What can we say about The Adventure Company that we haven't already said? They're "The Little Train That Could"; the Never-Ending Gobstopper Machine... they ARE adventure games. If it weren't for TAC, the genre would have died out many moons ago. But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

What I mean by that is the genre has mutated to the point that labeling them "adventure games" is a misnomer. For whatever reason, developers think solving puzzles is actually adventurous, so instead of taking the time to craft an interesting adventure story with interesting characters, they pack a game full of puzzles and call it a day. This is never more apparent than with Aura: Fate of Ages. Aura is cloaked in a thinly veiled storyline that only marginally passes for anything adventurous. But it's packed full of puzzles that'll have you pulling out your hair, gouging out your eyes, or getting fitted for that lovely white canvass straight-jacket.

The Reader's Digest version of the abovementioned story goes like this: You're Umgang, chosen by your clan's elder - called the-none-too-original "Keepers" - to travel to the far off land of Ademika to complete your training with another old "master" named Grifit. The "Keepers" protect four mystical rings. Legend has it that whoever unites the rings with a bunch of artifacts found on four other worlds would achieve great power and immortality. God forbid the rings fall into the wrongs hands - for all would surely be lost. Enter the antagonist, Durad, whose hands you must keep the rings out of in order to avoid having all be lost. Oh, all the while trying to find all the artifacts to boot. Sounds all strangely familiar somehow, doesn't it?

To say this isn't the most original story ever conceived is like saying the Grand Canyon is merely another crack in the ground. To add to the staleness, we never felt like we were on a mission to save worlds - there was absolutely no sense of urgency. To make matters worse, Umang isn't endowed with much of a personality. In fact, the guy is so boring we wondered why his clan chose him instead of someone else. If this is all the Keepers have to offer - they're in trouble! His lack of charisma might explain why no one else in the game wants to talk with him. Along with a weak story and an uninteresting main character, you only run into a smattering of NPC's in the whole game. And you have virtually no interaction with any of them! An "adventure game" staple is the throng of NPC's that usually litter every square inch of land! And even if they only direct you to the nearest gobstopper machine, at least you can talk to them if you want!

Okay, so what does Aura do well? This is a beautiful game. The worlds in which the thinly veiled storyline unfolds will have you mesmerized. There are four of them, and each are as different from each other as the four seasons. Your quest starts in Ademika, an enormous, flourishing valley surrounded by vast mountains. Dragast is a mechanical world (and the home of Armagast, one of your clan leaders) set amidst a massive range of snow-capped mountains that would rival the Rockies. Na-Tiexu is the anti-thesis of Dragast, it's a world ruled by magic broken into four distinct regions of its own: Children, Astronomy and Alchemy, Magic, and Spirits. Two of these regions contain a few of the aforementioned NPCs that you can interact with. The last world is the remote Island of Unity. Each environment is insanely detailed, with a slew of places crammed full of things to investigate. Some of which may even help you solve one of the zillions of puzzles. Fortunately, each world is self-contained and frequently has all the answers to the puzzles found there, with clues usually in close proximity to the puzzle itself.

Speaking of puzzles... that's the other thing that Aura does well... or not, depending on your penchant for them. If you don't love (and we sincerely mean that) solving some of the craziest puzzles ever conceived, skip this game. Not only will you hate it, but you may be found twitching on the floor next to your PC - drool trickling from your mouth and your eyes rolled back into your head. After about an hour of attempting to decipher of a few of the very first brain busting conundrums, we caved in and used the walkthrough. We simply didn't have the adequate Mental Magnificence to bust them.

There are puzzles that require the use of inventory items, others that call for the manipulation and memorization of symbols, and still others that require using math skills that you've long since forgotten. But the most insidious of them all are the Simon Says musical tone puzzles that require you to have the "ear" of Mozart - or your dog. The tones are so similar that you'll swear you're hearing the same thing. Some of the other puzzles are so complex and confusing, that explaining them is an overwhelming challenge in itself. You have to experience them for yourself. However, we can say that you'll be spending an inordinate amount of time pushing buttons, pulling levers, twisting knobs, flipping switches and watching dazzling animations full of pretty colors and whirly things... and have nary a clue as to what it all means.

Aura is only $19.99. Aura is a beautiful puzzle game... if you're into that sort of thing. Aura is also an uninspired Myst clone in an age when static "adventure games," don't mean all that much. Video games have come a looooooong way since the hey-day of that original smash hit, and so have player's attitudes. But if you're one of those folks that are obsessive compulsive about completing every crossword puzzle you come across, or have 5 jigsaw puzzles going on at the same time, then you'll probably love Aura: Fates of Ages!