*Mainly a story critique since many other aspects (gameplay, sound, visuals etc.) are improved or remain the same* Pros: Ellie - I think her story concluded in a good way. She feels like after Seattle, she’s haunted by the lack of closure and when she finally gets the chance, she can't go through with her original idea. She sees Abby on the brink of death in a pitiful state and feels sympathy for the person she hates. Killing Abby defenseless and basically almost dead would've done nothing. But she feels conflicted with just letting her go and changes her mind until she finally reconciles that hatred and lets her and Lev go and finally ending the cycle of revenge and instead traveled all that way to save her and Lev. Joel – Deciding to help Abby fits well with his character. The birthday flashback was one of the best moments in the game. Abby – Her decision to help the kids was a great narrative hook that the game was missing since no Ellie and Joel. Her rejection of her remorseless harsh demenor in favor of her new found selflessness felt like a good switch. Jesse - He’s loyal. Tommy – Motivation is compelling. Dina – Solid companion. Lia and Lev - Good new additions that rounded out Abby’s story. Cons: Ellie - Doesn’t develop much at all until the end. She kills all of Abby’s friends and I feel like the weight of her evil actions never really gets dropped on her (especially killing a pregnant woman). You just kinda feel bad that the people she killed were somewhat decent people. Also the fact that she holds the cure doesn’t seem to matter to anyone even a little bit. Joel – Him dying early doesn’t give us a lot of room to explore the relationship between him and Ellie after she finds the truth besides the flashbacks. The way he dies doesn’t fit well with how we understand him. Abby – Her storyline up until finding the kids feels like a waste of time. Killing the WLF at the end felt like it carried no weight. Jesse- just doesn’t end up mattering much at all and everyone forgets about him Tommy – Definitely should have died. Doesn’t do much at all, seems kinda forgotten. Big inexplicable switch between the beginning and end. Dina – Also doesn’t do much for the story except for being the companion character. Would've liked her to at least be on the shoulder of Ellie a little bit as she mercilessly kills people. Lia and Lev – Hated the way Lia went out.

The good: *** Really fun "fencing" type combat where you weave in and out of enemy attacks to deal damage. *** With the combination of strikes canceling to back dash which cancel into jumps creates a good flow of combat. * I like that crouching is good in a lot of fights * Abilities are really fun. Batt, black panther, super jump, glide armor etc. * While direction of attack is limited, it allows for more weapon variety with different trade offs in terms of area of attack, damage and speed. * Good level of challenge * Diverse environments * Good enemies that demand different approaches in combat * Good bosses. Loved the Julius fight * Good music * Lots of alternate abilities gained from enemies The bad: *** Story kinda sucks. There isnt much of it throughout and what we get is cliche and somewhat predictable * Secondary abilites feel oversaturated. Some serve little to no purpouse and dont scale well later on. * Having a level system doesnt feel needed * Kinda sucks that abilities are random drops Conclusion: The core gameplay of Aria of Sorrow is fun. Geting new abilities, discovering new areas and mastering the combat is rewarding. The story leaves much to be desired (seems like they were limited in some way), and some design elements with the abilities could be worked on but the overall experience makes for a great metroidvania.