I don't think it would be inaccurate to call AER "yet another Journey-like"; it's another atmospheric adventure game that instead of focusing on "fun" gameplay mechanics or the open world formula of side-questing + collecting, simply sets you on your path and encourages you to explore the world around you, complete with minimalist graphics and an often somber yet contemplative soundtrack. The flying controls feel great as you soar across this ruined civilization marked with rubble, ghosts, and decay. Where I think the game falls flat when compared to Journey and ABZU is both the telling of its story and its fundamental temple zones; the story is told with a lot more dialogue and reading than Journey (which I find to be a bit unnecessary when the atmosphere of the longing for the past tells more than enough), and the temple zones require a fair bit of 3D platforming, which I would say is passable but not great because the carried aerial momentum of your basic jump is fairly noticeable and can definitely mess up your platforming. Otherwise, AER has some very cool ideas and tends to execute its airs of nostalgia and solitude quite well, but it can feel a bit droll at times and tends to take time away from what it excels in for more generic fare; it's still worth a look if you're into Journey-likes, but for anyone else, you may find it quite middle of the road.
Jogo curto porem muito bonito tanto em arte quanto em trilha sonora. Super relaxante ficar voando por ai, e a história sobre deuses antigos e esquecidos é um tema muito legal. De vez em quando ele da umas travadas de 1seg ( deve ser da versão de Switch ) mas não atrapalhou em nada na minha jogatina. Recomendo!
Obs: zerei com 3h
Obs: zerei com 3h
Flying was fun but the rest is pretty clunky.
I'll admit to never playing either of AER's most obvious core influences - Journey and Skyward Sword - but I know enough about them to see how Forgotten Key intended to meld the wonderment of flight with the exploration of an uncanny, not-too-large world of which you know nothing beyond what you can find. You play a young woman gifted with the power of flight as a bird avatar, exploring a world of broken islands in the sky on a tidy, 2-hour spiritual pilgrimage through what is left of the Earth.
Largely, I think this conceptual framework is established successfully and even with the embellished influences, AER works in the moment, for the most part. Unfortunately, it's a game that is flimsier in the hours of consideration following its conclusion. A majority of the game's content is spent inside flightless temples, solving puzzles that typically amount to "interact with the glowing thing." There is a flow to these places, but it's hardly satisfying to solve the challenges before you. The dissonance of trudging through dark tunnels and hitting buttons in a game that offers an unparalleled freedom of flight is not lost on me.
So much of the power of the spectacle in AER is derived from the scope and the silence of the pilgrimage. It is from this perspective that the game's verbosity turns from a nuisance to a factor working against the experience. Not only are there spirit animals that guide you along the journey, but dozens of pages of banal lore to find scattered throughout the landscape as the primary reward for exploration. Your trusty lantern allows you to see ghostly 'stills' of humans from the past, which can be powerful when not adorned with unnecessary and diegetically confusing text bubbles. Finally, in contrast with the solitude of the pilgrimage, AER also tries to comfort you with not only a mentor character but also a small family to distract yourself with near the last bastion of civilization in the southern islands. Their presence is charming and warm, but the game's achievement system indicates that it expects the player to make frequent trips back to them, even going way out of their way to do so, to check in, read their insight, or progress their miniature 'plotline.' There is simply too much being told to the player, and this is frustrating when the game is already displaying competence in powerful wordless revelations when Auk is out on her expeditions. In this way, AER almost didn't take enough from Journey - its silence and ambiguity would have been far more affecting.
BONUS THOUGHTS:
I once watched a scathing review of ABZU wherein the reviewer, MatthewMatosis, claimed it was so overwhelmingly similar to its spiritual predecessor, Journey, that it ultimately held no firm reason for existing at all. I understand the crux of the argument, but was never wholly convinced by it - I have not played ABZU, but even if the pacing, gameplay loop, and world structure are largely mirrored, the story and setting are so vastly different, and the mechanisms of exploration so dissimilar, that I can't follow through on the argument. Inspiration is one thing, a group of workers from one project leaving a studio to create a new project largely built from the original can rightfully raise eyebrows. But that's still an entirely new world being created for the player. Even if the experience fails, to call it unworthy of existence feels cruel.
I can only imagine how dismissive Matthew must be of AER, a game not built by former thatgamecompany employees, but instead people who wish they were. Does the distance from the design of the original Journey make this more earnest inspiration, or even more egregious?
Largely, I think this conceptual framework is established successfully and even with the embellished influences, AER works in the moment, for the most part. Unfortunately, it's a game that is flimsier in the hours of consideration following its conclusion. A majority of the game's content is spent inside flightless temples, solving puzzles that typically amount to "interact with the glowing thing." There is a flow to these places, but it's hardly satisfying to solve the challenges before you. The dissonance of trudging through dark tunnels and hitting buttons in a game that offers an unparalleled freedom of flight is not lost on me.
So much of the power of the spectacle in AER is derived from the scope and the silence of the pilgrimage. It is from this perspective that the game's verbosity turns from a nuisance to a factor working against the experience. Not only are there spirit animals that guide you along the journey, but dozens of pages of banal lore to find scattered throughout the landscape as the primary reward for exploration. Your trusty lantern allows you to see ghostly 'stills' of humans from the past, which can be powerful when not adorned with unnecessary and diegetically confusing text bubbles. Finally, in contrast with the solitude of the pilgrimage, AER also tries to comfort you with not only a mentor character but also a small family to distract yourself with near the last bastion of civilization in the southern islands. Their presence is charming and warm, but the game's achievement system indicates that it expects the player to make frequent trips back to them, even going way out of their way to do so, to check in, read their insight, or progress their miniature 'plotline.' There is simply too much being told to the player, and this is frustrating when the game is already displaying competence in powerful wordless revelations when Auk is out on her expeditions. In this way, AER almost didn't take enough from Journey - its silence and ambiguity would have been far more affecting.
BONUS THOUGHTS:
I once watched a scathing review of ABZU wherein the reviewer, MatthewMatosis, claimed it was so overwhelmingly similar to its spiritual predecessor, Journey, that it ultimately held no firm reason for existing at all. I understand the crux of the argument, but was never wholly convinced by it - I have not played ABZU, but even if the pacing, gameplay loop, and world structure are largely mirrored, the story and setting are so vastly different, and the mechanisms of exploration so dissimilar, that I can't follow through on the argument. Inspiration is one thing, a group of workers from one project leaving a studio to create a new project largely built from the original can rightfully raise eyebrows. But that's still an entirely new world being created for the player. Even if the experience fails, to call it unworthy of existence feels cruel.
I can only imagine how dismissive Matthew must be of AER, a game not built by former thatgamecompany employees, but instead people who wish they were. Does the distance from the design of the original Journey make this more earnest inspiration, or even more egregious?
relaxante até
Um jogo que me intrigou e me divertiu na jornada que apresentou, não espere nada grandioso, apenas aproveite a jornada e tente se divertir
A rather uninteresting plot surrounded by great potential in lore and story. The setting is lovely and gameplay encourages the exploration of it but there doesn't seem to be a great deal of content to find. Some subtle mysteries and really cool hidden areas are present but they don't feel intuitive and they're not enough. Flying is great but the game needs to inspire me to fly more.
Passable exploration game that does nothing particularly special but earns a little praise for being technically competent, relaxing, and utilizing the joy of flight.
+ vibrantly atmospheric lighting that elevates the otherwise generic polygonal graphics
+ suitable open world consisting of many sky islands
- fragmented lore and trivial story making it hard to care about progressing
- elementary puzzles and platforming
- several unclear objectives padding out the short playtime (2-4 hours)
- poor soundtrack of mind-numbing ambient noise in caves and aggressively unoriginal music outside
- no emotional high points like similar games have – and a really anticlimactic ending
+ vibrantly atmospheric lighting that elevates the otherwise generic polygonal graphics
+ suitable open world consisting of many sky islands
- fragmented lore and trivial story making it hard to care about progressing
- elementary puzzles and platforming
- several unclear objectives padding out the short playtime (2-4 hours)
- poor soundtrack of mind-numbing ambient noise in caves and aggressively unoriginal music outside
- no emotional high points like similar games have – and a really anticlimactic ending
AER is a very very pretty game, let me make that perfectly clear. The first hour or so is just full of moments of explorative wonder as you explore ruins, solve some basic puzzles and glide across floating Islands. It's soothingly and very serene...
