Sands of Aura

75%
Game Brain Score Based on 467 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Sands of Aura Game Cover
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In "Sands of Aura" , a cataclysm has plunged Talamhel into eternal darkness and created a sea of sand, corrupting its inhabitants. You are one of the few righteous survivors, soon to join the Order of Remnant Knights. As calamity strikes again, you must endure and fight the mutated Night Plague to save Talamhel. Wishlist and follow the game to receive updates on development and release dates.

  • PC
  • Steam Deck
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

75%
Audience ScoreBased on 467 reviews
story63 positive mentions
grinding21 negative mentions
  • The game features impressive world-building and a captivating story that draws players in.
  • The weapon customization system is unique and allows for a variety of playstyles, enhancing the overall gameplay experience.
  • The art style and visuals are beautiful, creating an engaging atmosphere that complements the gameplay.
  • The camera controls are limited and can hinder visibility, making navigation and combat frustrating at times.
  • Combat can feel clunky and unresponsive, with issues such as input lag and a lack of impactful feedback during fights.
  • The quest system is vague and can lead to confusion, as there are no clear indicators for objectives or character locations.
  • story190 mentions

    The story of "Sands of Aura" is generally well-received, featuring a simple yet engaging narrative centered around a young squire and a mysterious spirit combating world corruption. While the main plot has intriguing twists and solid character development, some players find it occasionally difficult to follow, with vague quest objectives and a lack of clear direction. The game's rich world-building and environmental storytelling enhance the experience, making it a compelling choice for those who appreciate narrative depth in action RPGs.

    • “The story follows a young squire accompanied by a mysterious spirit who are trying to stop the corruption plaguing the world and save the last standing human settlement.”
    • “The story and characters are written great.”
    • “The world is lively and interesting, the tiny bit of story we have is good and the characters are interesting.”
    • “Additionally, I found the story a bit difficult to follow at times.”
    • “The storyline lacks depth and intrigue.”
    • “The main world story can be confusing at times, as I do feel that certain aspects didn't have as much time as they needed to develop.”
  • gameplay132 mentions

    The gameplay of "Sands of Aura" is a blend of Dark Souls mechanics and action RPG elements, offering a challenging yet rewarding experience with engaging combat and diverse environments. While many players appreciate the unique weapon crafting and exploration aspects, some criticize the clunky controls, poor camera angles, and frustrating boss mechanics that can detract from the overall enjoyment. Overall, the game presents a visually appealing world with solid gameplay, though it may require patience to navigate its more difficult elements.

    • “Sands of Aura is what you get when Dark Souls gameplay mechanics, themes, style of lore, and difficulty are mixed with The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker's sense of unique style and world navigation.”
    • “The gameplay is fun, precise, and rather fast-paced.”
    • “Solid combat mechanics, great level design, multiple options to build your character, original lore, and overall a very impressive soulslike for a decent price.”
    • “The lack of refinement in combat mechanics leaves encounters feeling less than fluid, a key element in the souls-like genre.”
    • “Bottom line is that for a game with gameplay mainly based on souls-like combat, the actual combat system and fight play is awful and clunky.”
    • “As of right now I cannot in good conscience recommend this game, the mechanics for combat are clunky and have next to no proper feedback, and the quests are needlessly convoluted.”
  • graphics94 mentions

    The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many praising the unique art style that blends whimsical and gothic elements, reminiscent of Tim Burton's work. While some players appreciate the beautiful visuals and attention to detail, others criticize the graphics as basic or unfinished, noting issues with performance and user interface. Overall, the aesthetic appeal is highlighted as a strong point, contributing to an engaging and immersive experience despite some technical shortcomings.

    • “The graphics are beautiful and the story is compelling.”
    • “Sailing your sand ship, or grainwake, over the shifting grains of quicksand that are slowly swallowing this dying world really hammers home the carefully crafted visuals and art design, with gorgeous desolate ruins and architecture accompanied by a beautiful, haunting soundtrack just beckoning you to explore them.”
    • “The art style is spectacular, and the sand sailing is so much fun.”
    • “The game seems unfinished with stock sound effects and visuals.”
    • “The graphics are basic Unity, the sounds are just echo-y and odd, the combat feels non-impactful, and the controls are floaty.”
    • “Meh... long empty corridors, awful controls, and mediocre graphics.”
  • music53 mentions

    The music in the game has received largely positive feedback, with many players praising its orchestral quality and atmospheric fit for the game's dark and immersive world. While some noted occasional issues with music playback during gameplay, the overall sentiment highlights the soundtrack as a significant contributor to the game's charm and emotional depth. A few players felt the music could have been more memorable or varied, but the majority found it beautiful and evocative, enhancing the overall experience.

