This is the two hundred eighteenth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our two hundred eighteenth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has snuck into our high-tech facility and taken us hostage at gunpoint. It’s Aerannis, by ff, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

A stealth-action metroidvania

I’m honestly not sure if I’ve seen stealth in a Metroidvania before.

Aerannis puts players in control of Ceyda Farhi, an assassin and thief who works in the streets of Plovdiv in the year 2XXX. That’s right: this is a game set in cyberpunk Bulgaria. An unusual setting, and it gets even more unusual: upon reading the description on its itch.io page, I learned that in the world of Aerannis, men have ceased to exist. It’s an all-female society now. I admit this gave me pause, because I know just how rampant toxicity and sexism can be in gaming. I feared two possibilities. First, that this premise would be an attempt to manufacture some form of male oppression that does not exist in the real world (we have the patriarchy, come on guys) and would cast male rebels as heroes that would save humanity. Or second, that the game would be filled with sexualized female characters primed for the male gaze.

I shouldn’t have worried. Aerannis was, after all, voluntarily submitted to a bundle promoting racial justice, a cause not often associated with sexist bigots. I’m happy to report that neither of my fears proved true. In fact, not only are the characters not sexualized, there’s an impressive diversity of body types and appearances on display among Plovdiv’s citizenry. Aerannis instead uses its premise to argue for trans rights. Any good piece of cyberpunk fiction needs an oppressive government or megacorporation(s) to rebel against, and in futuristic Plovdiv it’s a government run by trans-exclusionary radical feminists (commonly referred to as TERFs). Ceyda, you see, is a trans woman, and it’s heavily implied that the persecution she faces due to this fact is what led her to a life of crime. Throughout the game, she endures verbal abuse from others, who feel that she doesn’t truly belong in Plovdiv’s female society, and that “her kind” are the source of all of Plovdiv’s problems. Fortunately, she also finds many friends, not just her handler Elsa and robotic assistant SED, but also other trans people or sympathetic residents. It’s clear, however, what Ceyda is up against.

Except actually it isn’t, because things get weirder. It’s not just a bunch of TERF assholes in charge, but also some shapeshifting aliens who are secretly running things and trying to control the course of humanity. They manufacture false threats, you see, to stir up conflict and shake humans out of their complacency. Ceyda is soon focused on exposing them, but honestly the story gets a bit muddled. There’s a section where Ceyda heads to the Old Planina District (I believe this refers to the Stara Planina or Balkan Mountains; literally “old mountain”), a place where the architecture and fashion is inspired by East Asia, everyone wears masks covering their faces, and Ceyda must dye her bright red hair black so she doesn’t arouse suspicion. It was never fully clear to me how the Planinans fit into everything. I think they’re a commentary on the types of gender roles women endured under earlier, patriarchal societies? The mysterious aliens are odd, too, and the story gets increasingly strange before culminating in two bizarre endings. There’s a lot going on here.

There’s a lot going on in how Aerannis plays, too. Before diving into that, I should say that it differs from traditional Metroidvanias in structure. Players expecting to meticulously explore a vast, interconnected world like they do in the Metroid series or games like Guacamelee! will be disappointed. Aerannis does have an interconnected world that players can travel through, but progress is almost entirely gated by story events, as Ceyda accepts new missions that lead her to different places. Often, these are simply buildings, which she cannot enter until she receives the corresponding mission. There are a few upgrades and new abilities to collect throughout the game, but very little in the way of optional areas to access with them or collectibles to find. It’s closer in structure to story-led Matroidvanias like Owlboy, but what it really reminded me of — perhaps because of the mission-based structure and secret shapeshifting aliens — is Delphine’s 1992 classic Flashback.

But Aerannis isn’t that much like Flashback either, as it’s not a puzzle-like cinematic platformer. Ceyda has more traditional platformer moves, with high jumps and (eventually) wall jumps and dashes that let her easily traverse vertical space (although she can hang from ledges and pull herself up, like Flashback’s Conrad). While in a mission, however, she often slows down to carefully infiltrate places unseen. Many missions require a stealthy approach through a strict requirement that Ceyda never be spotted by an enemy, and on rare occasions she is also prohibited from killing anyone. So she crawls through vents, hides in nooks, and throws noisemakers as distractions. Visual indicators for approaching off-screen enemies, and the sighlines of on-screen foes, are useful for avoiding detection, and if Ceyda can sneak up behind someone unawares she can take them hostage.

