Title: Asterigos: Curse of the Stars
Developer: Acme Gamestudio
Publisher: tinyBuild
Genre: action-adventure, RPG
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Steam
Release Date: Sept. 06, 2022
Price: $34.99
When I first saw Asterigos: Curse of the Stars, it immediately reminded me of the game Immortal Fenyx Rising, a game that I really liked from a couple of years back. It was Ubisoft’s attempt to outdo Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It did not work as well as they probably hoped, but I thought it was a very decent attempt. It was so good that it made me re-play Breath of the Wild and I clocked another 200+ hours on it. It is THAT good.
But… back to this game: Asterigos: Curse of the Stars may share some of Immortal Fenyx Rising’s art style and a bit of the combat mechanics, the comparison stops there. I’m not saying that this game is a worse game, nor does it try to emulate it, but they are both fun to play, to say the very least. The game has a Graeco-Roman aesthetic both in its visuals and music, and for the most part, the developers did a fantastic job in building a world filled with wonders and monsters and adventures through it all.
In this game, you play as Hilda, a headstrong yet energetic young female warrior, whose father went missing in the city of Aphes. The people in this city have been stricken with Asterigos aka the Curse of the Stars, a curse that turned them into monsters. Killing these monsters reward you with Starite, a substance of which the living beings of this world are made of. It can be used in upgrading your weapons. Also, don’t worry much about the people who turned to monsters, because they respawn whenever you take a rest on one of the scattered shrine-like Conduits that serve as a save point. You yourself respawn on the last Conduit that you visit if you happen to get killed in action. Anyway, the story of this game starts out rather slow but gradually become more convoluted as you progress into the game.
You will meet early on the Adherents, a rebel group that aims to free Aphes from its curse. Their headquarters are underneath the sewers of the city, which they call the Shelter. This serves as the hub world of the game. From here, you get to reach different sections of the city as you go through missions that are given to you. You have to fulfill different goals to complete a mission, and you may be given multiple missions at once, and it is up to you which one to complete first. In between missions, you can speak to different interesting NPCs, some of which will sell you consumable items or craft new gears and weapons. Take advantage of this as enemies outside can get pretty tough.
By the way, be warned: you will have to deal with a barrage of exposition in this game, either through lengthy, dialogue-heavy cutscenes or text-heavy exposition dumps from documents or from the many NPCs that you will encounter either at the Shelter or in different areas in Aphes. They are just a lot. Sure, the story is interesting enough for this to be not too bothersome, but eventually, you will feel that you just want to go straight into the action and explore the world. You can skip dialogues and text reads, so if you don’t really mind dealing with the story elements of this game, it’s all good.
This game has an excellent level design, despite it being almost strictly linear in structure. Sections of the city loop around as you open new paths that open new shortcuts. You can also encounter some hidden areas that contain some enemies that you have to defeat and get rewarded with collectibles, such as crafting materials, and other goodies. Regardless of how you tackle exploration, you will have to eventually come back to the Shelter.
Of course, aside from exploration, a game such as this needs to have a good combat system, and this game does not disappoint. First off, you can equip 2 sets of equipment at once. You may choose from among sword and shield, heavy hammer, daggers, staff, or spear. It all depends on your playing style. I personally stuck with daggers (for fast melee attacks) and staff (as it shoots magical beams from a distance) for most of the game. Each weapon has a corresponding special attack or move set, like for example, the daggers allow you to do a quick dash and the staff allows you to use it like a bow and arrow, but with powerful spell blast. These weapons are also upgradeable with the use of the many crafting materials that you accumulate as you explore the world and defeat enemies, so the more you engage in battles, the more you can give your chosen weapons better attack power.
With your weapons in place, you get to battle with a wide variety of enemies, ranging from small yet fast ones to hulking ones that hurt a lot. There are even some flying ones and those that shoot at you from afar. And of course, there are the bosses that you encounter at the end of every mission. You can dodge roll to evade enemy attacks, but you cannot evade them all the time. The dual weapon system allows you to mix and match between different types of attacks depending on the enemies that currently bother you. Eliminate them fast before they eliminate you. Unlike other games that have some soulslike attributes, the enemies in this game are not too brutal and will not require you too much planning or rage. That is, if you play on the lower difficulties. This game does allow you to choose the difficulty you want to play in, so it really is forgiving and should not alienate players from actually enjoying the game.
Aside from the aforementioned Starite and other loots from defeated adversaries, you also gain XP, and thus you level up along the way. Leveling up awards you with attribute and talent points. Attributes are attack power, HP, and arcane power (for performing skills). Talent points unlock new skills from an expansive skill tree, such as special attacks and other perks. Different special attacks can be equipped, and they will give you advantages in combat, especially if you are dealing with tough bosses or multiple enemies at once. Acquiring XP is a bit generous in this game, but you are free to grind if you feel like you’re lacking in your stats. For the most part, just play the game as intended and there should be not much problem dealing with the baddies.
REPLAY VALUE: High
PROS:
- Amazing visuals, with cel-shaded art style set in Graeco-Roman aesthetics
- Amazing soundtrack
- Comprehensive menu system
- Wide customization options
- Excellent voice acting, albeit the lip movement on the characters don’t match with what they are saying, if they move at all
- Excellent boss fights
- Some cutscenes allows you to choose a response that can change the outcome of an interaction
- Excellent combat mechanics and overall gameplay
- Good story and narrative style
- Good level design
CONS:
- No mini-map
- Repetitive gameplay
- A bit derivative of other elements found in other action-adventure games
- Character animation seems a bit rough at times
- Dialogue-heavy cutscenes
- Text-heavy expositions, some of which are only for world-building but don’t really affect the main story
RATING: 4/5 beauty and the beasts
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