Aestik Reviews

An action platformer with introductory Metroidvania qualities that contains some story choices. There are platforming challenges which could pose a challenge to novice of the genre. The art is amazing. The soundtrack is very good. Additionally, the souls-like store user tag is misleading because this is a well-made casual Metroidvania that features a classic progression system of acquiring items and power-ups.

[i]Aestik[/i] is a relatively short metroidvania that, in my opinion, would have been better suited as an action platformer. The game offers multiple story choices, which I found frustrating as they take time away from playing and force more reading. While these choices lead to different boss battles and story segments, I think it's a missed opportunity not to include all the content in a single playthrough, especially given the game's short runtime. Movement feels smooth and precise, which is what initially drew me to purchase the game after trying the demo. However, the combat has a few issues. When using a rune to perform additional jumps, you cannot attack immediately afterward, which can lead to frustrating situations where your actions feel arbitrarily restricted. Additionally, the attack animations alternate between two types—one with longer reach and the other hitting higher. This inconsistency makes every other attack feel unreliable in the wrong situations. There are also control quirks that feel poorly implemented. For example, exiting the map and healing are bound to the same button, meaning that after checking the map, you can accidentally waste a heal. This kind of oversight makes moment-to-moment gameplay feel clunky. [i]The Halls of Neychah[/i] was one of the most frustrating areas in the game. It's filled with spikes that force you to move in specific patterns, and they’re difficult to read, making the section feel unnecessarily restrictive. Getting hit by these spikes resets your position, and if you die, you're sent back to the last checkpoint. This made the entire area a slog, and for a game that encourages repeated playthroughs, this design choice felt like a joke. I genuinely considered quitting the game at this point. Fast travel exists but is extremely limited, making backtracking a chore. Something worth mentioning, the corruption area in the late game, features spikes that emerge from the environment, which make a noise that can only be described as someone taking a wet sh*t directly in your ear. I’ve played hundreds of games, and I don’t think I’ve ever been outright disgusted by a sound effect before—props to the developer, I guess? I ultimately quit the game at the [i]Beyond the Realm[/i] section, which serves as a final platforming challenge. The precision required felt out of place and wasn’t the kind of gameplay I signed up for. This, unfortunately, sums up my experience with [i]Aestik[/i]: I expected a simpler [i]Hollow Knight[/i]-inspired adventure with fun combat, but instead, I got excessive text, annoying platforming challenges, and a finale that felt like a middle finger to anyone who wasn't interested in precision platforming. [i]Aestik[/i] had potential, but the overall design choices turned it into a frustrating experience. Hopefully, the developer can take lessons from this and refine their future games.

Decent game if a little short. Choices justify ng+ which might be not as bad given the game's length. Game looks good and there were some soundtracks which I enjoyed. Areas looked interesting, though, most of them were on a simpler side. If you like metroidvanias you'll probably have a good time with this one. Final bosses and platforming challenge (also the final one) seem to be too big of a difficulty spike making the experience a bit frustrating: for the whole game you are kinda chilling and not really incentivized to fully utilize your abilities and then last bosses are much more demanding. Game would have benefited from either having easier last bosses or everything else accordingly more difficult. Platforming in the secret area is mostly fine if not for the bit where you have to hold dash button just enough time to not overshoot nor undershoot with no opportunity for correction. These parts made me feel like I'm playing the jump king or something similar which is definitely not the experience in line with any other platforming section this game presents. Aside from that there are slight freezes when something "big" happens on the screen, e.g. enemies spawn in challenge rooms or some of the star attacks or game saving progress -- these could be better optimized. I guess there is nothing else to complain about. I hope there is going to be a next game in the same genre with less shortcomings and more content.

Great game, it definitely scratches my Hollow Knight itch. The decisions are very interesting and the game branches based on your choices. I highly recommend it.

Fantastic short metroidvania game, I have a great time with it. Some of the late game platforming can be extremely challenging for what you would expect out of this type of game. I recommend it very fun.