Aurion

About

Aurion is a single player role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Project Springbok at CCA and was released on April 13, 2016. It received neutral reviews from critics and mostly positive reviews from players.

Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan is a 2D African Fantasy Action-RPG game that is introducing a new, rarely seen perspective to this genre. The dynamic and impressive gameplay has been more inspired by the "Tales of" series. The main narrative draws deeply from African culture and is hopefully the first entry in a series call The Kiro’o Tales.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

+20

Skip User Reviews

61%

Audience ScoreBased on 456 reviews

story170 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

Aurion features a unique African-inspired setting and mythology, providing a refreshing change from typical fantasy tropes.
The combat system is engaging and allows for creative combos, making battles fun and dynamic.
The game has beautiful artwork and a captivating story that explores deep themes and character development.

The game suffers from long loading times and technical issues, including crashes and performance drops.
The English translation has numerous grammatical errors and awkward phrasing, which can detract from the overall experience.
Controls can be clunky, especially when using a keyboard and mouse, making gameplay less enjoyable.

story
418 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
56%
3%
The story of "Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan" is praised for its unique African setting and deep themes, exploring self-discovery and cultural identity through the journey of Prince Enzo. While many players find the narrative engaging and emotionally resonant, criticisms arise regarding its linearity, awkward dialogue, and issues with pacing due to excessive exposition and poor translation. Overall, the story is seen as a standout feature, despite its execution flaws, making it a compelling experience for those who appreciate narrative-driven gameplay.
- “The story is great and goes emotional places you likely won't expect.”
- “The story overall is really interesting, with a lot of heavy themes like oppression, exploitation, national identity, historic trauma and human spirituality.”
- “I loved the story, characters, the music and everything about it.”
- “The storytelling and dialogue feel awkward.”
- “The story seems like it could be a redeeming quality but just wasn't engaging or something that I cared about at all.”
- “The plot is a bit all over the place, with too many words that don't mean anything to the average player used without explanation or reference, made worse by the quality of the writing and poor translation.”
gameplay
164 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
69%
7%
The gameplay of "Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan" is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating its unique cultural elements, ambitious mechanics, and engaging combat, while also noting issues with clunky controls, unclear tutorials, and a lack of polish. While the combat system offers depth and creativity, it can feel repetitive and is often overshadowed by the narrative and artistic presentation. Overall, the game is seen as enjoyable but flawed, with a strong emphasis on story and character development that may not satisfy those seeking purely refined gameplay.
- “So I think it's still worth playing as I loved the graphics, the gameplay is easy yet good, the story is quite different from usual, and you feel the African style with the cultural touch.”
- “A fresh, fantastic take on an action RPG, with a lot of interesting blending of story and gameplay.”
- “I felt like the combination of unique gameplay, art, and setting really made the game stand out in a way that is greater than the sum of its parts.”
- “The style is beautiful, the world is complex, but the gameplay is just awful and the storytelling style is pretty rough.”
- “Unfortunately, the gameplay itself in this specific game isn't engaging enough that I'd suggest others should buy it.”
- “There are plenty of flaws, serious enough that if you're here just for the gameplay, I wouldn't really bother.”
graphics
104 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
42%
6%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the unique art style and beautiful visuals, particularly in still images and cutscenes. However, several players criticize the technical execution, noting low-resolution assets, simplistic animations, and performance issues that detract from the overall experience. While the aesthetic is often described as vibrant and charming, the gameplay mechanics and graphical fidelity leave some players wanting more.
- “Other than that, the aesthetics, music, and graphics were spectacular.”
- “It's worth playing for the story alone, but the gorgeous visuals and flashy, creative combat don't hurt.”
- “Aurion has pretty visuals, deep gameplay mechanisms, awesome scripted fight scenes, and brings an under-represented cultural perspective to the game-making business.”
- “The graphics are average and don't add to the game really.”
- “Long story short, I was at first extremely disappointed. The graphics are inspired but technically pretty bad in realization; the engine never exploits your graphics card fully.”
- “Low quality visuals and simplistic animations (I was playing in 2K resolution).”
music
86 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
28%
7%
The music in the game is generally praised for its unique African instrumentation and ability to enhance the storytelling, though some tracks are noted for being repetitive and occasionally out of place. While many players appreciate the overall quality and beauty of the soundtrack, there are criticisms regarding the limited variety of tracks and instances where music cuts out during gameplay. Overall, the music contributes positively to the game's aesthetic, despite some minor flaws.
- “The music of this game is fantastic as well and the element mixing system provides an interesting exploratory combat that I really enjoyed.”
- “I loved the story, characters, the music and everything about it.”
- “The african culture and influences are prominent from the start as the inspiration comes directly from their music, fashion and myths.”
- “The music was hit or miss with some of it being so awkwardly out of place.”
- “Long story short, I was at first extremely disappointed; the graphics are inspired but technically pretty bad in realization, the engine never exploits truly your graphic cards, and the music, although original, is a bit repetitive and not always timed.”
