Embark on a journey full of danger in this action RPG, inspired by Greek and Roman mythologies. Explore the breathtaking city of Aphes and forge your way through legions of unique foes and mythical bosses to discover the truth behind the city’s curse.
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Yeah I said it. 5 stars.
Judging by the difficulty I encountered trying to wrap up quests and achievements, this game never hit a true stride in interest, which is absolutely insane because it's one of the strongest Soulslikes out there. It's definitely on the more accessible end, but a lot of that is a clear knowledge of what makes these games work. The combat is very well balanced, despite a few cheap deaths, and the level design is the perfect balance of secrets and exploration.
The story? I like it. Takes some incredibly dark turns even with the cartoonish art style. The Greek and Roman influences are unambiguous, but they were aggressively adapted to fit a From Software style story that you don't have to go digging for.
Listen, if anyone wants another one of these, but doesn't want to beat their head off a game that spends far to much effort doing its own thing and failing, this is easily top of the list.
Judging by the difficulty I encountered trying to wrap up quests and achievements, this game never hit a true stride in interest, which is absolutely insane because it's one of the strongest Soulslikes out there. It's definitely on the more accessible end, but a lot of that is a clear knowledge of what makes these games work. The combat is very well balanced, despite a few cheap deaths, and the level design is the perfect balance of secrets and exploration.
The story? I like it. Takes some incredibly dark turns even with the cartoonish art style. The Greek and Roman influences are unambiguous, but they were aggressively adapted to fit a From Software style story that you don't have to go digging for.
Listen, if anyone wants another one of these, but doesn't want to beat their head off a game that spends far to much effort doing its own thing and failing, this is easily top of the list.
Was hoping for something interesting here, maybe an older style action adventure game but sadly it's an empty soulslike. Combat has no weight, is unresponsive and isn't satisfying to play at all. Real shame.
I mean, I don't think there's anything to explain.
Combat is clunky, bad polished, and enemies feel "rubbish."
Fighting bosses, specially, is 100% not enjoyable. You can be demolishing a boss and it still doesn't feel like your hits are doing anything! It's like enemies are bullet sponges, but for melee hits. Sound design is also not that good, especially during combat (first boss, for instance, the huge croc, had a weird "bite" move that OMG!, it looked like a child's toy).
Graphics and art style are also not a big deal.
If you get this game free with PS+, then I think it's worth a try... If you don't have anything else to play, are a masochist, have a terrible taste, and are probably blind.
Combat is clunky, bad polished, and enemies feel "rubbish."
Fighting bosses, specially, is 100% not enjoyable. You can be demolishing a boss and it still doesn't feel like your hits are doing anything! It's like enemies are bullet sponges, but for melee hits. Sound design is also not that good, especially during combat (first boss, for instance, the huge croc, had a weird "bite" move that OMG!, it looked like a child's toy).
Graphics and art style are also not a big deal.
If you get this game free with PS+, then I think it's worth a try... If you don't have anything else to play, are a masochist, have a terrible taste, and are probably blind.
If a Nothing Burger was a Soulslike
I first caught wind of Asterigos: Curse of the Stars while watching an Iron Pineapple video while eating lunch. IP (as I'll abbreviate it) is a Soulsborne youtuber who has a long running series where he plays Souls-likes and Souls-like accessories that have flown under the radar, are in their demo phase, or look mildly interesting. A vast majority of these games end up as student projects, proof of concepts, or one man game jams that while present themselves as neat in theory, are at the end of the day generally not worth the time. It's not often during an IP video that I see a game being played and want to try it for myself, not because of him, but because the games are as I said usually lower in budget and/or scope. Asterigos was one of very few that sat with me enough to wishlist on Steam and eventually purchase. What I saw in the little gameplay exposition was a Souls-like that seemed fairly fleshed in its mechanics in a world that looked, full. What I ended up getting was true to that nature, however the magic of its intrigue faded almost as soon as you get into the game.
