In a world where the seasons have been thrown into chaos, step into the role of a young girl journeying to help the Guardians of Seasons stop the evil power responsible.
Ary and the Secret of Seasons
Developer: xXiin and Fishing Cactus
Price: $40
Platforms: PC (reviewed), PS4, Xbox One, Switch
MonsterVine was provided with a PC code for review.
When the opening cutscene of Ary and the Secret of Seasons began, the art was the first thing to get my attention. Full 3D cutscenes tell its story in a bright, colorful style that wouldn’t look out of place in a Disney movie. You can tell the team poured their heart and soul into these scenes, and it’s not just one solid scene to start off the game but rather numerous cutscenes over the course of the story.
You play as Ary, a young girl who lives in a world where the seasons are divided; each of the world’s four regions has a single season all year long. Lately, however, mysterious crystals falling from the sky have reversed the seasons of each region, and that’s only one of the sinister incidents shaking the world. Ary’s father is one of the four Guardians of Seasons, but since he has been overcome by grief due to the recent disappearance and presumed death of Ary’s brother, Ary takes the crystal that gives her father power over winter and sets out to attend the emergency meeting of the Guardians herself.
The game is absolutely gorgeous, and the music and voice acting are excellent as well. Once you get into gameplay, however, its less-polished aspects begin to appear. Ary is an action-adventure game that features platforming, combat, and puzzles. The platforming is mostly fine, but sometimes the camera gets in the way, making jumps unnecessarily difficult. Combat is snappy and entertaining, with a fun counterattack aspect, but the game has a tendency to automatically lock onto distant enemies and force you to manually switch targets. My playthrough also suffered from little glitches that ranged from clipping through environments to a completed main story quest getting permanently stuck as the actively tracked quest.
There are also some odd pacing and progression issues. When you first set out for the Dome of Seasons, you’re told that the bridge is out and get a new main quest to visit the Waterfall Ruins. Along my way to the ruins, I encountered several merchants, including one selling a double jump ability. As soon as I bought it, the quest was marked complete, and when I went through the dungeon anyway, I discovered the double jump ability was my reward at the end. Other exploration abilities are unlocked eventually, but not until much later in the game. I was over halfway through before I found a health upgrade, after which I started finding health upgrades at a rapid pace. And while dungeons do a good job of introducing you to the seasonal powers and other puzzle-solving tools, sometimes these elements appear earlier than that, which left me experimenting with powers I hadn’t technically been taught yet.
Despite these issues, the gameplay itself is actually quite fun. There are side quests to complete, secrets to find, and a wide variety of lore that helps flesh out the game’s world and backstory. This sort of exploration felt strangely nostalgic, as though the gameplay had been pulled from the sort of action-adventure game you’d find on the PlayStation 2 or GameCube. The puzzles are a definite highlight, especially when it comes to using the seasons. Each region is in a certain season by default, and your season crystals let you cast spheres of the other three to change the environment. For example, in a summer area, you might cast winter to make icy blocks appear within the sphere, or spring to make climbable vines grow.
Several additional mechanics add more depth to the basic system, such as orbs that expand the season’s dome and can be pulled behind you. Add in some standard dungeon mechanics like switches to press and locked doors, and you end up with a wide variety of puzzle possibilities. While it seems pretty simple early on, the puzzles end up being pretty clever as you progress. They never get too challenging, but they will make you think.
The story is delightful, too–a little predictable at times, but not quite as straightforward as you might initially expect. It should take you between 10-15 hours to complete, depending on how much you explore and how many side quests you do. There’s also a nice dose of humor, which adds to the overall charm. Although the ending feels a bit rushed, overall Ary and the Secret of Seasons is a fun-filled, entertaining adventure in both gameplay and story.
The Final Word
Ary and the Secret of Seasons is cute, clever, and fun, with a beautiful world to explore and entertaining puzzles to solve. It might be a little rough around the edges, but it’s well worth a look if you enjoy this type of lighthearted action-adventure game.
MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
