Aethernaut

About

Aethernaut is a single player open world platformer game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Dragon Slumber and was released on March 15, 2022. It received neutral reviews from players.

"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."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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56%

Audience ScoreBased on 54 reviews

story6 positive mentions

gameplay8 negative mentions

The game features clever puzzle design that can be engaging if players can navigate the mechanics despite the lack of tutorials.
The unique atmosphere and aesthetic, reminiscent of steampunk, adds to the overall experience, making it visually interesting.
There are moments of satisfaction when solving puzzles, especially when players discover the mechanics on their own.

The game suffers from poor optimization, leading to frequent lag and performance issues, which detracts from the gameplay experience.
Many puzzles are overly complicated or buggy, with some being unsolvable without using the automatic 'Solve Puzzle' feature.
The voice acting and story elements are poorly executed, with some players feeling blindsided by the narrative direction.

gameplay
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
67%
22%
Gameplay reviews highlight a mix of innovative puzzle mechanics and significant design flaws. While some players appreciate the intriguing concepts like light manipulation and time travel, many criticize the lack of clarity in puzzle mechanics and tutorials, leading to confusion and frustration. Overall, the gameplay experience is marred by poorly explained mechanics and inconsistent interactions, detracting from the potential enjoyment of the game.
- “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.”
- “Once more mechanics like the portals or time cubes are added into the mix, even crazier possibilities open up.”
- “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 end point 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.”
story
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
68%
11%
The story, centered around a gay couple's journey to adopt a child, has been described as intriguing yet poorly executed, with bland dialogue and subpar voice acting. While some players found the narrative engaging enough to motivate them through the puzzles, others felt it was poorly integrated and detracted from the overall experience, leading to frustration. Overall, the story's potential is overshadowed by its execution, leaving many players disappointed.
- “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.”
- “So I would say that the story let me down; that was the nail in the thumbs down coffin.”
- “Voiceovers and story elements need work.”
graphics
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
55%
15%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players noting poor optimization that leads to frequent lag and low frame rates, despite a unique and captivating aesthetic reminiscent of steampunk. While a few appreciate the visuals and atmospheric design, many criticize them as sub-par and rough around the edges, particularly in comparison to other puzzle games. Overall, the graphics seem to struggle with performance issues, detracting from the overall experience.
- “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 1960 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.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game exhibits a number of minor glitches and bugs, but these do not significantly detract from the overall experience, as they are generally not game-breaking. Players have noted small texture issues, yet many find the engaging gameplay and atmospheric design overshadow these stability concerns.
- “Though the game has its fair share of glitches, there were only a few people coding it. However, 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.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting frequent lag and performance issues that can lead to overheating, even on lower settings. Many reviewers suggest that these problems significantly detract from the overall experience, indicating that better optimization could improve their ratings considerably.
- “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.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game increasingly tedious, particularly after the introduction of the time portal mechanic, which lacks clear tutorials and leads to frustratingly complex puzzles. Many reviewers note that the last third of the game is especially plagued by unclear mechanics and clunky gameplay, making the experience feel more like a chore than enjoyable.
- “The game becomes progressively tedious, with no clear tutorials and broken achievements.”
- “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.”
- “Puzzles are often clunky, unclear, or tedious.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its unique and captivating qualities, effectively complemented by strong graphics and audio design. Despite some technical glitches, players find the atmosphere engaging enough to maintain their interest throughout the experience.
- “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.”
- “The game also has a really interesting atmosphere.”
- “Overall, this game is incredibly janky, but the unique atmosphere and captivating puzzles kept me hooked.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game is described as chill and enjoyable, with a cool background score that enhances the overall experience.
- “Music is chill.”
- “The background music is pretty cool too.”