Puzzle platform games are a bit of a favorite genre for me and I’ve been testing a whole bunch lately. However, the favorite game is still Inside and I am constantly looking with light and lantern for other games that are just as clever, good-looking and with a good story. Darq came close, but did not quite reach all the way forward. When I saw the trailer for Aspire: Ina’s Tale so it seemed very interesting, so I took the opportunity to pinch the editorial staff’s review copy.
Ina is stuck in an eternal sleep. Now it’s up to the player to help her through all the dangers in the dream world, so that she can wake up again.
The graphics in Aspire: Ina’s Tale is stylish and good looking, the game really has its own look. The story is well told and interesting and most important of all: this is really fun to play! The courses are varied and even if it starts ridiculously easy, it quickly gets harder and harder. In the end, I had to scratch my head a lot to solve the tasks that appeared and hindered my forward movement.
Aspire: Ina’s Tale feels like done for Switch and thus works just as well in portable as in docked mode. Nothing gets too small or obscure and the flow is no noticeable difference. It’s a lot of entertainment for a small fee.
What’s a bit of a shame with the game, however, is that the controls sometimes feel a bit awkward. I want to swing in a chain and then jump, but many times it is chance that becomes decisive and not my skill. Then I also noticed bugs, such as. that the avatar could get stuck in several different places. For example, if you move something, you may end up behind and have no opportunity to get up or out. Then you have to reload to the last checkpoint and it quickly becomes annoying if you have gotten a piece of your puzzle. The charging times are also quite long and that surprises me, because even though the graphics are nice, it is not by far so advanced that these charging times feel justified. We got the game early and one downside is that some (or maybe all?) Of these minor flaws can be fixed with patches around release.
In conclusion, I still want to take the opportunity to recommend Aspire: Ina’s Tale for whatever it is, the game is fun and entertaining for the most part and the flaws are therefore forgotten quite quickly.
