“A music can do” sang a few years ago Max Gazzè, praising all the effects that music could have on our lives. Who knows what he would have said in front of AereA, a game inspired by the tradition of Diablo-style or Torchlight action RPGs in which axes, swords, brackets and shields are replaced by harps, cellos, lutes and trumpetsthat will be used not like the Clash but to launch powerful notes that can pulverize enemies. As disciples of the Grand Master Guido
(because the music, as you know, is Italian stuff) we will have to discover the mysteries of the flying island of Aezir, visiting its various environments and eliminating dozens of creatures, up to the fights with the inevitable bosses, so that good prevails and evil succumbs. If it sounds familiar, it’s all normal. The first choice we will have will be to choose between the harpist Wolff, who
takes the place of an archer, Jacques and his cello that acts as a tank, Jules the lute magician and Claude the trumpeter the machine gunner. The fact of being four characters suggests the possibility of setting up a fun co-op with three other companions in local mode.
TONE NOTES
Aero starts more or less like all the action RPG, a tutorial mission, simple enemies and lots of chat to read. The problem lies in the fact that, while explaining by bit and by sign what a lever is for and how a door is opened, the game forgets one of the most important things for titles of this kind: a pop-up that explains what kind of potion we are collecting and what will be its effects.
This turns out to be a gross mistake in the more advanced stages of the game, when the inventory is full and each slot must be used for items that are always useful. For the rest, walking through the dungeons of AereA is really very difficult to see some glimmer of originality.
Ok, weapons are instruments, coins are notes and the drop is replaced by scores with which we unlock new weapons to buy, but the music is always the same.
Each character has two different attacks, to which he adds a third after the third boss, but this does not add much to a rhythm and a game mechanics that soon becomes quite boring and stravistaAs if this were not enough, the characters are not equipped with sprints or any form of fast movement, excluding some teleporters between the central hub and the various dungeons, and this makes exploration even less enjoyable.
Moreover, compared to the standards of the genre, in AereA it often happens to have to go back and find that the enemies are back behind us or come out of nowhere, so if we have to go over a section already visited or come back to life after being killed we will have to again sucking the same trantran of enemies that offer no challenge, if not continuously press the area attack button.
In the first level supports us the desire to discover, in the second there is the curiosity of the new setting, but already from the third level onwards the situation becomes dramatically repetitive,
PLAYSTATION TROPHIES 4
The trophies of AereA reflect its low level of challenge, since to get them you will basically just complete the game, use a skill a number of times or collect enough notes. The biggest problem will be to find three other friends to play with to get the trophies of the cooperative mode.
SYNESTHESIA, TAKE ME AWAY
Visually there is not much to say about AereA: yes, the environments are colorful, but the average quality is quite standard and the level design will not go down in history.
For heaven’s sake nothing is out of place and the frame rate is stable, but honestly there are old games even a few years that are definitely more pleasant to see, without obviously bothering Blizzard. More than a new single, AereA seems a cover played without much conviction.
Fortunately, since we are talking about a game based on music, the sound sector is one of its best aspects. The soundtrack is relaxing, never dull and can not get bored after a few minutes. The sound effects of weapons are nice and have the advantage of giving a certain comic effect.