But then deja vu really starts kicking in and you realise the games already shown most of what it has to you and suddenly, despite the game being pretty short, it still manages to feel dragged out thanks to repeated landscapes, similar looking ruins and a game running on empty.
But then deja vu really starts kicking in and you realise the games already shown most of what it has to you and suddenly, despite the game being pretty short, it still manages to feel dragged out thanks to repeated landscapes, similar looking ruins and a game running on empty.
Art style and gameplay is amazing, but I kept on getting lost and it is difficult to navigate
In AER: Memories of Old, you play as Auk, a pilgrim from the People of the Sky, who can shift into the form of a bird through her Spirit Animal (please note this is the term the game uses). Auk explores the world as it is now, learning about the past and the Great Divide.
This game is more of a guided exploration with the occasional puzzle/platforming experience rather than a game in either of these genres. I've seen many people call this a walking sim, and I'd agree - if that doesn't appeal to you, this isn't the game for you!
I played this on the Nintendo Switch, and the controls worked well. However, I did have some trouble with the graphics and cut scenes which ended up freezing and jumping around a little - so not ideal.
This game is more of a guided exploration with the occasional puzzle/platforming experience rather than a game in either of these genres. I've seen many people call this a walking sim, and I'd agree - if that doesn't appeal to you, this isn't the game for you!
I played this on the Nintendo Switch, and the controls worked well. However, I did have some trouble with the graphics and cut scenes which ended up freezing and jumping around a little - so not ideal.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
ESSE JOGO É LINDO E MTO GOSTOSO
Fiquei mto calmo jogando, sério, perfeito
ESSE JOGO É LINDO E MTO GOSTOSO
Fiquei mto calmo jogando, sério, perfeito
Fun Short Game to relax and cleanse your palate for whatever you've been doing up to this moment. Reject Humanity, become Birb.
This game feels like it was made by 5 environmental designers and 5 artists, and none of them was confident enough to say that it lacks gameplay and is not very fun.
Played via the UK PSN release on a PlayStation 4 Pro.
This game is a perfectly fine way to spend an afternoon or evening - it's relaxing and soothing but with the occasional frustrating platforming section and an opaque plot making it difficult to recommend to most folks.
The flying mechanic is probably the best feature here with an easy-to-grasp-yet-rewarding-to-master controp design - it feels extremely satisfying to fly between islands and swoop between structures and plant life, trying to avoid crashing into surfaces so you can maintain your bird form for as long as possible. Moving on ground can feel painfully slow in comparison, especially in the temples where you're unable to fly - having a sprint option would have been appreciated here. Jumping can lead to outright frustration however and is probably the weakest feature of the control scheme, being a tall jump that leaves you unable to adjust your trajectory as tightly as you'd like. This combined with some platforming that doesn't make itself clear due to low-lit environments can result in slightly frustrating falling down a gap leaving you to have to make your way slowly back up to where you were.
The artstyle and presentation of the game is fine I think - each of the menus are very simple offering very little outside of appreciated control tweaks while the overall aesthetic of the game adopts the oh-so-popular low poly style that indie games love to utilise. It looks fine here and is elevated with a good lighting system, but when comparing to other "lonely wanderer" games like Journey or The Pathless it feels like it's missing something to make it wholy unique. The sound design is similarly ok, with appreciative feedback on actions and ambient environment noised but the soundtrack often devolves into sounding like someone fell asleep on a synthesizer. It can be relaxing, and the kick of ukelele and percussion when you're flying helps keep your attention a bit more but it often has the unfortunate effect of feeling like an endless droning and the intro area feels one of the worst examples of this.
The narrative could be the make or break for a lot of people depending on your tastes however - you're given vague objectives from a handful of other villagers but it's up to you to explore the world, finding the spirits of long dead people and the scriptures and stone tablets left behind. I usually like this style of story telling, giving me an excuse to properly explore the world of the game and look in every nook and cranny but it often goes in contrast of the flying mechanic, making you fly past every single floating island in the hopes you'll find something and then struggling to land when you're going at a million miles an hour. As such you rarely want to land and you find yourself skimming over the smaller islands to more thoroughly look through the larger ones.
It all culminates in a disappointing ending too, with the world building and relationships you forge with people and creatures resulting in a 10 second cutscene of not much happening before the credits roll. I tried piecing the lore of the world together as best I could and I could probably take a guess as to what happened, but the lack of clarity to it all and with no real resolution provided was just disappointing.
