Aethernaut
- March 15, 2022
- Dragon Slumber
- 7h median play time
Get on Steam"Aethernaut is a single-player, open-world, first-person puzzle game set in a steampunk universe with approximately 7 hours of playtime. Players are tasked with solving puzzles while making story choices based on philosophical questions from Cornell, a guiding scientist. As players progress, they uncover their past and confront an unseen entity, questioning their trust and identity."
Reviews
- The game features clever and unique puzzle mechanics that provide a satisfying challenge.
- The atmosphere and visuals are captivating, with a distinct steampunk aesthetic that enhances the experience.
- Despite its flaws, the game has a decent story that unfolds as you progress through the puzzles.
- The game suffers from significant performance issues, including frequent lag and low frame rates, making it frustrating to play.
- Many puzzles are poorly designed or overly complicated, leading to confusion and reliance on the automatic 'Solve Puzzle' feature.
- The lack of clear tutorials and inconsistent mechanics can leave players feeling lost and frustrated, detracting from the overall enjoyment.
- gameplay18 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 22 % negative mentions
Gameplay reviews highlight a mix of innovative puzzle mechanics and frustrating design flaws. While some players appreciate the intriguing concepts like light manipulation and time travel, many criticize the lack of clarity in puzzle instructions and inconsistent mechanics, leading to tedious experiences. Overall, the game offers potential for engaging gameplay but suffers from poorly explained mechanics and a sparse tutorial.
“This game has some of the most interesting puzzle mechanics I've ever seen.”
“Even the basic light mechanics in the very early game interact to open up a lot of possibilities when solving puzzles.”
“It uses some simple interchangeable mechanics that really add a lot of depth.”
“Honestly, it was super tedious and boring to understand the mechanics of this type of puzzle, which, as far as I can tell, plagues the last one-third of the game.”
“However, the voice acting quality really does ruin some of that immersion, and the lack of clarity in puzzle mechanics takes this from a well-done puzzle game to more of a poorly made knockoff.”
“To elaborate on the 'lack of clarity' in the puzzle mechanics, I never seem to know the endpoint of a puzzle until I get there, so sometimes I get stuck trying to open a door that isn't even relevant to the solution.”
- story14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The story is described as intriguing but ultimately disappointing, with a focus on a gay couple's journey to adopt a child that some players found unnecessary or poorly integrated. While the narrative unfolds as players progress through puzzles, the execution suffers from bland writing and subpar voice acting, leading to mixed feelings about its overall impact on the gameplay experience.
“It also explains the story as you complete the puzzles, so the more of the game you complete, the more you understand the backstory of the characters involved.”
“But on that playthrough, I got bored and frustrated with the puzzles, but the story was building a nice intrigue, so I told myself I would come back and find the ending.”
“The story was intriguing enough, fit the mood, and never interrupted gameplay.”
“The storyline is bland.”
“I would say that the story let me down; that was the nail in the thumbs down coffin.”
“Voiceovers and story elements need work.”
- graphics10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing the poor optimization leading to frequent lag and low frame rates, despite some unique aesthetic qualities reminiscent of steampunk. While some appreciate the atmospheric visuals and find them captivating, others describe them as sub-par and glitchy, suggesting that the overall graphical experience does not meet modern standards. Overall, the game's visuals are seen as a significant drawback, especially when compared to other titles in the genre.
“Though the game has its fair share of glitches as there were only a few people coding it, the graphics and audio design matched the atmosphere of the game very well.”
“I'm not sure how to describe the world's aesthetic, a sort of low-energy steampunk 1960s with glowing energy bits or something, but it's very unique and fairly captivating.”
“Great graphics, though they did almost max out the GPU utilization on my 512GB Steam Deck.”
“But ultimately what caused me to stop playing is the incredibly poor optimization that causes frequent lag (despite its ugly graphics) and caused my CPU to at one point give an overheating warning.”
“I would constantly be playing at an FPS of around 20-40 in most of these areas, messing with various graphics settings to try and make it better to no avail.”
“Visuals and voice acting are a bit rough around the edges, but for a one-man developer, it definitely exceeds expectations.”
- stability5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game exhibits a range of stability issues, including occasional bugs and glitches, but these do not significantly detract from the overall experience. While some players noted minor texture problems, they often found themselves too engaged with the gameplay to be bothered by them. Overall, the stability is considered acceptable, with no game-breaking issues reported.
“Though the game has its fair share of glitches, as there were only a few people coding it, the graphics and audio design matched the atmosphere of the game very well.”
“As I said before, this game has its fair share of glitches, but there was nothing really game-breaking.”
“Very buggy game.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting frequent lag and performance issues, even on lower graphics settings. Many users experienced overheating warnings on their CPUs, indicating that the game struggles to run smoothly, which significantly detracts from the overall experience.
“Overall, I'd rate this game a 6.7/10, and if the performance issues were fixed, maybe around a 7.5/10.”
“But ultimately what caused me to stop playing is the incredibly poor optimization that causes frequent lag (despite its ugly graphics) and caused my CPU to at one point give an overheating warning.”
“The one major drawback of this game, however, would be its performance (this is just my experience; maybe a better PC can run it better).”
“Firstly, the performance was very subpar.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game increasingly tedious, particularly after the introduction of the time portal, which complicates puzzles without clear tutorials. Many reviewers note that the mechanics become frustratingly unclear, leading to a lack of enjoyment as the game progresses, especially in the final third.
“The game becomes progressively tedious, with no clear tutorials and broken achievements.”
“It was fun until the time portal was introduced; then the puzzles became so tedious, and there was no clear explanation that you can spawn a dozen copies of yourself to do some tasks.”
“Honestly, it was super tedious and boring to understand the mechanics of this type of puzzle, which, as far as I can tell, plagues the last one-third of the game.”
- atmosphere3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its strong graphics and audio design, which effectively complement its unique and intriguing environment. Despite some technical glitches, the captivating atmosphere and engaging puzzles contribute to an overall immersive experience.
“Though the game has its fair share of glitches, the graphics and audio design matched the atmosphere of the game very well.”
“The game also has a really interesting atmosphere.”
“Overall, this game is incredibly janky, but the unique atmosphere and captivating puzzles kept me hooked.”
- music2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as chill and enjoyable, with a cool background score that enhances the overall experience.
“The background music is pretty cool too.”
“Music is chill.”
