Asterigos: Curse Of The Stars Review (Xbox One)

STAFF REVIEW of Asterigos: Curse Of The Stars (Xbox One)

Wednesday, October 12, 2022.
by Adam Dileva

Back in May I got to preview a very early build of Asterigos: Curse of the Stars (simply referred to as Asterigos hereon), and while I only got to experience its first half hour and two bosses, it instantly put the game on my radar. I’ve been waiting patiently for this day when I got to explore the full city of Aphes as Hilda, a Northwind Region young warrior that’s on a journey to save her father somewhere within the cursed city. Instantly falling in love with Asterigos’ colorful aesthetic, it almost appears as a blend of Immortals Fenyx Rising with a bit of Kameo thrown in.

I’ll admit, I initially rolled my eyes a bit when I read that is had Soulslike mechanics and combat, as there seems to be almost way too many of those lately, but I went in with an open mind and I’m glad I did. Asterigos is more of a Souls-lite than anything else, as I wasn’t struggling as I normally would with Souls games given you can choose difficulties and save anywhere. There’s so much variety with its combat and weapon choices that you’ll eventually find a weapon combo that works best for your playstyle.

You play Hilda, searching for her father within the city walls of Aphes. At the beginning of your journey on route to the city, you eventually reach its outer walls and can’t help but take in the sight of the massive city. Inspired by Greek and Roman mythologies you’ll go through quite a journey that lasted a solid 15 to 20 hours, depending on how much you want to explore and difficulty level chosen. Piecing together the narrative from characters met, lore, documents found and revelations, there’s actually quite an interesting story here that’s separated in a handful of different chapters. You’ll discover the source of the city’s curse, the truth about your father and more as you progress. Choices you make will determine the fate of Aphes, affecting the story and outcomes, even if at times it's a tad predictable.

Soulslike games are generally known for their difficulty, so I was glad to see there were some difficulty options available for those that would rather experience the narrative without a frustrating challenge, though there’s plenty of options for those that want to test their skills. There are many more Soulslike elements within Asterigos as well, such as collecting Stardust (equivalent to souls), managing your stamina by rolling, dodging and blocking, and using special nodes that act like bonfires, allowing you to rest but also resetting enemies that were defeated. You have potions that act as your Estus Flasks to refill health and combat is very diverse with the weapon choices you’re given.

The city of Aphes is quite large, broken into different interconnecting sections. With no real map, you’ll need to simply explore and remember where you’ve been. With over 100 collectibles to find, there’s plenty of secrets to find around every corner. With numerous side quests to work on also as you talk to people within the city walls, Hilda has no shortage of things to do, she just has to make sure she survives the enemies that have taken over the city.

Hilda begins with a single quest, to find out what happened to her father, but it turns out it’s not that simple. You’ll meet a group of characters that act as the cities protectors, but what do you do if you join their battle but it doesn’t always align with your goals? Each section of the city is quite large with many interconnecting pathways, some of which can only be opened from a certain side. Defeat a boss for example and that will generally let you open a door that loops back to the main area or beginning of that zone, allowing for easy access next time you want to explore the area with a quick shortcut now opened.

You begin having access to special magical properties, but as you progress you’ll find different elements that you can imbue your attacks with, from Fire, Ice and Lightning. There are some minor puzzle elements that you need these elemental attacks for, but calling it puzzles are a stretch, more of unlocking a pathway or hidden boss. While I can’t tell if certain enemies are weaker to specific elements, they all vary in attacks, especially if you use the staff as one of your main weapons. Speaking of weapons, you’ll have access to six different types after a brief opening tutorial, choosing from Sword and Shield, Daggers, Spear, Hammer, Staff and Bracelets. They all have different techniques and skills, and you’re able to equip any two you desire simultaneously for some interesting weapon combinations. I opted for Sword and Shield as my main weapon, as I wanted to be able to block attacks, with the Staff being my secondary, allowing me to blast enemies from afar, swapping back to my melee weapon once they get up close.

Daggers are slow damage but very quick where the hammer is the opposite, slow and high damage, also able to break enemy’s defenses. Spear allows you to attack from a slight distance and can also be used to parry attacks. My secondary weapon I enjoyed was the staff, able to shoot magic from afar which is simple when locked onto enemies. Lastly are the magic bracelets, performing quick mid-range magic attacks and creating deadly traps. With these six different weapons you can combine and equip two at a time for a unique combination. Each weapon has a main and secondary attack, so definitely take the time to experiment with all of them and see what works best for your playstyle.

