A remake of Astlibra: Living proof
Astlibra Revision is a side scrolling 2D action RPG. It contains various reinforcement elements, exhilarating combat, rare equipment, battles with huge bosses, beautiful art, and long story. Estimated playtime: 40+ hours
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The ultimate 'greater than the sum of its parts' experience
You start with a stick, beating slimes and soon are fighting dragons and other epic creatures, a slow and intense, not really boring grind to reach godhood levels, seeing big numbers popping over and over as you slash or explode your enemies.
Developed by a single person in the span of about 15 years, Astlibra Revision is an enhanced version of Astlibra proof of life. It adds a new chapter - and has new art by Shigatake, making it closer to almost being a Vanillaware title.
The plot is as heavy as any RPGs and visual novels, making it an interesting and important point. Hell, so many good time travel stories spawned since its initial development that I feel a little burnt out by them, but it's always cool and exciting to see.
Finding hidden equipment, learning new mechanics and plot details, challenging bosses you missed before, having a huge variety of equipment and customization that make progression extremely fun.
And the soundtrack is really cool as well, mixing many genres and a lot of good and memorable Vocaloid songs. They are memorable, and I still listen to them from time to time.
Chapter four was the lowest point for me, mostly due to story-related reasons. Chapter 3 and everything else gets better as you go, plus the post-game teaches you new mechanics with a lot of content, making it worth your time with a rewarding and fulfilling new ending.
This game is an inspiring indie achievement and I'm glad to have played it. Might play the DLC someday.
Pumpkin Hill Part II - https://youtu.be/rO6Hcsq3nRs
Developed by a single person in the span of about 15 years, Astlibra Revision is an enhanced version of Astlibra proof of life. It adds a new chapter - and has new art by Shigatake, making it closer to almost being a Vanillaware title.
The plot is as heavy as any RPGs and visual novels, making it an interesting and important point. Hell, so many good time travel stories spawned since its initial development that I feel a little burnt out by them, but it's always cool and exciting to see.
Finding hidden equipment, learning new mechanics and plot details, challenging bosses you missed before, having a huge variety of equipment and customization that make progression extremely fun.
And the soundtrack is really cool as well, mixing many genres and a lot of good and memorable Vocaloid songs. They are memorable, and I still listen to them from time to time.
Chapter four was the lowest point for me, mostly due to story-related reasons. Chapter 3 and everything else gets better as you go, plus the post-game teaches you new mechanics with a lot of content, making it worth your time with a rewarding and fulfilling new ending.
This game is an inspiring indie achievement and I'm glad to have played it. Might play the DLC someday.
Pumpkin Hill Part II - https://youtu.be/rO6Hcsq3nRs
To preface I got midway through chapter 5 with around 20 hours clocked in before deciding to drop this.
I think my biggest problem with Astlibra Revision is the story itself, which I'm not going to call bad by any extent, it's just something I can't find myself caring about in any way shape or form. The reasoning for this is it follows a lot of trends I've never enjoyed. The biggest being the focus on a <grand adventure> with little room left for characterization similar to things like Xenoblade Chronicles or Radiant Historia. I've never fucked with games like this. You could have the most kickass story of all time but if I don't care about a singular character in that story then that story sux. Honestly though I think the silent protagonist was the actual nail in the coffin for me. It's especially unfortunate in a story like this where instead of someone that could've honestly been pretty cool we get uhhh Mario from da Mario rpgs (he emotes in basically all the same ways including the gibberish talk it's weird).
The gameplay itself is pretty neat, I do actually like how mechanically it's a huge mash-up of a ton of different rpg systems. The combat is also pretty fun outside of how quickly you'll die because the lack of i-frames and enemies doing huge chunks of your health. My biggest issues were the crafting/material system being pretty tedious forcing you to grind for materials & the way chapters were generally structured. There's a LOT of forced backtracking in these chapters to solve some pretty annoying & unintuitive puzzles which I can't really think of any reason to exist outside of unsubtle padding. I may seem like I'm bitching about the gameplay a lot (bcuz i am) but I honestly didn't mind it all that much, it's pretty dumb fun when it's not annoying.
Overall I don't like, I can understand why a lotta people like it doe, I just don't fuck w/ it.
