There is something rather lovely about a game that is not afraid to be a little bit different. AereA takes the familiar ingredients of an action RPG, throws them onto a collection of floating islands, and then replaces the usual swords and spells with harps, cellos, lutes and trumpets. It is a wonderfully colourful idea, and while the adventure does not always have the depth to match its imaginative setting, there is an undeniable charm to the world Triangle Studios has created.
Set in the shattered realm of Aezir, AereA casts you as one of the disciples of the legendary Great Maestro Guido. The floating island has been broken into pieces, and with the nine primordial instruments that once maintained its balance now missing, the world is in serious trouble. Your task is to recover them, explore the scattered remnants of Aezir, solve puzzles, complete quests and defeat some rather unusual bosses along the way.
It is a straightforward premise, but it works because AereA understands exactly what sort of adventure it wants to be. This is not a dark, punishing RPG designed to test your patience. Instead, it is a bright, accessible dungeon crawler with a musical heart, colourful characters and a strong emphasis on co-operative play. There is something almost storybook-like about the whole experience, and that gives AereA an appeal that goes beyond its combat mechanics.
Welcome to Aezir
The first thing that catches your attention is the presentation. AereA has a bright, hand-drawn, cel-shaded visual style that gives the floating islands a graphic-novel quality. Everything is colourful and expressive, from the characters themselves to the strange environments and enemies you encounter along the way.
The isometric viewpoint suits the game particularly well. It gives you a clear view of the surrounding area without making the environments feel flat, and it is especially useful when enemies begin filling the screen with attacks. There is enough visual variety between areas to keep exploration interesting, even if some locations inevitably begin to feel familiar after several hours of wandering.
There is also a lovely sense of whimsy running through the world. AereA does not take itself too seriously, and that is a refreshing change from the endless stream of grim fantasy adventures that dominate the genre. Its world feels designed to be welcoming rather than intimidating, which makes it especially easy to settle into.
The music-themed setting also gives the environments an identity of their own. You are not simply travelling through generic fantasy dungeons with musical references occasionally thrown into the background. The entire world has been built around the concept, and that gives AereA a consistent personality.
Four Heroes, Four Instruments
Rather than creating a single generic hero and letting you swap equipment whenever you like, AereA gives you four distinct disciples to choose from. Each has a different musical instrument as their weapon, which in turn determines how they approach combat.
Wolff uses a harp and functions as the game’s ranged archer, firing musical attacks from a distance. Jacques is the cello-wielding knight, giving him a much more defensive, close-quarters role. Jules turns a lute into a weapon and provides another melee-focused option, while Claude takes the idea of musical warfare to wonderfully ridiculous territory by using a trumpet as a gun.
It is a great concept because the weapons immediately communicate the personalities and play styles of the characters. You can switch between different approaches depending on what you enjoy, and in co-op the distinctions become even more useful. Having a melee character protect a ranged attacker while another player controls crowds creates a pleasing little party dynamic.
None of the four characters completely reinvents the action RPG formula, but they are sufficiently different to make experimentation worthwhile. There is genuine satisfaction in finding the character whose abilities best match the way you like to play.
Making Music, Making Mayhem
Combat is the heart of AereA, and it follows a familiar hack-and-slash structure. Enemies appear in groups. You attack them with your character’s musical weapon and abilities, collect experience, and gradually grow stronger. It is not revolutionary, but the musical twist gives the otherwise conventional system some personality.
The attacks themselves are wonderfully appropriate. Harp strings become projectiles, brass blasts become weapons, and other instruments are transformed into surprisingly effective tools of destruction. It is silly in exactly the right way, and watching a trumpet used as a firearm never quite loses its charm.
As you progress, you can develop your character through ability upgrades and stat improvements. The system is reasonably straightforward, which suits the game’s accessible approach. You are not expected to spend hours planning elaborate builds before being allowed to enjoy yourself.
That simplicity is both a strength and a weakness. Newcomers will find AereA easy to understand, but experienced action RPG players may eventually find themselves wanting more depth. There are not enough layers here to compete with the genre’s more sophisticated examples, but there is enough to make progression feel worthwhile throughout the adventure.
Dungeons With a Musical Twist
Exploration is about more than simply charging into the next group of enemies. AereA’s dungeons contain puzzles, environmental hazards, locked areas and hidden treasures, giving you reasons to pay attention to your surroundings.
The puzzles are generally straightforward, which is not necessarily a criticism. They provide a welcome change of pace between combat encounters and encourage you to look around rather than simply sprint towards the next objective. There is something satisfying about discovering a hidden chest or working out how to reach an area that initially appears inaccessible.
Backtracking does feature, and this can occasionally slow the adventure down. AereA is not a game built around elaborate environmental puzzles, so some of the more basic tasks can feel like minor interruptions rather than major challenges.
Still, the mixture works reasonably well. The dungeons provide enough variety to prevent the combat from becoming completely monotonous, while the musical theme gives even the more conventional exploration elements a distinctive flavour.
