Aaru's Awakening Review Summary

Stunning hand-drawn art and a unique teleportation mechanic shine in this challenging platformer, but excessive difficulty, clunky controls, and broken gamepad support frustrate.

Stunning hand-drawn art praised: Many reviewers highlight the exquisite hand-drawn visuals, with clusters specifically calling out beautiful backgrounds and smooth animations. The art style is frequently described as gorgeous, unique, and a major highlight of the game.

Unique teleportation mechanic stands out: Reviewers find the teleportation mechanic interesting, fun, and a key differentiator from other platformers. Clusters highlight that it opens up many possibilities and enables impressive puzzles.

Challenging yet fair platforming: The game is described as a finely honed platformer with fair, consistent gameplay and well-designed levels. Checkpoints are noted to make the difficulty manageable while keeping it rewarding.

Soothing soundtrack complements atmosphere: The soundtrack is frequently praised as awesome, soothing, and stunning, with reviewers noting it sets the tone and complements the environment well.

Engaging and fun gameplay: Players find the gameplay engaging, fun, and addictive, with positive remarks about its overall enjoyment factor. This sentiment is echoed in clusters focusing on fun and addictive qualities.

Excessive and frustrating difficulty: The game is extremely difficult, with brutal difficulty spikes, unfair deaths, and a steep learning curve that frustrates many players. It often feels punishing rather than challenging.

Clunky and unresponsive controls: Many players report that the controls feel clunky, stiff, and unresponsive, making the game frustrating. This is a major issue across multiple clusters, especially on controllers.

Gamepad support broken: Gamepad controls often do not work properly, especially in menus and on Mac, with some buttons entirely non-functional. This severely impacts playability for controller users.

Story mediocre and convoluted: The story is frequently criticized as mediocre, thin, convoluted, or poorly told, failing to engage players. Some find it cliché and underdeveloped.

Bugs and technical issues: Various bugs, such as dashing problems, wall-grabbing inconsistencies, and control glitches, hinder gameplay and achievements. These issues are often minor but add to frustration.

Challenging 2D action platformer: Players frequently describe the game as a hardcore, difficult side-scrolling platformer. The high difficulty is a defining characteristic, with a focus on demanding gameplay and speedrunning.

Core teleportation mechanic: The central gameplay mechanic is teleportation, typically involving shooting a ball of light and teleporting to its location. This unique mechanic is highlighted as a key feature.

Puzzle platformer with simplicity: The game is often described as a puzzle platformer with a fairly simple control scheme. It combines skill and puzzle elements, making it accessible yet challenging.

Includes checkpoints and bosses: The game features checkpoints for progression and boss battles, including a notably difficult final boss. These elements provide structure and challenge.

Ball used for puzzles: The ball of light can be shot through small holes and used to bypass obstacles, adding a puzzle element to the platforming. It is essential for both navigation and combat.

Controller input broken: Multiple reviews report controller input failures across platforms, citing issues on Mac and Linux with an Xbox 360 controller, and general non-functioning behavior.

Challenging and Frustrating: The game is described as very hard and frustrating, only suitable for players who enjoy extreme challenges or have a masochistic disposition. It may strain the patience of many.

Mixed or Conditional Recommendations: Some reviews give conditional recommendations, such as worth a look, worth giving a chance, or worth playing in a vacuum, indicating a mixed reception.

Wait for Sale or Bundle: Multiple reviews advise waiting for a sale or bundle due to the price being considered too high for the game's length or quality. Some suggest it's not worth the full price.

Recommended for Platformer Fans: Many reviewers recommend the game specifically for fans of platformers. They highlight it as a good choice for those who enjoy precision platforming and challenging gameplay.

Not Recommended: Several reviewers explicitly do not recommend the game, advising against purchase or suggesting to stay away. Reasons include overall dissatisfaction and better alternatives.

Community fair range: $5.00 - $10.00.

Game completion: 4.0h.

Story completion: 4.0h.

Session length: 1.0h.

Endgame: 10.0h.

The review describes an organically rising challenge across tutorial levels and worlds, but later boss fights become tedious rather than challenging, suggesting enjoyment drops at that point.

Hardcore Challenge Veteran: Replays levels to optimize routes, chases fastest clear times and gold medals, and attempts Hardcore mode including boss fights. Motivation: Mastering brutal platforming challenges, speedrunning levels, and proving skill in Hardcore mode. Stance: buy.

Casual / Low-Skill Player: Plays casually through levels, often frustrated by sudden hazards and precise timing, and avoids Hardcore mode or full completion. Motivation: Playing for fun and relaxation without extreme difficulty or hardcore competition. Stance: no buy.

Hand-Drawn Atmosphere Enthusiast: Progresses through levels at a steady pace, appreciating presentation and atmosphere rather than chasing hardcore completion. Motivation: Experiencing the hand-drawn visuals, soundtrack, and fantasy atmosphere. Stance: sale.

Steam Deck: The reviews indicate a mixed Steam Deck/Linux controller experience. Some users report acceptable or pleasant joystick gameplay, and there is positive feedback on visuals and Brazilian Portuguese localization. However, one user reports that the controls do not work at all and there is no available fix, while another notes occasional strange control-related deaths. No evidence was found for external launchers, Proton Experimental toggles, small text, battery drain, anti-cheat errors, or launch failures. The total input failure is the decisive friction point.

Short Game Length: Multiple reviewers note the game is short, typically taking 2-4 hours to complete. Some mention it can be padded by difficulty or collecting medals, but the main story is brief.

Hand-Drawn Visual Style: The game features hand-drawn graphics and animations with beautiful detail and soul. The visual style is often compared to fantasy realms and old Sega games.

Comparisons to Other Platformers: Reviewers compare the game to Super Meat Boy, Spelunky, Rayman Legends, Electronic Super Joy, and others. Some feel it attempts to emulate their style but falls short, while others find it friendly and approachable.

High Price for Length: The game costs $15, which many reviewers feel is too high given its short length. Some bought it at a discount or in a bundle and found it more worthwhile.

Good Controller and Linux Support: The game correctly recognizes Xbox 360 controllers and works on Linux. It can be played with either a gamepad or a mouse, though some feel it is optimized for keyboard and mouse.