I believe there were a couple of glitches too, with my system crashing once (thankfully the autosave feature helped me out) and a scene in a cave with stone tablets that gives you the hint to ask another character for help deciphering them, but you never get the option to do so. The 10-20 second loading screens were a little tiring too but I've experienced worse.
Overall AER is an ok game - the flying mechanic is very much the main attraction and if you enjoy storytelling via what you find scattered throughout the world rather than cinematic cutscenes you'll find something to keep you entertained for a few hours. But it's not without its frustrations and the overall ok presentation leaves AER feeling a little forgettable at times.
This game is a perfectly fine way to spend an afternoon or evening - it's relaxing and soothing but with the occasional frustrating platforming section and an opaque plot making it difficult to recommend to most folks.
The flying mechanic is probably the best feature here with an easy-to-grasp-yet-rewarding-to-master controp design - it feels extremely satisfying to fly between islands and swoop between structures and plant life, trying to avoid crashing into surfaces so you can maintain your bird form for as long as possible. Moving on ground can feel painfully slow in comparison, especially in the temples where you're unable to fly - having a sprint option would have been appreciated here. Jumping can lead to outright frustration however and is probably the weakest feature of the control scheme, being a tall jump that leaves you unable to adjust your trajectory as tightly as you'd like. This combined with some platforming that doesn't make itself clear due to low-lit environments can result in slightly frustrating falling down a gap leaving you to have to make your way slowly back up to where you were.
The artstyle and presentation of the game is fine I think - each of the menus are very simple offering very little outside of appreciated control tweaks while the overall aesthetic of the game adopts the oh-so-popular low poly style that indie games love to utilise. It looks fine here and is elevated with a good lighting system, but when comparing to other "lonely wanderer" games like Journey or The Pathless it feels like it's missing something to make it wholy unique. The sound design is similarly ok, with appreciative feedback on actions and ambient environment noised but the soundtrack often devolves into sounding like someone fell asleep on a synthesizer. It can be relaxing, and the kick of ukelele and percussion when you're flying helps keep your attention a bit more but it often has the unfortunate effect of feeling like an endless droning and the intro area feels one of the worst examples of this.
The narrative could be the make or break for a lot of people depending on your tastes however - you're given vague objectives from a handful of other villagers but it's up to you to explore the world, finding the spirits of long dead people and the scriptures and stone tablets left behind. I usually like this style of story telling, giving me an excuse to properly explore the world of the game and look in every nook and cranny but it often goes in contrast of the flying mechanic, making you fly past every single floating island in the hopes you'll find something and then struggling to land when you're going at a million miles an hour. As such you rarely want to land and you find yourself skimming over the smaller islands to more thoroughly look through the larger ones.
It all culminates in a disappointing ending too, with the world building and relationships you forge with people and creatures resulting in a 10 second cutscene of not much happening before the credits roll. I tried piecing the lore of the world together as best I could and I could probably take a guess as to what happened, but the lack of clarity to it all and with no real resolution provided was just disappointing.
I believe there were a couple of glitches too, with my system crashing once (thankfully the autosave feature helped me out) and a scene in a cave with stone tablets that gives you the hint to ask another character for help deciphering them, but you never get the option to do so. The 10-20 second loading screens were a little tiring too but I've experienced worse.
Overall AER is an ok game - the flying mechanic is very much the main attraction and if you enjoy storytelling via what you find scattered throughout the world rather than cinematic cutscenes you'll find something to keep you entertained for a few hours. But it's not without its frustrations and the overall ok presentation leaves AER feeling a little forgettable at times.
It's fine, but a little dull.
AER is a relaxing adventure puzzle game similar to Rime and Journey in a lot of ways. Unlike those games though AER is missing that special something so that at times rather than relaxing it's just a little boring and directionless though it does have some great moments of beauty here and there.
The basic premise of the game is really good, you play the role of a girl called Auk who is a pilgrim that can transform into a bird allowing her to explore a series of floating islands while traveling from Temple to Temple.
