes thanks to them spawning enemies during their fights and one in particular having a really annoying boss arena that had me pulling out my hair. Most of the bosses are very good though and really had me scrambling and barely surviving the encounters. The final boss in particular was a very challenging boss but really tested all of the skills that I have learned so far and was really memorable.
I love exploring this world
Now this being sort of a metroidvania game there are some unique abilities you learn that do make revisiting locations and opening new areas fun enough but aren’t really the main attraction. Don’t expect a Hollow Knight or Dead Cells level of interconnected maps with shortcuts and hidden areas, think more like a 2D platformer with some areas blocked off that have a hidden challenge or some hidden loot. That doesn’t mean that the game doesn’t have some really well designed levels that really grow in complexity as the game goes on.
I really enjoyed the fire codex in particular where you have to explore this demon fortress that has tons of areas to explore and unlock. The main thing you will be doing in this game is combat, but the game does have some decent puzzles and the traversal is pretty if not a bit basic in some areas. The key word is polished, which I was really impressed with as none of the traversal or combat moves felt clunky or unresponsive.Â
A bad chapter or two
Now I talked a bit earlier about the combat having a lot of depth and being very fun to do, but the main problem I ran into was the enemy variety which is not the best in this game. Most of the enemies are pretty easy to beat and have very little separating them aside from the element they are weak to and some of the attacks they can do. The most unique being the magicians which can cast two spells depending on their elements and buff shield knights which you have to attack behind them to do any real damage. At a certain point in the game it becomes less of a challenge and more of a formality on when you’re gonna beat their heads in. I know the game agrees with this because most of the combat challenges in the late game throw tons of enemies at you or they put you in a really difficult area with sudden drops of death.
The game ran flawlessly on my PS5 which is to be expected since this game is not a very complex game. The art style and effects you get while battling enemies is very flashy and I never grew tired of it. Like all of Compile Heart’s games, the music was really solid with the theme in the library being really melancholic and soothing which was always fun to listen to. The voice acting was great as well since all the Japanese voice actors did an amazing job. Overall, I just really enjoyed how this game was presented, and I would not be opposed to seeing more games looking like this coming out of that studio.
An instant classic with a few bent pages
I really love being genuinely surprised by a game and Ariana and the Elder Codex did just that. The magic combat was fluid and engaging and I found myself wanting more of the characters and the world that I explored over 20 hours, within which in my books is a genuine achievement. This was by far one of the most polished experiences from Compile Heart that I have ever seen and I hope they continue this trend moving forward as I want them to continue their unique brand of humor and adventure. While having some minor flaws, none of them take away from this being an exemplary 2D platformer with a magical execution.
Ariana and the Elder Codex is out now on PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. The title launches on PC (Steam) on April 29.
