Legends of Aethereus

 PC
User Score
5.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 40 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 40
  3. Negative: 17 out of 40

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  1. Sea69
    Nov 19, 2013
    1
    What can i say? Aethereus is a bland, repetitive action game with rpg elements. Combat is very poorly made, it's not hard or frustrating, but basically like a combat system in your average cheap mmorpg. The world is not interesting in any way, all quest are pretty much the same. If you saw one saw them all. Story is barely or even non existent, and pre-quest "text windows" (that youWhat can i say? Aethereus is a bland, repetitive action game with rpg elements. Combat is very poorly made, it's not hard or frustrating, but basically like a combat system in your average cheap mmorpg. The world is not interesting in any way, all quest are pretty much the same. If you saw one saw them all. Story is barely or even non existent, and pre-quest "text windows" (that you usually never read) have no value. There is obviously no good quests or characters.

    Aside from kickstarter backers and fanboys with buyers remorse no sane man will consider this a good game. I already wasted enough words on this piece of garbage. So i just say: Avoid this game.    … Expand
  2. Sirwritesalot
    Nov 18, 2013
    8
    No doubt about it, people either love or hate this game. The PvP is excellent, but the single player game is hard for anyone after Skyrim. If you view the single player game as a framework for grinding materials for the PvP game, it's a lot more fun. I'm not sure the single player part of the game was ever meant to be the hook here, the PvP and Arena game play is much more fun.

    Play it    No doubt about it, people either love or hate this game. The PvP is excellent, but the single player game is hard for anyone after Skyrim. If you view the single player game as a framework for grinding materials for the PvP game, it's a lot more fun. I'm not sure the single player part of the game was ever meant to be the hook here, the PvP and Arena game play is much more fun.

    Play it with that in mind and you'll understand why some people love the game. If you look at it from just a single player RPG perspective, yes, you're going to be disappointed, especially after Skyrim.    … Expand
  3. FezzikVizzini
    Sep 29, 2013
    2
    Oh dear This game just shows the perils of being bored and buying a game you hadn't heard of before. I love RPGs and when I saw this on Steam I thought I would give it a try what a mistake.

    The graphics are pretty bad (even at maximum "terrific" setting). The monster animations are terrible and the melee mechanism is imprecise (hard to judge position from the mob to get a hit etc).    Oh dear This game just shows the perils of being bored and buying a game you hadn't heard of before. I love RPGs and when I saw this on Steam I thought I would give it a try what a mistake.

    The graphics are pretty bad (even at maximum "terrific" setting). The monster animations are terrible and the melee mechanism is imprecise (hard to judge position from the mob to get a hit etc). Even something as picking up loot can be a pain as half the time it will not highlight unless you are standing in the correct place. There is no mouse interaction on items or skills it is all key driven so tough luck if you are used to clicking to activate skills.

    The quest environments are boring and mostly empty except for the mobs now and again. In the Nexus (hub town) you can do things like change the colour of banners and walls and erect statues totally boring and of no consequence to the game. I know this game is not a triple A title from a big studio but the production values and implementation really show it up for the Indie game that is is. Sorry 3 Gates, I know that this is your first title but for me it will be the first and last game I will buy from you. Very poor indeed and I would advise anyone else to stay well clear.    … Expand
  4. Wagrum
    Sep 28, 2013
    5
    This game really caters to a niche and is certainly not for everybody. A main city acts as your hub as you venture off into instanced linear environments on very standard and sometimes lengthy quests. Very reminiscent of Monster Hunter, but in setup alone. The combat can feel clunky and isn't as satisfying as it should be. I really hope the LoA devs continue to improve and expand on theThis game really caters to a niche and is certainly not for everybody. A main city acts as your hub as you venture off into instanced linear environments on very standard and sometimes lengthy quests. Very reminiscent of Monster Hunter, but in setup alone. The combat can feel clunky and isn't as satisfying as it should be. I really hope the LoA devs continue to improve and expand on the game because there is a lot of potential here, it is just yet to be realised.… Expand
  5. Sulivano
    Oct 25, 2013
    10
    All though the game is clearly unfinished, it is still in development, with them pushing out tons of new content almost weekly, it is hard to ignore that the game is getting better. If your a fan of fantasy action RPGs and you have a few mates to play it with, then this game might interest you! I certainly had a blast.

    Now, as always, lets start with some of the games negative features.    All though the game is clearly unfinished, it is still in development, with them pushing out tons of new content almost weekly, it is hard to ignore that the game is getting better. If your a fan of fantasy action RPGs and you have a few mates to play it with, then this game might interest you! I certainly had a blast.