- “The major sound issues are that many combats do not have any background music at all, and the animated cutscenes (not the ones formed from the game sprites) do not respect the game's sound settings.”
optimization
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
68%
19%
The game's optimization is generally criticized, with many users reporting significant performance issues such as long load times and frame rate drops, particularly during streaming. While some players found performance acceptable on certain hardware, the overall consensus indicates that the game requires further optimization to enhance the user experience.
- “While stats improve your performance and your equipment provides some benefit, success in combat relies more on execution, especially early on where you aren't basically the strongest being on the planet.”
- “+ performance is fine (gtx 780)”
- “Performance is abysmal with extremely long load times frequently in addition and extreme frame rate drops when streaming it.”
- “The game had performance issues when I played it.”
- “It's a bit rough around the edges in terms of translation, and performance can be a bit touchy, but never to the point of being especially obstructive.”
emotional
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its emotionally rich narrative, featuring unexpected twists and heartfelt moments that contribute to its depth, making it stand out in the RPG genre. Players highlight a particularly poignant revelation that evokes strong feelings, showcasing the game's ability to traverse a wide emotional spectrum. However, some users noted that the initial complexity of the story's terminology can be overwhelming, potentially detracting from the emotional experience.
- “The story is great and goes to emotional places you likely won't expect.”
- “Their journey, filled with challenges and personal growth, adds a layer of emotional depth to the game, making it more than just a typical RPG.”
- “I'd say better than average; there is one part later in the game where a certain 'past' is revealed, and it is actually heartbreaking and tear-inducing.”
character development
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
36%
7%
Character development is a standout aspect of the game, with both the husband and wife experiencing significant growth as they navigate their differences and challenges together. Erine's character arc is also well-crafted, contributing to a rich narrative that is enhanced by beautiful art, level design, and a compelling soundtrack. Overall, the game's storytelling effectively showcases diverse influences and deepens the characters' complexity.
- “Character development was key to this story and it was conveyed throughout.”
- “Erine has a great arc and character development as well.”
- “The husband and wife both undergo massive character development and work through rocky times together to prevent them from being one-dimensional; they have different ideas, strengths, and opinions, and they don't always agree.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game exhibits notable stability issues, including clunky mechanics and occasional bugs that may require reloading or restarting. Players report minor glitches, such as getting stuck in scenery and problems with alt-tabbing, but these are generally infrequent and do not significantly detract from the overall gameplay experience. Despite these technical shortcomings, the game's creativity and engaging story help overshadow the stability concerns.
- “I also experienced a few glitches where I got stuck in walls/scenery and had to restart the game.”
- “Oh, and the text box glitches when displaying colored text.”
- “There are glitches, but the most aggravating ones involve the game not alt-tabbing well, and that can be mitigated by pausing before switching to another window on your desktop.”
grinding
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
7%
86%
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be manageable, with many appreciating that it doesn't require excessive grinding to progress. While some combat feels repetitive, the engaging cutscenes and enjoyable dungeon crawling help alleviate potential tedium. The game is noted for its good story and original setting, making it suitable for those with limited playtime.
- “Good story, simple yet good gameplay, original setting and not too grindy for an RPG.”
- “Most of the important story and battle beats happen in cutscenes with no player input, and the combat itself feels grindy and samey.”
- “I personally tend to have a limited time to play games, so I appreciate RPGs that don't require a lot of grinding.”
- “It is quite long for a game with little padding; even though the game lacks time sinks like grinding or optional goals and subplots, I ended the game at around a day's total play time.”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is well-timed and complements the characters' journey, blending moments of levity with serious themes. While some players appreciate the humorous dialogue and character interactions, others feel that the humor can be juvenile and detracts from the more profound aspects of the story. Overall, the game offers a mix of emotions, balancing humor with deeper narratives.
- “You will really enjoy the characters in this game, lots of humor, seriousness, and thought-provoking stories being told on your journey.”
- “And, in a big twist for me, humorous dialogue that I don't find horribly obnoxious!”
- “There is every emotion from the imaginable bottomless depths of sadness to tremendous highs of happiness, a number of pieces of crass humor, anger and frustration, arguments, and many cases of legacy aspiration which is countered with skepticism.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its stunning visuals, dense ambiance, unique setting, and rich lore, creating an immersive experience for players.
- “It looks amazing, has a dense atmosphere, unique setting, and rich lore.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews indicate frustration with the game's monetization model, as players feel misled by claims of "full controller support" that do not hold up in practice, particularly with the Steam controller. This has led to a negative perception of the game's accessibility and overall value.
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features a compelling story, but many users note that its replayability is very low or even non-existent, limiting the incentive to play through multiple times.
- “The story is great, but the replayability is very low or even non-existent.”
- “The story is great, but the replayability is very low or even non-existent.”