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0 In my opinion, developer DON’T NOD has created some brilliant games that people don’t speak about enough. Aside from the first two Life is Strange titles, they’ve also developed games such as the wonderful Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, and the criminally underrated Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. Now, they’re set to release Aphelion, a sci-fi action adventure set on an uncharted planet.
Aphelion is available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC vis Steam. Is this game’s narrative on par with the rest of DON’T NOD’s back catalogue? And adding to that, is the gameplay enjoyable enough to keep players engaged? Let’s find out!
Did You Know: “Aphelion” Isn’t a Word Made Up For This Game!
The nigh-on infinite amount of sci-fi in films, books, games, and so on, has kept me entertained pretty much my entire life. And yet, I’m still discovering new franchises that draw me in like a tractor beam. Got any obscure or overlooked series that you’d recommend? I’m all (Vulcan) ears! Let me know in the comments below, but for now, let’s review Aphelion!
Story
A tale as old as time: Earth is dying! By 2060, our planet will be uninhabitable, but hope is not yet lost! A ninth planet has been discovered at the edge of our solar system (sorry, Pluto!), so the European Space Agency prepares a mission to see if the planet is habitable. Now, you’d think a mission like this would have several, if not dozens of astronauts, but no! Our two protagonists, Ariane and Thomas, are the only crew members journeying to the planet (dubbed Persephone). Could the planet potentially be viable so that humanity can have a second chance at prosperity?
Things on Persephone don’t start out great for Ariane and Thomas, as their ship breaks apart and scatters across the planet. Thus, our two heroes are separated, stranded, and, in Thomas’ case, seriously injured. Now they’ll need to traverse this unknown world to reunite, but this won’t be a leisurely hike. Not only is the environment treacherous, but Persephone’s inhabitants aren’t exactly friendly…
DON’T NOD has created some fascinating characters in their previous games, and the duo of Ariane and Thomas are no different. The writing for both of them is superbly done, and the overall plot kept me constantly wanting to know more. Some of the twists I could see coming from a mile off, but that didn’t detract from how engrossed in the game I was.
Gameplay
Throughout Aphelion, you’ll be playing as both Ariane and Thomas, who each offer a different gameplay style. Ariane has the more action-heavy sequences, where she’ll be doing a lot of climbing and sneaking to avoid the hostile creatures of Persephone.
Traversal is simple, requiring some well-timed jumps and quickly timed button inputs on occasions when Ariane loses her grip. Tools such as a grappling hook mix up the gameplay loop slightly, and if you enjoy platforming sections in games such as Uncharted, for example, then you’ll feel right at home here! As for the stealth sections, these are pretty basic. The strange monsters that stalk you can only locate you by sound, so they aren’t too arduous to get through. Still, they are tense, and these floating, serpentine-esque beings are super creepy!
Thomas’ parts are often shorter, but offer a break from the action with a focus on puzzles. He gets some of the more interesting story beats, as his inability to perform strenuous tasks after being injured in the crash leads him to being the mystery solver of the pair. None of the puzzles were too difficult, but I did find them to be a nice change of pace from Ariane’s creeping and clambering.
Overall, the gameplay isn’t hugely varied, but it is engaging enough to want to keep on playing. The main draw is definitely the story, though, so if you’re looking for something with fighting and firearms, Aphelion may not be the game for you.
Graphics & Audio
I’m a big fan of the “near future” aesthetic, and Aphelion nails it! As a whole, the environments look incredible, from dimly lit spaceship ruins to sweeping vistas of the unforgiving tundra. Despite the playable areas being relatively linear, there’s still a wonderful sense of scale when taking in the sights.
The character models, much like the environments, are also very detailed. And for the most part, character animations are great. In particular the facial animations really convey the pair’s emotions. It’s not all smooth sailing, though! There was the occasional instance where Ariane or Thomas would be stuck in a falling animation loop or float for a split-second. Not terrible by any means, but these smaller things were rather immersion-breaking.
As for the audio, the subtle shift from slower, less prominent music during exploration ramps up during tense scenes. Having the soundtrack almost fade into the background and give way to the ambient audio was a nice touch that really drew me in to those particular moments. Finally, both main characters’ voice actors put in excellent performances. Their respective actors wonderfully portray the range of emotions both Ariane and Thomas go through. Poor voice acting can completely ruin an otherwise outstanding story, but thankfully DON’T NOD’s casting was absolutely spot on.
Longevity
The whole adventure took me around 12 hours to beat. I did take my time, exploring as much as I could and hunting down collectibles. There are some collectibles and certain trophies that may not be missed in the initial playthrough, though. As already mentioned, Aphelion is a linear adventure that doesn’t have the branching paths seen in some of the developers’ other games. A decent length for a narrative-driven adventure, but not one that players would want to jump back into to change how the story plays out.
Final Thoughts
Aphelion is a gripping tale about two people, not just about surviving on an alien world, but also reuniting with each other. Although some players may find the gameplay too basic, those who love a good story will find themselves hooked from beginning to end. DON’T NOD have once again shown that they are masters when it comes to engaging narratives.
So, with all that said, Aphelion receives the Thumb Culture Gold Award!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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