Although there is plenty of slow walking, Arye and the Crystal Comet isn’t a walking simulator – it is more of a flying simulator. There is no way to die but at least there are plenty of things to collect… if you can stomach the impossible control.
A generic story is given to the player as an excuse to aimlessly wander through this vast open world. Apparently, you are the only living thing in this land and this eyeball trapped in a gem needs your help. With an assist of your dragon, you are tasked with moving throughout this land to collect pink gems, find optional armor upgrades even though there is no combat, and fly through rings ala Superman 64.
Speaking of Superman 64, the flight control is on par with this infamous N64 title. Controlling the dragon is like controlling a flying tank. Making matters worse, you first must summon your dragon, hope it lands somewhat near you, plod over to it, then climb aboard, then take off and hope the creature actually flies in the direction of your desire.
There are tons of things to collect and find but forcing the player to dismount the dragon, then slowly walk over to the thing to click on, then walk all the way back to the dragon, then take off again will test patience within the first 5 minutes of gameplay. This dismount/mount action is basically the thing that consumes all the time, leaving no room for fun which is supposed to come from collecting things. There is also no option to invert the camera controls when on foot so this game is just about unplayable for me.
The entire game is purposely composed of low poly counts which means players will be able to see deep into the distance, which is pretty cool. But without any water effects, horribly cheap animation, and tedious progression, Ayre and the Crystal Comet is a college freshman’s final exam; it is a good first step and impressive it was made by a small team in a small amount of time, but there are obvious flaws that hold back the experience. A sequel with some more time sounds encouraging, however.
Not As Good As: other collectathon games (Banjo/DK64)
Better Than: taming a dragon to find pink gems for a creepy eye monster
Wait For It: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
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