Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Jul 11, 2014

  Bought this game to play with my girlfriend. We both thoroghly enjoyed it, some of the puzzles had us both thinking of soloutions for what seemed like hours but it was an entirely enjoyable experience. Only wish it was a bit longer (Expansion maybe? wink wink nudge nudge). Great Puzzle game.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 11, 2014

  The best way I can describe this game is it seems to have been designed and written by someone who saw some screenshots of Myst, and then had someone give them a rough description of it and Adventure games in general. The puzzles are simplistic and don't seem to relate to the story progression, which is rudamentary, at best. While the Myst series has extensive backstory that's hinted at and expanded on throughout which gives you the sense that you're only seeing a brief snippet of a larger history (and the end of it, at that). Conversely this game briefly mentions a backstory and then doesn't expand on any of it. The voice acting is pretty terrible and NPC interaction felt very mechanical. Myst had the right idea in keeping NPC interactions to a bare minimum, the technology simply wasn't there to be able to do anything with it, but this game was released ELEVEN years after and, while Myst felt like it was a decade ahead of its time, Aura feels like it was released a decade too late. I was only able to get through to just past the statue scene seen in the sample screenshots above before I got bored. So perhaps it gets better after that, but I doubt it. There is a sequel, and even a third one on its way, so clearly some people like it.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 17, 2022

  Lets not compare this to Myst or Riven, expecting intricate world plot and stories. The cryptic nature of Aura's world is what make it charming and add to the adventure. A dream like fantasy that let you ponder on this world with curiosity, and most left to imagination, no fun in knowing all its secrets. It's what make a great spiritual adventure.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 30, 2015

  A thoroughly enjoyable first-person adventure. The puzzles are well-designed and ramp nicely in difficulty. Despite what some people say, all the puzzles are logical and are rather well-clued, assuming you look for the clues. I have yet to encounter one where I didn't understand exactly how it worked by the time I solved it. No walkthrough either. I suppose if you miss a clue, you could get confused. But even when I was stumped, a little walking around and thinking got me back on track. I would notice something I didn't before, a pattern I hadn't considered, a reaction I had taken for granted. There is no moon logic here. Just clues you do not yet understand. If you know what I mean. Story? Meh. I encourage those of you who left negative reviews to take another look; these are some very fine puzzles, they just take some effort to solve.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 17, 2015

  First off, don't expect Myst quality. This is a very ambitious adventure game that feels like it had some budget/team/time issues near the end of production. Very good first 2 thirds of the game, with a very bad last 3rd and an ending that while concluding things leaves a lot unexplained to make room for a non-existant (?) sequel. The first two "ages", or level areas, are actually quite good in the puzzle design. Clues are often just enough for you to piece it together yourself without taking away your own need to poke/click everything and observe. Many require "jumping to conclusions" a tiny bit, just enough where you are not spoon fed the solution, but not to the point of being impossible without a guide. I loved the first 2/3rds of the game, and it's those first two thirds that earn my recommended upvote. Where it really falls apart is the magic area, the third and final section of the game. What this area does is very ambitious, but it's clear the design team was not able to put enough videos/clues in place to really make these puzzles work right. Often in the magic area I had to solve a puzzle by trial and error or by clicking randomly through every scene with no idea what I was doing. There were also several times in this area that the game just expected me to "move on" after a cutscene that I felt didn't even conclude the current "puzzle". A big design flaw with this final area is that unlike the other two thirds of the game, in this part of it you do not have a way of seeing "the end puzzle", but are just expected to collect pieces (inventory items) used for it along the way. And these "pieces" are quite random objects that make no sense unless you actually get them all and see what they are used for. Basically, there is suddenly no story reason for doing anything in the third area, and what little story there is doesn't have enough cutscenes to explain itself. One particularly nasty part of "clearly cut content" is that an NPC in this final area has a deep connection to the main character supposedly, but the only dialog you ever have with them is for puzzle solving purposes. I get the feeling this person was supposed to be a "hint guide" of sorts, which would have made the whole age much better to play, but it was too expensive/time consuming to give them more animated clips of dialog. The ending also feels really rushed, I strongly suspect a big final puzzle was cut on the last area, as it is instead replaced with a "push button and win" type of ending. Even with all that negativity, I do still recommend it. If you are ok with playing "part 1" of an apparently never continued story, Aura has enough of a "world" to get lost in for a few days, and the first 2/3rds of the game are solid old school Myst like puzzles. Get it on a sale, if it interests you. I wouldn't pay full price for Aura. But I still had fun playing it and loved exploring the world, and I feel that I did get my money's worth of entertainment, even if the final age had some pretty badly designed inventory/pixel hunting puzzles. The world itself is actually quite beautiful, even if it is a bit outdated and populated with some of the worst animated CGI "people" I have seen in a game. It still managed to be "enough" for me to get "lost" in for a few days of play, and I enjoyed all the visuals. The soundscapes are sometimes a bit questionable, but none of the puzzles make the sounds used to flavor the background music, and nothing felt too out of place to me. Just on the edge of Recommended from me. You'll get some fun for your money with this one, but don't expect anything that will blow you away, and keep the Universal Hint System on hand for the last age due to a lack of clues. It's a good "B" rating Myst adventure, nothing super special, but nothing you would regret playing through either.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 14, 2016

