Talk about a blast from the past. Arietta is an incredibly nostalgic, charming action adventure, but with a twist. When I got this title in my hands it felt like old memories from the days of isometric zelda on the SNES with a new age touch. Everything from the sound effects, music, visuals and feel of the game were all so perfectly done to really reference back to pay tribute to those old titles without losing it's own identity. All of the elements you'd expect to find in a top notch love piece are here.

Aside from all of the gameplay elements being spot on, the story here is very touching. Your character's name is Arietta, who finds herself going back to a familiar place where she had spent much time through her life as she was growing up. Once there, the story really grabs a hold of your emotions and gives the character's adventure a real sense of purpose. Although you are given a good amount of information in the beginning, it is not obnoxious and drawn out. It is perfect for what the story needs and the story is trickled to you in a perfect flow as you play.

The secondary shining star is as stated a little earlier, the gameplay. More specifically, the combat mechanics, which are perfect. As you find yourself engaged in battle, you will see a great assortment of enemies and bosses, all of which you really do get a good sense of personality from the enemies. They are not all just bland copy cats that sloth along doing the same thing as one another with slight variations. Each enemy has their own way to be handled, which I really found enjoyable.

Arietta of Spirits is a must buy title for those of us who enjoy some fun gameplay and story. When you play this game, you will thank yourself time and time again as you lose track of the time being sucked into this great adventure.

Arietta of Spirits is a charmingly beautiful, pixel art narrative adventure. It combines its simple game mechanics with a vibrant, retro world that helps in delivering a truly poignant experience. It is an experience I highly recommend to Indie enthusiasts who enjoy light combat amongst a well-told story that does not overstay its welcome.

Pros

• Beautiful & vibrant retro-styled pixel art
  
• Simple but enjoyable combat.
  
• Charming & emotional story.
  
• Side quests.
  
• Captivating original soundtrack.

Cons

• No map of the island.

Playing as a young little girl named Arietta, the game begins on the annual family road trip to a cabin on a small island. The cabin belonged to Arietta's grandmother, but this is the first year she will not be joining them due to her sudden passing a year prior. Arietta's parents are determined to still keep up family traditions, believing grandma would have wanted this as well, but understandably, the cabin is filled with past memories and evokes feelings of sadness within the household.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2587224377

Despite the wave of gloom clouding the air in the cabin, Arietta meets a peculiar entity named Arco that grants her the ability to see and interact with spirits on the island. From here, she begins her journey of discovery, helping many others along the way.

Thoughts on the story & game length
Arietta of Spirits is a narrative driven action-adventure game with a simple, yet heart-warming story. Lasting around 4-5 hours, it is not a lengthy game and is not designed to be one. I found the few characters to be well constructed with their own individual personalities, bringing a lot of life into the game. The story is charming, and the game does not overstay its welcome. The store page very clearly states the estimated gameplay time of ~5 hours and thus expectations should be firmly in place, prior to playing or purchasing the title. I did not find that the game ended abruptly, like I have been told by others. Instead, I believe it leads up to the ending well, with no filler or unnecessary fetch quest gameplay and is clear when the story is reaching its conclusion.


Playing as Arietta, players explore the small island with our trusty sword, fighting any enemies in our path, from wasps to Roamers (angry spirits). There are simple dodge/roll mechanics, attack and later on, a shield. There is no intense level up system or anything of the sort, but after defeating enough Roamers, more lives can be unlocked. There are a handful of enemies which do slightly different ranged attacks, but none pose too much of a concern and can all be defeated easily with the sword or using the shield to deflect damage.

There are also a few side quests around the island such as finding 20 hidden critters throughout the different areas, locating items for a merchant and more. Generally, the game is very linear and pushes players onto the correct paths for the main plot, but there is still room to explore if players wish. Centred around the cabin, there are a few different paths to explore the island from, with extra "hidden" caves to discover. There is no ingame map and admittedly, I was a bit confused where to go at one stage, when I was taken back to the cabin, having to go back to where I was before in the new day. A very simple map would have been appreciated, just so I know I am not running in the wrong direction. However, the island really is quite tiny and even for those people who lack navigation skills like myself, forgetting which direction I had just come from, it is still fairly easy to get by without a map.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2589173847

Difficulty
Whilst the title does integrate combat throughout, the game is pretty easy. It is not hardcore or unforgiving, but story-based and relaxing, which understandably may not appeal to everyone. The autosave system saves at every new screen with an abundance of extra lives to be found when smashing through barrels or bushes. The difficulty is fairly consistent throughout the game, until the final boss, which was quite the change of pace, in comparison to the rest of the game. Although, it is not "challenging" by any means, but with limited health drops and longer attack scenes, it was a welcome change up. After finishing the game, an extreme mode does unlock which may appeal to those looking for a greater challenge. Regardless, I enjoyed the simplicity of the games mechanics and was immersed into the narrative from start to finish.


