Aeolis Tournament Review | Playing With Air

It’s an air blast to play, pun intended.

In a year where a global pandemic has kept people in their homes, unable to meet up with friends and family or socialize with strangers at events, multiplayer games can be a great way to stay connected with people. 

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Of course, depending on who you want to spend time with, not just any multiplayer game will do.

If you’re looking to play something with younger members of your family, or play with someone who doesn’t game on the regular, you’ll want something that’s approachable. You also may want something that supports more than four players.

This is where Aeolis Tournament comes in! 

Aeolis Tournament Review | Playing With Air

We received a review copy for Aeolis Tournament for Nintendo Switch, though we’ve also played the game on Steam. Our review is based on our time with the game on each platform. 

 

One of the first things you’ll notice when playing Aeolis Tournament is how simple, yet effective its core gameplay is. Harnessing the power of air, you can move objects and opponents around in a variety of different ways using an Air Blaster. 

The Air Blaster only requires one button to use so you won’t have to worry about mastering complicated controls. Your sole focus is the goal of the game mode you’re playing whether you’re playing alone, or with other people. 

You can play one mode at a time in Quick Game or give Tournament a try and cycle between several game modes. Some of our favorites modes include Explosive Dodgeball and Sportsball.

Explosive Dodgeball is exactly what it sounds like it is, a game of dodgeball but instead of balls you’re throwing bombs. If you’re caught by a bomb blast you can be stunned. You can also be knocked off the map. If you get knocked off the map, the opposing team scores a point.

Meanwhile, Sportsball lets you blow different sports objects around a field like a soccer ball, football, and hockey puck. When you’re pushing around a hockey puck, it can feel a little like air hockey. What’s nice is that if this air hockey vibe appeals to you like it did us, the game also has a dedicated Air Hockey mode.

Currently, Aeolis Tournament offers six game modes in total, three free-for-all modes and three team-based modes. 

  • Sportsball
  • Explosive Dodgeball
  • Snowball Battle
  • Marble Thief
  • Air Hockey
  • The Perfect Storm

In an interview with IndieObscura, Beyond Fun Studio confirmed plans to add more content in the future.

“We have plans for up to a year of new content after launch. Obviously this is all depending on the initial success of the game and if it is worth it, but it is the plan,” Beyond Fun Studio explained.

“We’ll alternate between free and paid content to continually re-engage players to come back to the game and see the new stuff. It would include new game modes, new characters, new customization items, and maybe more settings to customize your games.”  

It can be something of a challenge to get into a game and try one of these modes if you don’t have people to play with. The good is that Aeolis Tournament supports up to 8 players both locally and online.

If no one is available you can play with and against CPU opponents at varying levels of difficulty: Easy, Medium, and Hard. The bad is that we weren’t able to matchmake with random players on Nintendo Switch, though the game gives you the option to do so with “Join Random Room.”

Selecting this option, we were constantly transferred over to the “Create Room” option which you can make either Public or Private. 

You can choose how many people you want to play with, but note that you’ll need that many people in the room in order to start a game.

The best option for solo players right now is Local Game which gives you two options, Quick Game and Tournament. 

With Quick Game you can pick one mode to play. For example, you can pick Snowball Battle to just play that mode on its own. If you pick Tournament Mode, as noted above, you’ll cycle between different modes. 

When setting up your game in Aeolis Tournament, you can choose how long the match is, how many participants (you plus however many CPU you want to work with), the CPU difficulty, and whether you want Chaos Mode to be On or Off. 

Chaos Mode refers to map events like fire geysers in Sportsball and lightning bursts in Perfect Storm. Adding to the fun, you can choose from six cute characters both animal and human. 

  • Wolfman (Wolf Man)
  • Luna (Moth Girl)
  • Gadget (Human Male)
  • Rummy (Human Female)
  • Finn (Shark Man)
  • Effy (Cat Girl) 

The characters offer more than the ability to distinguish between players. They have ratings to them that affect how they play including Air Blaster power, movement speed, and weight which dictates how easily you can be blown off the map.

The game includes random power-ups that can temporarily improve these ratings and add new elements of strategy. Maybe you need a little more speed to get that last goal. Maybe you need to increase your weight in a game like Explosive Dodgeball.

Whatever the case may be, power-ups are an effective way to give yourself a little boost. 

Aeolis Tournament has customization options that you can unlock in order to help your character stand out even more. All of the cosmetic items can be unlocked with Aeolis Coins which you’ll earn as a reward for playing games and earning achievements. 

For a game made by a small studio (three people), Aeolis Tournament is certainly impressive. The modes and gameplay feel familiar, yet still creative and fun. If you have people to play with, Aeolis Tournament is a great party game. 

If you’re playing alone, it can be a good way to pass the time. However, it feels like a game designed to be played with other people rather than CPU. It’s great to be able to smack talk, and laugh with each other when things go awry. 

It feels perfectly at home on Nintendo Switch alongside games like Overcooked 2 and the various Jackbox Party Pack games. If party games appeal to you and you have people to play with, Aeolis Tournament isn’t a bad purchase at $14.99.

If you’re playing solo, keep in mind that you’ll primarily be playing against CPU characters. The game modes are fun and you can certainly win with CPU teammates against CPU opponents, but again, you may miss out on some of the excitement and “random” factor that comes with playing with real people.

Related: Rocket League Goes Free-to-Play With New Launcher Requirements

Overall, it’s nice to see family-friendly party games like Aeolis Tournament release this year. We could all use a little wholesome fun right now, and Aeolis Tournament provides that in spades.

It’s great whether you have young kids bored at home, friends you can’t physically see but can connect with online, or even just free time you don’t know what to do with it. 

It’s a game you can drop in and out of and is easy enough to get the hang of that you never feel frustrated. Want to give it a try? You can buy Aeolis Tournament right now on Nintendo Switch and Steam


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Author
Morgan Shaver
Morgan is a writer, metalhead, horror lover, and indie game enthusiast. When it comes to games, they love nothing more than to wax poetic about all the latest and greatest indies to anyone who'll listen. They're also a Tetris fanatic who's fiercely competitive in games like Tetris 99... and all games in general. But mostly Tetris. You can follow Morgan on Twitter @Author_MShaver