The Last Hero of Nostalgaia
In The Last Hero of Nostalgaia engage in a treacherous adventure as we dive into the nostalgia of the past. Read what we think of this trip down memory lane in our review here.
At first glance The Last Hero of Nostalgaia a Souls-like with the same kind of difficulty and a system that you have to find your body when you finish to get your stuff back. In doing so, it adds a thick layer of nods to nostalgic experiences of video games. So you still have to weigh whether to attack an enemy or stay defensive while you die and try again.
At the beginning you choose a class, based on the classics such as thief, fighter, wizard, and so on. At their core, these differ a bit in that the base to build on is different, as a wizard can’t hit as hard as, say, a fighter, though the wizard has more ‘source’, as the magic from this world is called. Also, they each start with a different weapon, though that doesn’t matter fairly soon after the start because you’ll find plenty of other weapons.
The world of The Last Hero of Nostalgaia offers a mix of pixels and 3D environments where you will encounter different enemies. From simple thieves and knights to goblins who turn into cardboard animals to hide in. Nowhere did the monsters seem genuinely impressive except for a single boss. This combination of looks is also reflected in the character. For example, the equipment is a bit bland at times, until you take them to a certain area and they start turning into the real versions. For example, a flat gray axe can suddenly take on a metallic appearance or a cardboard armor suddenly transforms into a nicely designed leather set. Also, we start the game as a stick-figure, but so later on we get more and more of a real hero look.
The game’s big charm lies mainly in its bland humor and nods to other games. For example, the connecting paths between worlds are a kind of office complex full of motivational posters and canteens for monsters, something you’re going to see often because unfortunately there is no way to travel quickly between worlds. There is also the narrator who regularly breaks the fourth wall and makes jokes. All in all fun, but content that doesn’t change much about the game itself.
During the journey in Nostalgaia, the game unfortunately does nothing special, leaving you mainly doing the same thing while experiencing one blink of nostalgia after another. That causes us to play the game with a smile for the most part, but it wasn’t really because of the gameplay. The weapons all look different too, but in practice are pretty much the same with a similar special attack. So that it all feels somewhat mediocre.
That makes The Last Hero of Nostalgaia leans mostly on nostalgia and that that does make the game fun. Otherwise, the game’s content is superficial and doesn’t do anything special. It’s Souls-like at its core, which otherwise plays away just fine, but its strength is mostly in the humor and nods to retro games. So that this game is quickly forgotten after a few plays unfortunately.
The Last Hero of Nostalgaia was played on PC for this review. The game is also available for the Xbox One/Series X|S.
