Laika: Aged Through Blood

82%
Game Brain Score Based on 4,009 reviews
  • story
  • music
  • gameplay
Laika: Aged Through Blood Game Cover
Laika: Aged Through Blood is a rather unique metroidvania experience that scores with very satisfying motorbike traversal, and a melancholic atmosphere that's supported by one of the best soundtracks of the year.
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"Laika: Aged Through Blood" is a western-inspired motorvania game set in a post-apocalyptic world, where you play as a coyote warrior seeking vengeance against occupying forces. The game features vehicular combat on a motorbike, hand-painted graphics, and a deep story about a mother-daughter relationship. Explore the varied world, engage in epic boss battles, and complete numerous missions in this unique motorvania experience.

  • PC
  • Steam Deck
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

82%
Audience ScoreBased on 4,009 reviews
story1,261 positive mentions
grinding152 negative mentions
  • Incredible art style and animation that enhances the emotional impact of the story.
  • Unique gameplay mechanics that combine motorcycle physics with shooting, creating a satisfying experience.
  • A hauntingly beautiful soundtrack that complements the game's themes and atmosphere.
  • Frustrating boss fights that can feel tedious and lack variety.
  • Excessive backtracking and fetch quests that can detract from the overall pacing of the game.
  • Some gameplay mechanics, like the reload system, can be unintuitive and lead to unnecessary deaths.
  • story3,304 mentions

    The story of "Laika: Aged Through Blood" is widely praised for its emotional depth and compelling narrative, exploring themes of motherhood, loss, and survival in a grim post-apocalyptic world. Players are drawn into a richly crafted universe filled with relatable characters and poignant moments, often leading to emotional responses, including tears. However, some critiques highlight issues with pacing, particularly in the latter parts of the game, and the prevalence of fetch quests that can detract from the overall experience. Despite these concerns, the combination of a gripping story, stunning visuals, and a powerful soundtrack makes it a memorable journey for many players.

    • “I have been playing games for 20 years, and nothing has come close to this story for me.”
    • “The story is beautifully tragic, the art and the cut scenes really enchanted me.”
    • “The story, character, music, setting themes, etc is immaculate.”
    • “Mediocre metroidvania, the story felt rushed and hardly draws you into the world.”
    • “The story: Laika tries to tell a somber and mature story, but frequently stumbles in ways that makes the script come out as amateurish and even a little cringeworthy at times.”
    • “The main story isn't very long so they added a bunch of fetch quests in the latter half of the game to pad things out, but it's just re-trotting the same places you've been.”
  • music2,499 mentions

    The music in *Laika: Aged Through Blood* has received widespread acclaim for its emotional depth and atmospheric quality, with many players highlighting the soundtrack's ability to enhance the game's narrative and setting. Composed by Beicoli, the soundtrack features a mix of melancholic and haunting tracks that resonate with the game's themes of loss and survival, often described as a standout element that elevates the overall experience. While some players noted a lack of variety in the early game, the collectible cassette mechanic allows for a gradual expansion of the soundtrack, making the music a central and cherished aspect of the gameplay.

    • “The music and story are just great.”
    • “The soundtrack is absolutely amazing and fits the game.”
    • “The music is phenomenal and it's one of the three greatest strong points of the game, alongside the art and the story.”
    • “You know how they made you play the same stupid song over and over and if you made one mistake you had to start again?”
    • “The music doesn't help much either, I think I get what the game is going for but I personally don't like it, so muting the music and having YouTube on background noise makes the game more fun to play.”
    • “The only complaint I have with the soundtrack is that the boss music is rather tame and very forgettable compared to the rest of the game's music.”
  • gameplay2,258 mentions

    The gameplay of "Laika: Aged Through Blood" is a unique blend of motorcycle mechanics and metroidvania elements, featuring a challenging yet rewarding experience that requires players to master controls like backflipping to reload weapons. While many players find the core mechanics engaging and innovative, some criticize the steep learning curve and occasional frustrating design choices, particularly in boss encounters and level navigation. Overall, the game is praised for its artistic presentation and emotional storytelling, making it a compelling experience despite its gameplay challenges.

    • “The gameplay is challenging but rewarding, and there is an option to make it more forgiving if you need that kind of thing.”
    • “Laika's gameplay is the real selling point.”
    • “The gameplay offers a unique spin on traditional platformers and metroidvanias that never feels like it overstays its welcome.”
    • “Even though the game is gorgeous, has a great soundtrack, and the setting and the story look very promising, I couldn't connect with the gameplay loop and the general game design.”
    • “I cannot exaggerate how much I disliked the gameplay featured in Laika.”
    • “The gameplay itself unfortunately doesn't live up to the rest of the game, as it can get repetitive extremely quickly, while not much is done to change things up massively.”
  • graphics754 mentions

    The graphics of "Laika: Aged Through Blood" have received widespread acclaim for their stunning hand-drawn art style, which beautifully complements the game's dark themes and narrative. Players appreciate the vibrant visuals, intricate character designs, and atmospheric backgrounds that enhance the overall experience, often describing the art as both gorgeous and unique. The combination of impressive graphics and a haunting soundtrack creates an immersive environment that captivates players throughout their journey.