You’re able to swap your weapon attacks on the fly, allowing you to make different combinations of attacks based on when you press the primary or secondary button for either weapon. The Right Bumper and Trigger are your main attacks for your two weapons with the Left Bumper and Trigger being the secondary, all of which will vary based on the weapon you’re opting to currently use. Difficulty is well balanced overall, with certain bosses being quite challenging and some enemies being much more dangers than others.

I never became frustrated with combat, even in the more challenging areas near the end thanks to having more than enough health potions. When using a potion it leaves you vulnerable for a few moments, and they also aren’t instant, slowly refilling your health rather than right away, so you need to find a moment to breathe to use a potion in between attacks. There are even some skills, abilities and gear that you unlock that will allow you to carry more potions or heal for more but carry less for example. While you won't find new weapons or armor, you can equip three accessories, allowing you to boost specific resistances after you have them crafted back at the main base once unlocked.

You have a special meter that refills over time which is how you’ll use your special attacks that you’ve unlocked in the skill tree. These are weapon based and will allow you to deal massive damage, use special stances that change your attacks, or offer buffs that can aid you greatly in combat. The hardest thing to get used to with the combat is that there’s no animation cancelling, so you need to be careful and learn your attacks and the length of their animation. For example, if I’m mid combo with my sword lunges and want to raise my shield to block an incoming attack, I need to make sure I stop attacking with enough time for it to complete and allow my shield to raise in time. With a good 15-20 hour campaign length, including a New Game+ mode, you’ll surely learn the combat intricacies when you fight over 60 different enemy types and 22 different bosses in Asterigos, which were easily the highlight.

There’s a skill tree that you can put your points into that you gain when you level up or find special items, and the tree may look quite small and basic at first, but then it opens up and can feel a bit daunting. Once the skill tree opens up, you’ll see a grid-like system where you can spend your points freely, each sectioned off into six different parts based on each weapon. Myself for example, I spent a lot of points to maximize my sword and shield skill, as that was my primary weapon of choice. Initially I wasn’t able to move when I held my shield up for a block, but with some points into the tree, I can now freely move while blocking.

Each weapon has a good amount of skills and upgrades to unlock, with the most powerful being at the bottom of each tree naturally. There’s a very brief tutorial of how the skill tree and perk system works, but it really could have used some more explanation, as I eventually just figured it out through trial and error. Some stars on the tree give new abilities for your special attacks, others unlock perks that you can choose to toggle on or off, like changing my shield block to a shield throw for example. Sure, now that I understand it and know the differences of the stars in the skill tree it makes sense, but it wasn’t made clear initially and was quite confusing. Certain skills will also unlock other passive upgrades like health and stamina increases too, so there’s always something worth upgrading, even if it’s not necessarily in the weapon trees that you primarily use.

I adore Asterigos’ visual aesthetics. It’s bright, colorful and the city backdrops are gorgeous to take in, varying from the streets and markets of the city, to sewers, mines and more. There’s some minor pop-in issues with smaller assets like bushes and such, even on an Xbox Series X, but it’s not too distracting. Character models are great, as are the facial animations for Hilda, though the lip syncing was a bit off.

As for the voice acting, the main cast of characters you meet throughout Hilda’s journey is wonderfully done, with special mention of Dave Fennoy (Irenaeus), Dawn Bennett (Minerva), and of course the star, Christie Cate (Hilda). Audio as a whole was great, as you can hear weapons hitting enemies, each sounding unique, skills sounding powerful, and a gorgeous soundtrack that fits with the mythology backdrop once the lutes, harps or piano kick in.

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars is quite approachable even given its Soulslike mechanics, and with my first playthrough finishing at just over 15 hours or so, I started up New Game+ right away to get back into Hilda’s world. For a newer developer, Acme Gamestudio has crafted a wonderful world with plenty of content, replayability and quite polished for the most part, not something I’d expect from a $45 (CDN) title or from a studio's first major release.

**Asterigos: Curse of the Stars was provided by the publisher and reviewed on an Xbox Series X**

Overall: 8.8 / 10
Gameplay: 8.5 / 10
Visuals: 9.0 / 10
Sound: 8.5 / 10

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STAFF REVIEW of Asterigos: Curse Of The Stars (Xbox One)

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