Ary and the Secret of Seasons Reviews
Exiin's first step as an indie studio is not as strong, but it doesnt disappoint either. Ary and the Secret of Seasons is full of new ideas, but the lack of time probably prevented the team from fully developing those ideas, and the result is an unpolished, rushed game that could have been much better.
Review in Persian | Read full review
But all of these positive aspects pale in front of the technical part that is severely lacking. As such I cannot recommend Ary and The Secret of Seasons until several patches have come out fixing the annoying issues of the game.
Ary and the Secret of Seasons has some inventive ideas with its puzzles but it lacks enjoyment in every other aspect of it.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
An enjoyable platformer which would benefit from further development time
Ary and The Secret of Seasons is one of those game that can beautifully engage players with its world and has the potential to entertains all people from any ages in an impressive way. But of course it doesn't mean that the game is flawless. Unfortunately, this game suffers from many technical issues which in many cases, will affect your progression in a specific level or dungeon. But putting this technical issues aside, Ary and the Secret of Seasons is a fascinating game that every fan if indie games must play!
Review in Persian | Read full review
There are the bones of a fun and inventive game here. I had a blast playing an earlier demo on PC but the Switch just isn't able to deliver that. While I can't recommend the Switch version, this may still be worth checking out in some other form.
Early glimpses of the puzzles and dungeons showed just how great Ary and the Secret of Seasons could be, and while those are realised here, it's just not enough to make up for the numerous issues and missteps. Many players won't be able to even see those best moments unless they have the considerable patience needed to be able to get over halfway through. A true disappointment; there is an awful lot to like here, but ultimately it's hard to recommend this. Strangely, considering how many times it's been delayed, this just feels unfinished, like a preview build.
Unfortunately, Ary‘s problems largely overshadow everything there is to love about it.
As a fan of classic 3D platformers, I found Ary and the Secret of Seasons to be a magical and beautiful game and it's great fun, too.
Taking on the task of making a game that feels like it's intended to occupy the same space as the likes of the Legend of Zelda series, even removing Breath of the Wild from the table, is a rough road few manage to make significant headway in...
At the heart of Ary and the Secret of Seasons rests a good story and a delightful world ripe for exploring. The only thing that keeps players from experiencing the world in full is the game's half-done execution. The glitches alone will put off seasoned gamers, and given this game's young demographic, it is hard to imagine kids suffering through the slips. This is a shame as Ary is the kind of character you want to root for. But after one too many glitches, her dazzling personality will fail to keep gamers plugged in.
Ary and the Secret of Seasons delivers on its core systems and its ambition pays off in many areas, but it’s frustrating and off-key moments along with continuous bugs make it a mixed bag.
Ary and the Secret of Seasons has an original concept and an appealing look to it. The game lets you control the seasons to create platforms or open up other ways to progress. In the open world, you can find a lot of things to do which keep you busy for hours. There is simply a lot to discover in the game. But unfortunately there are a lot of flaws. The game has tons of glitches, a faulty camera and crashes sometimes. Thanks to this the great concept turned out to be a mediocre title, even for 40 euros.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
With some more time in the oven. Ary and the Secret of Seasons could be a stellar Zelda Clone. The dungeons offer some decent challenge with the seasonal powers and later on you get access to a seasonal slingshot which helps with strategies. But that doesn’t change how the game feels soulless, characters frozen like it’s winter everywhere, the sounds characters make during conversations, even things like the choice of font, the objectives hanging on screen all the time, even just Ary’s reactions to new tasks feel empty. There is definitely some potential here, just some polish could make this game really shine.
This adventure game is easy to get into, although it doesn’t reach it’s full potential, the gameplay is simple and well animated but it’s hindered by repetition and lack of ambition.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
"Ary and the Secret of Seasons" is a fine action-adventure in itself, which can be described as family-friendly and which invites every genre-fan to a fun and entertaining adventure. Depending on how much you sink into the trial & error vortex during the puzzle interludes and how strong the urge for discovery is, you can spend 8-10 hours with the game. Altogether there are however already some technical deficiencies, which cloud the fun of the game and also disturb the presentation. Of course the style is consciously chosen more minimalistic and it is not a full price title, but such rough carvings should not occur and one can only hope that the game will be improved in the form of patches.
Review in German | Read full review
Glitchy mechanics and a lack of polish get in the way of this otherwise innovative, whimsical puzzle-platformer. I want to wholeheartedly recommend it as a game for the whole family, but sadly several broken elements stop it from being a must-play.
So overall, while Ary and the Secret of Seasons does need some patches to fix some rather large issues on the Switch, the adventure itself is light and fun even if it doesn't really do anything new. This isn’t exactly a bad thing as what it sets out to do it does well, but, until it gets patched be warned that you may have to do the same thing a few times over.
Ary and the Secret of Seasons is a delightful action adventure that has great gameplay ideas but ultimately falls short. There are a lot of glitches, the combat is average at best and the visuals feature low-res textures. The ability to control the four seasons and use them to solve puzzles is a redeeming feature, but the reality is there are plenty of stronger titles in the genre available.
While Ary and the Secret of Seasons struggles with lots of issues, it benefits from many strong points as well. Even though the visual style doesn't belong to this generation, it still has its own beauty and charm. If it wasn't for the technical problems, Ary could have shined among the best games of this generation. The issues could have been solved with more time and effort from the developers and this shows the lack of enthusiasm from them.
Review in Persian | Read full review