Preview | Angeline Era

I first came across Analgesic Procuction games last year through the wonderful community over at the All N Discord community. You will find a review of their last release, Sephonie, on this very website. The first Analgestic game I played, though, was Anodyne, a Zelda-type game with lots of exploration and dungeon crawling. I had a great time with Anodyne, which held something unique that all of Melos and Marina’s games seem to hold. I’m not quite sure what that is; it could be the way in which they style their games, the unique atmosphere that seems to ooze through each of them, the amazing soundtracks that Melos creates, or the stories they are telling. To be honest, its probably all of these and much more, and Angeline Era is no different from their previous games in that sense, holding this unique creative hold on you that just won’t let go.

I was lucky enough to be given an early look at the new demo that drops on the same day as you read this on Steam, and I urge you to just give it a go and let me know what you think. Not much is given away on the narrative in the demo, but you are given examples of numerous gameplay mechanics that’ll be in place for the full game, which is due to release at some point in 2025. 

The demo puts you onto a 3D overworld map, where you quickly learn that you can search areas of this map to uncover hidden parts, and its not long before you uncover one of the game’s major components. If you search in the right area, you uncover a path which opens in a separate window. Your task in these first-person-style sections is to avoid tree branches and enemies by pressing the corresponding direction on the control pad or by pressing the correct button to attack or jump. These areas are time-based, with damage taking time from your clock. I really enjoyed my time in these areas, even though I kept having issues with ducking under trees as you have to press back on the control stick! Once you complete these, it will unlock new areas on the overworld map, treasure chests, or new stages for you to explore.

These stages are essential to progress on the overwolrd map, which some hold scales for you to find which seem to be an integral part of the narrative. These scales can be obtained by completing puzzles or by defeating bosses. And oh, boy, these bosses kick ass. One particular boss started with one fish and then multiplies every time you defeat it, so you end up with thirty-two fish at once trying to destroy you. The best part is that they are all shooting a constant laser beam from their mouths! I had to drop the difficulty from normal to easy for that one. Combat is interesting too, as you don’t have an attack button, and instead Melos has opted for a push system (a bump slash!) If you want to attack an enemy, you simply walk into it, and Angeline will attack. You have to position yourself correctly; otherwise, you will suffer damage. This was a simple process to pick up, and I instantly loved the system. This is a prime example of Melos trying something different with tried and tested systems in games, which carries on through all of their games. 

Other systems I encountered during the demo included different weapons and buffs. Food can be found and eaten to temporarily extend your health bar; defeated enemies will drop coins and health, and I am sure there will be much more in the full game. I came across a couple of merchants selling food on my travels, but there was no other significant use for the dropped coins that I owned in the demo. I can only assume you’ll be able to use them to purchase buffs and stronger weapons when this feature is more fleshed out in the full game. The writing is very basic, with some poor translations to English, but I assume this is just so they can get the demo out, and this area will be vastly improved on in the full game.

Another area in which Melos shines is in their past games’ soundtracks. Melos seems to have this skill to create these wonderful, surreal pieces of music that are just beautiful to listen too, and thankfully, their magic has struck once again in Angeline Era, as I was treated to some of their finest work yet. I’ve sat here for the last five minutes trying to figure out how to explain the music in this game, and I can’t quite articulate the way the music sounds. The best way is to just go and listen to some of their past work on Spotify and experience it for yourself. I would suggest Sephonie’s soundtrack as a good starting point, as that soundtrack is just incredible.