This Asterigos: Curse of the Stars review contains minor spoilers.
The Soulslike genre has gained serious traction over the last decade. With the mainstream favouring heavy handholding and map-markers galore, Soulslike games offer players a truly challenging experience. And these days we are seeing more and more of them.
While they certainly present a welcome change for many, Soulslike fatigue is starting to set in. Maybe it’s just me. But between the releases of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Nioh 2, the 2020 Demon’s Souls remake, Elden Ring, and many others, the wider genre is starting to feel somewhat uninspired and derivative.
With such Soulslike saturation, it is imperative that any new game innovates in a meaningful way. It simply isn’t enough to be a re-skinned Dark Souls anymore.
Thankfully, indie developer Acme Gamestudio have brought us Asterigos: Curse of the Stars. And I’m pleased to say it’s a small triumph.
In a year when many Soulslike fans will be tired after spending hundreds of hours in Elden Ring‘s Lands Between, releasing Asterigos is a gamble. Despite its smaller budget and unique qualities, it will undoubtedly be compared to 2022’s genre king.
However, Asterigos: Curse of the Stars – which is unashamedly inspired by Souls games of the past – does just enough to set itself apart. And in doing so, stands tall as a fun, unique, and charming experience.
Asterigos: Curse of the Stars Review – Story & Setting
Setting
Souls fans will argue that every game comes with its own fascinating story and lore. But let’s be honest, some players just want a bit more on the narrative front. And that’s the first way in which Asterigos stands out.
Acme Gamestudio has clearly set out to create a more story driven experience with Asterigos.
While the game’s world, Aphes, is strikingly similar to that of other Soulslike games (a cross between real-world history and high fantasy), its lore is fleshed out to a degree few others have achieved.
This is accomplished by an abundance of RPG-style dialogue, Echos (which show snippets of the world’s past), wonderfully animated cutscenes, and many, many notes and letters.
Not only is Aphes’ lore deep, its world is spatially vast.
Asterigos is less linear than Demon’s Souls but not as open as Elden Ring. Instead, it sits somewhere in between. Its quite a nice middle ground that gives players the freedom to choose the order in which they tackle quests.
Unfortunately, the lack of an in-game map or navigational aids does detract from the benefit of additional freedom. For example, my quest log would say return to The Shelter (Asterigos‘ hub) or go to X location. Except, with no waypoint, I’d then run around completely lost while trying to find my way.
This is particularly punishing at the start when you are unfamiliar with the world’s layout or the names of different areas. Elden Ring didn’t give you specific waypoints – but it did have a map. Asterigos could really have benefitted from one, too.
Overall, I would have liked Asterigos to go even further away from the usual approach to Soulslike world building and level design. But it inarguably does a great job at realising the world of the Aphesians.
Story
Asterigos: Curse of the Stars follows Hilda, a young but skilled warrior, who ventures to Aphes in search of her lost father and his band of men.
When she arrives there, she discovers that Aphes has been under a curse for around one thousand years. Many of those have been spent under authoritarian rule. The curse also prevents Aphesians from ageing.
After an encounter with a mysterious knight, Hilda meets the Adherants. They are a group hiding underground that are working to save the city. In exchange for Hilda’s help in freeing Aphes from its curse, they agree to aid in Hilda’s search for her father.
Alongside the game’s main story are complex themes of political/class warfare, duty and family, and religion and race. These all play a crucial part in making Aphes feel like a real place with real people and real struggles.
Of course, such deep lore comes at a price. If you want to learn everything there is to know about Aphes, be prepared for large amounts of text-based notes and dialogue.
In regards to dialogue, the main story lines are voiced to a good standard. But most of the conversations around extended lore are text-only. As an indie game, this choice was most likely made to save money while offering players narrative depth. But it did discourage me from finding out more about Aphes than I otherwise would have.
Nevertheless, Asterigos offers a more complete story than most other Soulslike games. Its RPG approach to characters and dialogue feels fresh and is a perfect blend between genres.
