REVIEW / Aarik and the Ruined Kingdom

Aarik and the Ruined Kingdom is a perspective primarily based puzzle sport from indie developer Shatterproof Video games. Aarik is a younger prince with a bedridden father, lacking mom, and, as you most likely guessed, a ruined kingdom. Utilizing the king’s crown, the titular prince navigates by isometric ranges that twist and remodel to disclose a path ahead.

Over the course of the sport Aarik will obtain particular crystals that award him bonus skills for his quest. These manifest in 4 totally different colours that every have totally different powers. These crystals can flip again time to rebuild destroyed buildings, transfer towers, or management robotic allies to unravel puzzles. These skills serve to boost the puzzles and break up the sport into distinct sections. 

Aarik and the Ruined Kingdom emphasizes the comfy vibe in all facets. The environment is chill; the music accentuates the calming nature of the usually easy puzzles. The puzzles are supposed to twist the participant’s viewpoint with out being brain-busting tough. That is by design; Shatterproof Video games desires Aarik to be a chill sport you could chill out whereas enjoying. Over the span of the roughly two hours it took to see the journey to the tip, I by no means confronted a problem that stumped me.

If something, the one roadblocks encountered on the trail to revive Aarik’s kingdom had been points with controls. Among the powers had been somewhat spotty after they needed to work with me; The robotic management energy would by accident deactivate once I didn’t need it to, utilizing the telekinesis energy can be powerful to line up the blocks to make them match precisely, and the rewind time energy can be very finicky with the place it might line up the paths to permit passage. The frustration from this was, admittedly, slight however was noticeable sufficient to be disruptive of the general expertise. 

Total Aarik and the Ruined Kingdom is a soothing journey that may be accomplished in a single sitting. The visuals and soundtrack lend themselves completely to this quaint little journey that doesn’t overstay its welcome. The crystal powers do an excellent job at including some spice to the gameplay, however the implementation of them are a bit sensitive and may trigger some frustration.

This evaluate is predicated on a retail copy of the sport offered by the writer.