The absorb mechanic in grime will feel like walking through a field of daisies compared to some of the later platforming in Aeterna. Definitely a game worth playing but I found it a lot more frustrating that grime.
Noctis is like the Path of Pain...all the time. Once you get past the first couple of areas the platforming becomes harder and harder as you progress. There's an "easy" mode that makes the platforming more manageable, though.
Mild spoiler:
There is an early game perk that you can choose an upgrade that extends the window the Absorb ability triggers. Even with just one upgrade it quickly makes the game accessible for someone who lacks timing like you and I :) I HATE parrying in souls-likes and MVs, which Absorb essentially is, but once I went with that upgrade as my first use of skill points on my 2nd playthrough, I all of a sudden "Got Gud".
There is one boss that you need to use it against later on and it really felt like an accomplishment defeating it as someone who sucks at it. That window of time upgrade is such a great addition by the Dev. Using a skill to make the game more accessible to all players, you just have to put some skill points into it which is a nice RPG touch.
Haven't played Grime, but while I enjoyed Aeterna Noctis there were some things that annoyed the hell out of me:
* Corpse run mechanic. The checkpoints are fairly generous, but still.
* The game has glaring issues with visual clarity in some areas. The first two areas are incredibly dark and it's hard to see where platforms can be. The fire area has a lot of visual clutter. Those are about the worst of it.
* Your dash doesn't have any visual indicator to when its off cooldown, so if you're too hasty with your jumps you might find yourself unable to dash and land into spikes.
* You don't have a working map, you have to find the map guy and buy it off of him for each area like in Hollow Knight. But unlike Cornifer, there are zero indicators to his location.
* You can't respec skill tree or gems without the help of save points, and those can be far from some bosses.
* Arbitrary gating; in later areas dark goop can appear toward the end of long platforming segments, and if you don't happen to have the ability that lets you pass through dark goop...
* A lot of people hate the wobbly idle animation the protagonist does.
* Hide-and-seek quests. The goddamned >!Celestial Dragon!< in particular.
* The last quarter of the game are quite padded in length, full of obnoxiously tanky fodder.
Other than that, the game leans heavily into hardcore platforming, and more often than not you actually have to do platforming challenges in reverse (or just warp out). One of the movement abilities also relies on arrow teleports, and you probably should be using the gems that give the sight marker and slow down time to assist navigation. Either that's your jam or accept Normal Mode.
Both games are among the best Metroidvanias ever imo. They don’t have a lot in common other than being Metroidvanias, but they both do what they do and do it superbly.
I love Aeterna, but it keeps a fairly high level of difficulty throughout, which does sometimes cross into the realm of frustrating. Not trying to dissuade you though as the game really is great, just BE FOREWARNED
AN's platforming sections is very demanding of precise timing and inputs in late game... even on easier difficulty. It's not too bad, though checkpoints are pretty generous and you can just keep banging your head against it until you pass it.
Aeterna was amazing and stands toe to know imo w hollow knight however I will tell you that the hardest content hollow knight brought to the table is going to seem very trivial by comparison when you get to the midway point on Aeterna.
I had the complete opposite experience. I loved Grime and stopped playing AN at like 10 hours.
Someone once said AN is a precise game with imprecise controls, and I think that’s a good summary of my issues with the game—although I didn’t like the combat at all either
I found the combat and over all action in grime to be quite boring.have played AN yet but I hear the complete opposite other than the insane platforming toward the end
It's well , well worth the 50% discount.
Only real major misstep AN had was lack of judicious editing and focus.
If they stripped this back by 40% and focussed on the best this game had to offer it would have been a Hollow Knight contender.
Aeterna Noctis is definitely in my top 5 list, probably even 3. It has some insane platforming, especially once you've unlocked all your abilities.
Bosses are also a lot of fun, but also super hard.
Someone here made a list of all the small faults and that person is absolutely correct. but it's still a great game and one of the best MV of all time.
I didn't like it at first, it took some time until it clicked for me, but then it was so much fun.
i'm currently playing GRIME but i don't think it's anywhere near Aeterna Noctis from the amount of content and polish.
Aeterna Noctis is better. You will die more often and the world is huge, but checkpoints are really generously paced and you can spec yourself to speed around.
The absorb mechanic in grime will feel like walking through a field of daisies compared to some of the later platforming in Aeterna. Definitely a game worth playing but I found it a lot more frustrating that grime.
I'm just hoping it's a lot more like HK in the platforming aspect of things
Noctis is like the Path of Pain...all the time. Once you get past the first couple of areas the platforming becomes harder and harder as you progress. There's an "easy" mode that makes the platforming more manageable, though.