    Now, as always, lets start with some of the games negative features.
    The game does have a few bugs, but nothing that you can't look past, knowing they will most likely be fixed in the next patch. Legends of Aethereus unfortunately has a few boring quests, at the beginning of the game, that can often feel repetitive. One of the largest problems people have with this game is its lack of story, so if your looking for an in-depth story line with plot twists and character development, then this isn't the game for you.

    But, if your looking for epic combat and interesting areas to explore then this game might be what your looking for! As you probably guessed, time for the positive side of things!
    Even after all of those problems Legends of Aethereus makes up for all of its faults, mainly through its epic customization features. No, you won't see character development in terms of story, but the character menu has a really enjoyable leveling up system where you can develop and upgrade your character's powers, abilities and skills. The game's crafting system also offers a ton of customization options, for example:
    >Your making a sword
    >You get to pick the Handle the Blade and the guard from a long list of different sword parts
    >Not only that, but you can create each part out of different materials, and of course, the more expensive the material, the better the weapon (Although sometimes it better to go for style over power).
    And that was only one example, there are many other types of weapons you can make, including:
    >Great Swords
    >Short Swords
    >Maces
    >Axes
    >Crossbows
    >Pistols
    >And Rifles
    Don't even get me started on the armor pieces...

    The game also features a large enemy variation, making new encounters with new enemies happen a lot, therefore creating a more interesting game play experience.

    Already half way through the review and haven't even touched on combat yet. I'm not going to go into too much depth, but lets just say that the combat is pretty darn good. There are lots of different play styles for each weapon, meaning that the game is not fully experienced until you've created a character on all of the classes. If you want you check out what the combat actually looks like, go check out my review on my youtube channel (/watch?v=qAAhuzq8cP4). The funny thing about the review is that I don't cover all of the game, yet its 45 minutes long!

    The reason I give Legends of Aethereus a 10/10 here on meta-critic, yet only an 8/10 on my channel, is because of the disgusting amount of people who come on here and trash a perfectly good game with 0/10 scores, I used my 10/10 to counter their thoughtless comments.

    One of them even went as far as to say "The devs obviously put no work in to rushing out this bad game. They lied about features that are not in the game, they lied about how it would look with fake screenshots". That is completely incorrect. The devs worked there asses off, and continue to do so. They didn't lie about anything, either you miss read it, its in there and you just haven't found it yet! And come on! Fake screenshots?! No. Its probably concept art that your think of. JESUS!

    Anyway, I'm rambling. I say its good. Don't believe me? Well go check out some videos on youtube.    … Expand
  6. IXMarlboroManXI
    Sep 28, 2013
    0
    Worst game I have picked up in years. The devs obviously put no work in to rushing out this bad game. They lied about features that are not in the game, they lied about how it would look with fake screenshots, and then they release a game with so many bugs its not playable, even if it was good enough to play,which it is not. save your money and buy skyrim, thats a game worth playing, this is not.
  7. Fixwec
    Sep 28, 2013
    5
    So, I played about a half hour of the game, and in this time I found that the abilities are ridiculously over powered one rocket blast blow kills most of the minions the turrets are clunky and the monsters run up to you so you cant shoot them anyway it has a ton of potential, but they did not realise it the skills themselves don't have a lot of variety, and I don't feel the need toSo, I played about a half hour of the game, and in this time I found that the abilities are ridiculously over powered one rocket blast blow kills most of the minions the turrets are clunky and the monsters run up to you so you cant shoot them anyway it has a ton of potential, but they did not realise it the skills themselves don't have a lot of variety, and I don't feel the need to continue pushing though the game because there's no new next skill I look forward too..why do I care about the next skill when its the same as the last one, and the last one already kills everyone? with that said maybe with some updates it could be better for now my rating is 50/50… Expand
  8. Butternips
    Sep 28, 2013
    0
    Please dont waste your money on this. I thought I would believe the better reviews, and boy do I regret it. needless to say almost 99% of all the bad said about this game is true. The Ai is like something out of doom its so bad, and the animation makes the game looks so terrible I literally got a headache. Please trust me when I say, you will regret it if you buy this game. The craftingPlease dont waste your money on this. I thought I would believe the better reviews, and boy do I regret it. needless to say almost 99% of all the bad said about this game is true. The Ai is like something out of doom its so bad, and the animation makes the game looks so terrible I literally got a headache. Please trust me when I say, you will regret it if you buy this game. The crafting system is more like a buying with resources system, the pictures of how the game would look and how it actually look are two completely different things. the quest are all instanced meaning you have to get on a ship from the same city and hit a loading screen every time for a quest just like the one you just did. Oh and did I mention there s NO SAVE! dont buy this junk.… Expand
  9. d__b
    Oct 2, 2013
    0
    I picked up this game after hearing that it has decent crafting, but sadly I didn't manage to get to part of game where I could see it. After picking up second quest I've decided I had enough. Game has plenty of flaws and it really shows that it was made by amateurs, but that is not what kills it. Combat end exploration is just bad, and that is essence of gameplay.

