Aetherfall Review: A Bold RPG That Almost Sticks the Landing
Sixty hours in the floating kingdoms later, here is our full verdict on the year's most ambitious role-playing game.
The short version
Aetherfall is the rare big-budget RPG that trusts you to get lost. Its floating kingdoms are stitched together by airship routes instead of loading screens, and for the first thirty hours that freedom is intoxicating. The back half stumbles — a difficulty spike and a rushed final act keep it from greatness — but this is still one of the most confident debuts the genre has seen in years.
What it gets right
Exploration is the star. Every island hides a reason to land: a hedge-maze shrine, a merchant who trades in memories, a mini-boss guarding a spellbook you actually want. The combat system layers stances over a familiar action core, so a late-game fight feels genuinely different from an early one rather than just spongier.
The writing punches above its weight too. Companion quests resolve in ways that respect earlier choices, and the localization is sharp and funny without straining for it.
Where it stumbles
The final act trades the open sky for a linear corridor, and the last boss leans on a gimmick the game never taught you to read. Performance on last-gen consoles dips hard in the capital city. Neither ruins the run, but both are the kind of rough edge a delay might have sanded off.
The verdict
Buy it if you value exploration over polish. Wait for a patch if 30fps dips are a dealbreaker for you.
Score breakdown
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Visuals 9 / 10
Gameplay 9 / 10
Story 8 / 10
Performance 6 / 10
Value 9 / 10
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VERDICT 8.5 / 10 — Highly recommendedReplace this review with your own — the score breakdown block above renders as-is, so keep the format and swap the numbers.
Written by the editor
Hands-on impressions from someone who actually finishes the games. Replace this bio with your own — a line about which genres you cover and how you score goes a long way with readers.