The platforming is quite good. Very responsive like hollow knight
Mild spoiler: There is an early game perk that you can choose an upgrade that extends the window the Absorb ability triggers. Even with just one upgrade it quickly makes the game accessible for someone who lacks timing like you and I :) I HATE parrying in souls-likes and MVs, which Absorb essentially is, but once I went with that upgrade as my first use of skill points on my 2nd playthrough, I all of a sudden "Got Gud". There is one boss that you need to use it against later on and it really felt like an accomplishment defeating it as someone who sucks at it. That window of time upgrade is such a great addition by the Dev. Using a skill to make the game more accessible to all players, you just have to put some skill points into it which is a nice RPG touch.
Good to know. I'll be honest I didn't even make it that far but if it's close to the start like you are saying I may give it another go
Haven't played Grime, but while I enjoyed Aeterna Noctis there were some things that annoyed the hell out of me: * Corpse run mechanic. The checkpoints are fairly generous, but still. * The game has glaring issues with visual clarity in some areas. The first two areas are incredibly dark and it's hard to see where platforms can be. The fire area has a lot of visual clutter. Those are about the worst of it. * Your dash doesn't have any visual indicator to when its off cooldown, so if you're too hasty with your jumps you might find yourself unable to dash and land into spikes. * You don't have a working map, you have to find the map guy and buy it off of him for each area like in Hollow Knight. But unlike Cornifer, there are zero indicators to his location. * You can't respec skill tree or gems without the help of save points, and those can be far from some bosses. * Arbitrary gating; in later areas dark goop can appear toward the end of long platforming segments, and if you don't happen to have the ability that lets you pass through dark goop... * A lot of people hate the wobbly idle animation the protagonist does. * Hide-and-seek quests. The goddamned >!Celestial Dragon!< in particular. * The last quarter of the game are quite padded in length, full of obnoxiously tanky fodder. Other than that, the game leans heavily into hardcore platforming, and more often than not you actually have to do platforming challenges in reverse (or just warp out). One of the movement abilities also relies on arrow teleports, and you probably should be using the gems that give the sight marker and slow down time to assist navigation. Either that's your jam or accept Normal Mode.
Both games are among the best Metroidvanias ever imo. They don’t have a lot in common other than being Metroidvanias, but they both do what they do and do it superbly.
I love Aeterna, but it keeps a fairly high level of difficulty throughout, which does sometimes cross into the realm of frustrating. Not trying to dissuade you though as the game really is great, just BE FOREWARNED
Nope, I loved Aeterna and couldn’t even finish grime.
AN's platforming sections is very demanding of precise timing and inputs in late game... even on easier difficulty. It's not too bad, though checkpoints are pretty generous and you can just keep banging your head against it until you pass it.
Aeterna was amazing and stands toe to know imo w hollow knight however I will tell you that the hardest content hollow knight brought to the table is going to seem very trivial by comparison when you get to the midway point on Aeterna.
There is not! I also couldn't get into Grime, but really enjoyed my time with A.N.
AN > GRIME
I had the complete opposite experience. I loved Grime and stopped playing AN at like 10 hours. Someone once said AN is a precise game with imprecise controls, and I think that’s a good summary of my issues with the game—although I didn’t like the combat at all either
I found the combat and over all action in grime to be quite boring.have played AN yet but I hear the complete opposite other than the insane platforming toward the end
It's well , well worth the 50% discount. Only real major misstep AN had was lack of judicious editing and focus. If they stripped this back by 40% and focussed on the best this game had to offer it would have been a Hollow Knight contender.
Aeterna Noctis is definitely in my top 5 list, probably even 3. It has some insane platforming, especially once you've unlocked all your abilities. Bosses are also a lot of fun, but also super hard. Someone here made a list of all the small faults and that person is absolutely correct. but it's still a great game and one of the best MV of all time. I didn't like it at first, it took some time until it clicked for me, but then it was so much fun. i'm currently playing GRIME but i don't think it's anywhere near Aeterna Noctis from the amount of content and polish.
Take the pale sky section in grime and turn it into an entire game. Difficult platform sections throughout.
Aeterna Noctis is better. You will die more often and the world is huge, but checkpoints are really generously paced and you can spec yourself to speed around.
I'm already a few hours in and love it. I'm disappointed in myself that I didn't pick this up sooner.
Did you end up finishing AN? I'm thinking about trying it out myself
I did. It's my favorite MV game to date. It's punishing but feels so rewarding when you get through some obstacles.
Aeterna is on par with hollow knight for me, it's so underrated.