Astria Ascending

60%
Game Brain Score Based on 103 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • gameplay
Astria Ascending Game Cover
A fascinating effort from a writer who's delivered some of the most beloved JRPG stories has too many flaws to be another classic.
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In "Astria Ascending," players control a group of eight demigods on a quest to defend the world of Harmonia from destruction. The game features strategic turn-based combat and a rich, character-driven story with multiple endings. With hand-drawn 2D graphics and a soundtrack by composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, "Astria Ascending" offers a compelling and immersive JRPG experience.

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Steam Deck
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

60%
Audience ScoreBased on 103 reviews
graphics26 positive mentions
story22 negative mentions
  • The hand-drawn art style is stunning and visually appealing, contributing to an immersive experience.
  • The combat system is engaging, allowing players to exploit enemy weaknesses and customize their party's abilities through a diverse job system.
  • The game features a rich soundtrack that enhances the overall atmosphere and enjoyment of the gameplay.
  • The story is poorly executed, with unlikable characters and a lack of coherent narrative progression, leading to a disjointed experience.
  • Gameplay balance is problematic, with enemies often overwhelming players early on, and the lack of quality-of-life features makes navigation and combat tedious.
  • Technical issues, such as bugs and performance problems, detract from the overall enjoyment and polish of the game.
  • story106 mentions

    The story has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players describing it as bland, poorly developed, and lacking logical coherence. Characters are often seen as unlikable and flat, with little to no meaningful development or engagement throughout the narrative. While some appreciate the game's visuals and gameplay mechanics, the overall consensus is that the story fails to captivate or invest players, leaving them disinterested in the plot and its progression.

    • “The story and cutscenes add intrigue and twists, the voice acting is great, the graphics and music have otherworldly beauty - overall this game is criminally underrated.”
    • “Take charge of a versatile party of 8 demi-gods and take part in an epic story with interesting and challenging turn-based combat.”
    • “The game's story is simple, it's not a cliché, the plots are 'reasons', but it provides an interesting adventure and far from being boring, the game basically sets up a scenario where the story will unfold sufficiently.”
    • “The story is god awful.”
    • “Things will happen for no logical reason and for some reason, almost everyone's family members get involved to the point where you think there has to be some story reason for this, but none ever appears.”
    • “The story isn't a story, it's an outline someone didn't finish writing.”
  • graphics46 mentions

    The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning hand-drawn art style, which evokes nostalgia for classic JRPGs and enhances the overall experience. While many reviewers appreciate the beautiful visuals and character designs, some note issues with animation smoothness and a lack of graphical options. Overall, the art direction is considered the standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's charm despite some gameplay shortcomings.

    • “A gorgeous classic-style JRPG with a soundtrack to match the visuals - this game is a hidden gem.”
    • “Rich story, turn-based battle, tons of customization, 4K hand-drawn visuals.”
    • “Gorgeous is a word I've no doubt every review will probably have in its first paragraph, rightly so as the artwork is simply beautiful.”
    • “The art style is so over the top in places that I can't take the world or characters seriously.”
    • “I will say the lack of any kind of graphics setting menu is a little jarring.”
    • “You cannot change your resolution or adjust any graphical detail whatsoever, just a heads up.”
  • gameplay37 mentions

    The gameplay is a blend of classic turn-based RPG mechanics with elements inspired by older JRPGs, featuring a variety of characters and abilities that can lead to strategic depth, though some players find the similarities among characters and spongy enemies detract from the experience. While the game offers enjoyable mechanics like exploiting weaknesses and class customization, it suffers from some quality-of-life issues and a lack of clarity in its systems. Overall, the gameplay is seen as both a highlight and a hindrance, with a mix of fun exploration and tactical combat, but also some frustrating design choices.