    • “The music is wonderful and really sets the atmosphere of a dark and fallen world.”
    • “Absolutely amazing experience; a unique world with gripping exploration, solid combat, and a wonderful orchestral soundtrack.”
    • “The music is beautiful, evocative and haunting, the echoes of lost civilizations still drifting through its halls and towers.”
    • “The music in this game just didn't land for me.”
    • “The soundtrack is okay, it kinda stays more in the background, and looking at the visual style of the world, I'd expected more eastern influences (or Persian/Arabic).”
    • “Soundtrack so far has been serviceable, but not really memorable.”
  • grinding21 mentions

    Players express frustration with the grinding mechanics in the game, citing a lack of sufficient resources for upgrades without extensive farming, which can feel tedious and boring. While some appreciate the exploration aspects and fast travel options that alleviate some grind-related tedium, many feel that the game requires excessive grinding to fully upgrade gear, leading to a repetitive experience. Overall, the grinding is seen as a necessary but unenjoyable aspect of gameplay, particularly for those familiar with souls-like mechanics.

    • “There simply aren't enough resources (without grinding anyway, and I hate undue grind) to fully build even one full suit of armor and weapon, let alone experiment or change tactics if you are stuck.”
    • “So tedious, frustrating, and boring.”
    • “A fair portion of my playtime was grinding for upgrades and uncovering the overworld map while being bored, waiting for the 1.0 release.”
  • optimization20 mentions

    Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing significant performance issues, particularly in open areas and during cutscenes, despite having high-end hardware. While a few users noted good performance on specific systems and praised the graphics, many others highlighted the need for better polish and optimization to enhance the overall experience. Additionally, some players reported smooth performance in confined spaces but encountered stuttering and crashes in larger environments.

    • “Sands of Aura runs out of the box with good performance and is well-suited for the Steam Deck!”
    • “Graphics look really nice and performance-wise I have nothing to complain about (there are graphics options above epic, called cinematic).”
    • “I’ve had no issues with performance running the game on an i7-7700k, RTX 2070, 32GB of RAM, and an SSD.”
    • “By my reckoning, this game is largely unoptimized.”
    • “Overall, this game has some awesome stuff going on, but it's missing necessary polish, optimization, and filling in of gaps to make it feel complete.”
    • “Performance is terrible, needs some serious optimization.”
  • atmosphere18 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its captivating art design, immersive worldbuilding, and exceptional music that enhances the experience of exploring a dark, detailed environment. Players appreciate the blend of exploration and lore, although some note that travel between zones can feel tedious at times. Overall, the atmosphere is described as enthralling and intentional, making it a standout feature despite some gameplay flaws.

    • “The music is wonderful and really sets the atmosphere of a dark and fallen world.”
    • “The world and environments are incredibly detailed and thought out, bringing an atmosphere that feels refined and intentional.”
    • “Travelling and exploring the world between zones is quiet, contemplative and relaxing, offering an important counterpoint to the more intense atmosphere on the islands.”
    • “Bottom line, the devs tried to create a substantive game but used the same cheap and easy methods as other failed games to create an atmosphere of 'difficulty'.”
    • “If you're the type to overlook some fundamental flaws or problems in order to experience less tangible aspects of a game like atmosphere or lore, such as with classic Obsidian games, then this is a definite recommend; otherwise, reconsider.”
    • “Travelling and exploring the world between zones is quiet, contemplative, and relaxing, offering an important counterpoint to the more intense atmosphere on the islands.”
  • replayability8 mentions

    Overall, the game offers significant replayability through diverse exploration options, character builds, and a rich story. However, some players feel that the exploration aspect loses its appeal upon subsequent playthroughs, and a lack of motivating mechanics may deter others from fully engaging with the replay potential. Despite these concerns, many appreciate the game's expansive world and customization features, which contribute to its replay value.

