Treasures of the Aegean

This is a really neat little game. I wouldn't call it a metroidvania; it's really more a platformer puzzler with a time loop mechanic. You run through a massive, open environment within a time limit, solving small puzzles and navigation challenges. Any items you collect either permanently add to your time limit, or add to some of the game's lore. You're working towards solving some of the game's biggest puzzles, and the final challenge is to unlock them all in the same run. Graphics-wise the game is modest, but the environment design is pleasant. The character portraits are clearly hand-drawn and nice, though they aren't very consistent. Your main character, Marie, can look like a different person from panel to panel. The only other criticism I have is the game's English translation has some occasional issues. Nothing that would stop you from playing through it though. Overall just a really neat idea for a game that is well-executed and doesn't last longer than it feels like it should. I beat it in about 6 hours with only a few optional collectibles missed.

Writing this as the credits roll, after 100% and letting the game idle for a couple hours by accident. This is a weird game to evaluate, but without burying the lede, I really enjoyed this one. I 100% would not describe this as a metroidvania, and I think the game would be more interesting and easier to pitch if it wasn't marketed as one. I might be more inclined to refer to it as a metroidbrania, though. (I know a lot of people find that genre name obnoxious. Whatever, lol) The base price on this one is kind of crazy, too. I try not to harp too much on nebulous value debates in my Steam reviews, but 20 euros for this game is rough. The game is only generously 6 hours long to 100% without a guide, and there isn't actually even 6 hours worth of unique, quality content. The game loop, which I'll get to, kind of intentionally causes a bunch of backtracking. And that's fine! But if you take away a lot of the random meandering through areas you've already cleared out, the game is probably closer to 4 hours, and of those 4 hours, maybe 30 minutes are a story that doesn't really go anywhere or have anything interesting to say. For 5 euros though, it's still easily worth it. I also did really enjoy the gameplay loop overall. It's extremely novel, and one of my favorite implementations of a timeloop in a game off the top of my head. My main issue with it is that the majority of the exploration just... isn't worth it. You honestly have more than enough time to finish the game even without picking up any collectables other than what you happen to come across, you get no real reward for finishing the prophecy or the treasure log, and the "powers" that are the meat and potatoes of the optional content are absolutely, completely, worthless. The lion's share of the optional content "challenges" boil down to "see the object and jump over to its ledge." This is okay, again, the game isn't exactly long. It's hard to say it really overstays its welcome, but you're looking at a game with a really strange make-up of content. The game, when doing nothing other than running around finding what you need to finish the game, is probably 2 hours long, and is maybe 6 hours long to 100%. This means that's 2/3 of the content in an already short game is optional, and of that optional content, maybe 80% of it is wholly uninteresting, and 100% of it is unrewarding. Meh. I'm being really rough on the game, but it's more from a place of love than hate. I really did like the experience overall. The novelty of the setting and gameplay premise are more than worth the price of admission when on sale. It's a cute experience I'll probably find myself thinking about off and on for a while. It just feels like the game was designed as a metroidvania, but only superficially. I wonder if the game would have been a better, more focused experience if the map size and collectable count were slashed in half, with more interesting gameplay variety and reward systems in the remaining content. The comic book art style is really nice, too. One of my favorite aesthetics. Unfortunately, a lot of the actual animations are... stiff, to say the least. But all of the actual cutscenes are gorgeous. P.S. I understand that French is the native language, but the English store page could have used a lot of work, and I know I'm a hater, but if I didn't see this recommended on Reddit, I probably would have been pushed away by all the random typos and grammatical errors. Non-lineal is not the word you were going for, that would be non-linear.

