Astlibra Revision is one man's labor of love, the magnum opus of hobbyist game designer Keizo Morishige. This is a polished version of his browser game Astlibra (labeled accordingly!), completed over the course of a decade and a half, which shows - there's a LOT of game here. Combat is tight, nail-bitingly precise down to a matter of frames, and near-infinitely customizable with a bevy of buffs (or debuffs, if you wish), weapons, and special abilities. There's ample room to play this game with nearly any build or strategy you like.

While mostly cobbled together from free assets (though very well-chosen ones - the soundtrack is killer), Vanillaware artist Takehiro Shiga (better known as Shigatake) worked on refined character art for Revision, paired with breathtakingly detailed boss designs by artist Haku Tatsufuchi. As a Vanillaware diehard, I was first drawn to this game because Shigatake worked on it, but the rest of the game is far too solid for that to be the only thing worth mentioning.

The story plays out in an episodic fashion, down to an anime-like opening sequence (complete with theme song!) before each chapter. You play as Popular McJRPG Guy and his personal Crow of Judgment on a sprawling journey that comes further off its hinges as the game progresses - there is heartache and fanservice in spades, predictable in spots and utterly blindsiding in others. It's best to experience it blind! The English translation, originally fraught with grammatical errors, has been significantly improved with a patch, but the old one is currently still available through a beta channel should you wish to use it.

The MSRP is a steal for the sheer size and quality of this game. Of all the Games By One Guy out there, this is as good as it gets! To all aspiring game designers - this game is proof positive that if you are truly passionate about your creations, it can be seen and felt from a mile away.

A job very well done by KEIZO and collaborators - warmly and enthusiastically recommended.

Brilliant game. Awe-inspiring presentation (it's Vanillaware), fun combat (especially as Velvet and Mercedes). I own and played the original ages back but never finished it.

The circular maps are a good touch though they can sometimes make things easy to miss. One thing I really appreciated was the ability to "listen" for items as your character runs along the ground - the item name popping up on the screen makes a sound as do the mandragoras, and it's very helpful for combing over areas you've missed.

My only complaint is that the story and general pacing felt a bit overlong, but the structure works well and justifies it if you can stick with it to the end.

I loved every protagonist, I loved the framing, and I intend to go back for the plat. Vanillaware is a gem of a studio and I'm thrilled to have spent time in this storybook. Not a 10 for me but pretty damn close.

Second verse, same as the first, but it's better-translated this time and a little bigger (or, considering the Vita's size, smaller?).
All the high and low points are basically untouched, though the better translation sheds some more light on the story, and it's the same just-short-of-perfect game that I would recommend to all people who love beautiful things. It's been just about 10 years since Rebirth's release at the time of this review, so the ball is in Vanillaware and Aksys's court to bust this one out of Vita jail.
I loved the Wii version so much I'm going through it again on Vita just to see the translation differences. Will update this review once I get to the DLC content.