My review for Asterigos will not be that long because it really just plays like one of the games of all time, nothing that I would bug people to throw at the front of their backlog, but nothing I would rush to convince people to avoid. Combat is basic and uninteresting, with Hilda (the main character) capable of wielding two weapons off of four different button inputs. Interesting in theory but as a sword+shield user as my main weapon, I seldom ever found the need to use my secondary. Not only did it feel redundant, but the material and currency upkeep required to upgrade it was too high. I didn't want to grind out multiple weapons and upgrade them at the smithy, as I didn't feel like that would accentuate my combative capabilities enough. Dodgeroll and attacking is the backbone of quite literally every encounter in this game, parrying completely unnecessary, which in the end made me feel like the devs wanted to make a Souls game but didn't want to flavour the soup to turn the combat into anything unique.
The influences apparent as they are in just about every title within this subgenre, but outside of the setting and attempt at a story there was generally nothing new about this title. I'll give the devs credit for putting in a lot of time and effort into creating a story that had legs on its own and that followed the protagonist throughout the entire journey, but the unfortunate part is that they forgot to make it interesting. None of the characters are particularly memorable, their appearances being drab and milquetoast play a large part in this, and the voice acting was largely poor. For what is presumably a lower budget title this isn't surprising, however it does make the buy-in tougher. I recently played Lies of P within the last calendar year and that title from a mostly unknown team outperformed Asterigos in waves with their character design, VA work, environmental storytelling, and plot pacing. Though I had frustrations with Lies of P (mostly due to difficulty spikes,) it was a much better take on the genre in its variety and scope that Asterigos is.
To the mention of enemy difficulty, Asterigos wasn't hard per se, however I felt like every world enemy and boss past the initial sequence (even on max weapon upgrade and a highly leveled attack skill) became sponges. There's a point in fighting redundant enemies in games where I swing my sword, or whatever weapon I'm using, and say "okay I get it" as I swing for the nth time at their body where I realize that it's not going to get any better. That was Asterigos. You fight a very limited pool of enemies of varying degrees of hitpoints, and you use the exact same approach in doing so. Nothing changed from the first five hours of the game to the last five in the way I fought. While not the end-all indictment of a game, it's not a shining mark on a title that already doesn't have too many legs to stand on.
I can't recommend Asterigos to anybody unless they're looking for a resoundingly boring game that they can run through and test their dodge-roll reflexes.
I first caught wind of Asterigos: Curse of the Stars while watching an Iron Pineapple video while eating lunch. IP (as I'll abbreviate it) is a Soulsborne youtuber who has a long running series where he plays Souls-likes and Souls-like accessories that have flown under the radar, are in their demo phase, or look mildly interesting. A vast majority of these games end up as student projects, proof of concepts, or one man game jams that while present themselves as neat in theory, are at the end of the day generally not worth the time. It's not often during an IP video that I see a game being played and want to try it for myself, not because of him, but because the games are as I said usually lower in budget and/or scope. Asterigos was one of very few that sat with me enough to wishlist on Steam and eventually purchase. What I saw in the little gameplay exposition was a Souls-like that seemed fairly fleshed in its mechanics in a world that looked, full. What I ended up getting was true to that nature, however the magic of its intrigue faded almost as soon as you get into the game.
My review for Asterigos will not be that long because it really just plays like one of the games of all time, nothing that I would bug people to throw at the front of their backlog, but nothing I would rush to convince people to avoid. Combat is basic and uninteresting, with Hilda (the main character) capable of wielding two weapons off of four different button inputs. Interesting in theory but as a sword+shield user as my main weapon, I seldom ever found the need to use my secondary. Not only did it feel redundant, but the material and currency upkeep required to upgrade it was too high. I didn't want to grind out multiple weapons and upgrade them at the smithy, as I didn't feel like that would accentuate my combative capabilities enough. Dodgeroll and attacking is the backbone of quite literally every encounter in this game, parrying completely unnecessary, which in the end made me feel like the devs wanted to make a Souls game but didn't want to flavour the soup to turn the combat into anything unique.