The game is stunning. With its retro-pixel art, it felt like I was back playing Pokémon on my Gameboy Advance. The forests were especially nostalgic to me, but there are a number of different environments to explore. The majority is played in the luscious green forests, but there are also dark mines to uncover and a slight change of scenery with the beautiful forest in autumn, showcasing the gorgeous yellow flora.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2589174977

Sound is equally as impressive with an elegant and captivating original soundtrack (also available for purchase as DLC). Once again, the retro inspiration is in full swing in the sound department as well, with those characteristic high beep sounds when giving/picking up items, dramatic upbeat music in boss battles and more. I found myself stopping many times just to appreciate the wonderful audio which is integrated so seamlessly, with no abrupt stopping or starting.

This game was played with the following PC specs, and I experienced no issues:
Intel i5-9400 2.9 GHz
16GB RAM
GeForce RTX 2060 6GB
2560x1440 resolution
HDD
Windows 10

Arietta of Spirits was an absolute treat to play. Featuring a heart-warming story, easy game mechanics and a gorgeous pixel world to explore, it made for an enjoyable, relaxing experience. Despite being relatively short, taking approximately 5 hours to complete, the game is extremely well polished, and I recommend to all Indie lovers looking for simple gameplay with a decent story.

This review copy was provided to the Devils in the Detail curator.

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Arietta of Spirits is short retro-style action-adventure with an emphasis on storytelling. The story and the pixel art really stand out for this little gem. Overall it is a casual game with predictable enemies and patterned bosses that take around 3.5-4 hours to complete. After a single completion, a new Extreme mode becomes available that will provide a significantly more difficult challenge.

The game looks like, and plays like a Zelda-inspired action adventure, but the combat is made a bit more simple and straight forward, without so much progression, items, or strategies. In a way, I can see people lamenting how the game is not complex enough, does not have enough additional content, etc. I found the game to have enough variation of enemies and the bosses were interesting enough to keep me engaged. The NPCs were designed well and each had their own personalities, even though they were few in number. In addition, we have to keep in mind that the development team from Third Spirit Games is a core group of 3 people, one person on the pixel art, one person on the programming, and one person on everything else.

Even though the game is short, it is very well designed. There is linear progression through the game, with most rooms only having one entry and one exit, but that is to keep the player on task and keep moving forward. There is no grinding, no leveling up, etc. You just play along and do the main and side quests in order to power up on your way to seeing how the story plays out. The game is open to re-exploration just before the final sequence, and if you accidentally step through and finish the game, you will be able to restart your save file from the beginning of that final act/day, which is really convenient for people looking for the completionist run.

As mentioned above, the game unlocks an Extreme mode that lets the more serious gamer go after the final challenge, which is dealing with one-hit deaths, as you can see here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2581232058

This is a really nice balance for everyone who wants to play the game. And the most casual of gamers should be able to finish the game and get 29/30 achievements on Easy or Normal modes, but that final one is going to take some dedicated time and effort. EDIT: Please keep in mind that the Extreme mode does not require you to restart from the very beginning of the game each time you make a silly mistake, which is what I thought of at first. Instead, all of the checkpoints are still in place, so you can try and retry those rooms that cause you trouble until you make it through, same with bosses. So the challenge is there, but now seemingly completely reasonable!

Both controller and KB work well, I typically favor the controller in these styles of games, and so that is what I used. The default settings worked without any trouble. You only use the joystick/D-pad and the face buttons, so it's not impossible for every very casual gamers.

The pixel art and details in this game are very well done. Every artistic flourish seem to fit in well with the overall game. Quite charming, especially the NPCs, their homes, their expressions and animations, etc.

I found the music to fit in with the theme quite well. There are some sombre moments, there are other joyful and still emotional times, there are times of calm exploration, and there are cacophonous jolts of conflict.

This game has something to offer to almost all players, especially if they enjoy a good story or a retro-style adventure. The only people I would tell to stay away are those who want only a hardcore experience and those who do not like pixel art.

Even though the base price set at $14.99 US seems a bit high for a game that does not last so long, I can confidently say that it is worthwhile for you to check out, especially if you have read this far. There is a demo to try out, so you could see for yourself what it's like. If you want to wait for a sale, it's definitely reasonable as well. But don't let this game fall off your radar!

You can look at this video for the content from the very beginning if you are interested, or you can check it out for yourself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrnN46RaVqs

Arietta of Spirits is indeed an IndieGem and I hope you all will eventually try out the game, be it now or later when the price is right for you. It's a casual adventure for a raining weekend, and it leaves a lasting impression.

Score: 8/10, for leaving the player to wish for more.

Thank you for reading.

I received the product for free. I did not receive any compensation to write this review. The opinions represented here are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way.

Approximate amount of time to 100%: 10h+
Estimated achievement difficulty: 9/10
Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 2
Is there a good guide available: I wrote the following achievement guide [www.missitheachievementhuntress.com]
How many people have completed this game at the time I'm writing this review: 0 on Steam Hunters

Multiplayer achievements: No
Missable achievements: Yes, it has a few missable achievements, but the game is short, so the missable achievements are easy to unlock
Grinding Achievements: Yes
DLC-Only achievements: Yes
Speedrun achievements: Yes
Time-gated achievements: Yes
RNG-achievements: No
Does difficulty affect achievements: Yes, you have to complete a second playthrough on extra hard (aka zero hits mode)
Unobtainable/glitched achievements: No

This review is very hard to write... because for me the game has 2 sides.. on one side a good game and on the other side a lot of flaws that shine through because of one specific achievement. I'll explain first my experience after just playing through the game for the first time and not worrying about that last achievement. In the end, I'll explain how my opinion of the game changes when I take that one achievement into consideration.