  Omg, this is better than Myst! Never thought I'd say THAT! No problems so far with gameplay. No glitches or anything. I'm not finished yet, just got to the third world. (There's four.)
• gamedeal user

  Dec 1, 2016

  I'll start by saying the Myst series is one of my favorites of all time. However, while this game more or less ganked stuff right out of the series, this did very little to reel me in. I got Riven vibes up the wazoo from the very first part of the game, right down to the soundtrack. There's really something just so beautifully nostalgic about that gonging bell sound. So I was optimistic going in and I honestly really enjoyed the first batch of puzzles a lot, even though I was immediately put off by the inclusion of 3D modeled people/NPCs. Liiiittle bit too uncanny valley. But then things kind of slid downhill for me from there, and rather than relishing the Myst series similarities, I started resenting them for not living up to the standard. It felt like Riven, Exile, and End of Ages were all mashed hopelessly together and created a little bit of an inconsistent mess. And the mysterious atmosphere was totally lost to the addition of a visible player character and relatively populated areas. I feel it would have benefited more by sticking to deserted locations with minor outside interaction, but that could just be a preference. Pros: -Nostalgic vibes -Nice soundtrack (one track in the beginning sounds straight out of an 80s fantasy movie and I LOVE it) -Good puzzles -Beautiful environments Cons: -Unclear and contrived story. What lore we're given is rushed and unimportant, giving us nothing to use when we need to discern our next step. -Horrifying character models that really just don't hold up. -TERRIBLE voice acting. Like, truly just awful. -Certain things are complicated needlessly. You finally shake an item free of where it's lodged then are forced to find it where it fell on the floor, and it was absolutely hidden from you on purpose. Why. -Certain necessary items you need to pick up and use are not super visible or apparent so you can easily get stuck, which forces you to literally scour every inch of ground you've already walked just in case you missed something. -It is rarely made clear what you're supposed to do next after completing one line of puzzles since you're able to draw nothing from context. It gets particularly annoying in the Na-Tiexu section where the little orphan children are. At no point are you given instruction of any kind other than "make the bird sing" for which you are given no indication that you've done this successfully. -Super abrupt ending with elements that are confusing and make no sense, but that ties more in with Con #1 The Rivenesque feel to things did count for a lot with me, Riven being my top favorite in the Myst series, but overall it wasn't enough to compensate for the negative points. At $4.99 you're certainly not breaking the bank buying this game, but even so, I'd still recommend you buy on sale if you buy at all.
• gamedeal user

  May 20, 2017

  Based on 15 Hours of Completed Game play Playing my way through my Adventure Company Bundle one at a time. 1st person point and click.. adventure, fantasy, Sci-fi type game.. It's not completely my kind of game but it has it’s good points.. For starter’s the amazing graphics.. I found myself looking around at all of it in awe! Nice non-irritating somewhat soothing soundtrack.. (Except for an oddly placed barking dog) The storyline in itself is simple.. Get from point A to point B looking for someone.. To do this, you as the (Main Character) travel by airship and enter different worlds putting things together on the way. The puzzles ran hot and cold. Some were just thinkable when other’s and a lot for me; were extremely difficult to impossible! Cons: It has so much frustrating time wasted trying to find a hot spot or even an exit cursor! The main character whom you play wasn’t interesting at all and in fact came across as just dumb! My biggest beef! I played it way to long for the entire ending to just jump to the credits!!! I had to watch the actual ending cut scene on you tube! Grrrrrrrr,,, In a nutshell.. If you like a time taker, fantasy, graphics galore and some very challenging puzzle’s you’ll have fun!
• gamedeal user

  Jan 23, 2018

  This game came out in 2004, so I am a little disapointed by all the negative reviews because, for its time and genre, Aura is a great game. It is definately is a Myst- like game in that you do have to use your mind to think outside the box... the environments are beautiful... and you have no clue what to do at first. Is it easier than Myst... a little, the clues are a bit more obvious, and the puzzles not quite as hard. But if you have never played this type of game before, it is difficult. Is it as good as Myst? Not by a long shot, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good game. Myst set the bar VERY high, and for its time Aura is one of the better clones that I have played. For an older game, I highly recommend Aura for fans of this genre. And I have had no problems running it on my Windows 10 gaming rig.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 30, 2018

  - A Myst-like game. - Puzzles are manageable at first but become increasingly incomprehensible. - In-game hints are sparse and oftentimes too cryptic. - Mid-term and long-term goals should be clearer. - Lack of feedback leaves you wondering if your solutions are "almost right" or "completely wrong". - Mystical story is somehow not interesting at all. - Incredibly flat characters. - Music is … from another world (O_O ) - Walking down a road can be an annoying experience because you have to find the sometimes too small "Go to next screen" hot spots. [ 3.o / 1o.o ]