The influences apparent as they are in just about every title within this subgenre, but outside of the setting and attempt at a story there was generally nothing new about this title. I'll give the devs credit for putting in a lot of time and effort into creating a story that had legs on its own and that followed the protagonist throughout the entire journey, but the unfortunate part is that they forgot to make it interesting. None of the characters are particularly memorable, their appearances being drab and milquetoast play a large part in this, and the voice acting was largely poor. For what is presumably a lower budget title this isn't surprising, however it does make the buy-in tougher. I recently played Lies of P within the last calendar year and that title from a mostly unknown team outperformed Asterigos in waves with their character design, VA work, environmental storytelling, and plot pacing. Though I had frustrations with Lies of P (mostly due to difficulty spikes,) it was a much better take on the genre in its variety and scope that Asterigos is.
To the mention of enemy difficulty, Asterigos wasn't hard per se, however I felt like every world enemy and boss past the initial sequence (even on max weapon upgrade and a highly leveled attack skill) became sponges. There's a point in fighting redundant enemies in games where I swing my sword, or whatever weapon I'm using, and say "okay I get it" as I swing for the nth time at their body where I realize that it's not going to get any better. That was Asterigos. You fight a very limited pool of enemies of varying degrees of hitpoints, and you use the exact same approach in doing so. Nothing changed from the first five hours of the game to the last five in the way I fought. While not the end-all indictment of a game, it's not a shining mark on a title that already doesn't have too many legs to stand on.
I can't recommend Asterigos to anybody unless they're looking for a resoundingly boring game that they can run through and test their dodge-roll reflexes.
It's a fun little souls-like, with combat that feels a little less impactful than its inspiration. The weapon move customization options are very interesting; it felt a bit like unlocking the new moves that changed your whole playstyle in Devil May Cry or Bayonetta. They manage to make playing a mage build feel fun and effective, and not have it be completely busted like in Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1, or Elden Ring. The environments, coupled with the musical score, create a mysterious atmosphere that made me want to explore. May not have too much replay value (aside from going for the best ending, and trying out the other weapons), but it doesn't cost full price either. A pretty good sale pick-up.
Es un juego divertido sin duda. Yo me he centrado en el usado del bastón, así que no estoy familiarizado con el combate usando el resto de armas, la mitad de los enemigos me los he cargado a "flechazos" desde lejos. Por quitarnos lo negativo rápido, bebe de lo peor de los souls, el ser misterioso en cuánto a misiones, pero tenerlas. Me habría gustado acabar algunas, pero he sido incapaz de encontrar de nuevo la puerta donde tenía que entregarle esos huevos a ese señor para que no se muriera de hambre en una ciudad afectada por una terrible maldición. Apenas hay unas pistas en el cuaderno que sirven de poco.
Otra cosa que no se si me convence es que los enemigos reaparezcan cuando mueres o descansas en una hogueran't. No porque sean complicados, si no porque da pereza tener que enfrentarse a los mismos una y otra vez si 1 más allá te ha empujado al abismo, o si simplemente estás por ahí a ver si encuentras el cofre que te falta por esa zona. Puedes correr, pero entonces lo de buscar es más coñazo aún. Hubiese deseado que fuesen más complicados, pero que no reapareciesen una vez has llegado a otro punto de control. Además, tendría mucho que ver con la historia del juego y el como, en ocasiones, te preguntas si no eres tu el villano de esta historia.
Cada uno de los mapas disponibles está bastante bien, siendo algunos liosos, otros simples pero super interconectados, otros angostos y con esquinas llenas de enemigos... Ahí 0 queja, al igual que en la música y casi todo lo gráfico. No, no es puntero, pero está bien a excepción de las animaciones cuando hablas con alguien. Ya no solo es que los labios estén completamente desincronizados, es que aquí todo el mundo parecen estatuas griegas en tanto que apenas se mueven. Solo un personaje, la herrera, parece viva y no quiero pensar que es porque es furra.
