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  • September 15, 2015

Aerannis

Solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.
Aerannis Game Cover
68%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:story, gameplay
Most mentioned negative aspects:grinding, replayability
67% User Score Based on 117 reviews
Critic Score 75%Based on 1 reviews

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Aerannis Game Cover

About

Aerannis is a single player platformer game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by ff and was released on September 15, 2015. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Aerannis is a mission-based stealth action game set in a world of conspiracy and full of action and assassinations.

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Aerannis screenshot
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67%Audience ScoreBased on 117 reviews
story37 positive mentions
grinding5 negative mentions
  • Unique dystopian cyberpunk setting with strong and relevant LGBTQA themes, particularly focused on trans issues.
  • Engaging mix of stealth and action-platformer gameplay with some metroidvania elements and enjoyable boss battles.
  • Excellent soundtrack and distinctive pixel art style that complement the atmosphere and storytelling.
  • Controls can be clunky, inconsistent, and unintuitive, especially the ledge grabbing, wall jumping, and weapon aiming mechanics.
  • The stealth mechanics are often frustrating, unforgiving, and sometimes poorly implemented, making certain missions feel tedious.
  • Lack of polish in gameplay elements and UI, including missing map or objective markers, disjointed story delivery, and occasional bugs.

  • story

    197 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story is a complex, sci-fi conspiracy set in a dystopian, female-dominated society with strong themes of feminism, trans identity, and social critique, woven into a narrative involving secret societies and cosmic horrors. While the plot is unique, engaging, and sometimes humorous, many find it confusing, underexplained, or disjointed, with some feeling the game misses deeper character development and lore. Despite narrative pacing issues and occasional exposition dumps, the story remains a key draw for players interested in its themes and atmosphere.

    • “The plot kicks off when Ceyda is hired to find stolen power suits, only to stumble upon a conspiracy that reveals the supposedly peaceful and happy state of Plovdiv to be a media-based puppet show put together by the Illums.”
    • “Ultimately, the story is enjoyable and fits quite well with the gameplay style, being both fairly mysterious as to what’s going on, yet also fairly comedic as characters throw funny barbs around here and there.”
    • “Okay the plot for this game is actually genius; you could make the next Deus Ex game with the factions at each other's throats, the conspiracy layers... it goes from social justice counter-revolutions to hormone replacement terrorism to political corruption to machine takeover, to the Illumini to Cthulhu timelords, all well tied together narratively.”
    • “The storytelling has a variety of problems, too -- specifically in that the game starts in medias res to create mystery, but never really gives you a motivation for any aspect of the story, and it's so interested in being mysterious that every conversation is either a direct order or a long, confounding speech, until you finally encounter a boss who vomits exposition on you in a way that not only seems extremely out of place but is also extremely tedious.”
    • “The story is hard to follow and grasp, starting off with a trans woman assassin and ending with killing off alien shapeshifters and awakening satan to allow humanity to control its own destiny.”
    • “Both endings to the game utilize a sudden reveal of major plot details in order to create surprise, but ultimately just undercut the rest of the storytelling.”

  • gameplay

    101 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay offers a mix of stealth, platforming, and action shooter elements with some innovative mechanics and boss designs, but is often hindered by inconsistent controls, floaty or stiff movement, and frustrating stealth segments. While it maintains player interest through variety and a decent challenge, issues like unclear mechanics, uneven difficulty, and occasional bugs detract from the overall experience. Fans of retro-style metroidvania and stealth games may find it enjoyable, though the gameplay falls short of being polished or deeply satisfying.

    • “The action/stealth gameplay keeps you wanting to go back in after every trip up – oh, I should have done this, I slipped up there – and things stay fresher than a straight up run and gun (not that there's anything wrong with a good run and gun).”
    • “The gameplay is about 6-8 hours, and is a 2D, 8-bit-stylised scrolling shooter with heavy stealth elements.”
    • “The gameplay is challenging but fair.”
    • “On top of the lackluster art and animations, the movement mechanics of the game are inconsistent and difficult to pull off.”
    • “In many respects, the game is similar to a Valve title's capacity to train the player for certain game mechanics; I didn't myself have any issue getting a hand on the gameplay, rather how certain elements are implemented and their innate flaws; wall-jumping, a feature introduced fairly early in the game, as one of Ceyda's first new abilities gained as she progresses through the story, is hard to get the grasp of, and most of the time feels as if you're trying to climb up a snowy hill, but every step you take causes you to slide a few places down.”
    • “The gameplay is, in contrast to the plot and style of the title, its least refined aspect; stealth missions that make you want to metaphorically punch the computer because you were spotted and have to restart the level all over again have a certain 'Super Meat Boy' or 'Cuphead' vibe to deaths; death seems normal and a way to progress the game because after you die 20 times to the same guard and you reset to the start you'll get down that maybe it's not the best idea to do what you've been doing.”

  • music

    59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's soundtrack is widely praised for its excellent synthwave and neo-80s cyberpunk vibe, perfectly complementing the game's atmosphere and settings. Many reviewers highlight the music as the standout element, often describing it as immersive, varied, and a key reason for continued play. While occasional mismatches with certain gameplay moments were noted, the overall music quality is considered exceptional and a core highlight of the experience.

