Everdeep Aurora: There’s More Beneath the Surface
At face value, Everdeep Aurora is a game about a kitten trying to find her mother, and it can be easy to leave it at that. But, when you dig a little deeper, this charming game holds more beneath the surface, examining what happens when you’re presented with “the answer”…. and what do you choose to do after.
A MUNDANE POST-APOCALYPSE?
Atmospheric
beautiful piano
charming, bouncy animations
lovely environment
No pressure to pursue anything…which can be a blessing or curse
This isn’t a world where you’ll fight aliens to save the earth, or stop the comets raining down. The damage is done — it’s already happening.
So, you do what everyone else is doing: try to find your loved one, and help those you meet along the way.
No combat
WHEN YOU CHOOSE TO DIG DEEPER
The beauty of Everdeep Aurora is a subdued one. One that, admittedly, I didn’t quite appreciate on my first run through. And I WISH there was more indication for players that there’s more to dig into here, because once I did continue my playthrough, unsatisfied with the initial ending…that’s where this game’s riches really came through.
This is a game where you can speed through and get little out of. But, if you choose to dig deeper: to listen to teh stories of those you pass as you journey down. To talk to creatures more than once, you’ll start to learn the history of this place.
In the veins of much more mechanically challenging games, like Hollow Knight or even Elden Ring, the history and lore of this game is embedded in text and the occasional conversation.
SPOILERS AHEAD
You learn of a conflict between two groups, which then divided into two societies. The mistakes of your elders.
You are provided with a choice: to open the gate and allow folks to address the wrongs that’ve been commited or to continue to stand guard.
What happens when we know whats’s going on? What institutions and interests are we protecting? And, if the world ends regardless, what is it that we want to say we’ve done?