Está genial que te den continuamente objetos random incluso de curación e ingredientes. Estaría mejor que les diesen algún peso, ya que al ser tan random acaba dándote igual lo que te hayan daod mientras te queden pociones de curación. Y te van a quedar, si te matan será por no habértela bebido, tienes como 20 y cada una cura el 40% de la vida. Cuándo más es gastado ha sido en un combate casi final y fueron 8. También hay chorrocientos objetos de misión que se quedan ahí. Algunos se usan, otros solo te los quedas haciendo bonito en el inventario pa los restos. Ojalá haberles podido dar algún uso.
Pero insisto, el juego está muy bien. Me ha enganchado ir recorriendo los escenarios, algunos me los se porque no encontraba por donde narices avanzar, y con una historia que está bien. No es apoteósica, aunque intente serlo, pero está plagada de personajes decentes, incluso algunos secundarios, que hacen que te preocupes mínimamente por ellos. Eso si, hablan mucho y a veces, aunque el doblaje esté muy bien, podrían haber recortado un poco por ahí. El mundo que te plantea es más grande que tu y que la historia que estás viviendo, que es únicamente una ciudad, eso me encanta también, saber que todo eso que te cuesta es ínfimo, una hormiguita peleando por una migaja de pan.
Se lo recomiendo a todo aquel que quiera un juego de acción, hablar mucho con personajes y prestar atención a ver que coño quería ese personaje y como encuentro un libro en ese laberinto de edificios señoriales.
Otra cosa que no se si me convence es que los enemigos reaparezcan cuando mueres o descansas en una hogueran't. No porque sean complicados, si no porque da pereza tener que enfrentarse a los mismos una y otra vez si 1 más allá te ha empujado al abismo, o si simplemente estás por ahí a ver si encuentras el cofre que te falta por esa zona. Puedes correr, pero entonces lo de buscar es más coñazo aún. Hubiese deseado que fuesen más complicados, pero que no reapareciesen una vez has llegado a otro punto de control. Además, tendría mucho que ver con la historia del juego y el como, en ocasiones, te preguntas si no eres tu el villano de esta historia.
Cada uno de los mapas disponibles está bastante bien, siendo algunos liosos, otros simples pero super interconectados, otros angostos y con esquinas llenas de enemigos... Ahí 0 queja, al igual que en la música y casi todo lo gráfico. No, no es puntero, pero está bien a excepción de las animaciones cuando hablas con alguien. Ya no solo es que los labios estén completamente desincronizados, es que aquí todo el mundo parecen estatuas griegas en tanto que apenas se mueven. Solo un personaje, la herrera, parece viva y no quiero pensar que es porque es furra.
Está genial que te den continuamente objetos random incluso de curación e ingredientes. Estaría mejor que les diesen algún peso, ya que al ser tan random acaba dándote igual lo que te hayan daod mientras te queden pociones de curación. Y te van a quedar, si te matan será por no habértela bebido, tienes como 20 y cada una cura el 40% de la vida. Cuándo más es gastado ha sido en un combate casi final y fueron 8. También hay chorrocientos objetos de misión que se quedan ahí. Algunos se usan, otros solo te los quedas haciendo bonito en el inventario pa los restos. Ojalá haberles podido dar algún uso.
Pero insisto, el juego está muy bien. Me ha enganchado ir recorriendo los escenarios, algunos me los se porque no encontraba por donde narices avanzar, y con una historia que está bien. No es apoteósica, aunque intente serlo, pero está plagada de personajes decentes, incluso algunos secundarios, que hacen que te preocupes mínimamente por ellos. Eso si, hablan mucho y a veces, aunque el doblaje esté muy bien, podrían haber recortado un poco por ahí. El mundo que te plantea es más grande que tu y que la historia que estás viviendo, que es únicamente una ciudad, eso me encanta también, saber que todo eso que te cuesta es ínfimo, una hormiguita peleando por una migaja de pan.
Se lo recomiendo a todo aquel que quiera un juego de acción, hablar mucho con personajes y prestar atención a ver que coño quería ese personaje y como encuentro un libro en ese laberinto de edificios señoriales.