Ary and the Secret of Seasons is a 3D action-adventure platformer game developed by Belgian indie studio Exiin, ported on consoles by Fishing Cactus and published by Modus Games. It follows the journey of a young girl named Ary across the magnificent world of Valdi, where each region is divided based on the four seasons. The game is structured similar to The Legend of Zelda, with progress limited to certain areas of the game world until the player has collected a new weapon or ability for Ary to use. The game was released on Microsoft Windows via Steam, and Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on September 1, 2020.
1,000 years ago, an Evil Mage attempted to take over the world, but was stopped and imprisoned in a time vault by the Legendary Guardian. In the current day, Ary, short for Aryelle, is the daughter of the winter guardian, Gwenn. Ary’s older brother, Flynn, was the winter guardian apprentice, but disappeared sometime ago while with the spring guardian apprentice, Prince Crocus.
One day, gigantic red crystals crash from the sky, changing the regional seasons into their opposite and sending the world into turmoil. The guardians are summoned to the Dome of Seasons to investigate the crisis. Ary decides to set out and take her brother’s place, as her father is still grieving Flynn’s disappearance. However, the Guardians of Seasons is an old organization traditionally ruled by men. She disguises herself as a boy and takes her father’s orb of winter, which allows her to use seasonal powers, joining the Guardians of Seasons, and is tasked with finding out the cause of the crisis.
This game provides examples of:
- Been There, Shaped History: Future!Ary is the Legendary Guardian from 1,000 years ago, and future!Crocus is the Evil Mage, also from 1,000 years ago.
- Big Bad: The Evil Mage.
- Big Good: The Legendary Guardian.
- Character Customization: There are different outfits for Ary to wear in the game, so she can change her look anytime.
- Clarke's Third Law: The golems pretty much state everything the people of Valdi view as magic, such as the weather-changing orbs, is actually advance science. The golems themselves state they were created by a sufficiently advanced but extinct civilization. The Dome Of Seasons contains a hidden computerized room, and the individual temples also contain rooms of highly advanced technology.
- Colossus Climb: The Final Boss involves using the Winter powers to create platforms to disable the golem's legs and climb upon it.
- Falling Damage: Falling from a tall height takes off a heart from your health bar.
- Final Boss: The Samhain golem, controlled by the Evil Mage.
- Four-Seasons Level: The world of Valdi is divided this way.
- Future Me Scares Me: Crocus, upon learning he becomes the Evil Mage in the future, becomes terrified and tries to stop this future by imprisoning himself.
- Heel–Face Turn: Prince Crocus, upon learning the truth about his Well-Intentioned Extremist actions.
- Heroic BSoD: Flynn's disappearance causes Ary's poor father to fall into a deep depression.
- Kid Hero: Ary looks like she's just barely in grade school, yet is embarking on a quest to save the world. Her lost brother Flynn is likewise.
- Madness Mantra: After his shocking revelation, Crocus loses it and slowly repeats to himself.
- My Future Self and Me: The Legendary Warrior is Ary's future self, and the Evil Mage is Crocus' future self.
- Never the Selves Shall Meet: Played with. Future Ary (A.K.A The Legendary Warrior) does meet up with our heroine, but she does not reveal her identity to her for it to even matter.
- No Fourth Wall: While "drunk" on knockout gas, before passing out, Dagdann, the Guardian of Summer, rambles on about how he feels he's in a video game and criticizes side quests. He repeats this in the end game credits as well.
- Pungeon Master: Dagdann does this in the end credits, and the Autumn golem as well, when meeting it in the Autumn Temple.
- Sequel Hook: The Evil Mage reveals to Ary that Flynn is still alive, but not in the current time period, and escapes. Meanwhile, Ary resolves to learn how to time travel to rescue Flynn, evidently one day becoming the Legendary Warrior.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Since the guardians are a fraternal organization, Ary disguises herself as a boy, cutting her hair and changing her clothes. The disguise fools some but ultimately is pointless, as everyone sees she is not a boy and the other guardians don't even object to Ary being there anyway.
- Timey-Wimey Ball: The Legendary Warrior and the Evil Mage are Ary and Crocus' future selves, respectively. 1,000 years ago, the Legendary Warrior fought and sealed away the Evil Mage. Future!Ary recorded her deeds in a book and sends it Ary's present. So, future versions of both characters fought 1,000 years in the past, future!Ary sent a message from the future, in the form of a book detailing events from 1,000 years ago, to the present, and then both characters eventually ended up in the present due to time travel where they fought again.
- Tomato in the Mirror: Prince Crocus masterminded everything to unseal and defeat the Evil Mage, only to learn that said Mage is his time-travelling future self.
- The Unfought: The Evil Mage is never fought directly. The golem he is controlling is destroyed, and the Mage has already been defeated by the Legendary Warrior when Ary finally confronts him.
- Villainous BSoD: Crocus stops responding when he learns of whom he really becomes.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Prince Crocus. He came to believe he could stop the Evil Mage. To do so, he knocks out the guardians and takes their weather orbs. He also imprisoned other children to harvest crystals to use as weapons. After finding out his future self is the Evil Mage, he realizes his mistakes.
