Early on, they don’t require much thought. Lastly, the spring sphere causes climbable vegetation to sprout up from the ground and even grants Ary the ability to walk underwater.Īll of the game’s puzzles are built around the changing of the seasons. The autumn sphere, on the other hand, creates instant rain showers, which can pool to generate bodies of water that you can use to swim across gaps. For example, the summer sphere can melt snow to reveal hidden paths or reduce an enemy’s icy shield to a sad puddle.
And you can use each one to interact with the world in new ways. At first, this allows her to use her winter sphere to do things like freeze lakes and waterfalls or conjure bridges of ice and frozen platforms to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.Īs you progress through the game’s roughly 10-hour story, you’ll gather spheres for every season. In fact, its most notable feature is quite refreshing and makes exploration and experimentation a whole lot of fun.Įarly on, Ary gains the ability to cast spheres that change the seasons of everything they encompass. That’s not to say Ary and the Secret of Seasons is a game devoid of innovation. Season’s Greetings The temples of the seasons are by far the most enjoyable part of the game. Though I have to admit, I do wish the battles were a little more challenging than what the game offers. After all, like the recently released New Super Lucky’s Tale (which I also reviewed), Ary and the Secret of Seasons is geared clearly towards kids and adults alike. But, once again, similarly to The Legend of Zelda series, they’re more about puzzle-solving than twitchy combat.Īs for me, I’m OK with that. Enemies are mostly pretty easy to dispatch by just mashing away at the slash button. Though I admittedly didn’t find the need to use them too much. However, a dodge roll and a simple parrying mechanic do manage to shake things up a bit. The mechanics feel almost identical to those in recent 3D Zelda entries, right down to the lock-on system and the way distinctive musical notes accompany each bash with your sword. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Ary visited Orca himself to pick up some Hylian sword techniques. Hell, even the evil hyenas that serve as Ary’s frequent adversaries look and behave nearly identically to Zelda‘s goblin-esque Bokoblins. Temples dot the map, and they’re teeming with clever puzzles to solve. There’s a massive overworld to explore that’s filled with secrets. The game shares the same DNA as Nintendo’s celebrated adventure game franchise. If you’ve ever played a Legend of Zelda game before, you’ll feel right at home with Ary and the Secret of Seasons.
Legendary Inspiration The combat in Ary and the Secret of Seasons feels very familiar. Unfortunately, like a freak blizzard ruining your summer barbecue, a litany of glitches and performance issues always seem to pop up to spoil the fun. However, after strange crystals begin to rain from the sky one day and cause the four seasons to go askew, Ary sets off on a journey to find her brother and uncover the source of the mystery behind the changing seasons.įeaturing a whimsical world with a quirky cast of characters seemingly ripped from a Pixar production and a unique gameplay hook that lets you manipulate the weather in creative ways, Ary and the Secret of Seasons is a charming addition to the PlayStation library. After her older brother goes missing on an adventure, Ary’s father finds himself crippled by grief and unable to tend to his duties as the kingdom of Valdi’s Guardian of Winter. Ary and the Secret of Seasons is a Zelda-style action-adventure game that tells the story of Aryelle, a peppy young girl from the snowy mountaintop village of Yule.
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