Taking flight and soaring through clouds and low skimming the ground in bird form is great, relaxing and thrilling at the same time though sometimes the landings on small islands can be tricky, especially when I first started the game I had to adjust the camera sensitivity in the options as it was hyper sensitive, I had to literally halve it to make it playable which for such a relaxing game with no enemies I found really strange to be set that high. When not flying Auk is on foot either solving very basic puzzles in Temples or running around the islands looking for spirits or tablets that expand the words lore. The main problem is that lore is insufferably boring. After a while of looking around I realized I just didn't care and moved on with the very short story instead because there is little else to gain from going from island to island. The three temples you visit have some incredibly basic puzzle solving that could have done with more items or objects to give more options. As it is you mostly just activate switches with a lantern and that's it.
The Visuals and audio are mostly good. The graphics are intentionally done in the old 3D polygon style from the early 90's and it's an effective style so the game looks good. Though no voice acting the music is pretty good with some epic scores while flying around or in temples. There was an annoying audio glitch from time to time of a sort of ticking audio pop which while I was playing in headphones was extra annoying.
All in all, the game was fine. I finished it in about 4 hours and it had some nice moments but it's the sort of game in a week I will have completely forgotten about. If you want a game like this pick up Rime, Journey, Flower or Abzu all of which manage the style a lot better in my opinion. A real shame as I'd been interested in AER for a while.
+ Flying around as a bird is pretty cool.
- Starting camera is insanely sensitive, had to tone it way down.
- Lore and story are pretty boring.
- Puzzles have pretty much only one aspect the whole game.
- Audio pop glitch got annoying.
AER is a relaxing adventure puzzle game similar to Rime and Journey in a lot of ways. Unlike those games though AER is missing that special something so that at times rather than relaxing it's just a little boring and directionless though it does have some great moments of beauty here and there.
The basic premise of the game is really good, you play the role of a girl called Auk who is a pilgrim that can transform into a bird allowing her to explore a series of floating islands while traveling from Temple to Temple.
Taking flight and soaring through clouds and low skimming the ground in bird form is great, relaxing and thrilling at the same time though sometimes the landings on small islands can be tricky, especially when I first started the game I had to adjust the camera sensitivity in the options as it was hyper sensitive, I had to literally halve it to make it playable which for such a relaxing game with no enemies I found really strange to be set that high. When not flying Auk is on foot either solving very basic puzzles in Temples or running around the islands looking for spirits or tablets that expand the words lore. The main problem is that lore is insufferably boring. After a while of looking around I realized I just didn't care and moved on with the very short story instead because there is little else to gain from going from island to island. The three temples you visit have some incredibly basic puzzle solving that could have done with more items or objects to give more options. As it is you mostly just activate switches with a lantern and that's it.
The Visuals and audio are mostly good. The graphics are intentionally done in the old 3D polygon style from the early 90's and it's an effective style so the game looks good. Though no voice acting the music is pretty good with some epic scores while flying around or in temples. There was an annoying audio glitch from time to time of a sort of ticking audio pop which while I was playing in headphones was extra annoying.
All in all, the game was fine. I finished it in about 4 hours and it had some nice moments but it's the sort of game in a week I will have completely forgotten about. If you want a game like this pick up Rime, Journey, Flower or Abzu all of which manage the style a lot better in my opinion. A real shame as I'd been interested in AER for a while.
+ Flying around as a bird is pretty cool.
- Starting camera is insanely sensitive, had to tone it way down.
- Lore and story are pretty boring.
- Puzzles have pretty much only one aspect the whole game.
- Audio pop glitch got annoying.
It's very easy to impress me with games similar to GRIS and JOURNEY, but I just wasn't a fan of this one. This has way more gameplay than the game it took all of its inspiration from, but sadly most of it feels extremely dull. The "lore" and the atmosphere didn't do much for me either, and while it was never frustrating to play, I felt absolutely nothing at all while playing this. But despite all of this, I do think that the team that worked on this has the potential to drop an absolute banger and I would love to see a new, polished game from them that's similar to AER.
There is some Lore happening here that I completely did not engage with. I imagine if you're the type to try to figure out the timeline and all that then the ending will feel less anticlimactic.
The flying feels good. I think I got more enjoyment from flying around trying to find the achievement spots than from the actual temples.
The flying feels good. I think I got more enjoyment from flying around trying to find the achievement spots than from the actual temples.
In AER Memories of Old, you can transform into a bird. You must venture through old ruins to save the world from impending doom. This beautiful game unfortunately failed to keep me awake for its short runtime.
