While it has its fair share of issues, Aspire: Ina's Tale was a delight to play through. The developers did an excellent job of crafting a beautiful and immersive world. The puzzles are challenging, and the brief narrative is engaging.
Aspire: Ina’s Tale still leaves an outstanding impression. Traversing the big ol’ tower and solving puzzles with Ina was satisfying despite a few tricky hiccups. The brilliant art style is the absolute star of the show, however. Aspire: Ina’s Tale is a game with striking visuals that’ll keep you agasp through its entirety.
From an “elevator pitch” angle there’s something great about being able to cite popular and successful titles as a shorthand to describe other ones succinctly. In the case of Aspire, whether it was intentional or not, the easy choice is the gorgeous and smart adventure GRIS. Right off the bat the game’s great aesthetic style is on display, and the action has an old-school cinematic feel in line with classics like Prince of Persia. All of this works pretty well, and it makes an impression, but there are also some cracks in the facade that hold it back from the next level in spots. The first is that I think the game takes it a little too much for granted early on that people will experiment to understand both the nuances of the controls and how best to contend with your enemies. The second is that exacerbating that issue are hiccups with the at-times finicky controls when trying to interact with objects under duress. Granted, with a little repetition you’ll work things out and progress, but they are rough edges in an otherwise compelling adventure that could discourage gamers in the early going.
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Aspire: Ina’s Tale is an audacious game that manages to create a remarkable world which you’ll want to explore. The incredible design is consistent for the duration making each area a joy to discover. Puzzles vary and offer a suitable level of challenge, however, the stiff movement in platforming segments hinders the experience. Whilst the game’s runtime is relatively short, this memorable stroll through a stunning gallery is worth your time.
Well attached to its inspirations and classic patterns in terms of narration and game design, Aspire: Ina's Tale offers above all a very beautiful show. The game draws its uniqueness from an absolutely masterful soundtrack and attractive architectures. On the other hand, it sins in its duration, its short story and some levels that are not always well thought out.
Aspire: Ina’s Tale combines a puzzle platformer structure with a rich magical story and a beautifully designed world to create a fun, if brief, adventure.
Aspire: Ina’s Tale is easy on the eyes and ears, but a little harder on the hands. A short and sweet little puzzle platformer, while it doesn’t present a challenge, the art and soundtrack are worth sticking around for.
Aspire: Ina’s Tale sets itself apart with stunning visual design and a story that, in knowing exactly when to leave things unsaid, encourages reflection just as it does adventure and excitement. It’s vivid, brimming with little details, but also leaves the door open to personal interpretation. It’s a shame that the game itself can’t reach the same heights, though, with lacklustre puzzle design and lots of little frustrations that get in the way of Ina’s inspiring tale, rather than enhancing it.
While it is certainly striving for and emotional, story-driven effect, it doesn't quite reach the heights is aspires too (pun obviously intended). It has a beautiful art style and soundtrack. The puzzles aren't too and are clever enough, but it's sometimes unclear. The story seems to hit some emotional beats, but I was never that invested in it and didn't quite know what was goin on. On top of that, it's very short even when compared to other games of it's ilk. All in all, it's a fine diversion ,but won't set the world on fire.
This game looks gorgeous, but it is awful to play. Was this game not play tested?
Its like they wanted to make the short game longer by making you move in slow motion.
Every single action is so tedious ... forget it , can't go on... delete.
SummarySet out on a mystical adventure of self-discovery against the backdrop of fantastical landscapes of The Tower. Meet its dwellers and unravel their stories. Manipulate spirits to solve puzzles, and lead Ina on her path to freedom.