    • “The art style is beautiful with everything being hand drawn, and occasional animated cutscenes.”
    • “The visuals are drop dead gorgeous, in an art style that blends better than any game I have hitherto played beauty and bleakness.”
    • “The art style is gorgeous throughout and I found myself stopping to observe the beauty in the backdrops and tiny details in the foreground.”
    • “The issue with this game is that everything outside the aesthetic and bike mechanics gets old fast.”
    • “It leaves a very good first impression, but once the novelty of the art style wears off and you get past the initial difficulty hurdle, the game feels very mediocre.”
    • “Graphics: you will almost certainly die a lot to enemies you didn't see or to not realizing you're upside down when you hit the ground as this game can get visually cluttered pretty easily, but I don't think this was often enough to be too much of an issue during my playtime.”
  • emotional607 mentions

    The emotional aspect of "Laika: Aged Through Blood" has been widely praised for its deeply touching and often heartbreaking narrative, which explores themes of sacrifice, motherhood, and survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Players report being profoundly affected, with many expressing that the story made them cry multiple times, highlighting the game's ability to evoke strong emotional responses through its compelling writing, stunning visuals, and exceptional soundtrack. However, some critiques mention tonal inconsistencies and a lack of depth in supporting characters, which can detract from the overall emotional impact.

    • “Laika: Aged Through Blood is a haunting and emotionally charged experience that delves deep into themes of sacrifice, survival, and the bonds that tie us together.”
    • “The journey of Laika, a canine protagonist, as she navigates the horrors of a post-apocalyptic landscape is both heart-wrenching and poignant, leaving a lasting impact on players long after the credits roll.”
    • “This game has made me feel more emotion than any other game I have ever played, made me feel actual anger, sadness, and occasionally joy for certain characters.”
    • “Fun and unique gimmick, but it doesn't really use its unlockable mechanics all that well and focuses on a generic, predictable, and boring story.”
  • atmosphere221 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and haunting qualities, enhanced by stunning visuals and a powerful soundtrack that effectively conveys themes of melancholy and desolation. Players appreciate the unique blend of dark storytelling and vibrant character design, although some note a tonal dissonance with quirky side characters that can disrupt the overall experience. Overall, the game's atmosphere stands out as a compelling aspect, drawing players into its richly crafted world.

    • “The atmosphere and storytelling is just beyond anything I've ever played before.”
    • “From the desolate ruins of civilization to the eerie landscapes of a world reclaimed by nature, every environment feels rich with history and atmosphere, immersing players in its haunting beauty.”
    • “The atmosphere of the game is absolutely stunning.”
    • “For the most part, the main plot tries to impose a sad and oppressive atmosphere; however, most of the side characters you meet around town and throughout your travels are zany, one-dimensional characters that result in a tonal dissonance that pulls the player out of the experience.”
    • “But the overall atmosphere of the game is melancholic to the point of being whiny.”
    • “The story has an intense somber note to it with rare spots of humor shining through; there's a heavy, bleak atmosphere throughout the world, and the music drives it home harder than a nail sometimes.”
  • grinding156 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed feedback, with many players finding it tedious and repetitive, particularly in terms of movement and combat mechanics. While some enjoyed the challenge and the opportunity to explore, others felt that the limited fast travel options and the necessity to backtrack made the experience unnecessarily time-consuming. Overall, while grinding is not essential for game completion, it can detract from the enjoyment for those who prefer a more streamlined experience.

    • “I had a lot of fun with it, but I'm not grinding out 500 more deaths just for an achievement.”
    • “It's challenging, but it's also mostly just tedious repetition.”
    • “Movement is sluggish and combat is tedious and repetitive.”
    • “After the initial excitement wears off, everything becomes so tedious; backtracking and collecting resources feels unnecessarily time-consuming.”
  • character development66 mentions

    Character development in the game is generally viewed as lacking depth, with many characters introduced only to be quickly discarded, leading to a sense of emotional detachment. While the character designs and animations are praised for their beauty and uniqueness, the narrative fails to provide meaningful interactions or growth, leaving characters feeling like mere plot devices rather than fully realized individuals. Despite this, some players appreciate the visual storytelling and the emotional impact of specific characters, particularly Laika, whose development stands out amidst the otherwise shallow cast.

