![]() There are glimmers of goodness in Astria Ascending's storytelling. While it's true that no one in Astria Ascending gets their head blown off by a bomb disguised as a blitzball, the routine ineptitude of these chosen heroes might make you wish otherwise by the time they've saved the world. For all his accolades, Kazushige Nojima's record is far from infallible for every fantastic Final Fantasy X he's written, there's something closer in quality to that game's relatively recent novella. Astria Ascending does occasionally dabble in these semi-staples of the role-playing genre, but its real crime is its moment-to-moment scriptwriting. Some JRPGs suffer in this regard through barrages of poor-taste fanservice and other embarrassing tropes like weak-kneed women or utterly incredulous antagonists. Speaking of dialogue, prepare yourself for some real rough patches. In all likelihood, your quest will then bring you back to one of those cities, upon which a chunk of inane dialogue will play out propelling you forward to your next destination. Once you've finished mopping up monsters and watched a cutscene or two, you'll be back outside the dungeon in one of the several zones linking together the game's cities. ![]() These dungeons will invariably include light platforming aspects, but there are no challenging jumps to be made nor particularly head-scratching puzzles to be solved. Of course, sooner or later either the main plot or some scattered sidequest will come along and open the path to these places, at which point you'll likely find yourself at the beginning of a dungeon. Being told they're blocked off from dangerous spaces makes about as much sense as Aragorn and friends opting not to take to the field in Return of the King because some random Minas Tirith NPC tells them they could get hurt. It's a whole thing.) These are canonically capable warriors. (At the closing of their third year as "demi-gods," they're fated to kick the bucket. You have full control of all eight playable characters from the game’s onset, each of whom is a veteran of many conflicts as they near the sad end to their three-year stint as heroes. ![]() Perhaps this is a good time to discuss the game's narrative hook it flies in the face of that warning and the plethora of similarly forced stopgaps throughout the campaign. As I ventured as far to the right of an area as I could - and we all know that moving from left to right is the most basic of 2D gaming basics - I was abruptly met by a warning that I could not progress because the following spot was too dangerous. The first qualitative red flag I encountered occurred just moments into my time with Astria Ascending. This dedication to detail gives the game's diverse biomes the edge they need so as not to overstay their welcome because it is no exaggeration to say you'll be seeing the same zones again and again by journey's end. Everywhere you turn, you're bound to see something pretty popping out of the background like a polished gem. It's difficult not to draw immediate comparisons to Vanillaware fare like Dragon's Crown - which is no small compliment in an age when so many JRPG publishers are pushing for vast 3D worlds and missing the mark on one technical level or another. After spending over 50 hours with developer Artisan Studios' talent-packed title, I cannot say I'm satisfied.Īstria Ascending's presentation is its greatest strength. ![]() Legendary Final Fantasy scribe Kazushige Nojima contributes his literary talents! Famously atmospheric composer Hitoshi Sakimoto is on board for the soundtrack! The 2D visuals are brimming with style! But ingredients alone cannot bake a cake. ![]() On paper, Astria Ascending has all of the necessary ingredients to join this luscious list. ![]()
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