2D action RPG Astlibra Revision has an interesting and impressive backstory. Mostly developed by one man over the course of 15 years, the final version is now available on Switch as opposed to incremental releases on PC. While not without flaws, this is an enjoyable, beefy quest for those starving for action RPG content.
Unfortunately, you play as another nameless hero who has no memory (but remembers how to fight for some reason) in a typical good guy want to save the person/place/thing from the bad guys. Throughout the lengthy 40-ish hour quest, the narrative gets complicated and difficult to follow as it involves multiple dimensions, murdering gods, supernatural beings and even a little time travel. It is easy to see that this game has been stitched together over numerous releases over a long period of time.
The plot isn’t the only thing that gets confusing. This is one of those games where you will need to travel to every corner of the map to figure out where to go next. NPCs will sometimes provide vague clues on where you might want to search, but there is no obvious indicator on where to go or what it is you should be doing. Making matters more tedious, you’ll sometimes need to talk to a random townsperson to have the one thing trigger somewhere else in the game. To help reduce frustration and wasted time, it is recommended to play with a guide.
Combat is everything you would expect from an action RPG. In addition to basic button mashing, finesse is often required. Back dashing, blocking, and power meters must be managed from moment to moment. Go heavy on the offensive and enemies can be staggered. Perform a combo and be rewarded with an extra summon or crowd control attack. Perhaps the best part though is the range of weapons available. Spears, swords, and just about every other type of bladed weapon you can imagine can be placed in your inventory, each one with is own pros and cons. To quickly summarize, combat feels good, right, and satisfying. This is also in part to the thorough leveling system. In addition to increasing skills on a maze-like skill tree, weapons themselves also get upgraded. While some grinding is necessary due to difficulty spikes, it is an easier pill to swallow when so many weapons and combat options are available.
It is difficult to harp on a game that was basically the lifelong project of a solo dev, but it is still necessary to be honest. Visually, it is not a bad looking game, but it is sorely not a good one. Animations are rigid and the character sprites often look out of place in comparison to the environmental backdrops. Like, it is going for the Vanillaware style of art but feels like a generic knockoff. Again, definitely not bad, but perhaps I have just been spoiled by the fluidity of other ARPGs. On the other hand, the soundtrack fills the atmosphere of the gameplay. From slower melodic tunes to faster paced action tracks, it is a pleasantly sounding title.
While a good game that should be respected and admired, it isn’t a top tier action RPG. Some might appreciate the old school archaic game design and lack of direction, but I personally find it to be frustrating and not respectful of the player’s time. It is also easy to see that this final product is the result of elements that have been shoehorned together over a long period of time. Impressive, yes. Perfect, no.
SCORE: 7/10
Not As Good As: Blasphemous 2
Also Try: Cosmos Bit
Wait For It: a new 2D pixel-based Castlevania by Konami
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
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