Aragami – Quick… stealth fans, snatch yourself a bargain

i’m a fan of stealth games. what’s not to love? thinking man’s gameplay. strategized approaches. increased replayability. so a GD regular recommends this indie game aragami. it’s a japanese stealth game. it’s only £15 on amazon (PS4) and i figure what the hell it’s worth a punt at that price.

i won’t bother giving away much about the story or other stuff you can discover yourself. the basic premise is you’re summoned to rescue this girl whose ghost like presence guides you throughout the game.

you’re a warrior from the dark. in this game the warriors who control light are evil and the dark side are good. it’s Star Wars in reverse. Rats Sraw.

you play in these moonlit, pastel coloured, hand-drawn environments. there’s some subtle and evocative accompanying music. it’s very charming audio / visually. but technically it’s in need of a patch. there’s some noticeable framerate drops. but it rarely if ever affects gameplay, so no biggie, really.

the gameplay starts out super simplistic. you’re from the dark side so shadows are your friend. you start with a single power, think blink from dishonoured, but with the caveat you can only blink between shadows. step into bright light and your ability to blink dissipates quickly.

enemies patrol the grounds. you dart around the shadows and try to kill them. but be careful because a SINGLE hit from their light weapons will kill you. and you can’t move their bodies if you drop them. or choose to KO not kill them. or see through walls (like dark vision from dishonored or sonar goggles from sc). or tag enemies on the map. and enemies killed outside of shadows naturally draw the attention of other patrolling enemies. so you need to be aware of all your enemies’ positions and the chance of discovery and be able to react quickly otherwise the alarm will sound and they’ll all start to actively hunt you. which is the last thing a light-shy ninja-type with limited skills who dies after one hit wants.

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but never fear there’s hidden scriptures dotted around the levels which give you skill points. and points mercifully mean prizes. or more specifically, new skills. the first skill to acquire is one where YOU cast shadows – like puddles of blackness – and can blink to them and onto the next, dancing like a deadly ballerina around your enemies. and as your mobility increases so too do the possible ways of taking out enemies. the next points lets you, amongst other things, tag enemies or make noises to attract their attention or cast a spell to make dead bodies disappear.

and every time you upgrade, the stealth paths and possibilities grow exponentially. the pacing of skill acquisition is really well done – things you get for free in other stealth games have to be earned, a lot of the clutter such as having to worry about health levels are side stepped - and the level designs increase appropriately in complexity, relative to your skill acquisition. suddenly, what at first appeared limited and restrictive, feels cunningly designed and cleverly timed. and alternative mechanics from other stealth games, like having to shift bodies in games like mankind divided feel cumbersome in comparison. you evolve into an ever more increasingly capable ninja, but enemies grow in capabilities too so the balance never shifts too accommodatingly to you. cockiness will get you killed. vigilance is rewarded.

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anyway, enough compliments. i've yet to finish the game – and from what I believe it’s not the longest, and it’s not without its faults or inconsistencies. but from what i’ve played so far and for the price, fans of the stealth genre looking for something to tide them over until dishonored 2 drops in a couple of weeks, or even as a counterpart to it, can do a lot worse. my advice – pounce on it

Wow I was on the fence for this game. Looks like some good ole hardcore stealth. I hope it's not too short though. I mean if it's only like 3 to 4 hours long I might still wait for a further discount.

@BboyStatix: yes, definitely hardcore. Like, you go combat and you are dead hardcore. Like old Thief. Quite refreshing, sure to piss off the newer generation of gamers, I'm sure lol.

It is a gem of a game, I hope it sells well, like a lot over a long period of time, I'd love to see more titles from this studio: they're French, not Japanese, which surprised me but then was not so surprising since, despite the influence, this game doesn't fall into all the boring Japanese cliches we expect from Japanese games.

We need more games like Aragami! True stealth games!

WOW, that game looks similar to Tenchu Ninja Stealth game series but this one looks really fun to play. I'll check it out cause I do enjoy games like this.

yes, it's basically Tenchu meets Mark of the Ninja, which is nothing but a good thing :D

@Macutchi: Hmm, looks decent

So will def. check it out. Looks tho to borrow a lot from Dishonored.

@BboyStatix: no it's definitely longer than 3-4 hours. i'm about 8 hours in so far. for the money it's absolutely worth a punt.

@Jacanuk: it does borrow / take influence from dishonored but it expands on the concepts in its own unique way. it's definitely not a cut and paste job. would recommend you give it a go at some point and try it out for yourself.

@mrbojangles25: you were the GD regular i refer to as the one who recommended it to me. thanks for that, great shout!

@Macutchi: What kind of playstyles does it allow? Like would I be able to get through a level with no KOs, just use distractions to get by like a ghost?

But honestly it doesn't matter even if it doesn't allow that, as long as the playstyles that it does allow are fun.

@BboyStatix: it does give you a nice variety of powers which do include non-lethal ones like invisibility, temporarily blinding enemies, creating decoys etc so you could most certainly ghost your way through levels but there are also some nifty and inventive ways to take out enemies too that you can chain together (there are no KOs only kills).

the best play style imo is a blend of the two, depending on the layout of the level. the basic powers you get after the first few missions are really fun to use just on their own. and the nice thing is that you've got the ability to quickly "tidy up" after yourself so even if you kill you can do it ghost like without ever alerting other enemies

@Macutchi: that's good to hear. I'm not gonna make the same mistake as the first dishonored where I was going for the ghost playstyle so u literally end up ignoring 90 per cent of the tools the game gives you. I was getting bored and halfway through the game I decided to screw the ghost playstyle.

Best decision of my life. Air assassinations, exploding tanks, chopping limbs was so much more fun than simply slipping by. Honestly it depends on the game. Games like the old splinter cells were more geared towards the ghost playstyle. I'm just gonna choose the most fun one. Screw ethics and morals.

I might check "Aragami" out later this year.

@BboyStatix: yeah with most stealth games it's definitely worth mixing up play styles, unless there's consequences (dishonored's one big flaw was punishing kills via the ending).

there's a certain satisfaction you can get by ghosting a level or by KO-ing every enemy in a level without you or any bodies ever being discovered. but i've not played a stealth game that really recognises and reacts to your play style "in game" which reduces the appeal to continue to play like that.

ghosting would be much more satisfying imo if, during the post level cut scene, you got someone saying something like "holy shit, someone came in here, knocked everyone out, stole the plans / (whatever the goal was) and no-one even saw or knew anything about it! we're up against the absolute best in the business here!" (or words to that effect) and then next level the ai adjusts accordingly.

or conversely, if you make a mess of a level, get spotted loads, bodies get discovered etc, then that gets discussed post level, camera stills of you are circulated, enemies become more complacent in the next level assuming you're not going to be too difficult to catch, you're forced to use disguises, be far more cautious etc.

we've only just begun to see this kind of thing appear in games. the batman games have enemies that become increasingly scared the more of them you take out. mgsv makes adjustments to ai based on your play style but it's not particularly sophisticated or vocalised.

that kind of in game recognition of play styles (ghosting, bloodbaths, f*ck ups etc) and appropriate reactions could be really cool imo

Aragami is awesome, one of them most fun stealth games I have played in years. The story is good, the visuals are fantastic, and the powers and stealth are tons of fun to use. The only downside is the final boss battle, which is terribly unfun and leaves a sour taste on an otherwise fantastic game.