Taken for a Quickie | AereA

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Join us in taking Soedesco’s musical-themed RPG, AereA, down into the orchestra pit for a rhythmic quickie.

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​by Rob
​Holt

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@acousticmagic

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Developer: Triangle Studios
Publisher: Soedesco
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC
​Players: 1 - 4

Musical-themed RPG? What’s that all about?

AereA is a game in the vein of Diablo; you explore a world split into three separate islands, searching for nine primordial instruments stolen from Great Maestro Guido’s famous concert hall. You’ll face off against bosses based around these instruments throughout your adventure, at which point it’s hard not to feel pure joy - the bagpipes bug in particular is genius!

​Is the gameplay purely Diablo-esque, or can I expect Guitar Hero-style rhythm sections or something?

The former. A fairly standard two button interface handles combat for the most part - one button pertaining to attack and the other to defence - although you’ll only bother to employ any defensive tactics in the aforementioned boss encounters, as most of the standard enemies you meet are on the weak side. There’s also basic puzzle solving and loot to collect, as you might expect.

How’s the audiovisual presentation?

It’s a little rough, if we’re being honest. The retro-inspired visuals are framed with an isometric camera angle that’s great for gaining an overview of the action, but it doesn’t help to mask the somewhat ugly graphics.

The music for the most part is decent, but, much like the visuals, the retro keyboard sounds come across as a bit cheap in places. While the orchestral tones of the great concert hall are beautiful, for a game based around music, AereA could definitely stand to see some improvement in the audio department.

Any other concerns or complaints?

In spite of the presentation niggles, like many games before it, AereA doesn’t require lifelike graphics to be fun to play. The single player option can get a little repetitive, but get a friend to join you on the sofa (there’s no online co-op) and you’ve got an entertaining little number.

With all that in mind, does it come recommended?

It doesn’t take Mozart or Beethoven to see/hear that AereA isn’t an all-time classic, but don’t let that dissuade you if you’re a fan of isometric action RPGs, as you’ll definitely find something to enjoy here.

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AereA is available now on PS4, Xbox One and PC.