Gameplay: 4.8/10 - Boring
The game opens with an interesting premise, that is never expanded upon whatsoever becoming boring rather quickly. The easy puzzles don't help in turning this game into anything other than a walking simulator.
a. Mechanics: 4/10
There are two mechanics to this game: you can fly, and you have a lamp that can do special things. These two mechanics do not complement each other whatsoever, and in fact you can only do 1 at a time. The mechanics also aren't expanded upon at any point, what you are given at the very start of the game is what you keep throughout. Which makes the game a bit of a snorefest. However, the flying is fun. Not because it is satisfying, but because the game looks good and is relaxing.
b. Difficulty and Challenge: 2/10
This game is incredibly easy. The puzzles are so easy in fact, that it just becomes a walking simulator. There is absolutely no challenge in this game whatsoever, this gets boring quickly.
c. Exploration and Progression: 7/10
There is a nice bit of exploration in this game, as you adventure around the game's world. There is also a nice sense of progression, ONCE you actually learn what you are supposed to be doing. Until you learn what you are doing, you sort of just explore around randomly. However, the game became more clear once I learned what I was doing.
d. Variety and Creativity: 6/10
The game, at least, seems reasonably unique. Which is wonderful, as it stands out a lot from other games.
Story, World and Characters: 4.3/10 - Empty
Unfortunately, this game's story makes me want to fall asleep. While the world can be immersive at times I just didn't care too much about the lackluster story at all.
a. Story: 3/10
The story boils down to, you must stop the great evil from destroying the world. Good luck lol. Unfortunately, it isn't that realistic and is barely played out, also the ending is such a let down.
b. World: 8/10
The game's world is very unique however, but I barely remember the details. There are many scriptures and texts that you can find giving more detail to the world. The world is expanded upon a bit, you learn about the history of the ruins you can encounter.
c. Characters: 2/10
There are very few characters in this game. I learned nothing about them at all, they aren't expanded upon, and I don't care about them at all.
Graphics, Audio and Technical Execution: 6.0 - The Best Part
The graphics are the best part of this game, and are amazing at times. Unfortunately, the SFX doesn't try to do anything special and the music blends together into nothing.
a. Graphics: 7/10
The graphics are very nice. It is in a more cartoony style and the graphics are very simplistic. However, the world can be beautiful at time. The animations are nice and you can even find animals around the world, which add to the immersion.
b. Music: 5/10
The music that is present while flying is nice. In general, the music is very calming and I can't remember a time the music became intense. Unfortunately, each track blends together and none of the tracks stand out.
c. SFX: 6/10
There is nothing special here. There is no voice acting in the game either. The animals make sounds, and there are "wooshing" sounds as you fly. You get the idea.
Replay-ability, Value For Money and Extra Content: 1.6/10 - A Pricy Walking Sim W/ Nothing To Find
There is no chance at replay-ability, and no extra content to try and enjoy.
a. Replay-ability: 1/10
There is no replay-ability. The game is a walking simulator, with a boring story. You will have no reason to come back and replay it.
b. Value For Money: 2.7/10
This value is calculated via: (Hours Played/Cost Off Sale)*10.
I got 3.6 hours of playtime. This is a very short game, AND I 100% it too. If you buy it, get it on a sale for 90%.
b. Extra Content: 1/10
No. There are no extra features, (as far as I am aware) no hidden content and no unlockables either. There are achievements, however they are boring to get as the majority you get from progressing through the game or finding a Point of Interest in the world.
Innovation, Impact and Technical Execution: 4.7 - At Least It Runs Well
Despite the game's performance, it didn't do much of anything unique and is rarely talked about ever.
a. Innovation: 4/10
While the game is unique in many respects, it is rarely innovative. However, despite everything bad I have said about this game. It is important to point out this is the indie dev's first game on Steam. It is important to bear this in mind. If the devs are reading this for some odd reason, I would still like to congratulate them on their game. Their studio has so much potential, and I will be looking to see what they are going to release in the future. Even if the game was released 5-6 years ago.
b. Impact: 1/10
As far as I am aware, this game had no impact and will have no lasting legacy.
c. Technical Execution: 9/10
This game is VERY stable and runs VERY well. The main issue is I have with the game in this section, is that it doesn't tell you the controls in the settings so it took me ages until I finally realised I could press "F" to pull out my lamp. (Note: I only found 1 minor bug.)
