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Ariana and the Elder Codex Review
- Taylor Rioux
- Apr 27
- 4 min read
We should be funding our libraries.
The market has been flooded with Metroidvanias over the last decade or so, making the separation between the great, the good, and the banal all the more meaningful. Of all the genres for Compile Heart to jump into, this is certainly one of the most surprising, as the domain of their titles has largely fallen under the umbrella of middling RPG, with the Neptunia and Fairy Fencer series making up the bulk of their releases.
Publisher: Idea Factory International Developer: Idea Factory, Compile Heart, HYDE, Inc. Platform: Played on PC Availability: Released March 24, 2026 for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5; April 29, 2026, for PC. |
It is no surprise, then, that Ariana and the Elder Codex does not necessarily aim to redefine the structural foundations of its genre but instead focuses on delivering a polished, stylized take on it. By injecting Compile Heart's typical anime style into a genre overflowing with games featuring a dark, brooding aesthetic, Ariana can at least be counted among the few titles with a bright visage.
It does succeed in that regard. Even at just a first glance, Ariana is a gorgeous-looking game. The backgrounds and environments within the codices are lovely, painterly vistas, and the character portraits are equally stunning; even the menus look great, with a ton of style added to each element within. It is clear that a massive amount of attention has gone into making this project look great, though it does fall a bit flat with enemy designs and on-the-field character models.
The narrative premise is simple, placing players in the role of Ariana, the librarian of The Library. It is unclear if this is the only “library” in the world, or if others do exist, what names they might use for the space. Is this the only place that has books? Who knows! Within this sanctuary sits the Seven Hero Codices, a collection of volumes crafted to provide magic to the people of the world. When a mysterious entity corrupts these books, Ariana must repair them—she is the only person capable of doing so, after all.
Each book serves as a distinct biome with its own navigation trials and environments—though the distinctions between each are mostly visual, with few differences aside from what ability you need to use to reach the platforms. With seven codices to repair, it is a tall task, though no single codex stays overly long to extend the journey.
While the overarching plot doesn't quite land as anything more than an afterthought, with the few twists easily seen coming from the opening moments of the game, it is serviceable, or at least not outright offensive. Thankfully, each codex has a self-contained story—vignettes that fill out the world in more interesting ways than the main cast ever dares to. At the end of each codex, players are read the story they have repaired, which is a nice little touch, but does come off as a tad redundant.
Where the game finds its best rhythm is in its combat and movement systems, with some major caveats. Ariana moves fluidly, and the combat is built around a unique magic system where players equip two sets of three spells across four different elements. Because using a spell from a specific element—like fire or water—places all other spells of that same element on a shared cooldown, it is more optimal to diversify the elements used.
Where the game finds its best rhythm is in its combat and movement systems, with some major caveats.
Hitting enemies with a flurry of spells in rapid succession causes waves of explosions due to elemental buildup and completely wipes out crowds nearly instantaneously. It can be fun to see this happen, but it does make navigation through the pages a bit boring. What is the purpose of these combat encounters when they end so immediately?
Against bosses, there is a bit more of an opportunity to give an honest effort, but none of the bosses could survive more than 30 seconds on Hard, except the final boss. The game is just pitifully easy, which is a damn shame given how fluid and free mixing the spells can be.
The exploration follows the traditional flow but adds a layer of performance-based progression that encourages backtracking via challenges and treasure chests that are meant to be inaccessible before getting most of Ariana’s traversal skills. Of course, with some diligence and timing, nearly all of these can be obtained on first arrival, with very few exceptions.
To fully repair a book, Ariana must close various rifts, which manifest either as timed combat gauntlets or platforming races to a specific point on the map. The game grades your performance on these tasks, and achieving an "A" rank provides permanent boosts to your base stats, as well as currency for upgrades and gear.
Unfortunately, both the exploration and combat suffer from occasionally unresponsive controls and dropped inputs. Platforming in the more difficult sections is a bit of a nightmare because of it, with jump inputs just being lost from time to time. In combat, switching over to the second set of abilities requires holding down R2, but this too gets lost, causing the wrong move to come out or none at all if the face button is on cooldown. This input failure mars aspects I would otherwise see as a highlight and became insufferable in the final zone, forcing me into different strategies with my spell use and playstyle for the final boss.
Ariana and the Elder Codex is noticeably small in scope, running just over a dozen or so hours long. While the combat and platforming are competent enough to keep you playing, they can’t quite distract from the technical hurdles and the fact that you’re fighting the same handful of enemies on repeat. It’s a decent enough attempt at the metroidvania genre, but it feels more like a pleasant distraction than a must-play masterpiece.
Verdict Ariana and the Elder Codex is assuredly Compile Heart's best work, at least among the titles I have played. The writing is serviceable, even if trite, and it has a lovely artistic lean in its visuals. Yet it fails to truly excite in any meaningful way. There isn't a single thing outside of its look that it excels at, with even its high points (combat and exploration) being weighed down by technical issues.  |
Image Credits: Idea Factory
Disclaimer: We received a free copy of this game from the publisher.
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