Aphelion Review – Electromagnetic Blue
DONTNOD spent a few years telling us that life is strange, whether you’re a college student messing with time or visiting a small town in Colorado to solve a local mystery. Now they’re back to illustrate how strange an interstellar journey can be. Aphelion sits alongside the hugely successful Project Hail Mary as the kind of optimistic sci-fi which posits humanity is capable of truly great things – a paean to the human spirit as it reaches into the night sky for a chance at redemption.
Far less static than Life is Strange though, Aphelion hearkens back to the more active gameplay elements of Remember Me and Vampyr. Astroscientists Ariane and Thomas, the twin participants in the HOPE-01 mission, crash-land upon the planet of Persephone (symbolism!), where they unravel the mysteries of why the planet is currently undergoing a significant climate shift with disastrous consequences for the pair. This is a bummer of course, because Persephone had been earmarked as the last resort for a human race fleeing an Earth ravaged by climate change – out of the frying pan and into the fire. Both leads are likeable, although I found Thomas the more immediately appealing with his self-effacing sense of humour, while Ariane’s initial rigid professionalism and stoicism eventually cedes to reveal the humanity underneath.
While the narrative of Aphelion looks forward, it is very much staring in the rear-view mirror mechanically. Running, sliding, jumping, swinging, awkward stealth, pushing through small gaps to hide loading and just barely making leaps across numerous icy canyons are all mechanics that have been around for generations now and at no point is Aphelion looking to reinvent them. But Aphelion isn’t a high budget, AAA title and nor does it pretend to be. Double A in the best way, Aphelion is economical and judicious in its use of tired mechanics to ensure that the main driver – the story – pushes the player forward. I like this trend to be honest, as I’d rather an 8-hour game that keeps me wanting to come back for a few nights over an incredibly lengthy game that loses me before the midway point. Although not as visually striking as 2023’s Jusant, Aphelion borrows from some of the mechanics found there but in a far less robust way.
Whilst the mechanics feel dated they’re very much offset by excellent pacing – DONTNOD know they can’t overuse these tired tropes without losing the audience, so the punchier sections really kept me engaged. This is also aided by the dual protagonist approach, as the slight differences in playstyle between each also evaporated the tedium I might have otherwise felt. Thomas’ brash attitude belies his lack of physical prowess in comparison to Ariane who is the more adventurous of the two, her sections far more concerned with feats of endurance and strength as opposed to Thomas’ more restrained environs. The mysteries at the heart of the story play into the perspective shift the way a pulpy novel can keep a reader on the hook until the wee hours of the morning and more than once I decided to forego shutting down just to see how the next section played out. In some ways I felt Aphelion was a little too restrained in regards to worldbuilding, logbook entries and audio diaries. “Better to leave them wanting more” and all that, but it felt a little lacking nevertheless by the time I’d rolled credits.
Aphelion may not allow players to connect as personally as they did with Max and Chloe to Thomas and Ariane, but it does represent many of its themes admirably. The vast, hostile and seemingly uncaring landscape of Persephone is beautiful regardless of the pain it inflicts upon the protagonists. Worthy of its playtime, Aphelion is the interactive equivalent of binging a single season of TV over a few nights – the rough bits don’t stick around long enough to ruin the overall experience.
Aphelion was reviewed on PlayStation 5 with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
