Aphelion

{Aphelion} has loads of good ideas. It's important to make this clear right from the start, because what follows is neither fun for me to write, fun for you to read, nor fun for the developers at Don't Nod, who have otherwise, through games such as {Jusant} and {Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden}, proven themselves willing to step outside their usual genre profile.

But I mean it; an Uncharted-like game with clear inspiration from Interstellar, The Martian, and Alien, made with obvious financial constraints, but with the studio's traditional storytelling skills. It should work. It seemed to work.

But broadly speaking, it doesn't work, unfortunately, and although the game I'm about to present to you isn't outright ruined, unplayable, or devoid of beautiful moments, {Aphelion}'s unpolished surface ends up being so obvious that it became impossible to ignore the scuffs and problems.

Earth is finally running out of resources, time is running out, and so humanity must seek new pastures in the wider universe. This has led us to Persephone, a distant planet, and a mission organised by the ESA (European Space Agency) is being set up, led by astronaut friends Ariane and Thomas. Their task is to investigate Persephone as a potential habitat for humanity and to uncover the nature of the mysterious "Source" that is emitting strange signals. But during the approach, the ship is damaged, and Ariane and Thomas are separated on Persephone's brutal surface, and must now both survive, try to find each other, and also locate The Source.

This is the flowery description of the plot that Don't Nod undoubtedly wants it to be presented as, and I have no objection to admitting that it's an exciting premise for an emotionally resonant sci-fi drama that clearly draws on existing sci-fi giants as I mentioned earlier. Whereas the game, tonally speaking, does not differ significantly from the atmosphere that settles like a blanket over such stories here, it does not matter that Don't Nod is so explicit in identifying the narrative's origins; on the contrary.

The problem, unfortunately, is that this particular story, when viewed more closely, doesn't really manage to serve as a solid example of Don't Nod's otherwise well-documented narrative prowess. First and foremost, the very mythology surrounding this "Source"—its magnetic manipulation of the planet's surface and how it alters the prospect of a sustainable habitat—is simply not particularly well-constructed. Whether this is a kind of peculiar ambiguity resulting from a lack of exposition regarding key plot points, or whether it is simply that, from a purely dramatic perspective, it's not as exciting and compelling to listen to as it was to come up with, is hard to say. But I sat there countless times, simply unable to understand why the two did what they did, and what led them to their conclusions. It's difficult to go into further detail, as I wish to maintain a spoiler-free framework here, but when narrative, character development and the very identification of what Persephone is, are so crucial to {Aphelion}'s effectiveness as a story-driven gaming experience, the storytelling itself quickly falls apart.

What I can go into detail about here, however, is how key plot points are conveyed. You see, these two characters are alone and can communicate neither with each other nor with Earth due to magnetic disturbances on Persephone's surface. In some instances, they keep a Star Trek-style "captain's log", where they lay out the plot and turn internal dialogue into external dialogue, which is rudimentary but effective, as it's a pragmatic, grounded way for us to know what the two characters are thinking, without compromising the realistic setting. The problem is that 80% of the monologues do not take place via these recordings, but are simply empty chatter that these characters spout incessantly, which neither makes us any wiser nor sells the idea of a serious character-driven drama. "I better get some air before this tank runs out," says Thomas, using up vital oxygen, but there is no attempt to anchor this monologue to any down-to-earth, understandable purpose. Why these two characters aren't allowed to communicate with each other throughout the game is a mystery to me, as it would resolve so many of the game's central conflicts of interest rooted in this way of telling the story. But they simply don't.

When the story, and particularly its delivery, is so compromised, it leaves one with less forgiveness for the remaining shortcomings. This is an Uncharted-like game in the sense that it primarily revolves around fairly mundane "traversal" puzzles, either via climbing in Ariane's case, or more mundane obstacles when you're playing as Thomas. Their sections are slightly different, admittedly, but to call Thomas' gameplay sections "investigations" is really stretching that definition to the breaking point. Climbing as Ariane works most of the time, and although it doesn't reinvent the wheel or make full use of its potential, it is functional, and perhaps even entertaining in certain instances. {Aphelion}'s biggest draw is that Persephone's frozen exterior, particularly in Ariane's sections, is truly beautiful. This landscape is rendered with infinite beauty, and for the most part, almost your entire kilometre-long route towards a particular waypoint is visible from the start of the relevant level. There is something truly satisfying about starting at the foot of a massive mountain and slowly conquering it bit-by-bit, and {Aphelion} manages to deliver this, even if the visual presentation is just on the verge of the banal.

The problem is, essentially, that it all feels a bit like "been there, done that", and we're usually more forgiving of that because we allow ourselves to get invested in a well-told story, which {Aphelion} simply doesn't really have. And then there's the technical side. Although I was initially a bit baffled and contacted the developers, it was confirmed during my time with the game that it must run at 30fps, even on the PlayStation 5 Pro. There is absolutely no reason for this. The game isn't ugly - quite the opposite - but nor should it feel any sluggish than it already does, because {Aphelion} has a heavy control scheme that feels as though Ariane and Thomas are essentially dragging sandbags around in true Robinson Crusoe style. Yes, the studio might argue that the atmosphere is heavier on Persephone, to which I can reply that it doesn't make the game any more fun to play. Combine that with the occasional failure to register button presses, and then of course the instant-death stealth scenarios involving the game's central "antagonist" (whom you'll grow thoroughly tired of), and you've got a game that works, but which only in a few fleeting moments manages to be anything more than that.

And that's such a shame, because deep beneath the surface of Persephone and {Aphelion}, in both instances, there is a "source", a nerve centre, a soul, that deserves better. Take the music, composed by the talented Amine Bouhafa. It's truly beautiful, in the sense of being breathtakingly elegant and grandiose. Combine that with the occasionally striking vistas and an ambitious premise, and then {Aphelion} could have achieved more. But the problem is, it doesn't.

What we ultimately have here, what you're being asked to invest in, is the cover band version of Ad Astra. It's a gaming experience that feels as though it's been held together with duct tape, and only in fleeting moments does the narrative emerge that made me forget these otherwise obvious shortcomings. It's a shame, and I take no pleasure in sending a talented studio back to the drawing board, but I cannot recommend {Aphelion}, not even to those who pick it up "for free" via Game Pass. It simply isn't worth your time.