With Kernel Hearts you go into the Tower of Babel, beat up angels, collect everything that isn’t nailed down, become stronger, and try to get as far as you can before things go horribly wrong. Then you return to Babel, take a breather, get to know the people around you, grow closer to your allies and prepare yourself for another trip into the tower. It’s a pretty unusual mix that, for us, was an amazing change of pace that came just in the right time.
In true Risk of Rain 2 fashion, Kernel Hearts doesn’t want you to take your time. Every expedition is a race against the so-called Sin Meter. It keeps rising as time passes, and letting it reach 100% is something you really don’t want to happen. This creates a nice little dillema. You want to explore because there are souls, wishes, relics, materials and treasures everywhere, but you also know that standing around admiring the scenery or getting that sweet, sweet loot isn’t doing you any favours.
So you run around, fight, collect what you can, find new upgrades and try to decide when you’ve had enough. And then you go towards the boss portal and cross your fingers that you can take him. We usually couldn’t at first. And yet we kept on trying until we eventually could.
Fun Combat
Kernel Hearts is an action RPG where you can run around and button mash your way through enemies. Yes, you very well could do that.
But why would you?
The combat becomes much more enjoyable once you start experimenting with the different attacks, spells and movement abilities available during an expedition. You can put together flashy combos, dodge attacks and follow them with your own counterattack, or use one ability to create an opening for another.
For example, you can unlock a spell that lets you block an attack and follow it with a strike. Another can summon assistance that charges into enemies and deals damage for you. As is the case with roguelites, you don’t necessarily enter an expedition knowing exactly what your build is going to look like by the time you leave. As you collect souls and level up, you get opportunities to pick new spells and abilities. You can start with one idea in mind and end up with something completely different.
Chasing Souls, Wishes and Mementoes
Souls are one of the main things you’ll be collecting during your expeditions. You can find them lying around or get them from defeated enemies, and once you’ve collected enough, you can use shrines to unlock new spells.
Lost Wishes are another important resource. These can be used to purify coffins scattered around the map, but even that isn’t as simple as walking up and opening one. Angels are attached to the purification process, so you’ll have to deal with them before you can claim the reward.
The reward is a memento, and these can make a noticeable difference to your character.
Some mementoes give you abilities that trigger after certain actions. You might unleash magical blades after successfully dodging, for example, or summon a familiar that follows you around and occasionally protects you. Others are more straightforward statistical improvements. One can increase your critical chance based on the number of enemies surrounding you.
You collect something, unlock something else, notice that it works nicely with another ability and you start thinking you can deal with anything the game throws at you. You can’t, but that thought will haunt you often.
Explore, Loot and Get Out
The maps are large enough to make exploration worthwhile without feeling like you’re wandering around an enormous empty world. As we already mentioned, there are treasures to find, ancient coins and materials to collect, relics that can make you stronger and even shooting stars that you can chase for additional loot. Many times we didn’t know what to do first or to which activity to fully commit.
You can use catapults to launch yourself across huge distances, which is a much more entertaining way of crossing the map than simply running from one end to another. These moments add a little silliness to a game that otherwise spends a lot of time talking about angels, curses, ashes and the end of humanity.
The important thing is that you’re always making a choice. Do you keep exploring because there might be another treasure nearby? Do you chase that shooting star? Do you spend more time looking for souls and wishes? Or have you collected enough and should probably head towards the boss before the Sin Meter makes the decision for you?
Kernel Hearts turns exploration into a bit of a gamble without making it complicated.
You want more.
Alas, you can’t have everything.
The Town of Babel
When an expedition ends, you return to the Town of Babel, the last settlement for humanity and our favourite change of pace in the game.
The world outside is ash, dust, monsters and constant pressure, while Babel feels almost cozy by comparison. Ash falls from the sky with the appearance of snow, the music is relaxing and there is no need to immediately start beating something up.
The town’s NPCs have things to say about the world, memories of the past and their own little wants and problems. Spending some time talking to them makes Babel feel like a true settlement with people from all walks of life.
You can also give gifts to members of your team to strengthen your relationship with them. In return, they can give you something useful. It’s a small system, but it fits nicely into the game’s rhythm. After spending a run fighting for your life, having a quiet conversation with one of the characters is a welcome change.
Making Your Unit Stronger
Babel is also where you deal with the more permanent side of progression. Remember those ancient coins and materials you were collecting during your expeditions? This is where you spend them.
You can improve things like health, defence and melee damage, along with other permanent bonuses. There is also the MAHOU.OS system, which lets you customize your unit with chips and build around the abilities you want to use.
This gives the game two different kinds of progression. During an expedition, you’re constantly building a temporary character by collecting souls, spells and mementoes. Back in Babel, you’re making permanent improvements that carry into future runs. So even when an expedition goes badly, it doesn’t feel like everything was wasted. You take what you earned, improve your unit and go back in.
Four Characters, Four Different Ways to Play
The characters that you have at your disposal are quite different, both in terms of movement, weapons and abilities. Switching characters can actually change how you approach combat. The downside is that unlocking some of them isn’t exactly a quick process. You’ll need to take down powerful bosses, and that’s not something you can accomplish after doing a little bit of grinding. But when you do unlock another character, the sense of accomplishemnt is overwhelming, and new ways of playing open up for you.
Unique and Fun Game!
Kernel Hearts is a strange beast. It’s a roguelike action RPG featuring fast, flashy combat alongside various spells and mementos for creative experimentation. Between runs, you return to Babel to focus on the social side of things—getting to know the people around you, upgrading your unit, and preparing for your next dive. It’s a rollercoaster ride where you decide how long to stay on; the only real challenge is knowing when to call it quits. For us, walking away was the hardest part. We were like kids in a toy store, always chasing one more treasure or one more upgrade. The game taught us to become absolute masters at finding just one more excuse to stay. We hope it does the same for you too!
9/10 – Outstanding!
Game: Kernel Hearts
Developer: Ephemera Games
Publisher: Whitethorn Games
Genre: Action RPG / Roguelike / Co-op
Platform: PC
Release Date: September 17, 2026
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