Asterigos: Curse of the Stars Review

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars on PC

There is little doubt that the gaming panorama is chocked full of motion roleplaying video games, and in case you add actually difficult fight into the combine, chances are high, you’re looking at a Souls-like title. This subgenre of its personal has definitely delivered some respectable experiences, comparable to Steelrising and the large one in 2022, Elden Ring, and with Asterigos: Curse of the Stars, we will add yet another to the rising record.

A debut challenge for Acme Gamestudio, the indie roots of the sport are abundantly clear, taking inspiration from greater titles on the market, however at the identical time, including its personal twists on issues for a barely completely different expertise.

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars world — Image Source: Acme Gamestudio through Twinfinite

Players tackle the position of Hilda, a courageous younger warrior from the Northwind Legion who embarks on a quest to the cursed metropolis of Aphes to save lots of her misplaced father, and this can be a premise that’s straightforward to narrate to and get entangled in. While that goal stays easy, the path in direction of the sport’s conclusion is just not precisely easy crusing.

For one, the plot is full of heavy stuff, concerning themes like xenophobia, racial tensions, and sophistication techniques amongst others, with a heavy reliance on exposition and dialogue. Compared to the extra obscure manner of storytelling in different contemporaries, it may both be refreshing or unnecessarily bloated, and I leaned in direction of the latter extra all through my 30-odd hours with the sport. Your mileage will fluctuate.

What is undeniably wonderful about Asterigos: Curse of the Stars is the visuals, fairly much like Ember Lab’s Kena: Bridge of Spirits, however simply barely much less polished. The inspirations drawn from classical Greek designs are obvious for all to see in the world, and the metropolis of Aphes is nicely price testing past its attention-grabbing and interconnected design, particularly in case you are into collectible and aspect quests.

Of course, it wouldn’t matter if a sport appeared the finest however performs like the worst, and fortunately, Asterigos: Curse of the Stars has a lot going for it in that regard. Depending in your urge for food for punishment, the sport presents a number of problem choices to select from, which is nice from an accessibility level of view. My time in the sport was by no means too brutal on the default problem, however these searching for extra can all the time go for the extra demanding expertise.

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars spear — Image Source: Acme Gamestudio through Twinfinite

That’s to not say the sport is simple by any stretch of the creativeness, however it’s positively extra forgiving. Case in level, dying doesn’t imply you lose all of the valuable useful resource often called Stardust, however slightly simply 10% of your whole. There continues to be a value to pay, however not too steep to discourage gamers from giving it one other go.

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars additionally modifications how gamers strategy build up their character, with an XP system as a substitute of utilizing a useful resource like Stardust to stage up. Defeat sufficient enemies and you could find your self changing into stronger, including to the three key stats of Precision, Constitution, and Arcane, along with the capability to be taught new expertise or perks. Plus, no must rush to the nearest Conduit to start out the course of; you’re free to handle your ranges everytime you really feel prefer it, which is one other good handy contact.

With greater than 60 completely different enemies and plenty of bosses to defeat, fight is rarely too distant in Asterigos: Curse of the Stars, and that’s a very good factor. Players are nearly instantly given the keys to the kingdom, with six completely different weapons to select from, permitting for each a versatile and unpredictable strategy to decimating your enemies.

As to be anticipated, every weapon kind will after to a specific play fashion –the sword and defend strike a pleasant stability between assault and protection, the daggers are made for faster gamers, the spear provides distance, the hammer is heavy and hits laborious, the workers provides you a long-range magical arsenal, whereas the bracelets are extra for people who like space management.

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars abilities — Image Source: Acme Gamestudio through Twinfinite

Even so, when you might gravitate in direction of a specific weapon kind, the fact is, they’re all just about helpful and satisfying to wield. Being capable of equip two weapons and change between them throughout fight makes for attention-grabbing synergies, and assaults hyperlink to one another seamlessly. The potential combos make each fight encounter an experimental alternative to search out the good pairing.

Add to that expertise that may be unleashed utilizing the AP meter and the 4 elemental properties to enhance your injury dealing, and it isn’t laborious to see the attraction of Asterigos: Curse of the Stars’ fight. It additionally helps tremendously that the enemies that stand in your manner are merely enjoyable to struggle, providing a level of problem however pleasing to take down. The identical goes for the bosses, which may take a while to determine, however that’s merely par for the course at this level.

On the defensive finish, Asterigos: Curse of the Stars opts for the much less is extra strategy, changing armor choices with Trinkets, equipment that may bestow a spread of buffs on Hilda. Once extra, discovering a potent mixture of as much as 4 Trinkets will make your life simpler, or tougher, do you have to go for the extra specialised ones which have debuffs as a substitute.

At its core, Asterigos: Curse of the Stars just about accomplishes what it units out to do, which is to ship an indie Soulslike expertise that does issues in a different way, and for the higher most often. The world is nice to marvel at and discover, the fight system is totally entertaining with room for experimentation, and all of the techniques are seemingly designed to make the gamers’ lives extra handy however not simpler. As a debut challenge, this sport is certainly an excellent begin, and I’d be extraordinarily excited to see extra from Acme Gamestudio in the future.