Asterigos: Curse of the Stars, we tried the action RPG inspired by Ancient Greece
Asterigos
The Steam Next Fest demo catalog always hides some interesting news, some for games that will remain in development for quite some time and others, instead, dedicated to titles that are just around the corner.An example is what we are talking about today, Asterigos: Curse of the Stars, a new adventure and action role-playing game that takes inspiration from the world of souls-like distantly, mixing everything with a fantasy aesthetic inspired by Ancient Greece.
Until 10 October it will be possible to try the demo of Asterigos Curse of the Stars and, from the next day, the full version will be available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S. The first impressions of Acme Gamestudio's latest effort will therefore be fundamental to convince many to give this new game a chance or to ignore it without reservations.
If you want to know what we think, read our tried-and-true Asterigos Curse of the Stars.
A girl against the world
Hilda, star of Asterigos Curse of the Stars Asterigos Curse of the Stars is not a souls-like, even if the developers ( perhaps a bit for fashion) they wanted to put the dedicated tag on the Steam page. A first difference from the average souls-like is the fact that we cannot create our character: we will be Hilda, a girl from the Northwind legion who, after being left at home by the rest of the team as she is still too young, finds herself in having to retrace their footsteps to help them.Northwind's legion is gone and everything points to the city of Alphes, an Ancient Greek-inspired metropolis on which a strange curse seems to have fallen. The demo doesn't tell us much more, except that people in the city are turning into monsters and panic is rampant.
Alphes, the city of Asterigos Curse of the Stars We know that Asterigos Curse of the Stars will not have a linear plot, as it will be possible to make a series of decisions that "will alter the course of history": how profound they will be and various these choices? Impossible to say for now.
What we can say is that the plot seems to be told in a more direct way than the souls-like of Miyazaki and FromSoftware. The protagonist speaks to give us directions, comments on what is happening and there are real purely narrative moments during which we will see echoes of the past left in the air inside the city. We can't comment on the quality yet, but for those looking for an action game with a more classic and linear storyline, Asterigos Curse of the Stars meets the requirements.
Weapons of the trade
Hilda's Daggers in Asterigos Curse of the Stars As mentioned, the demo is short, with only a couple of common enemy types and a couple of bossfights (of the 22 that should be in the base game), but that's enough to get an idea of what the basics of the game systems are.Hilda has multiple weapons from the beginning, which should remain fixed throughout the adventure (we will unlock elements such as fire and electricity, but not new weapons). There are also no real armor to find and equip, only cosmetic costumes and accessories that provide defensive bonuses. This means that there will be no deep RPG management of the equipment: Asterigos Cursew of the Stars' priority is to make the whole structure leaner. Character evolution is also simpler, with only three stats to upgrade (without having to reach a "bonfire", she levels up live and secures skill points to spend whenever she wants). Then there are some simple constellation-style skill trees, which give bonuses of various kinds, which can also modify some of the protagonist's abilities.
The first boss of the Asterigos Curse of the Stars demo The weapons available are sword and shield, double daggers, a spear, a hammer, a magic staff and magic bracelets. Each weapon has a three-hit combo, a special move (parry with sword and shield, parry with spear, offensive dash with daggers ...) and can be used in combination with another weapon. Hilda can change equipment freely, but during the battle she has two weapons assigned to as many keys. If you start a combo with one weapon, however, you can conclude with the second one and thus activate a single shot.
There are therefore various combinations that can be used to get the better of every situation, thanks also to the fact that there are various attack skills that consume action points, which must be recharged mainly by attacking enemies. These offensive abilities can be very useful and activate special effects, such as additional defense, a kind of black hole that draws nearby enemies towards you or simply stuns and knocks opponents. In our short test we immediately realized that among those foul there was a very powerful one that we used to do massive damage against the bosses. The menu shows that there are many of these attacks: we must hope that they are all more or less effective, otherwise there is a risk that the player will fossilize on the two or three most useful and ignore the rest.
Hilda attacks with a hammer in Asterigos Curse of the Stars The combat system, in short, seems potentially very varied also because the attack moves are all available even if you do not have the dedicated weapon equipped. The pace of play is a mix of dodging, attacking, offensive skills, and repositioning. The demo bosses, of which only one was a fearsome opponent, have various melee and ranged moves, with even special effects that make the combat area dangerous. We have seen too little to affirm that Asterigos Curse of the Stars is excellent, but the premises are good and if the level of the boss fights were at least equal to what we tried we would have some interesting battles in front of us.
We repeat, however, that Asterigos is not a real souls-like, for better or for worse. For the good because it offers various levels of difficulty, to meet even those who are not particularly good at fighting. Good (again) because it is much more permissive with stamina, which is consumed only by dodging and special weapon attacks (parry, parrying, shooting daggers ...), while it is not affected by normal attacks and attacks. aforementioned offensive abilities, allowing you to be aggressive without risking a sword in the face because the stamina ended at the worst time.
A giant crow-style boss from the full version of Asterigos Curse of the Stars In evil because does not offer an Estus-style treatment system, that is, we will have potions that will be found especially in the environment and that will not be refilled at the checkpoits. To get more it is necessary to defeat common enemies: if the less skilled were to get stuck in front of a boss, there is the risk that they will have to spend some time to "farm" the heals; Bloodborne should have taught us that it's not exactly a good idea. Bad (again) because the area we tested is extremely linear: we hope that the complete game has a little more structured sections, with various passages and perhaps the beloved shortcuts of souls-like.
Finally , a quick comment on graphics and sound. As a demo we cannot consider what we have seen to be definitive, but considering that there are a few days left before the release, we take it for granted that even in the best case the differences will be minimal. On a technical level, Asterigos Curse of the Stars is a simple game, with a pleasant cartoon style that did not show distinctive features in the demo. For the umpteenth time, however, we repeat that the demo is so short that we have seen too little (literally a forest and a secondary road in the city). What does not convince us already now is the English dubbing of Hilda, a bit weak from what we heard.
Asterigos Curse of the Stars, after this tried, left us a good impression. Its strengths are certainly the combat system, very varied right from the start, and a very lean role-playing structure, suitable for all types of players. We will have to understand if the plot will be interesting and if the level design will be less linear than what we have seen so far, but the premises are positive. The final judgment can only be given with the final version, coming soon.
