Sometimes in gaming, it’s a good thing to strip away some of the bloat and get back to basics. The team at Analgesic Productions knows this all too well, having developed cult classics such as Anodyne and Even the Ocean. Now, they’re trying their hand at the adventure genre with Angeline Era, combining the developer’s unique approach to storytelling with throwback visuals and classic gameplay. Is this a tale as old as time, or just another footnote?

Angeline Era puts you in control of Tets, a holy warrior tasked with traveling to the land of Era and finding nine mysterious “bicones.” These will allow the angels who have crash landed there to return to space and escape their ongoing war with the Fairies. Naturally, the conflict has had a massive impact on the inhabitants of Era, and it isn’t long before Tets finds himself pulled into the surrounding drama and questioning the true nature of what’s happening.

It always starts with a boat.

A LOT is going on in the story, and not all of it is particularly clear. The developer’s previous games were similar in this regard, juggling numerous themes and presenting them in ways that might not always resonate with every player. Angeline Era is heavily steeped in Japanese mythology surrounding Fairies, and while I understood the broad strokes of the narrative, I often felt that some of its nuances weren’t quite landing with me. Even so, it provides an interesting premise, while the more personal stories of Era’s inhabitants did a fantastic job of drawing me in.

Angeline Era truly excels when it comes to that feeling of adventure and discovery. Often compared to the early Ys games, it starts you off on a boat which, naturally, crashes shortly afterward. From there, you’re thrown into an open world with little more than a map showing the rough locations of the nine Bicones. It’s then entirely up to you to decide where you want to go and when. That freedom gives the adventure a wonderfully organic feeling, as different players can end up experiencing locations and events in completely different orders. Rather than constantly pointing you toward the next objective, Angeline Era trusts you to explore, get lost, and figure things out for yourself.

Unlike most Zelda or Metroidvania style adventures, there isn’t a predetermined order in which you’re expected to tackle the world. Areas generally aren’t locked behind specific upgrades, either. The tools you arrive with, alongside those gathered throughout the initial tutorial dungeons, can quite comfortably see you through the entire adventure. Instead, you simply pick a direction and deal with whatever happens to be waiting for you.

Of course, that freedom can occasionally come back to bite you. Wander into one of the tougher areas too early and you’ll have to “get good” rather quickly, as certain locations can lock you into that biome for a while before you’re able to retrace your steps. It’s a risky approach to exploration, but one that makes venturing into the unknown feel genuinely exciting.

Ocean Eyes.

The world map operates on a grid system, with Tets able to search each individual space to uncover rewards such as towns, treasure, switches, or one of the many, many dungeons the game has to offer. Once again, how much you discover is entirely down to the player and their curiosity. Those who feel compelled to search every nook and cranny will stumble across far more optional challenges than someone simply beelining through the main story.

These optional dungeons reward you with “scales,” which are used to upgrade Tets’ attack power and health. This replaces a traditional leveling system, and I honestly loved the way it encouraged me to seek out and tackle every challenge the game had to offer. Keeping Tets strong enough to hit hard and take a few hits made exploration feel consistently worthwhile. As an added bonus, all that adventuring meant collecting plenty of gold, which could then be spent on upgrades and food to keep me alive during some of the tougher fights.

Land of Confusion.

Combat in Angeline Era is likely going to be what makes or breaks the game for a lot of people. It uses a “bump” system, à la Ys I and II. Rather than having a dedicated attack button, you deal damage by running directly into enemies, meaning you’ll need to carefully time your attacks to avoid taking damage yourself. You can also use your momentum to send foes bouncing off walls and into each other like a particularly deadly game of bumper cars.

Attack just before an enemy strikes and you’ll also land a critical hit, making it well worth learning their patterns. Bosses ramp this up to 11, throwing much more elaborate attacks your way. There are even plenty of bullet hell inspired patterns to dodge, so there’s a surprising amount going on during combat despite the seemingly simple bump system. If you can adjust to its unusual mechanics, there’s a lot to enjoy here.

Quite early on, you’ll also find a gun, although it comes with the bizarre limitation of only being able to fire toward the top of the screen. It certainly has its uses, and several arenas and bosses are specifically designed around the mechanic, but I found myself mostly ignoring it in favor of some good old fashioned fisticuffs.

Bullet Heaven or Hell.

Visually, Angeline Era is very reminiscent of very early PlayStation 1/Dreamcast era adventure games, with charming blocky graphics and a colour pallet emulating that of some of the finest 16-bit RPGS. It runs at a beautifully smooth framerate and all slots together very nicely to provide you with what feels like a lost title of its time. Character art is beautifully drawn and the music is absolutely mesmerising. There is also a lot of it; I can’t think of a time when a track replayed throughout and I had the volume full whack just to hear more of what the game had to offer. 

Day and Night Adventures!

With the incredible amount of freedom to explore, the unique path each player will take, and just how fun and fluid the combat and controls feel, I simply couldn’t put Angeline Era down. Sure, some of the story beats didn’t quite land with me, but I still found myself wrapped up in its central mystery. Other parts of the narrative genuinely gripped me, so I suspect the story will be similarly hit or miss for other players.

The real hook, however, was just how eager I was to keep exploring, discovering new dungeons, and challenging myself against whatever the game threw my way. Angeline Era kept me thoroughly engaged throughout the fifteen hours of my first playthrough, and with a plethora of difficulty modes to choose from, I can easily see myself returning time and time again to push my skills even further.

Angeline Era is available now on PC, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2.

A copy of Angeline Era was provided by the publisher.