GameZone: "Even after many years of seeing countless developers, mainstream and indie, offer up their take on hand-drawn graphics, I just can't seem to get tired of the visual direction. Maybe it's because, for the most part, this particular graphical choice looks remarkably different depending on the studio and the game. Such is the case with Aaru's Awakening from Lumenox Games. Simply put, this game is outright gorgeous to look at, and if the screenshots and “Domain of Day” trailer are any indication, this title has the potential to be one of the very best-looking hand-drawn titles around."
This week’s Famitsu review scores are in, and Super Mario Maker was awarded high marks.
Super Mario Maker (Wii U, Nintendo): 9 / 9 / 9 / 10 - (37/40)
Super Exploding Zoo (PS4/PS Vita, Honeyslug Ltd): 6 / 7 / 6 / 7 - (26/40)
Aaru's Awakening (PS4/PS3, Lumenox ehf): 7 / 7 / 8 / 7 - (29/40)
Element4l (PS Vita, Unity Games Japan): 8 / 8 / 8 / 6 - (30/40)
Baboon! (PS Vita, Flyhigh Works): 7 / 7 / 6 / 6 - (26/40)
Chronus Arc (3DS, Kemco): 7 / 7 / 8 / 7 - (29/40)
Tatakae Buta-San (3DS, Mechanic Arm): 7 / 6 / 7 / 7 - (27/40)
Shippuu no Usagi-Maru: Nazo no Karakuri Shiro (3DS, Arc System Works): 7 / 8 / 7 / 6 - (28/40)
Monokage Quest (3DS, Poisoft): 8 / 6 / 8 / 7 - (29/40)
Deaitama (3DS, Starsign): 6 / 6 / 7 / 6 - (25/40)
Glad to hear it. I knew this game was going to be great, and I can't wait to finally play it.
Clipping Error take a look at Aaru's Awakening. They go through how the game feels to play, beat the first boss, and give a recommendation based on what they've experienced in their time with it.
Aaru's Awakening is a hand-drawn, 2D action platformer, developed by Lumenox Games. The game puts the player in control of Aaru, a mythical creature with two unique abilities; teleportation and charging. You must use these abilities as you travel through the dangerous world of Lumenox to defeat an evil entity, facing many obstacles and enemies along the way.
"The aim of the game is to travel through each level as quickly as possible to either receive a bronze, silver, or gold medal. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. As I stated earlier, the game is unnecessarily difficult, with low target times, making it really hard to achieve a gold, or even silver medal. This combined with the difficult control system, it's hard not to find the game really frustrating and just want to give up. I've spent quite a lot of time on the game, trying to understand the system and get to grips, but I'm finding it very difficult to achieve anything more than a bronze medal on most levels. The level isn't simply just to run from one end to the other as fast as possible, there are many obstacles and enemies in the way, with a few checkpoints spread throughout. Dying comes thick and fast in the game, even touching enemies and falling in to pools of lava, it's far too easy to die. To achieve gold medals, you're going to have to have a whole lot of luck, or be greatly skilled."
Translation: It's too hard. 4/10