Castle of Heart: Retold – Review

The beauty of fighting against your own stone soul transforms into motivation.

I commanded “Console, prepare!”, pressed “Start”, and entered the world of Castle of Heart: Retold with natural curiosity. How does an old indie game get refreshed, and how does it feel revitalised on modern hardware?

From the very first frames, it’s clear that the 7Levels team didn’t just come to make cosmetic improvements, but an ambitiously revised version: the graphics are more detailed, light plays a more important role, animations and dialogues have been redone, and the expanded story promises extra details.

Returning to the soul: premise and atmosphere

You play as Svaran, a cursed warrior who fights not only monsters and traps, but also his own being, which gradually turns to stone if you don't collect life in the form of hearts. If you stop, if you don't kill creatures or smash urns, the stone curse begins to gnaw at your body.
The game offers not only platforming action, but also a broader story, with revised dialogues and an expanded Slavic myth.

The atmosphere is dominated by detailed backgrounds, dark settings with mythological elements (chorts, vodniki, spirits), lights that change intensity depending on the area, and visual effects that suggest the presence of magic. New animations, better modelled characters, and improved lighting have been added in Retold. But it's not just a matter of aesthetics; the gameplay has to keep up, and, luckily for us, most of the time it succeeds.

First steps and first headaches

From the very first levels, the game's difficult nature is apparent: tight platforming, traps from all directions, monsters that challenge you. The difference, however, comes from the constant pressure, which some people like, but I like less. The petrified body that degrades if you stop forces you to always be aggressive, not to dwell too long, and this tension is more present than in the original version.

Controls are generally better (old reviews noted some delay in action execution), but in complicated sections, small lags or inaccuracies are still felt, an inconvenience in a game that demands precision.

What works very well is the redesign of the levels, which balances the platforming with the combat. In Retold, the combat and platforming systems are better synchronised, the interface has been refined, and dialogues and cutscenes have been revised for a more fluid and engaging experience.

What I liked is how the game doesn't let you relax. When you think you've understood a level's pattern, a variation appears, a hidden trap, an area where you have to use a ranged weapon, or a tectonic shift in the path, all keeping your attention sharp.

Combat and strategy matter, not just well-sharpened swords

Combat in Retold has more depth than it seems at first glance. It's not just “press up arrow + attack”; it involves knowing when and how to strike, when to use ranged weapons, or when to retreat. The original was criticised for slow and imprecise combat; now, the developers have rebalanced the system, and actions respond better to inputs.

Even so, in intense fights, I sometimes found myself trapped in a difficult area, with my life rapidly draining, so the attack-fail routine can become frustrating. However, when you pull off a good combo and escape, the satisfaction is authentic.

Boss fights are the climactic points: they test reflexes, route memory, adaptability to patterns, and the ability to manage health under the pressure of the stone curse.

Memorable moments and that “Aha!”

I had some unforgettable runs: a level where platforms moved in sync with a monster's attacks and I had to react at the last second, or a situation where, almost completely petrified, I managed to reach a group of urns that restored my life – a “knife-edge” moment you rarely encounter.

I liked how the game demands a balance between speed and precision: it's not enough to run, you need to know when to stop, which weapon to choose, and how to manage each step. When everything aligns and you feel like you've mastered the fight against the curse, the feeling is excellent.

The new story, rewritten dialogues, and more elaborate cutscenes add motivation; you no longer feel like you're progressing just for the challenge, but for risk, sacrifice, and salvation.

Things that can still be improved

Nothing is perfect, and Retold is no exception. Although the controls are better, moments of imprecision persist, especially when you need to change direction suddenly or attack in mid-air. In a platformer based on precision, these sequences can be frustrating.

Another less pleasant aspect is the repetitiveness. Even if the levels are reimagined, there are areas where you get the impression you've seen the same type of trap or platform sequence before. So, after a few hours, a sense of déjà vu might creep in.

Also, there's the problem of the balance between difficulty and fairness: sometimes you die not because you made a mistake, but because you were caught between two quick attacks or missed a jump by a millimetre. If the game wants to be soulslike in intensity, it needs to avoid arbitrary deaths.

Narratively, although the story has been expanded, not all areas are equally captivating. Some dialogues still retain a generic tone, but that also depends on how invested the player is.

The Verdict: Is it worth diving into the heart of this game?

Castle of Heart: Retold brings more than just a polished game: it's a revitalised and ambitious version that corrects the original flaws and offers a more balanced, coherent, and challenging experience. If you love difficult platformers, indie games with soul and constant pressure, you'll find plenty of reasons to stick around here.

It's not perfect; controls still falter sometimes, repetitiveness occasionally appears, and “unjust” deaths are not absent. But when everything works, when you navigate a complex level, defeat a tough boss, and survive with a sliver of life, the satisfaction is immense.

▶ Play video (YouTube)Open on YouTube

For me, Retold is not just a re-release of a game, but an invitation to rediscover what was good, what can be better, and what it means to fight against your own petrified fragility.

If you play it, go with patience: explore, test weapons, memorise routes, accept that you will die often, but rejoice when, finally, you rise from stone and move forward. That is the essence of Castle of Heart: Retold.