The sealed temples are where the only real challenges reside. Acquiring the keys to unlock these temples is fairly simple, normally awarded after completing a small environmental puzzle. This is rather handy since these keys are what open the temples found throughout the Land of Gods. The spirit animals are much like the family back at the Settlement island, offering up lore, tips, and even a key at one point. There are three reasons you’ll find yourself delving into these locations: to meet a spirit animal, to acquire a key, or to be gifted one of the three fragments needed to complete the game. In fact, you’ll find many of these areas around the world since nearly all of the non-flying gameplay is found within them. Your discoveries could even lead to scrolls from long-gone citizens that tell of their struggles or you could find a dark cave in the side of an otherwise boring island. For example, you may find an island that is home to an inland island, which is found in a pond and inhabited by a few crabs or a stone monolith that tells of ancient events. Many of these islands hold secrets however, and this is what drives the player to investigate each and every one they come across. Some are big enough to have mountains, rivers, or townships on them while others don’t have enough space for more than a pond, a tree, or even a few bushes. I don’t mean that there’s some evil guy that rules over everything or that hellfire is raining from the sky, I simply mean that all the land in this world has broken into countless little islands. Speaking of the world, it’s kind of… totally broken. This new dialogue isn’t always the most interesting, but it shows the amount of care put into the characters and their permanence in the world. The last note I have about these characters would be that they have new things to say and new locations if you return after substantial story events. In short, these characters give a short description of Karah and her importance while explaining the Pilgrimage you are meant to go on. ![]() On top of this, all important terms are color coded and can be easily understood even without reading the whole paragraph. From speaking with Daina, John, Erin, and Medvin, I was caught up rather quickly due to the dialogue only offering a small amount of fluff around the important information. Lucky too, because these three tell you about various key locations that would be worth a look if the story is what you’re interested in. Oddly enough, I was still drawn to Daina and her family shortly after gaining my freedom. ![]() This amount of freedom is nearly baffling and caught me off-guard as I assumed I’d be forced to talk to several NPCs about lore before I’d be able to explore. There is no ‘power’ meter or any other kind of restrictions the player truly can fly anywhere on the map as soon as the freelook camera tutorial has finished. Short of interior zones such as caves, Auk can use this power anywhere and at any time. If you were unaware, in AER, the player can press the jump button while in midair to transform into a rather large bird, taking flight at a moment’s notice. A large part of this freedom comes from the game’s main mechanic: transformation. In fact, the entire game could be completed without speaking to Daina, John, her husband, or Erin, their daughter. ![]() While Auk is pointed toward Daina and her family, the player could just as easily decide to ignore all that and explore as much as they like. Unlike most other adventure games, AER allows the player to begin exploring the moment they have been shown all of the controls. It is from here that AER opens up completely. Medvin explains to Auk that the nearby Settlement is home to a woman that can help us begin our Pilgrimage. Safely out of the stony deathtrap, the player is introduced to Medvin, Auk’s mentor. After interacting with this and witnessing a short scene, Auk, our hero, must escape from the now (literally) crumbling cave with a newfound lantern. Once past the main menu, the player is (figuratively) dropped into a cave and is encouraged to move forward through to an altar. Right out of the gate, AER gives off a story-heavy indie vibe due to its low-poly art style and soothing nature sounds that effortlessly set the stage for adventure. I know that by saying that, I’m setting myself up for certain criticisms, but I intend to address those as I explain why I used a particularly pretentious opener. Reviews // 9th Nov 2017 - 5 years ago // By Tyler Schurwan AER - Memories of Old Reviewīefore anything else, the first and most important thing anybody should know about AER - Memories of Old is that, whilst it is a videogame, it is more like an experience.
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