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Kernel Hearts on Steam

Playtest report preview

Kernel Hearts

Co-op action roguelike for four players saving the world from angels.

We listened to 8 Twitch streams of Kernel Hearts (4h in total). The problem that came up most: mandatory opening cutscenes and dialogue delay actual gameplay, in 2 of 8 streams.

8 Twitch streams · 4h analysed · English, Japanese, Portuguese · analysed in the week of 21 Sept 2026 · Steam page

Problems
30
Ideas
5
Highlights
7

Where the moments happened

Grey bars show when the streamer was talking. Each mark is one reported moment; select a type below to hide or show it.

  • Stream 1, 30 min analysed: 11 problems, 3 suggestions or comparisons, 4 highlights.
  • Stream 2, 30 min analysed: nothing specific enough to report.
  • Stream 3, 30 min analysed: 6 problems, 2 suggestions or comparisons, 2 highlights.
  • Stream 4, 30 min analysed: 2 problems, 2 suggestions or comparisons.
  • Stream 5, 30 min analysed: 1 suggestion or comparison.
  • Stream 6, 30 min analysed: 15 problems, 2 suggestions or comparisons, 3 highlights.
  • Stream 7, 30 min analysed: nothing specific enough to report.
  • Stream 8, 30 min analysed: 12 problems.
Show:

Problems (30)

Bugs, confusion, frustration and the moments players gave up.

  1. #1Bugblocking

    game freezes or crashes during play sessions

    1 of 8 streams · 3 moments

    3 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  2. #2Bug

    bright flash effect hits the screen during cutscene transitions

    1 of 8 streams · 2 moments

    2 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  3. #3Bug

    second player cannot raise npc bonds in multiplayer

    1 of 8 streams · 2 moments

    2 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  4. #4Bug

    dialogue still credited to fernet after old spica crash fix

    1 of 8 streams · 2 moments

    2 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  5. #5Bug

    revive and hp indicators fail to display correctly

    1 of 8 streams · 2 moments

    2 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  6. #6Bug

    controller input lags behind keyboard and mouse

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  7. #7Bug

    network lag disrupts hit registration in coop combat

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  8. #8Bug

    character model lags during gameplay

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  9. #9Bug

    brief lag while the game first loads

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  10. #10Confusion

    on-screen button prompts don't match the controller in use

    1 of 8 streams · 3 moments

    3 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  11. #11Confusion

    co-op progress sharing feels inconsistent across players

    1 of 8 streams · 2 moments

    2 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  12. #12Confusion

    player gets lost and can't find the way out of an area

    1 of 8 streams · 2 moments

    2 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  13. #13Confusion

    tutorial doesn't clearly explain how bosses and coffins work

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  14. #14Confusion

    the ping location feature is hard to discover

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  15. #15Confusion

    boss aoe attacks are hard to read

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  16. #16Confusion

    dodge control is not clearly explained

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  17. #17Confusion

    sin meter nearing its cap creates unclear tension

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  18. #18Confusion

    unclear what the player is supposed to do beyond combat

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  19. #19Confusion

    sprint control is unclear

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  20. #20Confusion

    unclear if npc bond level raises max chip capacity

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  21. #21Confusion

    unclear that unlocking dulce needs beating the whole game

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  22. #22Frustration

    mandatory opening cutscenes and dialogue delay actual gameplay

    2 of 8 streams · 2 moments

    2 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  23. #23Frustrationblocking

    getting controller support working requires fighting steam input settings

    1 of 8 streams · 2 moments

    2 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  24. #24Frustration

    notification popups and general ui text are oversized

    1 of 8 streams · 2 moments

    2 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  25. #25Frustration

    cutscene audio plays much louder than the rest of the game

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  26. #26Frustration

    dodge keybind clashes with muscle memory from another game

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  27. #27Frustration

    bosses can camp a downed player near their body

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  28. #28Frustration

    leveling and recruiting costs feel expensive and scale with party size

    1 of 8 streams · 3 moments

    3 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  29. #29Frustration

    tutorial explains abilities and mechanics already known to the player

    1 of 8 streams · 2 moments

    2 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  30. #30Frustration

    the notification ping sound is annoying

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report

Suggestions and comparisons (5)

What players asked for, and which games they compared yours to.

  1. #31Suggestion

    hard to see where teammates are located during runs

    1 of 8 streams · 3 moments

    3 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  2. #32Suggestion

    no way to rewatch missed character cutscenes

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  3. #33Comparison

    player builds draw comparisons to other soulslike games

    2 of 8 streams · 3 moments

    3 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  4. #34Comparison

    story and lore closely echo other magical girl media

    1 of 8 streams · 2 moments

    2 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  5. #35Comparison

    genre and co-op expectations set before playing

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report

What landed (7)

Moments players clearly enjoyed.

  1. #36Highlight

    cutscene visuals draw strong praise

    1 of 8 streams · 2 moments

    2 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  2. #37Highlight

    shrine leveling and fairy companion mechanics land well

    1 of 8 streams · 2 moments

    2 quotes + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  3. #38Highlight

    players like laika's heavy greatsword weight detail

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  4. #39Highlight

    creator npc backstory lands well with players

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  5. #40Highlight

    collecting loot feels rewarding

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  6. #41Highlight

    a particular coffin map variant is a favorite

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report
  7. #42Highlight

    the catapult travel mechanic feels fun to use

    1 of 8 streams · 1 moment

    1 quote + ▶ timestamps in the full report

More games we analysed

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    76 problems · 11 highlights · 12 streams

    push-to-talk voice chat repeatedly breaks and disrupts communication

  • BOMBANANA!

    64 problems · 12 highlights · 12 streams

    converting piano module letters to numbers confuses players

  • Shift at Midnight

    104 problems · 30 highlights · 12 streams

    unclear rule that trash bags can't be discarded anywhere

  • Woman Simulator

    109 problems · 25 highlights · 11 streams

    the daily chore list feels overwhelming to get through

  • No More Room in Hell 2

    50 problems · 8 highlights · 8 streams

    zombies grab players from outside their visible or melee range

  • Gamble With Your Friends

    45 problems · 17 highlights · 8 streams

    inviting or joining friends for co-op is confusing

All 62 games we analysed

About this page

Speech was transcribed on our own machine and an AI model picked out the moments. Every item in the full report quotes the streamer's actual words, checked against the transcript; 65 of 68 candidate moments passed that check. Only counts and short issue titles are public. Quotes and streamer names stay in the private report.

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