Check out Aer's beautiful, seamless world in this new gameplay trailer

YouTube

We mentioned the lofty exploration game Aer a couple of months ago in our “Guide to the Games of 2016,” in which we said it looks gorgeous and “sounds pretty chill.” Based on the gameplay trailer released today by publisher Daedalic Entertainment, I think it's fair to say that we were right on the money.

The trailer doesn't do much to clear up what the game is all about, so I'll let the YouTube description do the talking. “In a freely explorable world you will follow Auk, a girl who can transform into a bird, on a journey through the Land of Gods. You will visit nomads and spirit animals, and venture down into ruins from an ancient civilization,” it says. “The gods of old are forgotten, lost in the events that left the lands shattered into islands in the sky. On your journey you will encounter events that have not been seen in generations, and every step leads you closer towards the end of the world. It’s up to you to seek out the secrets that can help you save it.”

Transitions from human to bird and back will be “seamless," Daedalic said, and players will be able to go where they want, complete objectives, and discover secrets without restrictions. It's clearly a far cry from the point-and-click adventures it's best known for publishing, like Whispered World and Deponia, but I think it sounds fantastic.

Aer is set to come out sometime in September.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.