I think my biggest problem with Astlibra Revision is the story itself, which I'm not going to call bad by any extent, it's just something I can't find myself caring about in any way shape or form. The reasoning for this is it follows a lot of trends I've never enjoyed. The biggest being the focus on a <grand adventure> with little room left for characterization similar to things like Xenoblade Chronicles or Radiant Historia. I've never fucked with games like this. You could have the most kickass story of all time but if I don't care about a singular character in that story then that story sux. Honestly though I think the silent protagonist was the actual nail in the coffin for me. It's especially unfortunate in a story like this where instead of someone that could've honestly been pretty cool we get uhhh Mario from da Mario rpgs (he emotes in basically all the same ways including the gibberish talk it's weird).
The gameplay itself is pretty neat, I do actually like how mechanically it's a huge mash-up of a ton of different rpg systems. The combat is also pretty fun outside of how quickly you'll die because the lack of i-frames and enemies doing huge chunks of your health. My biggest issues were the crafting/material system being pretty tedious forcing you to grind for materials & the way chapters were generally structured. There's a LOT of forced backtracking in these chapters to solve some pretty annoying & unintuitive puzzles which I can't really think of any reason to exist outside of unsubtle padding. I may seem like I'm bitching about the gameplay a lot (bcuz i am) but I honestly didn't mind it all that much, it's pretty dumb fun when it's not annoying.
Overall I don't like, I can understand why a lotta people like it doe, I just don't fuck w/ it.
better than the sum of its parts.
post game goes on a bit too long. (the game did not need a randomly generated endgame dungeon to top it all off)
post game goes on a bit too long. (the game did not need a randomly generated endgame dungeon to top it all off)
Incredible game that doesn't hold your hand and with some major frustrating mechanics and spots.
Best part of the game is definitely the addicting gameplay loop and the story. This was made by 1 person over the span of 15 years, which makes it even more impressive, but also shows some baffling dev decisions and rough parts. Even then, this is one of the best action/side scroller games I've played in a long time.
Best part of the game is definitely the addicting gameplay loop and the story. This was made by 1 person over the span of 15 years, which makes it even more impressive, but also shows some baffling dev decisions and rough parts. Even then, this is one of the best action/side scroller games I've played in a long time.
Apparently, it is only made by one person. Which doesn't seem that way in most of my playthrough, but I will take that into account.
I don't typically play side-scroller, but I will say that the combat is really engaging and fun. It has a complex system, which can get pretty formulaic late in the game, but I guess it's a given, considering how broken you can get later on.
The soundtrack is actually incredibly hype.
The story is where it's at. You started off playing as a hero with a bird looking for someone dear to him and you get this feeling that something is.. off. It's nothing special or unique at first glance, but this game is the epitome of going from 0 to 100. Never in a million years would I have ever guess the game's final sequence of moments or even the hours leading up to it judging from how it starts. There are a lot of plot twists that you won't expect and fortunately it's quite well done. It does get pretty "anime" at times, not in a bad way mostly, I would say it's part of the game's charm.
The characters, especially the main cast, have a soul and personality and not just there to push the MC. They all have their own goals and role to play.
My only complaint for this game is that, it does get slightly dragged near the end. There are new elements but some things are also recycled. Since, it is made just by one person, I will let that slide. Though at this point you're probably too invested for this to make you lose interest anyways.
Overall, this is hands down one of the best Indie games I've played, especially in terms of narrative. KEIZO really poured his soul into this, and I hope to see more of his work.
I don't typically play side-scroller, but I will say that the combat is really engaging and fun. It has a complex system, which can get pretty formulaic late in the game, but I guess it's a given, considering how broken you can get later on.
The soundtrack is actually incredibly hype.
The story is where it's at. You started off playing as a hero with a bird looking for someone dear to him and you get this feeling that something is.. off. It's nothing special or unique at first glance, but this game is the epitome of going from 0 to 100. Never in a million years would I have ever guess the game's final sequence of moments or even the hours leading up to it judging from how it starts. There are a lot of plot twists that you won't expect and fortunately it's quite well done. It does get pretty "anime" at times, not in a bad way mostly, I would say it's part of the game's charm.
The characters, especially the main cast, have a soul and personality and not just there to push the MC. They all have their own goals and role to play.
My only complaint for this game is that, it does get slightly dragged near the end. There are new elements but some things are also recycled. Since, it is made just by one person, I will let that slide. Though at this point you're probably too invested for this to make you lose interest anyways.
Overall, this is hands down one of the best Indie games I've played, especially in terms of narrative. KEIZO really poured his soul into this, and I hope to see more of his work.