    • “There is a ton of replayability due to the amount of options you have in how you want to approach the game.”
    • “To start, I think the freedom that this game presents in both exploration and build diversity, and even in combat, is refreshing to see from a souls-like. The combat is responsive and difficult while not being frustrating. The game is quite large with lots of replayability and different ways of progressing, and the story and character lore are impressively fleshed out, showing the passion from the developers in building this world.”
    • “If you can overlook small hiccups like input responsiveness and a couple of yet-to-be-fleshed-out UI/UX elements, this game will offer you an immensely gorgeous and immersive world with a well-thought-out story, lots of islands to explore, and fun gameplay with high replayability due to amazing weapon customization.”
    • “Replayability is surely there – since I play these games mostly for their exploration, it just does not work for me, since that exploration part falls too flat the second time around.”
    • “It lacks the motivating mechanics that entice replayability, which is unfortunate, because there were a lot of things I was interested in resolving that, even after hours and hours of searching, I never found the solution.”
    • “The replayability is there, but it's going to be lost on most people.”
  • stability7 mentions

    The game's stability is mixed, with reports of bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay and immersion, particularly in narration and voice acting. While it runs well on the Steam Deck with adjusted settings, some players recommend waiting for fixes due to issues like a fixed camera and lack of weight in combat. Overall, the experience can vary significantly depending on the platform and settings used.

    • “I play entirely on Steam Deck, and it runs great with some settings turned down.”
    • “Runs great on Deck.”
    • “This game runs great on Steam Deck and is a good souls-like that I would recommend to anyone to try out!”
    • “The game has some bugs and glitches that can affect the gameplay and the immersion.”
    • “I never once felt like I died to something that wasn't my fault, unlike the buggy or sometimes unfair tendency of enemies to spam certain OP abilities in other soulslikes.”
    • “Buggy, the camera is fixed, the fighting has no weight to it... I'd just pass or wait until they fix everything.”
  • humor4 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by quirky and unexpected moments, such as amusing enemy momentum issues and bizarre glitches that create oddly humorous scenarios. Players find the limited camera controls and the developers' take on early access to be unintentionally funny, while the NPCs contribute memorable comedic elements that enhance the overall experience.

    • “There were some wild enemy momentum issues (though these generally worked in my favor and were funny) and a few just weird ones, like getting stuck facing one direction (which severely limits your ability to fight) and one where I clipped into a building and found myself in an oddly-proportioned set of spaces that had 'medieval backrooms' vibes.”
    • “It's also funny that there's very limited camera controls, which again serve more as a hindrance than an aid.”
    • “Filled with quirky and surprising bits of humor, the NPCs stand out and leave a lasting impression.”
  • character development3 mentions

    Character development in the game is primarily focused on equipment rather than the characters themselves, which some players may find limiting. However, the characters are brought to life through well-written dialogue and extensive voice acting, contributing to a unique and immersive experience. Overall, while opinions on the visual style may vary, the depth of character portrayal is generally praised.

    • “Characters feel alive and unique, thanks in part to virtually every line being voiced and well-written, along with great character design.”
    • “I quite enjoyed the style and refuse to hear anything negative about how gorgeously crafted the world is.”
    • “The character development system is built around equipment rather than the player's character themselves.”
    • “I feel like my character's growth is overshadowed by the gear I equip, making it hard to connect with them.”
    • “There are limited choices for character progression, which makes it feel like I'm just grinding for stats instead of developing a unique character.”
  • monetization3 mentions

    Reviews indicate a mixed sentiment regarding monetization, with some players feeling that the game could benefit from better advertising and additional content. However, there is frustration over the perceived exploitation of players' time and personal information for advertising purposes, especially after having already paid for the game.

    • “I pay for a game, and now I have to pay with my time and my information for you to make more money with scummy advertising?”
    • “However, I do see this game flourishing with good advertising and more content.”
    • “Opting out of information collection for advertisement should be an option.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

7hMedian play time
18hAverage play time
6-37hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 5 analyzed playthroughs

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