Asterigos: Curse of the Stars – Review
Seeing the official trailer for this game a little over a year ago piqued my interest because it seemed like a fun, combative action-adventure game with themes and visuals inspired by Greek and Roman mythology. Later on, an overview of the game’s mechanics and some information about the game’s combat system were made public. Due to the game’s emphasis on elemental weaknesses and the ability to wield multiple weapon types, I was anticipating a fantastic build crafting adventure in the vein of the Souls games.
It becomes abundantly clear by the end of Asterigos that the game has a serious problem deciding what it wants to be. Asterigos, who draws inspiration and admiration from Greek and Roman mythology, is ripe with potential but fails to tap into it. The very thing that holds this game back is also its greatest strength. It tries too hard to be like the exploration-and-combat-focused Souls games while also being a mythology-themed adventure. Now that we’ve established some context, let’s discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Asterigos: Curse of the Stars.
In Asterigos, you take on the role of Hilda, a young and upbeat Northwind Legion warrior. Three and a half months have passed since her father’s unit reported back to headquarters, and you meet her as she sets out on a mission to find them. It’s clear from the start that she has a youthful, unyielding spirit. Hilda learns that her father is in Aphes after following some hints he left behind.
Aphes is a city plagued by a secret I won’t reveal. The city’s curse and Hilda’s struggle to lift it provide the story’s central tension and appeal. In contrast, the characters could have benefited from being cooked for longer. Their personalities and aesthetics were generally boring and unremarkable. As a nod to Greek and Roman mythology, I feel like the gods of those cultures would have fit in here more naturally. It would have been more entertaining to see them interact and clash with one another. Because it works, many games feature deities as playable characters.
As far as mechanics go, combat in Asterigos is top notch. However, it seems torn between two directions and unable to settle on one. The developers made an effort to appeal to players who prefer RPGs with a strong focus on story and skill trees, as well as those who enjoy the “not going to hold your hand” mentality or the need to piece together the narrative on their own, as seen in games like Souls. It’s not terrible, since you’re able to please two sets of players, but it does dilute the experience. If they were going to put in half as much effort into two genres, it would have been better to focus on just one.
It was satisfying to use a variety of unique weapons in battle without feeling overpowered. Amazingly, you can equip two weapons at once, opening up a wide variety of possible attack strategies. Since I found daggers and spears to be the most entertaining and effective weaponry, I relied on them for the vast majority of my playthrough. I really enjoy games where you can move around freely, as it makes for more dynamic offensive and defensive play.
One concept I wish had been implemented would have rewarded more skillfully combining attacks and constructions in combat. There is a skill tree where experience points can be spent to learn new abilities, but construction and strategy in combat have been downgraded. The skill tree appears to be a mechanism for putting unnecessary skills behind a timer. The best and most useful abilities in role-playing games are typically the last ones to be unlocked. Here, it felt like all of the skills had the same lethality, making it less appealing to experiment with different builds involving different weapons and abilities. Not only did I not notice any difference in the damage dealt, but there was also no clear tutorial or explanation of how the whole system works, despite the fact that it advertises the ability to imbue weapons with different elements to take advantage of enemy weakness.
Soul-based games are popular because of their emphasis on world exploration and challenging boss battles. Asterigos explores all of these topics, but does so lightly. While player exploration and discovery are central to the design, the city is too sprawling and non-linear to function without some sort of mini or area map. Together with the requirement to use the stamina metre to run when not in combat, this is my primary gripe with the game. In a game where finding new items and completing quests depends on traversing the entire world, this is completely pointless.
The boss fights in Asterigos are a high point of the game. Each boss experience was unique and proportional to Hilda in scale. As is typical of the genre, some characters switched attacks or styles after taking a certain amount of damage. However, the story’s fights didn’t have the difficulty I’ve come to expect, with the exception of the final boss. When it comes to testing the player’s skill at learning attack patterns, most games in the soul’s genre use bosses as a significant difficulty spike to make them feel truly like bosses. Personally, I think a game should go all in if it bases its item usage and combat on a genre notorious for sudden spikes in difficulty during boss fights. However, I think the main selling point of Asterigos is the customizable and entertaining fights that it promises.
Now that we’ve covered everything, let’s go over the basics of the final topic. When I first start a new game, one of the first things I do is look into the accessibility options, such as subtitles and audio volume controls. Regarding accessibility first, there were only four possible button layouts to pick from. In a game where dodging and timing attacks is so important, I wish there had been more customization options beyond the defaults. A custom toggle that allowed users to assign any function to any button would have been useful.
Moving on to the game’s visuals, I was dissatisfied with not only the visual customization options but also with the game’s overall visual quality. The only options in the menu were to change the gamma and the size of the subtitle font. Reviewing Asterigos on a PS5, I was surprised to find that the game lacked the performance/resolution slider that has become the norm for games on both previous- and current-generation consoles. In my opinion, the game would benefit from having that slider because it would allow it to more closely align with my prediction that it would appeal to players of two distinct genres. The gorgeously detailed worlds and characters of RPGs are only possible with a low frame rate and high resolution. However, a high frame rate is crucial in most Souls games for dodging and blocking attacks.
The visuals can be summed up in one word: erratic. The game’s cutscenes generally met this standard, with plenty of detail and backstory, but the dialogue fell short; characters other than Hilda rarely had animated mouths when speaking. There are also recurring cases, such as the fact that trees and houses retain their normal appearances while bushes and other street furnishings appear to have lost all of their texture. Unfortunately, the quality of the enemies’ textures and animation is just as bad in many cases. Some enemies would look and move like they belonged in the PS2 era, and there are only two or three different enemy types in each large section of the map. Combat, thankfully, allows you to put the visuals aside and concentrate on actually fighting.
As unfortunate as it may be, Asterigos seems like a barren wasteland. In fact, outside of that one location, you won’t encounter many Aphesians at all. The nobles you meet and converse with in this quest are the only ones you will ever see or speak to. There was no pressing need to introduce yourself to everyone, but there were some houses where knocking on the door elicited arbitrary audio dialogue. Aside from yourself and the hostile combatants, the city doesn’t seem haunted so much as deserted. Regarding the audio, I have no complaints or points to make because it featured the usual set of controls for personalization and the expected sound. The game’s voice acting was a delightful bonus. Hilda’s voice actress deserves a tonne of credit; she had a lot to do as the game’s protagonist and she did a fantastic job.
To reiterate what I said at the outset, Asterigos feels like it’s stuck between trying to be an adventure game with a mythological theme and a soul lite with faster combat and hidden lore. As a result, it performed adequately in both areas but not exceptionally well. Enjoyable battles, top-notch voice acting, and rich backstory can all be found in Asterios. Where it could be better is in its visual polish, its dedication to a central idea, and the depth of its story and characters. This is a good option for those who want a Souls-like experience without the challenge, or for those who enjoy adventure games but aren’t interested in the modern 100-hour odysseys.
