- 77/100
- Critics2 reviews
- 74/100
- Metacritic10 critic reviews
More scores
- Metacritic usersuser score
- 78/100
- Player reviews
- 64% positive71 reviews
- Steam Deck
- Playable
- Runs on
- Windows
- Price
- US$29.99
Where to get it
2025 · Action role-playing · Adventure
Ariana and the Elder Codex
The Librarian Ariana’s mission is to repair the Seven Hero Codices, which have been altered. Due to the terrible damages, magic has vanished from the world.
- Released
- 21 August 2025
- Platforms
- Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4PlayStation 5Windows
- Genres
- Action role-playingAdventureMetroidvaniaPlatformerRole-playingSide-scrolling
- Developers
- —
- Publishers
- —
- Modes
- Single-player
- Perspective
- Side view
- Themes
- ActionFantasy
- Country
- Japan
- Age ratings
- ESRB E10+PEGI 12
- Languages
- Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English, Japanese
- Time to beat
- 13hmain story18hcompletionist
About
Ariana and the Elder Codex is an action role-playing game developed by Hyde and published by Compile Heart and Idea Factory International. It was released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 on 21 August 2025. In the game, Ariana must repair the Seven Hero Codices and restore magic to the world.
›Story
1,500 years ago, there was a person who brought magic to humanity. That person gifted mankind four magic books called “The Books of the Four Elements,” which produce magic power, and a “Magic Pen” that creates magic books.
Once humanity learned of the concepts of “magic” and “magic power,” they used the Magic Pen to create various magic books.
Among those books, three known as “The Books of the Three Phenomena” were said to possess magic power comparable to the Books of the Four Elements. These seven books are collectively called “The Books of the Seven Heroes,” and the facility for managing and mending magic books is called the “Library.”
Present day—.
An incident breaks out in the Library, a vast aggregation of knowledge and the source of all magic power. Someone has tampered with the Books of the Seven Heroes.
As a result, magic disappeared from the world…
Players say
Media
The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
Ariana and the Elder Codex is an action role-playing game with Metroidvania elements. The player controls Ariana, who primarily fights with a host of magic spells. When spells are cast against an enemy for certain times, the enemy becomes stunned, allowing Ariana to attack them with high damage.
Development
Developer Hyde is based in Tokyo. Ariana and the Elder Codex was directed by Aoki Hiroshi, who developed Rune Factory 5, Rune Factory 4 Special, Dariusburst, and Psychic Force. The game was developed for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
The game was first revealed in January 2025 in the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu. It was one of the seven titles included in Compile Heart's 2025 lineup. It was released by Compile Heart on 21 August 2025 in Japan. Idea Factory International published the international release on 24 March 2026.
Reception
According to review aggregator Metacritic, Ariana and the Elder Codex received "mixed or average" reviews for the PlayStation 5 version, and "generally favorable" reviews for the Nintendo Switch version. 56% of the critics recommended the game according to OpenCritic.
The Famitsu reviewers rated the game 31 out of 40.
Releases by platformdates and regions as published
Title IDsone per regional release, with its latest update
Editions and related releases
- Included in
- Ariana and the Elder Codex Deluxe Bundle
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Collections2 collections
Years
- Games released in 2025List › July–September
- Games released in 2026List › January–March
- Games released in 2026List › April–June
Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.