Everdeep Aurorais a unique little story-driven title that is hard to categorize, falling closest, in this reviewer’s opinion, to a metroidvania-lite. Traveling through a scenic underground beautifully rendered in hand-drawn pixel art,Everdeep Aurorais a game that will soothe you with a delightful score and indulge you with incredible art, though the game may feel a bit too slow for those unprepared for the experience it offers.
Everdeep Aurorabegins as we see a small, adorably rendered little cat chat awaken in the midst of a storm. Her mother has left her a letter, letting her know that if she’s not around by the time you wake up, to come and find her at “the usual spot.” The only problem is that during your nap, the world has descended into an apocalyptic event, with meteors crashing from the sky and the entire population heading underground. A local friendly frog informs you that your mother must be in one of the below-ground shelters and is nice enough not only to provide you with a drill to dig your way to her, but to bail you out should you find yourself stuck anywhere, presumably due to the faulty battery on your drill.
What comes next is an open-world (albeit located entirely underground) adventure where you dig beneath the earth and discover a surprisingly vast expanse of below-ground shelters and communities, hoping that one of them will house your mother or at least have information about her whereabouts.
The type of gameEverdeep Aurorais can be a bit confusing to discern at the beginning. As you initially dig down, you’re immediately made aware of the limitations of your drill; it must be recharged at strategically placed locations after too much use, and it can only penetrate the initial layer of rocks. The presence of a blacksmith offering to upgrade your drill and cash ores discovered while digging would naturally give you the impression thatEverdeep Aurorais a sort of tycoon game, where you earn money to upgrade your drill and get deeper into the rock wall separating you from your mother.
This, however, is pretty far from the reality—something you begin to realize when you notice that all upgrades come at the cost of first completing a fetch quest for the NPCs around you. Instead of a tycoon sim,Everdeep Aurorais more of a Metroidvania-lite, story-driven adventure with a huge emphasis on exploration. You discover the map by exploring, collecting goods needed by NPCs to complete their side quests, and eventually reaching one of several endings. My first try took me just shy of three hours, but I didn’t go back to experience all the game’s different endings.
The game’s characters, often met in passing, will send you on little fetch quests, and by completing them, you can learn more about them. The game does a great job of making these characters feel alive and interesting without saying a whole lot about them, something that fits well with the game’s aesthetic and overall mysterious feeling.
This meansEverdeep Auroracan feel, in a sense, aimless. Traveling throughout the underground can invoke a feeling of being lost, with no clear direction, since you aren’t necessarily working towards an immediate or obvious goal during your adventure downward. For some, this will absolutely be the appeal; the feeling of adventure and slight loneliness as you wander an unexplored world in search of your mother can capture a feeling of whimsy and awe, easily amplified by the game’s incredible artwork and score. For others, however, this lack of a gamified system of advancement or immediate, tangible goals can make it hard to remain focused or feel as though you’re making real progress.Everdeep Aurorais thus a game you want to play to capture that feeling of exploration and adventure, but if you’re looking for “more to do,” it’s going to be a pass.
There unfortunately isn’t a whole lot more to say.Everdeep Aurorais beautifully designed, with incredible artwork and a fantastic soundtrack, and invokes a feeling of being lost and yet not lost at the same time, exploring a new world with a vague goal and very little to restrict your progress, with the game’s side quests essentially being optional and mainly serving as a means to change your ending or speed up progression at the cost of a detour. I didn’t experience any game-breaking bugs or real flaws affecting the experience for someone who wants to play this type of game.
Simply put, your enjoyment ofEverdeep Auroradepends on the type of game you’re looking for; it is not for everyone, nor is it the most attention-grabbing or interactive. It’s relaxing, it’s slow, and it’s as story-driven as it is invoking the feeling of aimlessness; if you want to explore a beautiful game and interact with interesting characters on occasion,Everdeep Aurorais for you. If you looked at this game thinking it was some kind of mining tycoon, you would be pretty disappointed.
The Final Word
Everdeep Aurorais a niche, atmospheric gem that trades gameplay intensity for mood, narrative, and artistic charm. While its loose structure and lack of conventional progression may alienate some players looking for more mechanical depth or direction, it succeeds as a relaxing exploration experience. If you’re in the mood for a gentle, thoughtful journey through a beautifully drawn underground world, this game might just be for you.
Try Hard Guides was provided a Steam code for this PC review ofEverdeep Aurora. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on ourGame Reviewspage!Everdeep Aurorais available onSteamandNintendo Switch.
