Ayasa: Shadows of Silence review: A sliver of surrealism

Horror games don’t always have to feature shotguns and steel pipes. Sometimes, the most effective way to tell a creepy, creative tale is to transport the player into dreamy alternate worlds, which is exactly the vibe Ayasa: Shadows of Silence seems to have gone for.

Below, you’ll find The Escapist’s full review of Ayasa: Shadows of Silence to help you decide whether to dig into the horror platformer, looking at everything from the promising aesthetics to the style of play.

The Escapist recaps

• Ayasa: Shadows of Silence is an atmospheric horror platformer, developed and published by Aya Games.
• In Ayasa: Shadows of Silence, players are tasked with exploring a dark, ominous world, seen through the eyes of Ayasa. Puzzles themed around light and darkness stand in her way, along with monstrous enemies.
• The game’s strength is its aesthetic appeal; the Steam page notes that it takes inspiration from creatives like Tim Burton and Hayao Miyazaki. The tense yet dreamy aesthetic is charming, and there are some unique enemies.
• Gameplay-wise, Ayasa: Shadows of Silence falls flat. Its platforming is decent in places but clunky in others, and some segments prove more frustrating than challenging and engaging, which distracts from the story.
• This game is a visual treat with a lovely soundscape, but it’s not a cohesive experience as a player. If you’re a die-hard fan of Little Nightmares and Tim Burton films, it may be worth a look regardless. 

An intriguing world

Ayasa: Shadows of Silence is an atmospheric 2.5D platformer that offers a surreal blend of horror and linear exploration. It’s a short experience, with most runs clocking in at just a few hours, telling a dark story without any dialogue.

Players are placed in the shoes of a girl named Ayasa and quickly thrown into a chase sequence after the game starts, with looming hands reaching for them in a dark and foreboding forest. Several new areas are revealed as the game unfolds, ranging from a haunting lake with statues in the distance to cramped, dusty vents.

Ayasa is on a quest to bring balance back to the world after it has been ravaged by war; the world in question once being watched over by a being named Tas the Absolute. Each level is relatively linear, with simple puzzles and platforming challenges, along with chases and stealth sequences. 

There’s not a huge amount of challenge in Ayasa: Shadow of Silence’s puzzles, but they’re themed around the overall narrative nicely.

The stealth segments will likely present the biggest skill check for most players – some of the enemies seem to have incredible hearing and can one-shot Ayasa with ease. There’s no combat in this game, so careful movement is key. 

Playing through Ayasa: Shadow of Silence largely felt like running through an art exhibit, with the major appeal being the world itself. Some of the zones were beautiful and dark, with a handful of intriguing enemies scattered throughout, and it was interesting to see how Ayasa herself responded to the world around her. 

Promising, but some frustrations

Music is a big part of Ayasa: Shadows of Silence’s appeal, standing out as one of the best parts of the game. The game has a mysterious and enchanting soundscape that adds to the dreamy atmosphere, making it well worth playing with headphones.

There’s no dialogue in Ayasa: Shadows of Silence, which made the soundscape even more important for world-building. The story is largely told through its puzzles, linear exploration, and music; it felt a little on the nose in places, but the overall world was interesting enough to motivate further exploration.  

While there were some positive elements to Ayasa, there were also some issues that tarnished the overall experience.

Performance-wise, Ayasa: Shadows of Silence leaves a fair amount to be desired. The movement in the game felt clunky – which isn’t ideal for a platformer where you need to make precise jumps – and the mapping for controllers was inaccurate, which was confusing when picking up the game for the first time.  

This reviewer tested both keyboard and mouse and a controller, and found the keyboard to be marginally better than the controller in terms of responsiveness.

There were several instances of frame drops and lag running throughout the game, along with a particularly frustrating issue where the character would fall through the map and die, requiring a restart of the section.

There was no option to drop the graphics down, either, which would’ve been ideal for trying to mitigate some of the performance issues.

While there were beautiful elements to Ayasa: Shadows of Silence, like the striking visuals and interesting soundscape, the issues with performance, falling through the map, and mapping made some sections more frustrating than enjoyably challenging.

If you’re a die-hard Little Nightmares or Tim Burton movie fan, you may still find some enjoyment with Ayasa: Shadows of Silence. The world it portrays is admittedly intriguing, but the performance and overall experience didn’t feel great. 

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References

1. Buy Ayasa: Shadows of Silence (Steam)