Ary and the Secret of Seasons

If you’re a fan of the genre, you could do a lot worse than picking up Ary and the Secret of Seasons. After all, ‘tis always the season for adventure.

A well-told story, a fantastic gameplay mechanic centred around seasons, and a well-realised world filled with unique characters. It’s not a game we’d urge you to rush out and purchase immediately, but if you’re after an action-adventure fix, you could do a lot worse.

Ary and the Secret of Seasons is a lovely looking game with some truly smart gameplay ideas, but all of that is plagued by screen-tearing, performance issues, animation bugs, and a general lack of polish in almost every aspect. After a few patches and a sale Ary could become someone's favourite game, but the fact it launched in this state is just a shame.

Ary can change seasons, but it is still not enough to keep you playing.

A vibrant world full of enjoyable characters and high-quality voice acting take the edge off a game that's boring at the best of times and broken at the worst.

Even if the developers will manage to fix all the gamebreaking bugs with subsequent patches, the core issues like a weak battle system, mediocre plot and lazy worldbuilding are not going anywhere. The only thing that can motivate you to see this game through is Ary's never ending charisma and a chance to see some narrative closure.

Ary and the Secret of Seasons had a lot of potential, mainly for their inspirations. However, the final execution was horrible and appears to have been delivered in a hurry. It is not worth the investment with the current quality, but it may be that in the future they will be able to correct the dozens of flaws that hinder the fun and immersion.

Exiin's first step as an indie studio is not as strong, but it doesnt disappoint either. Ary and the Secret of Seasons is full of new ideas, but the lack of time probably prevented the team from fully developing those ideas, and the result is an unpolished, rushed game that could have been much better.

Glitchy mechanics and a lack of polish get in the way of this otherwise innovative, whimsical puzzle-platformer. I want to wholeheartedly recommend it as a game for the whole family, but sadly several broken elements stop it from being a must-play.

Ary and the Secret of Seasons is a delightful action adventure that has great gameplay ideas but ultimately falls short. There are a lot of glitches, the combat is average at best and the visuals feature low-res textures. The ability to control the four seasons and use them to solve puzzles is a redeeming feature, but the reality is there are plenty of stronger titles in the genre available.