Overall: 42.8/100 - I Almost Fell Asleep At The Keyboard
When this game is stripped of its graphics it has nothing. No interesting gameplay or story to back it up. It becomes a mindless walking (or flying) simulator. The ending is boring, the puzzles are easy, overall it probably isn't worth your time. The studio has potential, so I would keep an eye on them to see if they release anymore games.
Gameplay: 4.8/10 - Boring
The game opens with an interesting premise, that is never expanded upon whatsoever becoming boring rather quickly. The easy puzzles don't help in turning this game into anything other than a walking simulator.
a. Mechanics: 4/10
There are two mechanics to this game: you can fly, and you have a lamp that can do special things. These two mechanics do not complement each other whatsoever, and in fact you can only do 1 at a time. The mechanics also aren't expanded upon at any point, what you are given at the very start of the game is what you keep throughout. Which makes the game a bit of a snorefest. However, the flying is fun. Not because it is satisfying, but because the game looks good and is relaxing.
b. Difficulty and Challenge: 2/10
This game is incredibly easy. The puzzles are so easy in fact, that it just becomes a walking simulator. There is absolutely no challenge in this game whatsoever, this gets boring quickly.
c. Exploration and Progression: 7/10
There is a nice bit of exploration in this game, as you adventure around the game's world. There is also a nice sense of progression, ONCE you actually learn what you are supposed to be doing. Until you learn what you are doing, you sort of just explore around randomly. However, the game became more clear once I learned what I was doing.
d. Variety and Creativity: 6/10
The game, at least, seems reasonably unique. Which is wonderful, as it stands out a lot from other games.
Story, World and Characters: 4.3/10 - Empty
Unfortunately, this game's story makes me want to fall asleep. While the world can be immersive at times I just didn't care too much about the lackluster story at all.
a. Story: 3/10
The story boils down to, you must stop the great evil from destroying the world. Good luck lol. Unfortunately, it isn't that realistic and is barely played out, also the ending is such a let down.
b. World: 8/10
The game's world is very unique however, but I barely remember the details. There are many scriptures and texts that you can find giving more detail to the world. The world is expanded upon a bit, you learn about the history of the ruins you can encounter.
c. Characters: 2/10
There are very few characters in this game. I learned nothing about them at all, they aren't expanded upon, and I don't care about them at all.
Graphics, Audio and Technical Execution: 6.0 - The Best Part
The graphics are the best part of this game, and are amazing at times. Unfortunately, the SFX doesn't try to do anything special and the music blends together into nothing.
a. Graphics: 7/10
The graphics are very nice. It is in a more cartoony style and the graphics are very simplistic. However, the world can be beautiful at time. The animations are nice and you can even find animals around the world, which add to the immersion.
b. Music: 5/10
The music that is present while flying is nice. In general, the music is very calming and I can't remember a time the music became intense. Unfortunately, each track blends together and none of the tracks stand out.
c. SFX: 6/10
There is nothing special here. There is no voice acting in the game either. The animals make sounds, and there are "wooshing" sounds as you fly. You get the idea.
Replay-ability, Value For Money and Extra Content: 1.6/10 - A Pricy Walking Sim W/ Nothing To Find
There is no chance at replay-ability, and no extra content to try and enjoy.
a. Replay-ability: 1/10
There is no replay-ability. The game is a walking simulator, with a boring story. You will have no reason to come back and replay it.
b. Value For Money: 2.7/10
This value is calculated via: (Hours Played/Cost Off Sale)*10.
I got 3.6 hours of playtime. This is a very short game, AND I 100% it too. If you buy it, get it on a sale for 90%.
b. Extra Content: 1/10
No. There are no extra features, (as far as I am aware) no hidden content and no unlockables either. There are achievements, however they are boring to get as the majority you get from progressing through the game or finding a Point of Interest in the world.