[2023/11/26 도전과제 100% 완] 요약: 재밌음. 퍼즐은 공략 보는 게 심신에 좋다. 유물 올클 여부따라 엔딩 바뀜. 올클 못하고 엔딩본 후 도전과제 깨려면 올클로 엔딩 다시 봐야 함. 재밌음. 맵이 생각보다 넓고 스폰 위치가 달라져서 귀찮긴 한데 유물 찾기 어렵진 않음. 근데 몇 개가 정말 먹기 힘들게 되어 있거나(뱀 든 무녀 밑 쪽 보물 등), 장치 퍼즐 못 풀어서 공략봄.. 가이드가 무녀 장치들 정도만 있고, 유튜브도 그냥 플레이 영상들이라 공략 찾기가 어려웠음. 유튭 유물 100% 영상으로 보는게 제일 나은 듯. 유물 번호는 타이틀 나와야 볼 수 있어서 그것도 약간 귀찮았음 ㅎ 플레이 짜증났던 건 패드로 했는데 벽 올라가는 게 잘 안 되서 적응 좀 오래 걸림. 이건 걍 내 문제일수도? 그리고 무녀 장치 보물 여러 개 필요한데 다른 유물처럼 누적인 줄 알고 보일 때마다 열심히 모아놨었는데 20 루프 쯤에 루프마다 리셋되는 거 알고 개허탈했음 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 엔딩 보려면 한 루프 안에서 그 넓은 맵 왔다갔다 해서 유물 모아서 퍼즐들 깨고 해야해서 무녀 관련들은 걍 모든 걸 다 끝내고 손대야 됨. 이때 맵 위쪽으로 올라갔다오고 그래야 하는데 지도로 동선 짜서 가면 묘하게 점프로 안 닿는 구간이라 못 가서 돌아가야 되고 그런 게 많은 것도 열받았음 ㅋㅋ ㅠ 열받은 것만 잔뜩 썼지만 재밌었음 !! +팁) 중간중간 놓인 여신상? 같은 거는 나중에 리스폰 위치로 쓰는 거고 별 의미 없음. 퍼즐 깰 때 뭐 써야되는지 모르겠을 때 일단 유물 쭉 찾아두고 유물 지도 봐야됨... 엄청 멀리서 가져와야 되는 것들 있어서. 뭔지 모를 땐 걍 공략보길.....

one of the best parkour platformers there is. its not the greatest, but the way it merges exploration with narrative is very well done. 9/10 i would recommend

Take a 2D action-platformer, have a parkour emphasis to the movement, add a big map to explore, all done with a comic-book aesthetic, and you've got Treasures of the Aegean. I wouldn't call it a Metroidvania since there are no movement upgrades - but your base movement is very fluid. Getting around the map is fun, which is good, because simple traversal is 95%+ of the game. You can't fight, and there are only a few enemies (with the slowest bullets in history) that just act as a minor obstacle here and there. The challenge is in getting around, grabbing what you need to, figuring out where to go and how to get there, and gradually piecing together the story and the answers to puzzles. It has some minor issues but no deal-breakers, and the most annoying thing is the typos scattered around the text. You'll always know what they meant, so it's not a huge deal. The game is fun, the gameplay loop is fun, and it's well-designed. It's one huge map, with no (visible) loading screens or other divisions between its areas - yet you can tell when you're in a different area because it FEELS different. No need to announce the name of the zone when the change in palette and shift in the background music will do it for you. Super fun, very recommended on like a 50% sale or better since it's not all that long, but very worth playing.

Loot loop, loot loop, loot loop. Wait.... have I done this before?

A gret time loop adventure!

very fun platforming combined with an interesting mythology about the collapse of an ancient civilisation. its main gimmick of a time loop might throw people with terrible memory (like myself) off, but marking stuff on the map helps a great deal with that. also, the music in the western island is stellar. highly recommend this one.

If you like time loop games and info-based progression, this one's a no brainer. Undercoders has quietly been trucking along making cool little hidden gems and this is probably their best work. Excellent feel to the movement and a large island to run around on and explore.

美术和音乐非常吸引人，时间循环的玩法刺激了玩家的探索欲，全成就难度也不高，值得推荐