This feature is highlighted on the itch.io page, but I wish it were more important when actually playing. Once Ceyda has a hostage, she can walk them around the area, using them as a human shield or having them open locked doors. But human shields are useless if Ceyda needs to stay unseen, and opportunities to use a hostage to get past security doors are rare. Most of the time, I was only taking hostages so I could silently eliminate them, as hostages die from a single shot of Ceyda’s energy pistol, whereas it will take several shots to take out an enemy in an open fight. This means stealth kills in Aerannis are an awkward two-step process, first nabbing an enemy as a hostage and then shooting them, often in quite a rush indeed so Ceyda can get back into hiding before that other guard turns around.

This process is made more difficult by awkward controls that cannot be remapped. I tried playing with keyboard and gamepad, but both have odd mappings that had me constantly pressing the wrong button and flubbing a key maneuver. And when, as in so many stealth-based games, a mistake means starting over and repeating a large chunk of the mission, these mis-pressings can be infuriating. I eventually settled on keyboard control as the less awkward option, but simply allowing remapping in the options would had solved the issue entirely. Well, maybe not entirely; some tightening of the level design would also help in a few places. The Old Planina District, for example, is the first place where Aerannis uses vertical space to expand its exploration of city streets between mission locations (not unlike the towns in Simon’s Quest), and also the only place where I didn’t know how to find my objective. Boss encounters tend to be weak points too, veering either too simple or too clumsy, although thankfully none were major roadblocks for me.

These weaknesses really bring Aerannis down. I found myself only playing in short spurts at first, and somewhat forcing myself to continue for the sake of this post. So many things feel awkward: Ceyda’s wall jumps push her off the wall in the opposite direction that I’m pressing, climbing up or dropping down when hanging from a ledge is jerky, and it’s unclear whether dropping to the floor behind a guard will be loud enough to alert them and fail the mission. But things did get better later, both because I started to get accustomed to the weird controls and because the encounters became more forgiving. For missions where Ceyda does not have to avoid detection, the stealth mechanics become useful tactical tools for gaining the upper hand, but she can still fight her way out if things go wrong. It was these encounters, when Ceyda had her full complement of abilities and tools, that were the most enjoyable.

In the end, I did warm up to Aerannis, not least because of its gorgeous pixel art. The red, purple and orange color scheme is a nice contrast to the typical cool blues we get for cyberpunk fare, and reminded me of Xenogunner, one of my favorite picks from year two of Scratching That Itch. I already mentioned the wonderful variety in character designs, but I also loved the locations. There’s interesting architecture everywhere, glowing windows hinting at the people living their lives inside. When I got to enter these, I found multi-story offices or laboratories with cool sci-fi elevators and sliding doors, just begging to be infiltrated. One mission led me to the park, which offered a respite from the bustle of the city as I traversed several quiet screens filled with trees. There’s even a slick intro sequence when launching the game, and an excellent synthy soundtrack. The only place the art falls short is in some of the animations. Many are great, like Ceyda mussing with her ponytail while idle, but others are jerky and abrupt, like when she pulls herself up when hanging on a ledge (this is probably a big reason why that feels clunky when playing).

So I find myself recommending Aerannis after all, but with some major caveats. It looks great and is a sizeable game, but will frustrate players trying to maneuver through its unforgiving stealth missions. I persevered and am glad I did, but I suspect many players would give up after a few missions. If you are willing to put up with some tricky controls in order to experience a strange adventure in an unusual setting, you’ll find a lot to like in Aerannis. I’m sitll not sure what the title is referring to, though; apparently it’s Latin for “bronze”? Anyway, if you missed it in the bundle, Aerannis is sold for a minimum price of $4.99.

That’s 218 down, and only 1523 to go!