Ary and the secret of seasons preview

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Developer: eXiin, Fishing Cactus
Publisher: Modus Games
Website: https://ary-game.com/
Genre: Action-Adventure, Platformer
Platform: PC
Age Rating: PEGI 12
Release Date: 1.09.20
Price: TBA

A code was provided for review purposes.

Ary and the secret of seasons is an upcoming game which promises exploration, storytelling, 3d platforming and a unique seasonal mechanic. I’ve been given access to a preview of the game so let’s take a look.

Back in Season

With the preview, I had access to the opening level (which was playable during the Steam game festival) as well as a new area called the Winter Temple which fully showed off Ary’s many abilities.

The game offers a very special gameplay mechanic where Ary can control seasons. By using the d-pad, Ary creates a semi-sphere containing a season around her. In the preview I played, Winter was the most prominent season. Changing the lush green grass to snow created a very cool effect. The seasons also offer many abilities. By using a slingshot, I could create icicles which acted as a platform in order to reach new places. Certain enemies also changed into ice whilst in Winter which allowed me to push down buttons. The seasonal changes are certainly a unique mechanic which I enjoyed experimenting with.

Story and sound

I was able to get a glimpse into the story of Ary and the Secret of Seasons. You play as Ary, a young girl, on a mission to save her hometown: Valdi. I won’t go into too much story detail here but there seems to be a lot of focus and depth to the narrative which I enjoyed. Throughout the preview, I encountered many cutscenes. The story is good and the animations work well but what stood out to me was the sound. The soundtrack is stunning and genuinely wouldn’t seem out of place in a Pixar or Studio Ghibli film. The score rises and falls depending on what’s occurring on-screen and the audio really impressed me.

Animated Art Style

The art style of Ary is simple and that’s okay. It doesn’t strive for photo-realism, but the cartoon-style still works with a feeling of early Pixar animation. I can understand why it’s not the best graphically as I assume that multiple instances of the game world must be loaded in at once to seamlessly switch between seasons. (Although don’t quote me on that) .

Ary’s animation is fluid and there are some subtle touches to the animation such as our hero struggling to open heavy chests or push levers which I appreciated. Combat is simple, with a targeting system and the typical attack, dodge and parry we’ve come to expect in these types of games.

The UI, on the other hand, could be improved. It’s very generic and features such as boss health meters could really benefit from something a little more unique. This is a preview build so features like this could be changed.

Conclusion

The preview of Ary and the secret of seasons shows a lot of promise. The game utilises the season mechanic very well and I can’t wait to uncover more of the story. The world of Valdi will be available to explore on the first of September on PC, Switch, Xbox and PS4.

You can wishlist Ary and the secret of seasons here: