Aphelion Preview: DON’T NOD Reaches for the Stars

DON’T NOD are stretching their legs somewhat in recent times. With 2024’s Jusant we got to see a different side to the studio most well known for creating the excellent Life is Strange series. With Aphelion, they’re branching out into action adventure territory, and what better place to head into the unknown gameplay wise than an unknown planet far out in our solar system. The two chapters available for us to play show promise, and tease a DON’T NOD specialty twist in something a bit more than human.

We play as Ariane (and in the full game, as Thomas as well) as the pair travel to a newly discovered 9th planet on the edge of the solar system, Persephone. Earth will be uninhabitable by the year 2060, and so the two are to scope out what scientists believe is the best bet for the continual survival of our species. 

While final cutscenes and dialogue are not in place yet, we pick up with Ariane after Hope-01, the ship she and Thomas are travelling on, crash lands on Persephone. Opening the door to the cockpit throws us into the action immediately as Ariane is sent careening down the once stable floors of the ship that are now all but vertical. We can’t help but be reminded of the opening of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves in some of the presentation here, with limited interactivity but plenty of spectacle as we dodge left and right to avoid danger. 

This resemblance continues throughout the rest of the opening chapter, with Ariane proving to be a capable climber, using various handholds to move up and over the tattered ship as she tries to get to safety. Again, think Uncharted 2’s opening dangling train, but on a much bigger scale. 

We are tasked with paying a bit more attention when climbing in Aphelion. Jumping to a new ledge requires us to hit X to grab it, and failing prompts a quick QTE to save our skin. In practice this was never a huge issue, but we do like the added tension it builds as we try to navigate this huge ship.

This opening chapter sets the scene, and is pretty heavy on the exploration. While some may bemoan the very obvious ‘yellow paint’ of the ships grabbable bits, DON’T NOD are of the opinion these fit in with this area as the ship is, by design, more human made and as such would have splashes of colour in its construction. Later areas do a good job of blending these handholds in with the environment, with more naturalistic looking outcrops of rocks and snow. 

As we’d expect, the story is pretty immediately captivating and performed brilliantly by Tal Davida as Ariane. We’ve yet to play as Thomas (his sections were not part of the preview) but we’re assured there’s more to the mystery of Persephone, the crash, and how the two might still be able to communicate despite being who knows how far apart. 

The other chapter made available to us exhibited different gameplay, and it’s here that Aphelion takes the somewhat supernatural shift that we know from the likes of Life is Strange. A strange being, known as the Entity, appears and stalks Ariane as she attempts to make it out from under the ice of this far away world. While it can’t see her, it can hear her, and even mild noises will have it charging to investigate, killing Ariane should it catch her. As such, these are tense stealth-based sections, with the Entity moving about the area as we try to sneak past and get to safety. This early example is pretty straightforward, though there are several possible routes to take, some of which may be more dangerous or noisy. We’re told that later areas will be trickier still, and we are pretty excited to see how these fare, and how open to player choice they will be. 

With this preview, we’ve seen about an hour of what is said to be an 8-10 hour game, and if DON’T NOD can deliver their historical quality with the highest fidelity production we’ve seen from them yet, then Aphelion could be a solid contender for end of year lists. The story, both grounded and fantastical, is engaging from the off, the traversal has hints of inspirations from all time greats, and the stealth sections will hopefully provide a great sense of tension to balance the more calm exploration areas.

This game was previewed on Xbox. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by the publisher.