    • “Soundtrack: great overall, perfectly scratching the synth-wavy cyberpunk itch!”
    • “Visually and auditorily, the game is beautiful, and is easily the best aspect about the game, with each individual stage and setting having a generally unique tone and atmosphere to it; the soundtrack of the game knows its place, allowing tones to stick out in your mind easily, and it greatly works to the game's benefit.”
    • “Seriously, don't have your own music playing while playing Aerannis, the OST to the game is great and I sometimes just stand still in an area to hear the area music.”
    • “Game works, the music in the overworld is killing me on the inside; the game does everything in its power to make you move through the levels, the enemies varied but boring, the plot is not interesting enough for me to read through the strangely placed textboxes. Did I mention it's overworld music?”
    • “At times, if you're going for stealth, the music doesn't quite match this, but I didn't feel that was a major issue.”
    • “And sometimes the music choice and screen you're playing in don't match up well and feel weird to play.”

  • graphics

    37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features a retro pixel art style reminiscent of early 90s and 16-bit cyberpunk aesthetics, which many find charming and well-executed, with striking visuals and a vibrant color palette. However, some users feel the graphics lack polish in certain areas, such as NPC designs and environmental variety, and note the absence of customization or resolution options. Overall, while not groundbreaking, the graphics effectively complement the game's atmosphere and story, earning generally positive feedback.

    • “The graphics, the 16-bit cyberpunk style is really pleasant.”
    • “Not to mention, the graphics and the music are downright incredible.”
    • “Overall I highly recommend the game, graphics and music are beautiful, gameplay is fun, and story is interesting.”
    • “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel art as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
    • “There's no options to change the resolution for the game or customize the graphics settings.”
    • “To be honest, I don't think the art style does the game any favors in this area (and goodness, the elevator sprites are almost seizure-inducing), but there could have been more done, just in general, to flesh out the world.”

  • humor

    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is a well-balanced mix of witty dialogue, clever social commentary, and situational comedy, often arising from enemy AI antics and character interactions. While some jokes may resonate more with certain audiences, overall it adds charm and levity that complement the mystery and seriousness of the story.

    • “Ultimately, the story is enjoyable and fits quite well with the gameplay style, being both fairly mysterious as to what’s going on, yet also fairly comedic as characters throw funny barbs around here and there.”
    • “Enemies are capable of friendly fire, and a lot of them seem to go berserk (especially in enclosed spaces) when they spot you, so there are often hilarious self-destructs and team kills.”
    • “The social commentary and humor are where the game really shines.”

  • grinding

    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is often described as tedious and slow, with repetitive enemy encounters that can feel frustrating due to limited aiming and dodging mechanics. While some moments, including certain bosses and exploration, feel unnecessarily drawn-out, the overall experience balances these with better-paced sections.

    • “The game features a lot of dumb, slow moving foes that will slowly surround you, and since you cannot aim, it makes dodging and killing them tricky and tedious.”
    • “It's tedious, unpredictable, and annoying.”
    • “There were moments where things felt tedious (certain bosses, rooms, finding areas), but overall the larger portion of the game was well done.”

  • replayability

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game has low replayability, as it can be completed in about 8 hours and both endings can be easily obtained in a single playthrough, offering little incentive to replay.

    • “Replay value: 3/10”
    • “It took me about 8 hours to finish; there doesn't seem to be much replayability.”
    • “It doesn't really add any replayability as you can just get both endings in quick succession.”

  • stability

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game generally demonstrates good stability with rare glitches that are infrequent and seldom disrupt gameplay. However, some players find certain bugs and frustrations impacting their overall experience.

    • “In the end, Aerannis is a short, frustrating, buggy ride.”
    • “Glitches are rare, and when they occur they're rarely gamebreaking.”

  • atmosphere

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its beautiful visuals and distinctive, immersive settings, complemented by a well-crafted soundtrack that enhances the tone and leaves a lasting impression. Overall, the cool ambiance and chill music significantly contribute to an engaging experience.

    • “Visually and auditorily, the game is beautiful, and is easily the best aspect about the game, with each individual stage and setting having a generally unique tone and atmosphere to it; the soundtrack knows its place, allowing tones to stick out in your mind easily, and it greatly works to the game's benefit.”
    • “Cool atmosphere, chill music, interesting story.”

  • emotional

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game "Aerannis" resonates emotionally by thoughtfully addressing trans issues, which motivates continued engagement despite mixed feelings. Its handling of these themes is authentic and meaningful to players seeking representation.

  • monetization

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization aspect is subtly integrated, with in-game advertisements such as for related games, reflecting a design that blends seamlessly with the game's UI and sound effects without feeling intrusive.

  • optimization

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game’s optimization is lacking, particularly in platforming sections where performance issues are noticeably detracting from the experience.

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75%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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Frequently Asked Questions

Aerannis is a platformer game with science fiction theme.

Aerannis is available on PC, Mac OS, Windows and Linux.

Aerannis was released on September 15, 2015.

Aerannis was developed by ff.

Aerannis has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked Aerannis for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Aerannis is a single player game.

Similar games include Environmental Station Alpha, Iconoclasts, Ghost Song, Axiom Verge 2, ANNO: Mutationem and others.