This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format.

Taking us to the skies, Airheart – Tales of Broken Wings is a charming twin-stick shooter that boasts a well-developed world to explore, some solid voice acting, a decent narrative, and decent gameplay.

The imagination in Airheart’s world design and art style is something to applaud, and may just be the game's greatest strength. The ability to see the beautiful aerial levels layered in the sky below you as you battle it out at higher altitudes is a really nice touch and makes the world feel alive. Similarly, the concepts of sky fishing, sky pirates, and a mythical sky whale to track down, while not completely original, all work to make this more than your run-of-the-mill shooter.

Combat-wise, Airheart is fine, but doesn’t quite, ahem, ‘stick the landing.’ Featuring a top-down perspective with 360-degree control, the control can feel a little clunky. Airheart is certainly playable, but at times it can be fiddly and frustrating. That said, the ‘mechanics’ of the plane crafting are certainly more appealing, giving an expansive array of abilities to add to your little plane, ranging from new wings to additional weapons.

The main concept revolves around collecting fish (the game's currency) while fighting off sky pirates. You can go up a level – where more fish swim – whenever you please, but you’ll also encounter more brutal opponents. You’ll need to use judgement to assess when to call it a day, as, if you play on hard mode, permadeath is enabled. There is a sliver of hope in being able to redirect your plane towards base camp, but it’s difficult and losing all of your hard-earned gear is a tough pill to swallow.

Airheart's visuals are colourful and appealing. It adopts a cartoonish style, but manages to inject its own personality into the characters, vehicles, and surroundings, giving it a unique and awe-inspiring feel. The music also shifts as you ascend further, which is a really welcome addition to keep things fresh and avoid a droning sense of repetition.

Overall, Airheart – Tales of Broken Wings is a solid time. A decent enough story with some fantastic world-building, fun progression via crafting, and some really intense quick decisions to be made, make this far more than just ‘falling with style.’