Beware, this is not your typical game. But, if you do have a sensitive soul, you'll most likely love it!
Read the other reviews to learn that you cannot die or kill stuff. This game is about something else. About the freedom, flying through the sky, the suspense of colors and sounds in the locations, about discovery and the subtle story which unfolds as you go.
I loved this game. I bought it based on visuals- and I was not dissapointed. I immensly enjoyed this minimalistic, pastel, low-poly models. the colors and atmosfere is soothing but also exciting.
You play as a girl with a bird-shifting ability. You can fly between isles suspended in midair, and there are few dungeon-style levels with puzzles (you have to walk there, which is a bit slower).
The story is a bit basic (you fight the evil, uncover lost history and discover new lands) and there are not many enemies. This is not some massive game with books of lore and legions of enemies to fight. There's hardly even any dialogues. You don't level up or evolve. There's no things to equip or loot. And there's no need for them.
I really enjoyed fliping between human and a bird and flying between islands. It was really relaxing, even if some of the flight were rather long. There is few tiny sidequests, few easter eggs and in-game lore to discover, quite a lot of GOG achivemnets
Pros:
+amazing visual side
+soothing and relaxing, altough with excitment
+gives the feeling of freedom
+kid friendly
+it's all abot discovery, freedom
Cons:
-no fighting
-no leveling
-no looting or exuiping
Conclusion:
if you came for this game expecting a CS or Witcher or Zombies or whatever, you will be disapointed.
If you played Gris, or FireWatch I think you will be pleased.
in a world so very saturated with shooters it is quite lovely to have a game that doesn't follow the trends or the norms. Aer is a lovely story about a young girl who sets out on a pilgramige of both self discovery and to learn of her shattered sky land home. The plot is somewhat cliche however it has its own charm to it and playing through it i found myself rather attatched to the character.
Gameplay wise i found this very relaxing and yet still interesting enough to keep me from nodding off to the beautiful soundtrack. The physics flows well between flight and gound based movement. The platforming is a little odd when you first start playing, this is because the movement is analog is nature (stopped, walking, running) and does not smoothly blend as you tilt the thumbstick. The game itself is quite short and i managed to complete my first run in a little over 2 hours. It also has little replay value in my opinion and if i were to suggest any improve ment it would be post story activities (exploration quests- "heard about this thing in a place, you should take a look" sorta thing) and repeatable activities such as arial obstical tracks. I digress however :P
Overall i would recommend this to casual gamers who just need a quick escape but dont have the time to commit to bigger games like Fallout or Skyrim. Its short, its relaxing and its easy. The objectives are there to complete at your discression, if you even want to complete them.
This is a game that tries to ride the coat-tails of games Like Journey, but fails in major ways.
1. There is no linear story, instead you are thrown into a 'open' world with no direction and little to no story.
2. The ability to fly is given to you without effort, so it means nothing despite being a major game-play mechanic.
3. the music suggests fantastic tales, but the game-play fails to live-up to this atmosphere, rendering it null. Where Journey's sound track was designed around your playing, this music seems slapped onto the environment, rather than being depending upon the player.
4. The Graphics are terrible, even for this kind of indie-cell-shaded game.
In Short, buy it on EXTREME sale, otherwise it's a waste of money.