Worlds of Aria [PC] | REVIEW

I had ZERO idea that Worlds of Aria even existed before last week, but after playing through it with friends over the last few days, it has quickly become one of my favourite multiplayer experiences ever. If you’re a fan of Dungeons and Dragons and have three friends to play with, you really, really, REALLY need to check it out… you won’t regret it.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Worlds of Aria sees a group of four heroes teaming up to head out on an adventure, with the game made up of four acts that bring with them their own little story to tell. For example, the first act sees players venturing through a tomb in order to find a special artifact for a Duke, but when it turns out that he is doing so for nefarious reasons, you have to bring him down. Then you have the second act, which focuses on a giant demon attacking a city, forcing players to try and recruit a demon hunter to stop it. Each act plays out like your typical fantasy tale that leans heavily into the tropes of the genre, but they’re so well written and full of charming (and often silly) scenarios that it’s hard not to find yourself completely engrossed in the game world.

What makes the storytelling so tantalising are the choices that players make along the way. Worlds of Aria is a player-driven experience where the actions you take shape how the adventure plays out, with almost every situation in the game having multiple ways to approach it. These choices always bring with them consequences, some good and some bad depending on the success you have during the skill check (more on that in a bit), but they all add an alluring sense of unpredictability to the adventure that ensures no two playthroughs ever feel the same.

The choices themselves vary up greatly throughout the game, whether that’s the approach you take when dealing with a demon attack on a house, if you decide to help a poor fellow save his chicken or not, the route you take to escape from guards in the royal grounds, whether or not you sell mead to minors and demons, or if you decide to trust an ominous presence when trying to escape a ruin, just to list a few examples. I’m being intentionally vague in describing the situations you face (and avoiding listing some of the zanier ones) because I REALLY don’t want to spoil anything for players, especially since it’s the storytelling of the game that stands out as its greatest strength. Just know that you get to make a lot of different choices in the game, and they all bring with them some brilliant consequences.

“I absolutely adore Worlds of Aria, with its unpredictable Dungeons and Dragons-style gameplay loop making for a genuinely brilliant experience to share with friends.”

There are two main things in the gameplay that ensure that the choices that you make in Worlds of Aria always feel brilliant. For one, there’s a skill check for almost every choice you make, with each player’s character having varying stats ranked between 1 and 100. Depending on the type of choice you make, one of those stats will then be tested, with the player rolling dice to determine their success. If the number you roll is lower than your ranking in that stat, it’ll count as a success, but if it’s higher, it’s a failure, with critical success and fail rolls also possible. It’s just like Dungeons and Dragons, so if you’re familiar with that, you’ll know what to expect, with the unpredictable nature of the RNG meaning you never quite know what twists-and-turns your journey will take.

Then you have the fact that Worlds of Aria is a multiplayer game, with up to four players working together on their adventure. This means that you’ll each get to make different decisions, and believe me, there’ll be a LOT of situations where you won’t agree on what to do, making for some genuinely brilliant moments where your disagreements lead to situations where things will either work out or go completely wrong – ESPECIALLY when a particularly stubborn player ends up failing their skill check and their rash decision ends up blowing up in the party’s face (yeah, that happened to us a lot). No action gets ignored, with the game flexible in design to cater for all situations, no matter how chaotic they might be.

It was these moments that brought the most laughs out of my party when playing, especially when you don’t quite know whether the choices that ONE party member makes will end up working out or not. I begrudged one of my allies who INSISTED on singing a sea shanty instead of trying to help us navigate the ocean, but when it was appreciated by a sea monster, it ended up working in our favour. And when one player argued that he simply HAD to open a chest that was CLEARLY rigged with a trap, only for him to get a health potion that healed any damage it did as well as some cool treasure? Yeah, we all felt silly. Worlds of Aria is full of these moments, and it helps make it stand out as one of the most enjoyable and comical multiplayer experiences that I’ve shared with friends.

Oh, and as a bonus, only one player needs to own the game, with three friends able to join in by using the free Friend Pass. It’s a feature that we’ve seen done in similar co-op focused experiences in the past, but its use here is especially appreciated and ensures that Worlds of Aria is an accessible experience for all players.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Players get to choose the character they play as on their adventure, with each bringing with them varying stats as well as a unique skill that can affect their roll in varying ways. I found myself playing as Evy, whose ability allows her to roll a guaranteed critical success on three occasions during an act, which proved especially useful in the moments where we really, REALLY needed a good roll. One of my allies preferred Grumps, who was able to draw a card that affected their dice roll – this could work to their favour by adding a large deduction to their roll, or it could increase the number instead, with the random nature of the card drawn adding a risk-versus-reward twist to each roll. Good Fortune is one of the more unpredictable characters, with his ability making each of his rolls a critical one, whether that’s a critical success or a critical fail. Again, it’s risk-versus-reward, but when things do work in your favour, he can be a game-changer. There are twelve characters in all, and with each bringing something different to the fray, they all have their own advantages.

You’ll also level up these characters to increase their stats by completing set objectives during each chapter in the game, whilst items can also be found that affect your stats in varying ways. You equip two at a time but can carry an extra five in your inventory, encouraging players to change out their loadout before making a choice to increase their chances of rolling a success. The only problem? Items are shared, with players having to rush to grab the valuables they want… or at least that’s what my friends and I found ourselves doing. Of course, you can plan things out and share efficiently if you want, but where’s the fun in that?

Everything comes together perfectly to make for one of the best multiplayer games that I’ve played, with Worlds of Aria’s unpredictable decision-making and charming story keeping my friends and I completely hooked in when playing. With the varying outcomes of decisions as well as the wide range of playable characters, there’s plenty of room for replayability too – we’re already on our second playthrough and some events have played out much differently than before. The only real flaws I faced when playing were a couple of technical issues. There was one occasion where one of the players in my party kept getting disconnected from our game, whilst another bug blocked our progress through one of the chapters (which was fixed with a restart). Other than that? It’s been an absolute joy.

Developer: Ludogram
Publisher: Ishtar Games
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed)
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1866980/Worlds_of_Aria/