Aphelion
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Aphelion
Aphelion has everything I’d expect from a competent DON’T NOD project, from the sound design to the story to the characters and beyond. The narrative and two leading protagonists captivated me with struggles that felt well-acted, thematically rich and consistently surprising. I cared, and would have been utterly devastated if they had never made it back home.
Ultimately, these just result in different ways to have you move slowly through a pretty basic area.
Aphelion is a cinematic masterclass in storytelling. From the very beginning, you can tell that every moment of the game will be important. While it can't seem to keep up that same sort of engagement in the moment-to-moment gameplay, it works well enough to keep driving you forward. A short and enticing space-age mystery thriller that can satisfy from a story standpoint, but leaves a little to be desired in terms of gameplay.
A bit more space horror, a greater context about the state of humanity, or a focus on some of the reflective existential themes that usually accompany the science fiction genre would have strengthened the story.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Aphelion is a deeply frustrating mix of both brilliant and baffling design: part gorgeous, best-in-class narrative adventure. One boasting cinematic presentation backed by superb lead performances, further enhanced by the year's most compelling, science-grounded sci‑fi story. But also, part dreary third-person action-adventure, undercutting the pace of its narrative with clunky platforming, tedious stealth and puzzle sections, and Thomas' oxygen-management nonsense. In the end, this tight narrative adventure is stretched into an over-long slog. Sure, it's well worth seeing through for the story, but with a sharper gameplay focus, Aphelion could have been essential.
A near future third person sci-fi adventure whose believable characters, expressive animation, and glorious icy backdrops are undermined by a linear story with too little variety in its interactions.
Aphelion is far from the next classic Don’t Nod game, but fans of the studio will likely have a good enough time with it. The concept and narrative execution are strong here, but so much of it is bogged down by gameplay segments that made me wish I could skip like a cutscene.
Aphelion is very much a compelling, though mechanically nuts and bolts narrative adventure that embraces linearity and spectacle above all else. Though its embedded dynamic of interpersonal relationships is engaging, the technical flaws, occasional clunkiness and aged-like-milk stealth sections sadly do much to undercut its otherwise impressive qualities.
