He was fascinated by the premise of the game where consecutive sessions, in game terms, take place weeks, years or even centuries apart. But Rilstone found that the whole thing was bogged down in endless verbiage: "Did we really need 250 brain-numbing words distinguishing between Fair and Very Fair complexion, and pointing out that in a given society 'curly and wavy hair' is uncommon?" Rilstone concluded by giving the book the lowest possible rating of only 1 out of 10 overall, saying "Verbose, obtuse, badly explained, badly organised, repetitive, over-complex, pretentious, but containing one phenomenally good idea. Aria should have been a milestone in the history of roleplaying games. Unfortunately, it has turned out to be a large and expensive doorstop instead. Aria is quite literally unplayable." In March 2000, a reviewer on RPG.net summarized their review of Aria by saying, "I love Aria, but it is not a game without faults. It has many. However, it also has many virtues, and should not be overlooked simply because of the poor quality of presentation." Reviews Shadis #17 (Jan. 1995) Shadis #18 (Feb. 1995) References Last Unicorn Games games Universal role-playing games Role-playing games introduced in 1994