Avatar: The Last Airbender has not had much luck in the realm of video game adaptations despite being such a great fit for it. The best-known game, 2007’s Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth, is only really known for being incredibly easy to get 1,000 Achievement points. Its sequel series, The Legend of Korra, has fared slightly better — receiving a fun action game from PlatinumGames — but now we have another attempt at the main franchise in Avatar: The Last Airbender – Quest for Balance.
Sadly, Quest for Balance isn’t the game that fans have been waiting for and definitely doesn’t take advantage of being on PlayStation 5 and other current-gen systems. This becomes apparent from the onset as it looks more like a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360-era game than a current-gen one. While underwhelming graphics aren’t necessarily a death knell for a game, poor gameplay is, and characters control in a stiff manner that isn’t fun. It winds up making a very poor first impression, but if you give the game a chance, you’ll actually find some charm within its rough edges and some potential value for fans of the series.
What helps the game is its format — essentially a retelling of the key parts of The Last Airbender’s story. Stages aren’t too long — you solve a few puzzles, see a few familiar faces, and then generally face off against a boss fight. It’s quick, it’s snappy, and it delivers blasts of nostalgia. While the gameplay isn’t anything great, getting to see some of your favorite storylines play out in quick succession is still enjoyable.
Combat gets better as the game goes on, as you can unlock additional skills for each of the game’s nine characters. However, it never gets particularly fulfilling. Nothing about the combat is fluid, and locking onto foes feels a bit clunkier than it should. Boss fights fare a bit better, as they usually incorporate some light puzzle solving, but there still isn’t much to write home about.
The puzzles found throughout the game’s 18 chapters are definitely the highlight. There are some genuinely solid puzzles throughout that force players to maneuver multiple characters — or work together with a friend in the game’s local co-op play — and interact with objects using multiple bending techniques. These can actually get tricky, which might frustrate the younger players the game is seemingly targeting, but make it a solid enough game for a kid and parent to play together.
Avatar: The Last Airbender – Quest for Balance Review: The Final Verdict
While Avatar: The Last Airbender – Quest for Balance never really impresses, it winds up becoming aggressively fine as it goes on and expectations are lowered. It leans into nostalgia, while the puzzles do the heavy lifting in making the gameplay less tedious than a standard brawler would be. It’s hard to recommend to adult fans looking to relive the series’ highs, but there have been a lot worse licensed titles and this at least has some charm and thought put into it.
SCORE: 5/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 5 equates to “Mediocre.” The positives and negatives wind up negating each other, making it a wash.
Disclosure: The publisher provided a PlayStation 5 copy for our Avatar: The Last Airbender – Quest for Balance review. Reviewed on version 1.001.000.