Aphelion Preview: An Emotionally Intense Space Mystery

Aphelion is an intriguing new Stealth story game from the very popular DON'T NOD, the developers behind Life is Strange games, Tell Me Why, and Jusant. The studio is looking to bring its skillful storytelling skills to a new genre in a whole new setting. It's an interesting change-up from their usually grounded stories as they delve into the world of sci-fi.

I didn't get a whole lot of time with Aphelion – only two chapters of the entire game – but it did provide me with a good understanding of the general mechanics and the overall story. On top of that, I got a chance to sit down with some of the developers in an interview where we talked about the game, among other things.

Overall, Aphelion seems like it'll be something with a lot of emotion behind it, and from what I played, the gameplay will be more than enough to keep players engaged. I'll go over a lot of what I saw and some of the things that really stuck with me, though not everything was perfect.

What is Aphelion?

Aphelion is a stealth-based story game at its core. You'll play as Ariane, an astronaut sent by the European Space Agency to the planet Persephone in search of a new home for humanity. Of course, nothing ever goes to plan, and upon reaching Persephone, your ship crashes, and you lose contact with fellow astronaut Thomas, another playable character at a certain point in the story.

Both Ariane and Thomas will have similar but different gameplay. For Ariane, you'll spend a lot of your time climbing and traversing using all sorts of equipment provided by the ESA. She'll need to climb along icy ridges and jump across gaps that could prove instantly fatal with just one mistake. Thomas focuses more on survival, managing things like oxygen and keeping himself alive from his injuries.

It's a pretty interesting way to play the game since you'll have two very different perspectives that take place on the same planet but in wildly different areas. Since neither of our protagonists are together, virtually all the story is via monologuing or through recordings. A very difficult thing to do in writing is to make these kinds of stories interesting, but with an added bit of mystery, the devs at DON'T NOD have at least got my attention.

A Visual Masterpiece with Some Problems

Right now, it's a little unfair to judge a game still in active development, but to show off the visuals, it has to be addressed. Some texture issues really take you out of the game as a whole. The textures for a lot of objects just disappear and get replaced by a block box. This is undoubtedly something that will be fixed quickly, but it does actually, strangely also highlight the overall beauty of the game.

Visually speaking, the world, even while frozen over, looks amazing. The destruction of the ship and the flames that consume parts of it look almost realistic. There are a lot of lifelike designs in the game, not just from a game design standpoint, and that's probably thanks to the ESA, which worked closely with DON'T NOD as they crafted Aphelion.

For a lot of games, especially sci-fi ones, having a coherent design philosophy can be really challenging. Knowing where things go and how they should look is difficult when you're working with an idea that no human has seen before. For instance, the ship you travel on is massive, like unbelievably huge, and it's only got two actual passengers. This feels a bit odd as you explore, but with the number of things you see contained in the ship, it makes much more sense.

It isn't just designed one way or another for video game purposes, but rather, there's a real sense of cohesion in the level design. Of course, it still has to be gamified, but that doesn't change how the environments look or feel as you traverse them. Traversal is a big part of the game, along with stealth, so you can't just get distracted by the surrounding beauty.

UI that Stays Out of the Way

With how much work went into these environments, it would be a shame to cover them up with so many UI elements; luckily, Aphelion has little to no UI. There is a pause menu that provides a way to listen to recordings and check on some other kinds of progress, but while you're walking around the environment, there isn't anything to obstruct your vision.

This is something that's pretty rare, and in many cases, the UI typically fades in and out, but not here. There are no quest markers, no tips, and no compass or anything to help you navigate. That might sound a little problematic, but that isn't really a big deal. The levels seem to be fairly linear, so you won't really get lost, or at least not while you're navigating most areas.

It's really not something to worry too much about, but anything you do need is just a button push away or completely diegetic. For instance, Thomas needs to keep his oxygen level up, and instead of simply having a bar on the screen, you can see it deplete slowly from his backpack. It keeps you engaged in the game without making the game feel too gamified.

Staying involved is important in this kind of game, since the gameplay will change a bit as you play Ariane's and Thomas's story. Without the UI feeling overbearing or in your way, there's a real sense of exploration as you move through the level. While I can't comment on exploration too much, I will say that it felt nice having the freedom to really explore rather than simply heading to the next checkpoint.

The Duality of Gameplay

Having two protagonists with differing gameplay isn't something that's incredibly new, but usually they're together and share a good bit of similarities. In Aphelion, it seems that Ariane and Thomas share virtually no gameplay similarities, or if they do, they're minimal at best. It's actually a wonderful thing as it keeps the gameplay interesting and breaks up some monotony that typically follows in similar games.

During my time with Aphelion, I only had access to Ariane and only got a couple of chapters' worth of gameplay with her. For the most part, it was fairly basic: some jumping, some climbing, and the usual of what you might expect. What really drew me in was the way the environment reacted to you.

Not every ledge is safe, and not every hold will be there for long. On the ship, pieces fall off and can hit you or give you a limited amount of time to make a choice. In the icy world, every ledge could crumble a bit and leave you falling to your doom. There is also something that adds some more interactivity to the climbing; you'll have to push another button to make sure you land your jumps. No, this didn't make the game 1,000 times better, but it did make climbing a bit more engaging.

Beyond climbing, there's, of course, the actual stealth gameplay where you'll attempt to move past the Nemesis, a strange new life form that relies on sounds and vibrations to hunt you. I can't comment much on how difficult it gets, but having an enemy you can essentially walk in front of was an intriguing idea. The focus on vibrations means that some careful planning for the way you want to get around the Nemesis would be important.

Taking a path that involves more climbing means more chances for it to discover you, but taking the walking path could mean disaster if you happen to crack the ice. It's oddly intense because you aren't just waiting for it to be looking in another direction, you're trying to actually avoid making noise. Whatever the Nemesis really is, it's an interesting enemy that fits well into the mysterious story of Aphelion.

A Thrilling Mystery

DON'T NOD have always been known for their storytelling, especially when it comes to the more emotional parts of those stories. Here, it doesn't seem to be any different. The story starts intensely with the crash and Thomas missing, but slows down just a bit before turning back up as you race to get out of the collapsing structure.

I didn't get to experience too much of the story, but what was there had me questioning and theorizing the whole time. It isn't just a good story; it's something that will make you think and wonder. Ultimately, it is an emotional journey as Ariane searches for Thomas, knowing he's hurt and alone in a world they knew virtually nothing about.

The intense moments are followed by some time to breathe, allowing you to take in what just happened, something Hollywood could probably learn from. Aphelion is a story-focused game, where each of the 12 chapters will provide you with a piece of the puzzle you need to understand what exactly is going on.

From those quiet emotional moments where you watch Ariane's face twist in nerves and fears, to the high-stakes moments where you're running away from or towards something, Aphelion succeeds in keeping your attention. While there isn't much information in these early chapters, there is certainly something deeper happening on Persephone.

A Need for More

My only complaint about all this would be that I want more. The story, the visuals, and the game design all come together expertly and really put you in the shoes of these astronauts of a foreign world. The problems will get ironed out, and when the game launches in full, it'll be something deeply interesting to almost anyone.

Aphelion isn't incredibly long, coming in at around ten hours or so to finish, but the conciseness of the journey seems to be making it that much better. There aren't a ton of distractions to keep you from moving forward in the story, but rather, the game wants to push forward and finish the story. I, for one, cannot wait to get more time with Aphelion and find out what happens to Ariane and Thomas in their journey on Persephone.