Areia: Pathway to Dawn Review

Areia: Pathway to Dawn is a puzzle-platformer from GILP Studio’s that tries to take you through the stages of enlightenment by creating a relaxing experience for the player. Unfortunately, Areia: Pathway to Dawn fails on that intention almost completely, but the very few things it does get right, it does them surprisingly well.

The fundamental reason that Areia: Pathway to Dawn fails in its journey through the stages of enlightenment is because of the story (or lack thereof). From the get-go, you never really understand what is going on and that remains the case for the two hours it takes to beat. You play as a weird, half-blue, half-sand thing as you wake in the middle of a sandstorm out in the open deserts. As you walk around the desert avoiding arbitrarily broken glass along the way – and moving at a snail’s pace – you notice a figure that looks rather similar to yourself. The remainder of the game is following this mysterious figure as it leads you to these meditation stations where you receive powers or a random quote.

That’s really all you might understand of the story unless you have some sort of history or background with Buddhism, since it seems the story revolves around that religion. GILP Studios said that it’s “a story about the stages of the samsara wheel of life”, which after some googling, discovered it was part of Buddhism. There will probably be many people who play this game that have no knowledge of Buddhism – like myself – and will be completely lost playing this because that is never explained whatsoever. Maybe the story is about enlightenment for people who understand that religion, but for those who don’t, you’ll probably be confused.

While you’ll be confused by the story, the gameplay is just the opposite. It’s rather basic but because of that – even in the short time it takes to beat – it starts to get repetitive. As mentioned previously, you’ll begin by dodging glass in the desert until you get your first power of which there are only two. The first power gives you a tail and allows you to create a bridge made out of sand only after making contact with water, and as long as your tail is glowing blue. You can use this ability to cross gaps or get to higher areas as it builds until the light in your tail is out. The second power has no physical change and it allows you to create another sand bridge but from a specific spot. These bridges also act as switches, initiating something once they are connected to the other end.

There is really only one puzzle in Areia: Pathway to Dawn, and you’ll just be doing it multiple times throughout the game. The puzzle is pretty straightforward as well: you’re essentially just connecting the same colored pads together as you start on one pad then levitate to the other carrying the ‘electricity’ of the pad with you. The only caveat is that the line of electricity from the pads cannot intersect with each other. Once you understand that obstacle, the puzzles are never a challenge, but it could be purposely that way since it’s supposed to be a relaxing experience. Despite that, it would have been nice for some variation or a small incremental change to make it feel like you aren’t doing the same thing continuously.

One thing that you might be surprised at is how aesthetically pleasing Areia: Pathway to Dawn is. The visuals are beautiful with some exceptional lighting, landscapes and great use of the camera as it pans in and out when revealing new areas giving some great scope to the world. The music very much follows the Buddhist theme with some religious-sounding songs in the background as you explore the open deserts as well as the sound design with bells ringing whenever you complete a task. Some of the animations can get wonky-looking especially when walking up hills, but other than that they looked great.

Within the opening hours of Areia: Pathway to Dawn you can see what the developers were trying to do with its beautiful visuals and overall religious vibe, but it ultimately falls flat due to its repetitive puzzles and assuming the audience is familiar with Buddhism.