Aaru's Awakening Review

"A Hellish Beauty"

Campaign

Aaru is broken into various aspects of light and within these the respect guards of each domain. The game is played out through this small hellish sort of creature and fables are told between area changes. Story involves these deities of Earth; Dawn, Day, Dusk and Night which work together until greed grows causing one of them to create the hellish looking creature you play as. The artwork that makes up each level is ever beautiful though that's quickly stomped by the ever aggressive worlds and confusing controls. I honestly have to ask why that particular selection was chosen considering it hurts my head to even think of the scheme. Aside from that the teleportation system which is a basis of play really is awkward and inefficient. Other issues include the overly difficult areas and that you're racing against the clock continuously. The worlds you visit do look wonderful with a grand art style, it's just the way you move through levels which proves frustrating. There's also the whole issue with every movement within the level requiring almost precise steps which can be quite frustrating. Bosses are also really difficult though quite creatively made in how you take them out. Enemies are also dealt with in a neat way as you teleport within them to kill them.

Gameplay

Movement is nice and fluid along with just a fantastic backdrop. The art style is seriously beautiful and the most redeeming factor of gameplay. The controls are awkward and gameplay is overly difficult most of the time. I really didn't quite get the point of the time aspect to levels with medals to gain, though I'm sure some will enjoy the extra challenge. Also have to question the over level option where it tasks you with finishing the game through perfection and no deaths or you face campaign resets.

The Conclusion

Aaru's Awakening had an interesting fable story background between chapters along with some great art graphics though it was really brought down by the actual gameplay that accompanied it. It's certainly play-able for those that really want a hardcore experience though it's not enjoyable for the regular person. While there were some neat story aspects the lack of solid gameplay made me grow rather frustrated. This was only further developed by the mind boggling teleportation system within the game.

Aaru's Awakening Review on Xbox One
Review Code Provided by Lumenox Games

Rating Overall: 5.0