izigame.me

An idea of moderate interest, only halfheartedly developed by a studio of middling talent. While I can understand (and appreciate) the aim that the developers were going for with this title, the artistic minimalism is a little too well done and I think it's just an excuse for rushing out the title on a budget.
The development team of "AER" was aiming for a low-res, cute & comfy flying simulator featuring a protagonist restoring a collection of ancient temples for a small civilization by soaring across a series of floating islands. It's a simple, familiar premise that won't win awards for originality, but that isn't the point. I give the team some credit with not overreaching and can spare a little applause for how well it integrates the story and the mechanics. The character's lamp will frequently illuminate memories and open paths in a satisfying and thematically correct places and it works well by following the "Chekhov's Gun" principle of not overdeveloping a plot by leaving loose ends unexplained.
The minimalist polygonal artwork and pastel colors is also thematically well-executed. Just like "Minecraft", it is an ideal encapsulation of this world and stands apart well from more graphically demanding titles. The far-reaching potential of sailing across the sky is a joy to navigate in the beginning, but the first complaint begins developing within a few minutes after the first temple - there are no directional guides in this sprawling universe. If ever there was a setting that could use a clear compass direction, it would be the vast expanse of the clouds.
But poor navigation only hints at the troubling quality in this compact title. Flight controls are also too oblique and not finely tuned enough to allow easy landing on any one spot. Quests are also not well-described throughout, given sporadically by very few characters but not recorded in any journal or menu and with only the vaguest of general directions to find the goal. There is no conflict nor significant puzzles to solve, only caves of varying length and similar, monocolor surfaces which makes pathfinding very unclear. Without either fighting or significant problem solving, the whole title is essentially an open-world fetch quest simulator, a scavenger hunt of plain objects in obscure locations across wide expanses.
The scattering of a few characters throughout the islands only emphasizes the severe emptiness of the world. There are no sidequests to draw the player's interest which only leaves the long travel time between one checkpoint and the next. There is no inventory, no stats, and no satisfying challenge offered which places the title's difficulty somewhere between "Hello Kitty" and "Pajama Sam"
"AER" is neither novel nor well-designed enough to overlook the many QoL misses. "Monument Valley" nailed the minimalist aesthetic, "Spiritfarer" offers a superior plot about memories after death, and the definitive work of open-sky flying remains "Pilotwings 64". The devs started with something interesting that may have won an award or two with just a little more time in the oven, but this is what was published and it doesn't quite make the cut.