Legends of Ethernal
- October 30, 2020
- Lucid Dreams Studio
- 4h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games Store"Legends of Ethernal" is a 2D single-player action adventure game where you need to explore beautiful hand-crafted environments, solve clever puzzles and battle tough creatures to uncover the truth about your parents’ disappearance.
Mac OS
Nintendo Switch
PC
Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Windows
Xbox One
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- The game features stunning art and a beautiful soundtrack that enhances the overall experience.
- Boss fights are inventive and challenging, requiring players to learn enemy patterns for success.
- The game offers a unique narrative and a refreshing take on the action-platformer genre, with a good balance of exploration and linearity.
- Combat mechanics feel clunky and lack variety, leading to a repetitive gameplay experience.
- The dialogue and lore presentation can be overly lengthy and unskippable, disrupting the flow of the game.
- Level design can feel padded and confusing, with some mechanics leading to frustrating gameplay moments.
- gameplay12 mentions
- 58 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by smooth movement and combat mechanics, complemented by enjoyable platforming and puzzle elements. While some players find the mechanics and level design basic, the game offers a rewarding challenge that evokes nostalgia while incorporating modern gameplay features. Overall, it combines a compelling story, vibrant art, and varied mechanics to maintain player engagement throughout the experience.
“The battle mechanics do their job well, as does the platforming.”
“It is not an easy game, but mastering its mechanics makes it a very rewarding affair.”
“The great story, the colorful art, the amazing soundtrack, and the varied gameplay mechanics keep the game entertaining until the end.”
“The main problem is that most of the mechanics and game design could be so much better.”
“I'm about 1/3 in after 4 hours of gameplay, so I would expect the game to last about 12-16 hours in total.”
- story12 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players finding it refreshing and intriguing, while others criticize the dialogue as stiff and overly simplistic. Despite its lack of grand cinematics, the narrative unfolds like a book, captivating players with its mystery and beautiful art. Overall, the story is engaging enough to keep players invested, especially with its challenging gameplay and varied mechanics.
“The story itself is not quite what I was expecting, which also made it refreshing.”
“The story starts with a simple mystery but it grows and you want to see how it ends.”
“The story is also pretty meh with dialogue that is super stiff and just seems very kid-like as if a grade-schooler wrote it.”
“The broad story seems decent, but the dialogue isn't super compelling.”
“This little game does not have the grandiose cinematics of bigger video games with big budgets, but the story is told like a book and the art is beautiful.”
- music11 mentions
- 73 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its ability to set the mood and enhance the overall experience, with many reviewers highlighting its dreamy quality and engaging composition. It complements the game's art and narrative effectively, making it a standout feature that adds significant value to the gameplay. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a major highlight, making the game a worthwhile experience for fans of the genre.
“The game design is quite nice and is accompanied with a very good soundtrack.”
“The music sets the mood.”
“Oh, and I have to give a special mention to the soundtrack... it has been spinning in one of my Spotify playlists!”
“Just the music alone makes it a worthwhile endeavor; don't skip on this as I'm sure you'll find a lot to like if you're a fan of the genre.”
- graphics6 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's graphics are characterized by an interesting and enjoyable art style, featuring colorful visuals that enhance the overall aesthetic and gameplay experience. While not on par with AAA titles, the graphics effectively complement the engaging narrative and soothing soundtrack, contributing to a fun and entertaining exploration of the game world. Players appreciate the lack of bugs and the well-crafted design, which supports satisfying puzzles and tight controls.
“The game's art style is interesting and enjoyable.”
“The colorful graphics and dialogues made exploring Arkanys entertaining.”
“Very fun 2D side-scroller with colorful graphics and fun gameplay.”
“The overall aesthetic is very soothing, but the graphics feel outdated and lack detail.”
“The colorful graphics are nice, but they don't compensate for the lack of depth in the environments.”
“While the action and platforming are enjoyable, the graphics leave much to be desired and feel uninspired.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -150 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of *ethernal* is characterized by its bright and whimsical tone, creating a comforting and relaxing experience that contrasts sharply with the oppressive ambiance of *limbo*. This dreamy quality enhances the game's overall feel, making it well-suited for a fluid and enjoyable gameplay experience.
“Unlike 'Limbo', however, which exists under a completely despairing and oppressive atmosphere, 'Ethernal' is bright and whimsical, creating a comforting and relaxing experience that suits this type of game feel.”
“Very dreamy and atmospheric.”
“Unlike Limbo, which exists under a completely despairing and oppressive atmosphere, Ethereal is bright and whimsical. As a result, it winds up using this fluidity of play to create a very comforting, relaxing experience, which is well suited to this sort of game feel.”
“The atmosphere feels disjointed and lacks the immersive quality that I was hoping for, making it hard to get lost in the game.”
“While the visuals are appealing, the overall atmosphere feels shallow and fails to evoke any real emotional response.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game offers strong replayability through its challenge modes and achievements, providing rewarding exploration within a mostly linear structure. This approach contrasts with many recent 2D games that prioritize procedural generation over replay value.
“Well worth the price of admission and replayable fun with the challenge modes and achievements.”
“The game still rewards exploration while remaining mostly linear, something that is often missing in recent 2D games focused more on procedural generation and replay value.”
- stability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Overall, the game is reported to be virtually bug-free, with only minor typos noted depending on the player's language preference, indicating a high level of stability.
“Aside from one or two typos depending on your language preference, this title is virtually bug-free.”
“The game runs smoothly without any crashes or major glitches, providing a seamless experience.”
“I haven't encountered any stability issues; everything works as intended, making for an enjoyable gameplay experience.”