    Graphics are crap.    I picked up this game after hearing that it has decent crafting, but sadly I didn't manage to get to part of game where I could see it. After picking up second quest I've decided I had enough. Game has plenty of flaws and it really shows that it was made by amateurs, but that is not what kills it. Combat end exploration is just bad, and that is essence of gameplay.

    Graphics are crap. You can clearly see textures on ground, and occasional grass or bush only make things harder to see. So you'll never see enemies unless they are moving, terrain provides them with perfect camouflage (unless they really are appearing out of thin air, that would explain 20 enemies appearing from open plain). Exploring with this graphic is also one big pain. Trying to make out anything in distance hurts eyes, really. Related to graphics, animation. Even if animations are not terrible, their handling is. Animations like dodge start from 'half-done' position instead of position player is in, so character disappears to reappear on his side, leaning or something.

    World consists of parts. Places you go to during quests, and city. City is lifeless, and full of 'useless'. I've noticed small maze between place you start/end quests and quest giver, one arena guy, and few guards. It's city only because creators wanted to put there a city. Quest areas are not fun to explore because of mentioned terrible graphics. But they also commit another game sin have plenty of things like crates/barrels that are not interactive at all, and placed seemingly without any plan or reason. It seems like level design consisted of "it looks empty, let's place some stuff here and there"

    Combat and interaction with enemies is weird. I suppose combat theory is decent, but that's only theory. Slashing at enemies at front is pointless, because animation is shallow, slow, and easy to avoid. Better to let them get on your side and use quicker, wider side attack. Guns are weird, because you don't see enemies before they start running at you, and they can miss even if enemy twice as big as player is directly in front of him.
    After you kill those enemies, you have to run over their corpses few times kicking them around, because loot fall out everywhere and rarely highlights, so you won't even know it's here without kicking corpses.

    Story. No idea about deeper story. Fact that there is absolutely no story involved in gameplay outside wall of text when accepting quest leads me to believe that story is not something this game was supposed to have. Creators even failed to make intro after character creation non-gender-specific, although they tried.

    Overall, this game could be used as effective instrument of torture.    … Expand
  10. Mjoog
    Oct 15, 2013
    8
    The art style is beautiful and the environments are gorgeous. You'll need quite the gaming rig to play this game on it's highest settings, that's true but it's worth it. Making your character look the way you want, down to extensively customizing your armor and saving up for that kick-ass sword will keep you busy, and where the story-mode lacks, the battles and general feel of the questsThe art style is beautiful and the environments are gorgeous. You'll need quite the gaming rig to play this game on it's highest settings, that's true but it's worth it. Making your character look the way you want, down to extensively customizing your armor and saving up for that kick-ass sword will keep you busy, and where the story-mode lacks, the battles and general feel of the quests still keep me gaming. Lots of skills and powers, and the number of weapons to choose from is huge.
    It's a good do for a few hours of battles, crafting and Arena-fighting with other players. It's not a huge AAA-title, it's the first release of a small indie-studio from Gothenburg, Sweden! The game has bugs, sure, but patches come regularly and to be honest, it's in no way more bug-riddled than some big games in similar genres (Skyrim, I'm looking at you).    … Expand
  11. nehebukau
    Sep 30, 2013
    3
    The game fails on some basic levels making it one of the poorer RPGs out there and in my opinion not worth buying. I breakdown my opinion as follows:

    Graphics: The graphics on the game are dated in appearance and even on the highest setting provide very little in the way of improving the game experience. The lack of real-world flow to graphic elements detracts from the game.    The game fails on some basic levels making it one of the poorer RPGs out there and in my opinion not worth buying. I breakdown my opinion as follows:

    Graphics:
    The graphics on the game are dated in appearance and even on the highest setting provide very little in the way of improving the game experience. The lack of real-world flow to graphic elements detracts from the game. Graphic hiccups seem to be normal and can really affect enjoyment.

