AER Memories of Old is a quiet, open-world adventure built around the simple joy of flight. You play Auk, one of the last shapeshifters in a world that was torn apart long ago, leaving only scattered islands drifting through an endless sky. With a thought she becomes a bird, and all of that sky is yours to cross as you follow a pilgrimage toward the Land of Gods and the secrets that might keep what remains from falling into darkness.
A Pilgrimage Through a Shattered World
The gods of old are forgotten, lost in the cataclysm that broke the world into fragments. What survives is beautiful and fragile: colorful islands hanging in the air, ancient ruins half-swallowed by grass and mist, and a handful of people still holding on to the old stories. Auk is sent out on a pilgrimage to visit the temples of those gods, and each place she reaches adds another piece to the picture of what happened and what is coming. Forgotten Key tells that story lightly, through the places you find and the few people you meet along the way, and it trusts you to draw your own conclusions rather than spelling everything out.
Become a Bird at Will
Flight in AER is instant and unconditional. Step off any ledge, press a button, and Auk transforms in mid-air, wings spread, the island shrinking below her. There is no stamina bar, no fuel and no timer. You can skim low over the water, climb until the clouds close in, then bank toward whatever shape catches your eye on the horizon and land there to explore on foot. Because the world is one continuous sky with no walls between its islands, the pull to see what is over the next ridge never lets up, and the route you take between the temples is entirely your own.
Lantern, Ruins and Temples
- The lantern of memories
- On foot, Auk carries a lantern that reveals what the world has forgotten. Raise it inside the ruins and ghostly echoes of the people who once lived there play out around you, showing the moments that led to the gods being lost. It is the game's main way of telling its story, and it rewards poking into every corner.
- Temples of the old gods
- The pilgrimage leads through a series of temples, each a dedicated space with its own atmosphere and gentle environmental puzzles. Nothing here is punishing; the challenge is in reading the space, noticing what the lantern shows you and working out how the pieces connect before the way forward opens.
- Secrets across the islands
- Beyond the main path, the islands are dotted with hidden ruins, shrines and quiet vantage points that exist purely for the pleasure of finding them. Flying between them, dropping down to investigate and lifting off again is the loop the whole game is built on, and it stays satisfying from the first island to the last.
Art and Sound That Carry the Mood
AER's world is drawn in clean, minimalist low-poly shapes and bold, saturated color, so every island reads like a painting from the air and every sunset over the water is worth stopping for. The soundtrack does a great deal of the work too, swelling as you climb and settling into something softer as you land, and it has stayed with a lot of players long after the credits. This is a short game, a few hours from start to finish, and a calm one: there is no combat and no failure state waiting to interrupt the mood. Full controller support makes it an easy one to settle into from the couch. Forgotten Key, the small Swedish studio behind it, set out to make a game about feeling free in the sky, and that feeling is exactly what it delivers.
If you have ever wanted a game that simply lets you fly, with a world worth flying through and a gentle mystery to follow when you touch down, AER Memories of Old is waiting. Pick up your key, step off the edge and see where the sky takes you.
