Aporia: Beyond The Valley

 PC
Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. Eurogamer Italy
    Aug 16, 2017
    70
    Quotation forthcoming.
  2. New Game Network
    Jul 19, 2017
    61
    The story and puzzles are decent in Aporia: Beyond The Valley, so it's a shame that the world is roughly designed, there are consistency and technical issues, and the horror element is shallow.
  3. TheSixthAxis
    Jul 17, 2017
    60
    While I eventually enjoyed Aporia: Beyond the Valley, the moments where bugs and glitches appeared took me right out of the experience. It’s a shame too, as the story is well told despite uttering no words at all, the premise is genuinely interesting, and the puzzles – when they work as intended – are a joy to solve. It’s certainly one to wait on for now while they tidy up all the bugs and glitches.
  5. COGconnected
    Jul 31, 2017
    58
    While Aporia may not be for everyone, those hardcore Myst enthusiasts will find a lot to like. It’s got the bare bones of a decent puzzle/exploration game, and it’s got atmosphere for miles. The controls, the graphics, and the level design effectively transport the player to a desolate world. It’s beautiful and enchanting. If only there was something more to do there.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 24 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 24
  3. Negative: 2 out of 24
  1. BlakeArius
    Aug 12, 2017
    6
    There are good qualities about this game, but are ultimately let down by frustration, bugs and busywork.

    Graphics: The game looks amazing,    There are good qualities about this game, but are ultimately let down by frustration, bugs and busywork.

    Graphics: The game looks amazing, runs terribly. Some of the best fog and godrays ive seen, but the game is brought to 30 fps on a 980gtx.
    Gameplay: Myst inspired puzzler but ultimately a poor clone, Puzzles are singular and nothing you haven't done before. There's not reason to look into the constructed environment beyond finding resource or glass shards, It's all pretty generic.
    Story: interesting enough to have kept me going until the bugs and autosave system became to much. Told in uniquely cool 2D projected scenes, Probs the coolest idea in the game.

    Summary: I feel like this game needed another 6 months to fix up the glitches, optimize the engine and maybe make the puzzles a bit more complex, even then it wouldn;t have the world building myst had.    … Full Review »
  2. Dubeau
    Jul 24, 2017
    6
    The game is in third person and have puzzles like Myst. The story is told by projectors which is nice. You have a map but it is useless, sinceThe game is in third person and have puzzles like Myst. The story is told by projectors which is nice. You have a map but it is useless, since it is so primitively done: you have no idea where you are and where to go. And since all the regions are connected, the lack of a proper sens of direction/mini map or mapping system is extremely frustrating. The regions are pretty big and some puzzles are too. The graphics are good but I saw a lot of screen smearing. In certain area the game struggle with fps. Good game but the mapping can be a major obstacle.… Full Review »
  3. Renovatia
    Dec 30, 2018
    7
    This is an adventure game with exploration added to the mix. Meaning, aside from puzzle solving, a great deal of the game is finding your wayThis is an adventure game with exploration added to the mix. Meaning, aside from puzzle solving, a great deal of the game is finding your way and explore hidden sections to collect non-essential collectibles, the shards being the most important as it leads to a handy feature - which I won't reveal.

    As you progress the storyline unfold itself via animations without dialogue (cool done) and paintings depicting the history of the lost civilization you are exploring. The puzzles you solve usually gains you more shards, which together they form a glass door which will lead to said handy feature. The puzzles are fairly easy actually. Some require more time than the other, but you don't need cheats to be honest.

    You do need cheats though (walkthrough) to find hidden objects. It's kinda annoying. I never liked the good old "pixel-hunting" adventure games and I don't like hidden hard-to find spots to find one or the other object. I'm in it for the intellectual challenge combined with enjoying a story. I'm the person who totally absorbs a storyline in games like these.

    A final criticism, aside from the hard-to-find exploration part, is the graphics. Though pretty for sure, it's not optimized at all. My GTX 680 handles it well, but the programming is obviously not optimal. For example there's a little lag and on high end cards 60 FPS is still not reachable for all. Also, the game isn't good at preloading. AS soon as you walk around the hard-disk gets busy. I mean it's rattling like a maniac until you stand still. This game is not good for your HDD lifespan. That's for sure.

    So performance and the exploration part are bad, the somewhat simple puzzles, though so much fun, are a bit easy and I wouldn't mind more of them with more inspiring rewards. But there's compelling good stuff in it: the story-telling is beautiful, the puzzles are more accessible to more high-school level students but aren't insultingly simple (some are lol). The environment is beautiful as well and the music is spot on: the music is calm and kicks in when needed. There isn't useless artsy noise going on all the time.    … Full Review »
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