Asterigos: Curse of the Stars

Developer: Acme Gamestudio
Publisher: tinyBuild
Platforms: PC (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Release Date:
Price: $49.99 AUD / $34.99 USD – Available Here

Overview

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars is an action-RPG that makes heavy use of Greco-Roman culture for its worldbuilding. Asterigos was developed by Acme Gamestudio which is composed by some veteran game makers including ex-Blizzard staff. As is the case with many indie action-RPGs nowadays, Asterigos utilizes the blueprint from the Souls series for its combat and exploration. With that said, it is a much more approachable and forgiving game that plays and feels more like a traditional action-RPG.

Story

You assume the role of Hilda, a warrior of the Northwind legion. When the expedition led by her father to investigate the cursed city-state of Aphes goes missing, it falls upon Hilda to find out what went wrong and help them complete their mission.

Asterigos is a very narrative-driven, action-RPG with a lot of optional lore beyond the main story. During her journey, Hilda will encounter a variety of characters which she can choose to learn more about. It’s truly a ton of text in the form of dialogues or documents detailing the Aphesians and their current conundrum. My curiosity always gets the best of me, and I read everything. What kind of RPG player would I be if I didn’t? Sometimes, the text complements the game well. Other times, it feels like a drag to put it bluntly. The main story has a lot going on with different parties looking to gain the political upper hand. In the middle of all that lies Hilda, who is trying to find her Northwind legion companions. Hilda’s actions might benefit this or that character or group. You, as the player, even have a bit of input on how that’s going to play out. I like this concept, but the story wasn’t that gripping for my tastes.

Gameplay

So, what about that Souls-like gameplay? Well, Asterigos is more of a Souls-lite to be honest. Asterigos puts more emphasis on the RPG/adventure side of things. After the introductory area, which includes a battle with a neat giant Croc boss, you gain access to the main hub or your base of operations. From there, Minerva, your employer of sorts, will assign a mission for you. The first two mission areas can only be entered through passages inside the base. After that, you can pick a path or even go back to a previous area since they’re all connected.

Hilda came very well prepared for this mission. A few minutes into the game, she retrieves five weapons that she brought with her. These are your main weapons that you’ll be using throughout the adventure. Sounds boring? Well, not quite: As you level up, you gain talent points that you can use to unlock new skills for your weapon of choice. Each weapon has a fair number of skills. Some of them are more versatile than others and unlocking skills can change their usability somewhat. The downside to this system is that you have a very limited number of talent points, so you need to focus on one or two weapons at a time. You can also reset your spent points by using a certain item, which allows you to make different builds to keep the combat fresh. Besides your main arsenal, you can find or buy other secondary weapons which are mainly throwable ones. 

There’s a lot to see in the city-state of Aphes. The levels are varied both in scope and themes. The Black Streets and the Arges Bazaar feature some vertical exploration with a bit of platforming; it’s too bad that the game is so limited and safe in this regard, especially since you gain the ability to jump early on. There’s even a mining town with plenty of NPCs to talk to exactly like in your typical RPG. Definitely, exploration is easily my favorite part of Asterigos. The game gives players a lot of space to explore. It’s fun to scour the environs for items and side quests. What isn’t fun is the amount of backtracking that you’re expected to do, since there’s no fast travel for at least the three initial missions. 

Combat is deliberately slow with Hilda taking a bit of time to link attacks and form a combo. Timing your button presses correctly to form a chain is a bit finicky: I particularly prefer to just mash a bit, it’s a lot less frustrating that way. Despite being ferocious beasts and highly trained soldiers, your foes lack aggressiveness and especially awareness; it’s too easy to move through them mostly undetected. Bosses can dish out a lot of damage, but the strategy to conquer them is simple enough that it won’t take more than a few tries to emerge victorious. You have three levels of difficulty to choose from, but even the hardest one is still easily negotiable for those used to action games. I can see a lot of people not being that bothered about the problems with the combat in this game. While I don’t really like how the combat is designed, I can say that it’s at least serviceable.

Visuals

The game’s visuals are simple but pleasing overall. Acme Gamestudio opted for a cartoonish art style when crafting Asterigos’ world and characters. Hilda and her allies are well modeled with good looking textures and animations. The same can be said about the main bosses and antagonists. Asterigos is a very good looking game considering it’s an indie, low-budget product. There are some inconsistencies such as areas that look a bit blocky and feature low resolution textures, but nothing that is too aggravating.

Audio

Asterigos’ soundtrack is varied with some good compositions. The music mostly stays in the background when exploring, which I find fitting for this type of game. Not everything is quietude though. Some areas have a more audible theme. Bosses also each have their epic themes. The sound effects are generally on the weak side and lack impact.

Overall

Asterigos doesn’t do anything exceptionally. Regardless, it’s a decent package that I feel will polarize fans of the genre.

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