PAX EAST 2022 | "Asterigos: Curse of the Stars"
A grand adventure needs to be immersive, to the point where every aspect of it is just begging to be explored. TinyBuild’s Asterigos: Curse of the Stars, the debut game from Taiwan’s Acme Gamestudio, aims to bring a big world with loads of quests to take on and bosses to slay. Demoed at PAX East, the intro to Asterigos gives hints of a great world to be explored. On top of that, it showcases quite an array of battle techniques!
The demo starts off with your character Hilda awakening in a mysterious forest. Your weapons have all been stolen by a mischievous creature, so the hunt begins quickly to get them all back. After picking up the lone weapon not swiped, Hilda sets off to tackle the monsters that roam the area. Right at the get-go, you are engulfed in one fight after another, as Hilda does everything she can to survive.
Depending on the weaponry that’s in your possession, the gameplay experience can change. Smaller daggers result in quicker attacks, but not a lot of damage. Spears are great for long range, but their bulkiness causes it to be slow to attack. Thankfully, with enough practice and power attacks under your wing, Asterigos can transform Hilda into the mightiest warrior around!
Taking on multiple enemies via regular and sneak attacks is surprisingly a lot of fun. While there are many other fantasy adventure titles that bring forth similar tactics, it’s the air of mystery that Asterigos has that keeps it exciting throughout its combat. The real fun comes from the boss battles, with the harry behemoth I faced being just as tough as a Monster Hunter foe. It does involve a lot of hacking and slashing, with the amount needed to take down a beast taking several minutes before the final blow is connected.
Asterigos is a gorgeous and exciting fantasy that any fan of the genre would be eager to dive into. While my time with the game was short, what I did experience made me want to see what happens next. With more weapons to collect and bigger monsters to fight, Acme Gamestudio is aiming to face off against the bigger fantasy game makers with its own brand of uniqueness. After seeing what they have already brought to Asterigos, it has me filled with hope that they’ll be successful in bringing some fresh blood to the genre.
TinyBuild aims to bring Asterigos: Curse of the Stars to PCs and consoles later this fall. With plenty of bosses to slay and collectibles to discover, Hilda’s adventure is shaping to be one anyone would traverse to the edge of its worlds to discover all of its secrets.