    Characters and story:
    The characters in single-player mode are amateurish at best, verging on comical at times specially when the voice actors are trying to sound serious or grim. The story line of the game is interesting but not as engaging without polishing the immersive elements.

    Game Play:
    As will all RPGs fighting takes on a major role in getting stuff and gaining experience. In this game the skills and fighting are cumbersome and full of bugs. From skills misfiring or firing and having no effect to enemies jumping around the combat is either fist-mashing or a slow back and forth that quickly becomes a bore. Character movement in combat is either slow prodding or a successive mashing of the space-bar and movement keys to try to bounce around from enemies trying to flank you. I can see where the developers were going with the combat system and, if implemented better would have been quite cool. As it stands now, it misses the mark in all but the PvP system. The PvP combat is the slow, plodding and yes, calculating and strategic but there are better PvP combat games out there if that is all you are looking for.

    Crafting:
    Crafting in the game is, well, crafting. A somewhat better implementation than most games but you have to be pretty strange to buy and play a game just for the crafting.    … Expand
  12. Risto
    Oct 14, 2013
    9
    A fun action orientated game with rpg elements mixed in to create something unique and fun. The crafting system is fun and you can create some great armor. I will freely admit this game does have bugs but what game doesn't? The devs are active on their forums and are working to improve and fix issues in the game. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys action rpg games and hasA fun action orientated game with rpg elements mixed in to create something unique and fun. The crafting system is fun and you can create some great armor. I will freely admit this game does have bugs but what game doesn't? The devs are active on their forums and are working to improve and fix issues in the game. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys action rpg games and has some patience as this is a indie studios first foray but worth the cash… Expand
  13. animafan10
    Oct 12, 2013
    10
    This is my first time test and this game have some nice idea and potentials. I see some dissapointing and good advantage in this game but long time could be boring a bit but this game begin it's carrier with a low budget so not so bad game. If they given enough feedback then this game can improve in mechanic and story.
  14. JLBatman
    Oct 5, 2013
    2
    I am a HUGE fan of RPGs. In fact, I've played a number of subpar RPGs all the way to completion just because I like that type of game. This, however, was a wast of 30 bucks. I built an "inventor" class character and found that what looked like an awesome development tree was nothing but bombs. Every manner of bomb you could want, all of them boring.
    Melee feels clunky. Not very    I am a HUGE fan of RPGs. In fact, I've played a number of subpar RPGs all the way to completion just because I like that type of game. This, however, was a wast of 30 bucks. I built an "inventor" class character and found that what looked like an awesome development tree was nothing but bombs. Every manner of bomb you could want, all of them boring.
    Melee feels clunky. Not very satisfying. It was almost like they went back 12 years, used current technology for that time period, and tried making an MMO, then realized they didn't have the time.
    Quite disappointed!    … Expand
  15. Valua
    Oct 3, 2013
    0
    This game is full of mistakes and follies. It is very boring to disagreeable primitive graphics and animations. Very often, the game stops working. If you spend money on it, you will be sorry. With this money, go to the movies better.
  16. Htimez2
    Sep 27, 2013
    0
    Horrible, the whole game is 1.5gb and rinse and repeat quests, doesnt even look that good. character creation is a joke and half the hairstyles have obvious bald spots from the bad graphics, like a horrible SL skin. Dont waste your money, oh not to mention the devs lied to me when i asked if the game would be region locked they said yeah it would so i would pay more on GMG, then it ends upHorrible, the whole game is 1.5gb and rinse and repeat quests, doesnt even look that good. character creation is a joke and half the hairstyles have obvious bald spots from the bad graphics, like a horrible SL skin. Dont waste your money, oh not to mention the devs lied to me when i asked if the game would be region locked they said yeah it would so i would pay more on GMG, then it ends up not being region locked and i could of got it cheaper on the steam store trading.… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
41

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 5
  3. Negative: 4 out of 5
  1. Destructoid
    Nov 18, 2013
    30
    Legends of Aethereus is flawed, but not to the point of being offensive or terrible. While the setting is interesting, the weak combat and poor level design make it hard to recommend. You can experience everything the game has to offer in a couple of hours, and for an RPG that's never a good thing.
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  2. Armchair Empire
    Oct 18, 2013
    40
    All in all, Legends of Aethereus was a frustrating game to play; it failed to really innovate anything besides a crafting system – which is like buying a car because the cup holders are really big…. Kind of missing the point.
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  3. NZGamer
    Oct 14, 2013
    55
    Perhaps one of the game’s biggest failings is its price - at US$29.99, you can twice buy Mount & Blade, which does everything Aethereus does but in a much more polished way.
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