Aphelion

While I had a blast embarking on this journey to Persephone with Ariane and Thomas, I do wish it were on the longer side. Even at seven hours long, there seemed to be room for the narrative to venture to deeper, more interesting places. Who knows, perhaps we’ll see that in the future. For now, though, this is a sci-fi epic well worth your time.

Aphelion treads familiar waters for anyone who has played an action adventure game in a post-Uncharted world. But its emotional and grounded narrative about the search for hope is potent enough to look past many shortcomings.

Aphelion has some excellent moments regarding the story, but is let down by consistently frustrating gameplay where you feel punished for no reason.

It’s disappointing to see Aphelion stand as Don’t Nod’s weakest outing to date. Feeling more like a side project than a fully fledged production, the game offers only the bare minimum expected from an action-adventure. Even as a story-driven sci-fi experience, its narrative struggles to deliver compelling developments or memorable reveals. While the visually appealing, if somewhat generic, environments and the touching personal story of its protagonists partially salvage the experience, they are far from enough to change the overall mediocre feeling.

A solid first half carried by convincing performances, appealing environments and an excellent soundtrack won't save Aphelion from its unsatisfying resolutions and simplistic gameplay for everyone.