5/27/2023 0 Comments Astria ascending charactersI’m hopeful a longer playthrough will convince me otherwise.Introduction to the Astria Ascending Review Artisan Studios has established foundations for an entertaining RPG, sure, and though Astria never does anything specifically wrong, it never excels, either.įeaturing a good presentation, intriguing FP system, and gameplay customization, there are a few things RPG fans will enjoy, but as it stands, I’d struggle to recommend Astria over other games. Ultimately, I left Astria Ascending’s preview without any strong feelings. It was never terrible, but major gameplay systems simply felt uninspired. Astria’s story was still finding its feet when things ended for me, combat felt functional if mostly unremarkable, and dungeon exploration teetered on tedium. There are certainly merits to Astria Ascending, but unfortunately, this preview never truly captivated me. It’s not especially deep, but J-Ster is an enjoyable distraction. To do that, your token’s value must be higher than the defender’s and depending on your chosen attack angle, tokens can potentially block those moves. Using a 7-slot hexagonal grid, you have 5 tokens, and you’ll aim to flip over an opponent’s pieces. Outside of dungeons, Astria Ascending features a minigame called J-Ster, where you challenge inhabitants across the game's cities. You can disable field encounters and enemy respawns in dungeons, turn off XP/ SP Gain/ items/Lum (currency) gains, alongside deciding how much XP backup party members earn, making Astria more accessible. That increases damage by 50% per FP, going up to a maximum of four points, and it’s an interesting system that prevents characters from feeling useless in battle.įor challenge seekers, there are four difficulties to choose from, but there are other options too. If a character proves ineffective, rather than swap them out, you can allocate focus points (FP), earned by exploiting enemy weaknesses or choosing the “focus” command, for increased damage output, meaning characters spend their turn charging the meter. Later in our demo, Alassia learns how to summon Astraes, too, powerful beings capable of fierce attacks that temporarily replace your party. Alassia, for example, resists Water attacks but is weak to Lightning, whereas Kress hates Fire but is strong against Ice.īetween choosing a physical attack, MP abilities like elemental magic and healing, guarding, choosing items, retreating, and swapping party members, combat’s very straightforward for an RPG. Should you battle, you’ll enter a round of turn-based combat, where each combatant holds weaknesses and resistances. However, if a Noise approaches you from behind, they’ll always start first. If you’re not up for fighting, you’ll quickly find a zodiac ring that freezes them, letting you jump straight over them and skip the fight. Upon reaching a Noise, which appear as large bubbles, you can pre-emptively strike by slashing it, increasing your probability of going first when combat begins. Much of this preview involved exploring dungeons, jumping across ledges as in an old platformer, finding treasure chests for new items and currency, and taking down Noises. Once you’ve prepared your party, you’ll go exploring across 2D locations. To unlock those, you’ll spend skill points (SP), which are earned through completing battles, and each character has a separate SP allowance. While Demigods hold a base job - the choices of which range between your standard RPG options of captain, soldier, and thief - they can be assigned three additional jobs - main, sub, and support - later on.Ĭrucially, they offer new combat abilities through the Ascension (skill) Tree, alongside stat boosts like extra HP or defense. In that regard, Astria's quite refreshing compared to other RPGs, as companions often don’t arrive until later on.Įach Demigod is customizable with basic combat gear and accessories, but you can develop them further with Astria's job system. She’s joined by Eko, Dagmar, Kaydin, Alek, Kress, Arpajo, and Alassia, who are all available immediately. Having reached the 333 rd set of Demigods, this story sees them investigating mysterious creatures called Noises, who’ve begun attacking cities and appearing in unusual locations.Įach character has their own story, and to begin, you’ll play as Ulan Merer, leader of the 333rd. Protected by eight Demigods, these mighty individuals serve for three years before ascending to the next plain, replaced by a new group. Astria Ascending Preview: A Competent RPG That Never Truly SoarsĪstria Ascending takes players to Harmonia, an idyllic world split between five cities. Promising 25 dungeons, five explorable cities, and 30-50 hours of gameplay at full release, our hands-on preview only covered 1/10 of that. With several Final Fantasy veterans onboard like Hitoshi Sakimoto and Kazushige Nojima, that version launches on September 30 for PC and consoles, sporting a lovely visual presentation.
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