Innovation, Impact and Technical Execution: 4.7 - At Least It Runs Well
Despite the game's performance, it didn't do much of anything unique and is rarely talked about ever.
a. Innovation: 4/10
While the game is unique in many respects, it is rarely innovative. However, despite everything bad I have said about this game. It is important to point out this is the indie dev's first game on Steam. It is important to bear this in mind. If the devs are reading this for some odd reason, I would still like to congratulate them on their game. Their studio has so much potential, and I will be looking to see what they are going to release in the future. Even if the game was released 5-6 years ago.
b. Impact: 1/10
As far as I am aware, this game had no impact and will have no lasting legacy.
c. Technical Execution: 9/10
This game is VERY stable and runs VERY well. The main issue is I have with the game in this section, is that it doesn't tell you the controls in the settings so it took me ages until I finally realised I could press "F" to pull out my lamp. (Note: I only found 1 minor bug.)
Overall: 42.8/100 - I Almost Fell Asleep At The Keyboard
When this game is stripped of its graphics it has nothing. No interesting gameplay or story to back it up. It becomes a mindless walking (or flying) simulator. The ending is boring, the puzzles are easy, overall it probably isn't worth your time. The studio has potential, so I would keep an eye on them to see if they release anymore games.
My cat was very fascinated by watching me fly)
A very beautiful and immersive tale. Thanks to the developers for letting me become a part of this story <3
A very beautiful and immersive tale. Thanks to the developers for letting me become a part of this story <3
Artisticamente atrativo, tanto pela construção do mundo quanto por sua música.
A história é interessante, embora sua apresentação por meras caixas de diálogo e algumas cutscenes me pareça pouco eficiente em transmitir a importância que possui.
Por vezes a física reage mal a alguns movimentos, mas é inteiramente possível completar o jogo sem problemas.
Acho importante mencionar que embora o jogo dê uma certa ênfase ao voo, a maior parte dos desafios se resolve (obrigatoriamente) sem eles, o que é uma escolha de design curiosa, no mínimo.
É um bom jogo para se gastar uns minutos ociosos.
A história é interessante, embora sua apresentação por meras caixas de diálogo e algumas cutscenes me pareça pouco eficiente em transmitir a importância que possui.
Por vezes a física reage mal a alguns movimentos, mas é inteiramente possível completar o jogo sem problemas.
Acho importante mencionar que embora o jogo dê uma certa ênfase ao voo, a maior parte dos desafios se resolve (obrigatoriamente) sem eles, o que é uma escolha de design curiosa, no mínimo.
É um bom jogo para se gastar uns minutos ociosos.
A pretty average and relaxing exploration game.
The choice of low poly 3D graphics gives it a bit of charm, but I felt like there were some frame rate issues due to that as well.
Flying through the map felt alright.
The shrines you had to enter and had to solve the puzzles of felt pretty easy.
The story is not memorable and the audio visual experience they were aiming for didn't quite click with me.
The soundtrack felt pretty relaxing and the game can be beaten in around 4 hours. Though at times you may get a little lost and not know where to go next.
The choice of low poly 3D graphics gives it a bit of charm, but I felt like there were some frame rate issues due to that as well.
Flying through the map felt alright.
The shrines you had to enter and had to solve the puzzles of felt pretty easy.
The story is not memorable and the audio visual experience they were aiming for didn't quite click with me.
The soundtrack felt pretty relaxing and the game can be beaten in around 4 hours. Though at times you may get a little lost and not know where to go next.
Um jogo "ok", visuais fofos, trilha sonora melódica típica desse tipo de joguinho, uma história descartável, por ser genérica, mas com uma gameplay bem interessante, alternando entre forma humana e forma de passarinho.
Historia confusa e mal contada
5/10
5/10
I finished this game in one sitting, and was shocked at the reviews AER has gotten. This is an utterly beautiful game, that paints a world deeply set within melancholy and wonder. It's large, yet small world blew me away again and again with sights from beyond this world.
O jogo não é ruim, mas a história não estava me prendendo tanto e a gameplay depois de um tempo fica chata.
I feel maybe people are too harsh on the game due to its short length, which made me bump my rating up. It is short but it is really rather good at what it aims to do.
It's just kinda neat.
A short and sweet game with a strong aesthetic. This is one of those games I'd describe as more of an experience than a game, where the main focus is going along for the ride more than anything else.
Glad to say I've played it, though I don't foresee myself revisiting it again in the future.
Glad to say I've played it, though I don't foresee myself revisiting it again in the future.
This game is gorgeous and relaxing, I love flying around in it and exploring the areas, however the content is so bare it hurts.