    • “Laika’s character development is also particularly remarkable.”
    • “Most importantly, they are given the proper degree of detachment from normal gameplay to allow their emotional impact to be given the attention it deserves and present proper character development to Laika.”
    • “The character designs are amazing and I fell in love with everything in this game so quickly.”
    • “I don't care for the furry character designs; they could have been human and it wouldn't have changed the story.”
    • “The character designs are very neat, but most of them aren't really used for much, and most characters have around three lines of dialogue a piece.”
    • “The character development of the game is extremely lacklustre where you will often meet a character and in the next 15 minutes they die. I am not even kidding; it became an expected thing I kept noticing after the second area. Whether this was intentional or not, it makes it feel like the people you meet are just bullets in a firing range; they are shot and introduced, but after that you don't worry about them.”
  • humor50 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by a blend of gallows humor and quirky character interactions, often providing comic relief amidst a predominantly somber narrative. While the main plot leans towards a bleak atmosphere, the eccentric side characters and their exaggerated traits inject moments of levity, creating a tonal dissonance that some players find jarring yet amusing. Overall, the writing is praised for its wit and emotional depth, making the humor both impactful and reflective of the game's themes.

    • “The writing is wonderful, funny, and heartbreaking.”
    • “Overall, Laika is a solid experience with satisfying gameplay and a complete story with adorable, funny, and heartstring-pulling moments.”
    • “Most of the characters are very unique and dialogues with them are usually quite funny, which is oddly uplifting considering the grim scenario everyone is living through.”
    • “Not funny.”
    • “Not funny.”
    • “Not funny.”
  • stability40 mentions

    The game's stability has received mixed feedback, with some players reporting a generally clean and enjoyable experience, while others encountered various bugs and glitches that occasionally disrupt gameplay. Although minor issues like freezing and music playback problems were noted, many players found that these did not significantly detract from their overall enjoyment, and the developers are responsive in addressing concerns. Overall, while the game is described as "buggy," it is not considered unplayable, and many anticipate improvements in future updates.

    • “It runs great on the Steam Deck.”
    • “No glitches, only occasional lag, and wonderful graphics!”
    • “Game runs great.”
    • “Feels like everything is random and makes no sense... it's also buggy.”
    • “But as the walky-talky call starts, the game freezes. The only thing I can do after that is hear the bike and the walky-talky chatter, open the menu, and drift my bike, but the animation of that gets stuck after doing so.”
    • “Once I quit out to the main menu and press play again, the main menu freezes, and I can't quit after that unless I forcefully close the game.”
  • replayability20 mentions

    Overall, the game is praised for its quality and engaging story, but many reviewers note a significant lack of replayability due to its linear narrative and limited incentives to revisit after completing the main storyline. While some players appreciate the potential for speedrunning and find decent replay value in the gameplay mechanics, the consensus is that the game could benefit from more branching paths or multiple endings to enhance long-term appeal.

    • “Gameplay 9.5/10 (enjoyable, original, and replayable)”
    • “And for a $20 indie game, you're honestly getting quite a lot of game, and quite a lot of replay value, too - speedruns of this game are gonna be sick, even though the game seems to resist speedrunning with some of its long scenes and boss fights. Whatever, the skill ceiling is so high I can't wait to see what people do with it.”
    • “Replayability: decent”
    • “Limited replay value: once players have experienced Laika's story to its conclusion, there is little incentive to revisit the game.”
    • “While multiple endings and branching paths could have added replayability, the linear nature of the narrative limits its long-term appeal for some players.”
    • “There isn't much replayability, but I'm glad I bought and played through.”
  • optimization20 mentions

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with players noting significant performance issues, particularly on the Steam Deck, where frame rates can drop drastically, leading to stuttering. While some users experienced stable performance at higher frame rates on other platforms, the lack of optimization settings and lag during particle effects and cutscenes were common frustrations. Overall, the game's performance is inconsistent, especially in specific areas and on certain devices.

    • “The performance was also stable at 144fps constantly.”
    • “I played through the latter half of the game on Steam Deck (with mouse and keyboard plugged in) and had no major performance issues after some minor tweaks.”
    • “Steam Deck performance, where I played a majority of the game, is mostly fine save for a 'water area'.”
    • “The optimization is a bit lacking, as well as settings for it. I would lag with too many (and sometimes just one) particles, and animated cutscenes will lag behind as well, which was frustrating.”
    • “I cannot currently play the game on my Steam Deck, as the frame rate can drop drastically at times and make the game a stuttering mess. As the game is listed as 'Deck Verified', I think this is especially egregious when it plainly doesn't play very well.”
    • “But it is not without its flaws, most notably regarding performance on the Deck.”
  • monetization6 mentions

    The monetization aspect of the game is viewed positively, with players appreciating its innovative approach in contrast to the prevalent cash grab tactics seen in many AAA titles. The game's quality in terms of gameplay, soundtrack, and story further enhances its value, suggesting that it prioritizes player experience over aggressive monetization strategies.

    • “Dystopian advertisements litter the streets where people are impoverished and broken.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

81% average critic score

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Play time

18hMedian play time
14hAverage play time
5-20hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 24 analyzed playthroughs

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