Asterigos: Curse of the Stars Review – Gameplay
As with its world, Asterigos: Curse of the Stars is heavily inspired by Soulslike games of the past but innovates in a few key ways.
Genre diehards will be very familiar with the basic formula.
Battle increasingly difficult enemies in predominately melee based combat and progress past Conduits (checkpoints) until you get to a boss. Killing enemies earns you Stardust (which can be spent on weapon upgrades, stat boosting Trinkets, and consumables) of which bosses drop the most.
Combat is challenging but immensely satisfying in the usual Soulslike way. It can take numerous attempts to defeat a tough boss. But once you do it, you will find yourself ecstatic.
Again, it’s clear Asterigos‘ approach to bosses is heavily influenced by other Souls games. They tank your attacks, deal huge damage, alternate between attack patterns, and enter different phases as their HP decreases. Even their names are unmistakably Soulslike (Eulalia the Prayee, anyone?).
While they are well executed, bosses are more of an attempt at emulation than innovation.
Combat, Weapons, and Levelling
Most importantly, though, Asterigos‘ combat feels fresh and unique.
Rather than sticking to one weapon at a time, Hilda has access to six right from the off. They are: a sword and shield, a hammer, a magical staff (the ranged option), magical bracelets, a spear, and a pair of daggers.
Hilda can equip two weapons at a time each with its own benefits. For example, couple the sword and shield with the magical staff and you can switch between close range duels, defensive blocks, and ranged magic attacks.
The ability to mix and match weapons gives the player a lot of agency in how they approach combat. You could choose to level all six options up equally (of which the max level is +10) so you can switch dependent on the situation. Or you could choose to specialise in the two weapons that suit you the most.
Alongside this are Talent Points (earned through levelling up) which can be used to unlock Perks and Skills in the skill tree.
Perks include things like the ability to move with your shield raised or a fourth spell in your staff’s combo attack.
Skills are weapon specific special moves that use AP. Hilda can have four equipped at any time and they aren’t limited to the two weapons you have equipped. This adds a great deal of versatility to how you can approach combat encounters.
When it comes to weapons, visiting The Shelter’s blacksmith and upgrading as you go is crucial in tackling the difficulty incline as you progress.
Hilda levels up by earning XP. As she does, she earns Attribute Points which can be assigned to three attributes. They are: Precision (which buffs damage output), Constitution (increases health), and Arcane (increases AP recovery rate and increases Skill damage).
Asterigos: Curse of the Stars Review – Graphics and Sound
Overall, Asterigos looked and played great on PC. I enjoyed a steady 60FPS at 4K resolution. For context, I’m running an Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070.
While the game’s art-style is cartoonish and significantly less visually awe-inspiring than, say, Elden Ring, it looks good overall. Certain areas felt flat but others (particularly boss stages) really popped by comparison.
With that said, the game’s weakest aspect was Hilda herself. Her model lacked detail and she didn’t seem a natural fit for the world around her.
Asterigos triumphs in its special effects animations. Spells, magic, and elemental attacks look excellent.
Sound-wise, Asterigos has passable to good voice-acting for the main story dialogue. It also has a particularly strong soundtrack and satisfying combat audio effects.
Asterigos: Curse of the Stars Review – Verdict
Asterigos: Curse of the Stars has launched at a difficult time. Not only are there some big releases on the horizon, but gamers are also somewhat burnt out on Soulslike games.
Thankfully, Acme Gamestudio has done a good job at differentiating it just enough to make it worth a look. It’s fun and innovative where it matters most, even if it still suffers from a significant amount of derivativeness.
Due to its launch proximity to Elden Ring and the sheer quality of AAA Soulslikes, I suspect Asterigos may be unfairly overlooked. Nonetheless, it is a resoundingly enjoyable experience that I would recommend to any Soulslike fan.
Overall Rating: 8/10
Reviewed on: PC
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