I enjoyed this game a lot on my first playthrough. The controls feel a bit sluggish but overall the game is great. A lovely story, which leaves the door open for a sequel. Enjoyable characters with a lot of charm and fun gameplay. the game saves every new screen you enter, so taking a break from this game is easy. This run was a lot of fun and if the game had only those 19 achievements I would only feel a lot of enjoyment for this game...

So what ruined the experience is that it makes it so hard to review this game...? The achievement for completing the game on extra hard, this mode unlocks after completing the game for the first time. In this mode, you can not get hit. If you get hit you gladly go back to the last checkpoint but even with those frequent checkpoints it can't hide the flaws this game has and which can get you in a lot of trouble during this mode.
The flaws became more clear and clear while I was trying to go for this last achievement (still trying but stuck on the last boss for now) and explains the "sluggish" feeling I already had during my first playthrough, but because you have more health it isn't such a big problem:
1. You can only do one move at a time, can't interrupt and it has a very short window after the animation stops but not a new animation starts.
2. At a lot of spots the wall is a bit more on the inner layer of the floor than you would think, which can make dodging an enemy attack a problem. I have hit many inviable walls, which I would expect would be a few mm more at the outer layer of the floor.
3. Enemies see you earlier than you see them, so they prepare already their first move while they aren't visible on your screen. And sometimes they even anticipate where your next move will end and attack there while you're doing that movement.

I normally already dislike such hardcore achievements, those are not my style, but because I liked the game so much on my first playthrough I wanted to try and go for completion... even already realizing during my first playthrough that it would be a challenge. I'm not sure I should have tried because now I feel a love/hate relationship with this game and it might have been better if I just had quit after getting the first 19 achievements.

See this review as positive when you don't worry about achievements at all or are not bothered by completing them all. If you're an achievement hunter... I would give this game a mixed review, but steam doesn't even give me that option.

EDIT: finally got the last achievement. The second playthrough took me around 10h of which 8h on that last boss, what a hell was that, but I managed to defeat him in the end :D

I'm going to start by saying this is a very lukewarm recommendation. While there are many good qualities to this title and I'm not usually one to harp on length, it's just too short of an experience for it's own good. I enjoyed my time with it but right when it felt like it was getting into gear, it ends. I was really keen on it too and then the well ran dry.

Full marks for the art and sound, and I really like the mechanics. There's absolutely no puzzles here and it's a pretty linear game. I really feel like it could be truly exceptional with a bit more stuff to do.

I've got mixed feelings about this game. On one hand, the art and music were nice, and although the world is really small it was still detailed enough.

On the other hand, the combat was simple but hitboxes were a bit of a pain sometimes and the story was alright, but I feel it was kinda short and left me a bit disappointed.

The game itself takes around 3~4hs which is alright, but I feel like the story could've been a bit more lenghty. It does hint, somewhat, at a continuation (or dlc?) at the end, so maybe someday I'll get to see more about this world and Arietta.

Overall it was fun, but, yet again, I feel like it could've been a bit more.

Very charming 2D Zelda-like game, with colorful retro graphics and great characters and story. The environments and enemies are very repetitive, but the dungeons and boss fights are great. I'm looking forward to more games from this talented developer!

Maybe a bit on the shorter side, but still a thoroughly enjoyable action indie game.

If you want a simple game, which is not overloaded in both twists and mechanics of game, you might give it a try. Reminds GBA The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap in some ways. Takes 4 hours to complete.

I liked this game enough to re-buy it on Steam for Steam Deck portability after having already bought and finished it on the Xbox when it first released last year. It's kind of superficially similar to one of the isometric Zeldas like Link to the Past but pared down and more combat-oriented, without much in the way of puzzles etc. Combat is simple--you have a sword attack, a defensive force field, and a dodge roll and that's it--but it makes up for it with a nice bit of challenge; it's not super hard but the sword attack has a slight delay between swings that can leave you vulnerable if you miss the enemy, the force field can only stay up for a couple seconds at most, and the dodge rolls don't have i-frames, all of this adding up to mean that you really have to be aware of all of your surrounds and pay careful attention to your timing and positioning which keeps things interesting.

On top of this it also has a pleasant soundtrack, a nice art style reminiscent of Stardew Valley, and just a lot of charm and heart in general. It's also only 4 or 5 hours long (my playtime says 8 hours at the time I'm writing this but I'm really bad about setting my Steam Deck down while it's still running and wandering off and forgetting about it so 3 or 4 of those hours are AFK) so I see myself replaying it a lot over the years as a bit of a "comfort food" game. I'd really recommend it to anyone who likes these sort of indie games.