I wasn’t fairly certain what to anticipate, going into Asterigos: Curse of the Stars. It is, in any case, the debut title from Taiwanese developer Acme Gamestudio, so there’s virtually no pedigree to talk of.

However, even with all the opposite massive RPGs from massive manufacturers releasing across the clock, generally it is good to expertise one thing new & unknown, one thing a bit extra targeted and smaller-scope, and one thing not tied to any present model or property.

And truthfully, I loved Asterigos way more than I anticipated to.

The playable character of Asterigos (that is pronounced AST-terr-reh-gohs) is a younger girl named Hilda, a warrior of the Northwind Legion who travels to the cursed metropolis of Aphes to search out her lacking father & tribemates. Aphes has been caught in time for hundreds of years, because of the titular Curse of the Stars. As Hilda seeks out her brethren, the historical past of Aphes & its curse slowly involves the forefront, and Hilda’s actions will unavoidably form its destiny.

Asterigos is an motion RPG, the place Hilda can concurrently wield two completely different weapons from a complete of six differing kinds. The fight programs at play really remind me of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning greater than anything – a recreation that additionally positioned heavy emphasis on creating assault combos from a weapon pair. As it seems, there’s really a good bit of selection that comes from altering up which weapons you resolve to wield, as every performs a bit in a different way.

As you progress by way of the sport, you can unlock extra expertise on your desired weapon kind, in addition to upgrades to passive parts reminiscent of cost time, defend effectiveness, and related. All in all, it is not a really ornate or novel fight system, nevertheless it’s competent and surprisingly versatile.

There are additionally some hints of inspiration from Souls-like video games in Asterigos, however solely in a extra restricted method. There are conduits scattered across the recreation world, appearing as your locations of therapeutic, in addition to eventual warp and storage factors. By resting at conduits, all close by enemies will respawn. World navigation additionally locations heavy emphasis on discovering your method round to shortcuts – reminiscent of dropping down ladders or opening doorways from the opposite unlocked aspect. There can be no in-game map, so you’re coerced to navigate around the globe utilizing landmarks and the atmosphere itself.

I believe calling Asterigos a Souls-lite is truthful, in case you should label it. If you are likely to draw back from something Souls-inspired, although, do not fret an excessive amount of. Asterigos is way more forgiving than most similarly-inspired video games. For one, there’s a Story issue which vastly eases up on any current problem, for these desirous to leisurely expertise Hilda’s journey. But even in its customary mode, the sport is greater than manageable, as checkpoints and well being potions are loads. It’s additionally value noting that Asterigos has a reasonably customary EXP and leveling system. In some methods, Asterigos appears like an journey RPG from years previous.

Asterigos’ narrative is definitely, on paper, surprisingly fascinating. Soon after Hilda arrives in Aphes, she meets an aristocratic resident named Minerva, who could possibly be argued is – in truth – the primary character of Asterigos’ storyline. She’s not essentially a likable particular person, or probably the most sympathetic character, however the narrative course runs by way of Minerva and her actions. She’s typically at odds with Hilda, particularly throughout the begin of the sport. 

But as you progress by way of the sport, you may find out how Minerva is tied to the titular Asterigos curse, together with a number of different characters essential to the cursed metropolis’s historical past. Perhaps additionally impressed by the budding Souls-like style, a lot of Asterigos’ storyline is delivered by way of in-game diary entries and notes (in all probability too many notes, to be trustworthy), although customary dialogue sequences are additionally commonplace. It admittedly took some time to develop on me, however piecing collectively the thriller surrounding Aphes, experiencing opposing views and clashing factions, the story really managed to take a position my consideration. Sort of.

Despite the fascinating conceptual premise, nevertheless, Asterigos’ execution of its narrative is considerably tough. The script itself is commonly held again by some awkwardly translated textual content, and dialogue exchanges additionally at all times appear to go about three sentences too lengthy. The recreation’s modest price range does no favors right here both, as solely crucial strains will likely be voiced, which generally causes conversations between characters to awkwardly toggle between voiced and voiceless strains, although that is extra of a distraction than anything. Overall, the narrative that surrounds Asterigos is a kind of issues that I discover a conceptually fascinating premise, however flawed execution all through dilutes its effectiveness on the entire.

Asterigos has a good presentation general, from serviceable voice appearing, an enthralling artstyle, good atmosphere aesthetics, and a legible consumer interface. Asterigos’ easy artwork aesthetic just isn’t solely charming, nevertheless it’s really one thing I functionally appreciated, so far as traversing environments go. When I performed the souls-like RPG Steelrising final month, the sheer density of visible muddle within the atmosphere design legitimately made it tougher to find out the place I may go & which paths have been really traversable. Sure, it appeared good if you’re purely speaking about visible constancy, nevertheless it did not really do the sport any actual favors once you really needed to management a personality inside that recreation house. I believe Asterigos’s extra stylized artwork fashion just isn’t solely interesting sufficient by itself, it’s way more conducive to legible environments and with the ability to navigate them.

That’s to not say Asterigos’ stage design is stellar, although, as a result of there are literally a number of locations that have been genuinely irritating to navigate. Perhaps resulting from price range constraints, varied inside hallways or cave interiors tend to look overly related to one another, so it is fairly simple to get confused about the place you really are at instances. I’ve skilled worse on this entrance, for certain, however nonetheless, it is best to in all probability anticipate to get a minimum of a little bit bit misplaced sooner or later.

One of the extra bothersome components of Asterigos is the way it handles its quest design. There are quite a few sidequests all through Hilda’s journey involving different residents of the cursed metropolis, and these quests are of various kinds and high quality. Hilda even has her personal journal that takes be aware of those sidequests, of which I’m of two minds. Her journal is way more lifelike & diegetic in comparison with most RPGs, with Hilda’s notes written in first-person along with her personal ideas (and drawings) on the occasions that transpire. This is definitely very nice to see, and I a lot desire it over the generally seen gamey checklist-like quest logs which are typically in any other case discovered within the style.

However, as a journal, Hilda’s notes are sometimes really ineffective. She’ll embrace some feedback about her opinions on the search, however little details about what she thinks she could must do. And oftentimes, the best way to truly progress a quest is considerably opaque. Sometimes it’s important to converse with a selected NPC at a selected place, deciding on a selected dialogue choice as a way to progress a sidequest. Good luck determining the place you stand at your sidequest progress if you’re coming again to the sport from an prolonged absence, as a result of the journal – regardless of being a enjoyable take a look at Hilda’s interior monologue – won’t be a very good useful resource for really reminding you what the search was even about.

Even nonetheless, I a lot desire this fashion of quest design greater than fetch quests or errands typically seen in RPGs. In truth, I had a little bit of enjoyable collaborating with different gamers as the sport launched, collectively attempting to determine how a sidequest progresses and what must be achieved. I nonetheless assume Hilda ought to take higher notes, although.

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars is a greater expertise than I anticipated it to be. Despite its shortcomings, reminiscent of extreme dialogue, translation oddities, quest points, and a few awkward space design, for these in search of a snug motion RPG with a satisfying story & competent fight, Asterigos deserves an opportunity.

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