When the Music Fights Back
The boss encounters are where AereA’s musical concept really gets to show off. There are nine unique bosses, each inspired by a particular musical instrument, and they are considerably more memorable than many of the ordinary enemies you encounter.
These encounters require more than simply standing in front of a giant creature and attacking until its health runs out. You need to watch attack patterns, identify openings, and understand when it is safe to deal damage. They give the adventure some much-needed punctuation and provide moments that feel genuinely different from the standard dungeon battles.
The bosses are also where the visual creativity of AereA shines brightest. Giant, music-themed enemies are much more interesting to look at than another collection of fantasy monsters, and the developers clearly had fun turning familiar instruments into threats.
They are not the toughest bosses you will ever face, but they fit the game’s overall philosophy. AereA is interested in making encounters entertaining and accessible rather than brutally punishing, and the boss design reflects that approach.
The Joy of Local Co Op
If there is one feature that gives AereA an extra lease of life, it is local co-op. Up to four players can join the adventure, letting you assemble a full musical party to tackle the dungeons together.
There is something inherently enjoyable about four people charging into a dungeon, wielding instruments as weapons. The different characters complement one another naturally, and having several players on screen makes the combat feel more energetic.
Co-op also helps mask some of the game’s simpler mechanics. Encounters that might feel routine when playing alone become more entertaining with friends around. Someone can take the role of the tank, another can focus on ranged attacks, and the rest can simply cause glorious chaos.
It is the sort of game that feels particularly well suited to a relaxed evening with family or friends. You do not need encyclopaedic knowledge of RPG mechanics to enjoy it, and the bright presentation makes it approachable for younger players too.
A World Worth Listening To
The musical theme would not work nearly as well without a soundtrack capable of supporting it, and AereA does a good job in this respect. Orchestral music accompanies the adventure, helping to give the world a sense of cohesion while reinforcing the idea that everything you see exists within a musical universe.
The sound effects are equally playful. Attacks have their own instrumental flavour, and the idea that your weapons are musical instruments gives even ordinary combat encounters an extra layer of character.
It is not a soundtrack that will necessarily have you rushing to buy the album, but it fits the experience beautifully. AereA is one of those games where the audio and visuals work towards the same goal, and that consistency makes the world more convincing.
Where the Melody Falters
AereA’s biggest problem is that its excellent concept is sometimes undermined by relatively safe gameplay. Once the novelty of the musical weapons wears off, the underlying action RPG mechanics are fairly conventional.
Combat can become repetitive, particularly during long solo sessions. The puzzles rarely pose much of a challenge, and the progression system does not offer the enormous variety that fans of deeper action RPGs might expect.
There are also moments when the adventure feels like it could have done more with its setting. A world built around music is such a wonderfully unusual idea that you occasionally wish the game pushed the concept further. Imagine more elaborate musical puzzles, enemies built around rhythm, or abilities that interact with one another like sections of an orchestra.
That potential is perhaps the most frustrating thing about AereA. The imagination is clearly there. The game simply does not always take its ideas as far as they could go.
A Charming Adventure
Despite those shortcomings, AereA is difficult to dislike. There is a warmth to its presentation and a genuine sense of fun behind its unusual concept. It is a game that feels comfortable being colourful, accessible and a little bit silly, and that gives it a personality many more technically accomplished RPGs lack.
It is also a reminder that not every game needs to be brutally difficult or endlessly complicated to be worthwhile. Sometimes you simply want to explore a pretty world, hit monsters with a giant cello and solve a few puzzles along the way.
That is where AereA finds its niche. It is not going to satisfy players looking for the deepest action RPG on the market, but it can provide a pleasant few hours of dungeon crawling, particularly when played with friends.
The musical setting is the star, but the charm of the characters, colourful presentation and accessible co-op help carry the experience when the underlying mechanics begin to show their limitations.
The Verdict
AereA is an imaginative and charming action RPG that deserves credit for doing something genuinely different with a familiar formula. Turning musical instruments into weapons is a wonderfully inventive idea, while the four playable characters offer enough variety to make experimenting with different play styles enjoyable.
The combat is straightforward, and the dungeon design is fairly light, so veteran RPG players may eventually find themselves craving something deeper. The adventure can also become repetitive when played for long stretches, particularly without the energy that comes from local co-op.
But AereA is not really trying to compete with the most demanding action RPGs. It is aiming for something more relaxed and accessible, and in that respect it largely succeeds. The hand-drawn visuals are lovely, the musical theme gives the world real personality, and the four-player co-op makes the whole adventure considerably more enjoyable with company.
Most importantly, AereA has heart. There is an infectious silliness to the idea of saving a floating world with a harp, cello, lute and trumpet, and the game embraces that idea wholeheartedly. It may not play the most complex tune in the action RPG orchestra, but it certainly has its own sound.
