DeVuego ES_COR

Even as the final moments occurred, which also felt like it came out of nowhere, it didn't feel like the player was a hero. Given the wonderful mechanics, design, personality, and narrative intentions of Scarf, the confusing storytelling is unfortunate but, thankfully, doesn't make the game any less enjoyable. While it's never fun to push story to the sidelines, doing so will let players get lost in Scarf's beautiful worlds and have an absolute blast during its short but sweet playtime.

Overall, Aeterna Noctis is a solid experience with some notable flaws that aren't deal-breakers, but could definitely benefit from a bit more refinement. What it does do quite well is find where its two genres intersect and craft a world and gameplay loop that highlight them quite well. For fans of these kinds of games, Aeterna Noctis is definitely worth picking up.

Overall, Clid the Snail is a beautiful game with tons of personality and a world that begs to be explored, but the combat and gameplay is so frustrating that it makes doing so a huge a chore. The good news is that it only takes a patch or two to fix the weapon damage and rolling issues if they're viewed by many as a source of frustration rather than challenging, fair combat. While it's not the best experience right now, players should absolutely follow its post-launch development, because Clid the Snail oozes, like so many of its menagerie, with the kind of potential that could make it an excellent entry into its genre with some meaningful tweaks.