Aeterna Noctis

Aeterna Noctis is a beautiful metroidvania from an indie studio. I was enamored with its challenging but fair platforming sequences and the multitude of varied worlds to visit. On the other hand, I was not convinced by its nonlinearity, which makes it impossible to get involved in the story quickly and complicated things for the developers in terms of introducing new gadgets related to exploration. Nevertheless, Aeterna Noctis offers almost 20 hours of genuine fun.

Aeterna Noctis blends indie platforming with the universe of a huge metroidivania. A game following the footsteps of Hollow Knight and Celeste, shining gorgeusly on the visual front.

Aeterna Noctis is the closer metroidvania to Hollow Knight you could get, delivering an experience that is clearly inspired by the best game of the genre. Its enormous world map and myriad of secrets will keep you entertained for tens of hours, but you should beware that its high difficulty means that it aims at players who really want to test their reflexes and lightning-fast combination of special powers.

The phrase Metroidvania should not be applied casually, for those two games expanded what was possible, tossing gamers down cryptic corridors instead of cute green pipes. Aeterna Noctis may not innovate much, but it’s a worthy addition to this sub-genre that any fan of Hollow Knight will be pleased to play, if they can overlook the redundancy of gameplay elements. The frequency of the jumping puzzles will push many casual gamers away, but those looking for a classic, hardcore challenge will find it welcomes you with its skeletal hands.

Aeterna Noctis is an amazing example of how a developer can mix together gameplay elements from many popular platformers of the past few years to construct something greater than the sum of its parts. While it owes a gameplay debt to games like Hollow Knight, Dark Souls, and Castlevania, Aeterna Noctis’ fascinating setting and enjoyable gameplay make it easy to appreciate on its own. Its beautiful world and gorgeous soundtrack make exploring Aeterna is a joy, even when its high difficulty is knocking you down over and over. If you’ve been seeking your next Metroidvania fix, Aeterna Noctis is definitely worth diving into.

If you’re looking for a challenging metroidvania, Aeterna Noctis is worth your time. Although it doesn’t really reach the level of its best competitors, it is a great adventure.

Aeterna Noctis is not just another metroidvania, its firm commitment to platforming and its lack of scruples when it comes to being demanding give shape to a video game with character that also stands out for its production values, its progression system, for displaying a world as beautiful as it is enormous and for a soundtrack of those that can be listened to over and over again.

Huge and challenging, Aeterna Noctis it's a metroidvania experience just for the most skilled players. Being so hard can be a problem for those with less experience with platforming games, but if you love great challenges you won't be able to put down the controller.

Aeterna Noctis is everything you'd expect from a metroidvania: sprawling, demanding, cryptic, and above all, ripe for mastery. Although multiple design decisions tarnish what would otherwise be an unquestioning masterpiece, it is welcome and recommended for any fan of the genre, especially given its impressive artwork and marvelous mythology.

It does a lot of things that I genuinely like: It has excellent boss fights, some creative levels, an absurdly huge amount of content, and the platforming mostly works well. That level of heartfelt dedication makes it all the more frustrating when you get caught up on the areas where it still needs polish. I enjoyed a lot of the game, but I remember the annoyances more than the enjoyment. If you're willing to work past that, there's a lot to play in Aeterna Noctis, but it's easy to imagine someone reaching a particularly annoying bit of platforming and moving on to something else, especially because the game's long length can make it feel more exhausting than exhilarating. Metroidvania fans should absolutely give it a shot, but don't expect something as easy to pick-up-and-play as some of the genre greats.

Overall, Aeterna Noctis is a solid experience with some notable flaws that aren't deal-breakers, but could definitely benefit from a bit more refinement. What it does do quite well is find where its two genres intersect and craft a world and gameplay loop that highlight them quite well. For fans of these kinds of games, Aeterna Noctis is definitely worth picking up.

Aeterna Noctis is a clone of the biggest games in the genre, with few good gameplay mechanics and too many issues caused by an imperfect polishing.

Aeterna Noctis is a product that is all in all enjoyable, but one that wastes the potential in the useless attempt to chase Hollow Knight too closely. The good artistic direction, the excellent combat system and the well-conceived boss fights end up being suffocated by a linear and tedious progression, a victim in turn of the desire to fill the game with content even when there is no need for it. A great pity, because if the team had managed to effectively streamline the proposal and better balance its components, we would have had a much more satisfying title on our hands.

A gigantic, dark and potentially interesting metroidvania action-adventure, flawed by time-wasting level design and some poor gameplay choices.