[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.
