Aerannis | review: A game ResetERA would hate

Disclosure / Baggage check:

While everything will have a degree of subjectivity to it I do try to separate my person opinions on subject matter from my view on the quality of a game. However in this case it feel the need to say due to my person opinions and position on the seeming themes, tones and subject matter of the game this may have caused an increased level of potential bias when judging this game.

Price: £0.79 / $0.99 on Steam

Reviewed on: Laptop 1

Review bit:

Aerannis is a stealth action platformer set in a futuristic cyberpunk world which sees you take on the role of Ceyda an assassin for hire in the land of Plovdiv. Plovdiv is a province where there are no men allowed under the belief it has lead to the developments and relative safety and comfort most residents enjoy. On a simple mission to recover stolen government power suits Ceyda is told that Plovdiv's government are deliberately creating false enemies to make the public feel they and their big brother (in game called Big Sister) surveillance system are needed. The claim from the government is outside the safety of the Plovdiv walls there are still men and they are a danger to the city that's why the powersuits and robots and surveillance are needed to make sure none get into the city. Any man born in the city is transitioned into a woman too to make sure only women live in Plovdiv. 

However over the years Plovdiv has separated into three factions. The Planian's who believe Plovdiv's society is on the wrong track and the right track is to embrace elements considered parts of femininity and bring men back into society. Their belief is that both men and women are truly needed in a society for it to progress and embracing the differences rather than rejecting the idea of differences existing is what is best. They also believe diversity of thought and mind is important. The second group is the normal population who don't really have a specific position. The third group being the Terfs (yes really) who believe that the problems still existing in Plovdiv are because, in their view, trans women are still really men at their core and thus the problems blamed on men previously aren't fully solved because, in their view, men aren't truly all gone from Plovdiv society. Any-one deemed not happy with society, what the government says or to be a trouble maker is deemed to be a snowflake.

And yes that does appear to be a parody character based on the infamous Big Red

As the story of Aerannis progresses it goes some interesting places with a mix of the normal dystopian regime tropes about controlling the populous and false flag attacks with more trippy metaphysical elements about being controlling humanity and other planes of reality. The metaphysical stuff often allowing for some more symbolic expression of parts of the plot. To say too much more would at least in a review spoil the fun of seeing the story unfold.

Gameplay wise it's a surprisingly well crafted stealth action platformer with some levels being designed round pure stealth, some even with a requirement to go it without killing anyone and other letting you try and action if (though it's not advisable really). Some areas are more action platforming specific as enemies can't be taken out by stealth while others are clearly more designed for stealth with each feeling quite clearly defined. 

For the most part the stealth mechanics work fine one you understand them with the ability to throw essentially noise makers to attract guards attention and manipulate their actions to allow you to sneak past or set up to kill them. Grabbing an enemy from behind and shooting them is an instant kill so in sections where you can grab enemies it does incentivise this. Hanging from lights or bits of wall above doors, crawling through vents and even hiding under cardboard boxes are all part of the game along with grabbing people to unlock doors that are staff only. In stealth sections you'll initially find two main enemy types, the less heavily armed standard guards that pose a minor threat if you get caught and the guards in power armour suits who pose a far larger threat and can wipe out a lot of your health very quickly. Later levels introduce the two more enemies in the form of the very heavy armoured guards with shields that are very tough to take out head on and have very damaging weapons and the drones that can spot you and will chase you taking shots at you. While there are no cone of view indicators or such in Aerannis it does give a cool bit of visual feedback whenever you make a noise that could attract a guard be it from: a noisemaker, sliding along the floor or dropping down onto the floor and the game never feels unfair when you get spotted. The only issue with the stealth is a problem with other elements of the game too and that being that certain actions in the game are seemingly done automatically and aren't bound to controls so the game will be finicky with said actions (mainly crawling) not automatically starting and you'll be left crouching down; while you can solve this by sliding the slide will the attract the attention of the guards and often throw your plans off somewhat. 

Images showing the visual cue when you make noise

Platforming sections see you coming up against a surprising range of enemies from bugs to a large variety of robotic enemies and in later levels ninjas. A you progress you gain more plat forming abilities including wall jumping and dashing. You also gain access to different gadgets other than the noisemaker which have their uses in both stealth and platforming section such as sticky bombs and an explosive boomerang. The slight issue with platforming was sometimes the game wouldn't quite register you grabbing a ledge so you'd slide down and drop on occasion but this didn't feel like too much of a issue and only felt like it would happen on occasion.

At the end of lot of areas you'll have a boss fight vs a variety of pretty imaginative bosses and while initial bosses may feel a bit generic, or at least like you've fought similar in other games, as you progress you'll find a the game presents you with quite a variety of bosses with a variety of mechanics to the fights. Examples range from a boss chasing you while you doge obstacles and try to shoot them to a boss chasing you up a building as you have to lay traps to kill it and other bosses that can only be harmed in specific ways requiring you to lure them into being vulnerable. 

The game ran on my hardware at a solid 60 fps for most segments with only a few seemingly dropping below that and that was mostly about 2 larger areas with a lot of enemies and actions going on at the same time, the rest of the time it was perfectly stable. I think it might have been more of an issue with the game engine itself struggling to keep up the level of complexity of some areas rather than exactly an issue with my machine, especially as other fast paced hectic areas ran fine.

It has to be said that Aerannis has some of the best pixel art I've seen in a while which really does justice to the cyberpunk setting of the game and the characters in the games world. The soundtrack also is pretty cool too.

In my time playing other than the previously mentioned issues I did have 1 bug show up that required me to close and restart the game but I was unable to replicate it. It happened when I first entered the shop the Terf district and after the one woman leaves the game seemingly locked up and refused to give me back control a though the cutscene was still running. It was a minor issue which cost no progress and I think it could just have been a weird random bug that sometimes happen and not a consistent issue at least not from my experience.

The only other issue I found with the game worth mentioning is it would be nice to have a picture of the controller and at least the default controls shown on the options menu rather than just the key rebinding menu, at least from the controller button layout.

I think it's worth pointing out that the game does have a shop menu (NOT MICROTRANSATIONS TO BE CLEAR in game money only) as such though mostly all you can buy is a health top up which if you are struggling could be seen as a way to get a bit of help. I didn't use this myself and chose to try to get to the next save point (where all your health is restored) rather than top up part way through. It is still a nice option for the game to provide for those who may struggle or get frustrated at a section.

Verdict:

Beautiful, brutal, brilliant and bonkers. Aerannis lasted me 9 and 1/2 hours (with some messing about and additional exploration etc) and will likely last most people 7 and 1/2 hours at minimum on their first playthough. For the asking price and the quality of the finished product it's an easy recommendation as while it has some bugs and WILL offend certain people, mostly extremists possibly even on both sides it really is a game I think should be experienced especially given the comparatively tiny asking price.

I named Aerannis my comedy game of the year 2019 because I laughed at how out there it was. Having got round to finishing it and having been amazed, intrigue and shocked and the games story I can say this might be a contender for my 2020 game of the year list too. 

The value for money, the originality, the quality of the game and clear work that has been put into the story means score wise the game may not be the first game here to get a perfect 6 out of 6 but it's the first on this my new blog to be landing slightly below at a 5 out of 6 rating. Only missing a 6 out of 6 due to a few minor issues.

 Composite Score:

Overall Score:

Hope people will deem me to have been ethical in this review