    • “Encountered some small bugs but nothing problematic, and the depth and strategy of the gameplay is quite enjoyable.”
    • “What you get here is a classic turn-based style RPG with some interesting mechanics revolving around exploiting weaknesses.”
    • “Even with the extensive gameplay, the game is quite diverse with many characters to choose and swap between, leveling them up, and playing along with lots of customizations and classes to keep the game enjoyable.”
    • “Many abilities, some classes, and some gameplay systems could have used some love.”
    • “From a gameplay perspective, there are way too many characters with similar abilities unlocked right away, which makes strategy difficult, and the enemies are very spongy.”
    • “But the gameplay is bad; the power spikes aren't insane. If someone says they are, they're lying.”
  • music33 mentions

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its beauty and ability to complement the visuals, while others criticize issues like uneven audio levels and bugs that disrupt the experience. Some players highlight the soundtrack as a standout feature, noting its variety and emotional depth, while others find it mediocre or inconsistent. Overall, the music is generally appreciated, but technical problems detract from its potential impact.

    • “A gorgeous classic-style JRPG with a soundtrack to match the visuals - this game is a hidden gem.”
    • “The music is wonderful and the world is absolutely gorgeous as others have said.”
    • “The musical score is fantastic and complements the different locations perfectly while switching up the tempo for party combat.”
    • “How is it that I have the music volume set to 1% and upon entering the next zone it's blasting my ears off at 101%?”
    • “Music consistently breaks in at least three different ways, jumping janks out visually on a consistent basis.”
    • “After leaving a combat, your field music can suddenly (permanently) get boosted by 100%, in-game settings do nothing to fix this.”
  • grinding15 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game is heavily criticized for being tedious and time-consuming, with players often spending hours farming experience points (EXP) and skill points (SP) to progress. While some acknowledge that grinding can yield rewards like coins, the overall balance and pacing are seen as flawed, leading to repetitive and mundane combat encounters. Players recommend adjusting the difficulty to "easy" to alleviate some of the grind, as the game requires significant investment in farming to succeed.

    • “There is no balance consideration and grinding is mega grindy.”
    • “The bad thing is that upgrades require so much SP that you're farming for hours.”
    • “A JRPG with heavy combat focus, but unfortunately, the combat system itself is flawed; too repetitive and becomes mundane very quickly because every encounter demands this 'find enemy element weakness, curing negative status caused by enemy attacks, then repeat for the next basic enemy encounter... up to the boss fight.' Too much grinding!”
  • character development12 mentions

    Character development in the game is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the deep customization options and stunning character designs, others find the dialogue and overall character growth lacking. The art and animations are praised, but the storytelling and character interactions often feel bland or derivative, leading to a disconnect in the overall experience. Despite these criticisms, the game offers a visually appealing journey with potential for engaging character management.

    • “Really a fantastic journey with just tons of customization and in-depth character development for combat.”
    • “Hand drawn and animated characters, stunning backdrops and incredible character design are at its core and run through the entirety of the game.”
    • “A game bursting full of fantastic narrative, stunning artwork, incredible music, character design, lore and a comfortable familiarity.”
    • “The story was ok, but the delivery and lack of character development made it bland.”
    • “I was really trying to love this as the art and animations are exceptionally nice (except for the bubble heads), but the story is plain and bad, the voice play is irritating, and the character development is really disappointing.”
    • “Too much Final Fantasy influence (character design, job mechanics, etc.), it sometimes feels like a rip-off.”
  • stability10 mentions

    The game has received significant criticism for its stability, with many users reporting numerous bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay and immersion. While some aspects, like graphics, are praised, the overall experience is marred by technical issues, making it particularly frustrating for completionists. Despite improvements over time, the game is still perceived as a "buggy unplayable mess" at launch.

    • “This game got a lot of (likely deserved) flak for being a buggy unplayable mess on release.”
    • “I'll be honest, it is buggy, and the story is very stale.”
    • “Again, I want to like the game, but I can't get immersed or invested in this half-baked story with stock characters and all the glitches that ruin the player experience.”
  • optimization6 mentions

    Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews. While some players report smooth performance and beautiful graphics on their systems, others experience significant lag in specific areas, such as dungeons, and issues with quest optimization and keybind customization. Additionally, there are complaints about stuttering during platform jumping animations, which affects gameplay fluidity.

    • “Even on hard difficulty, the game feels too optimized.”
    • “The quests and side quests need better optimization and bug fixes.”
    • “Performance in some dungeons (sewers, I'm looking at you) really lags.”
    • “The quests and side quests need to be better optimized and bug fixed.”
    • “The performance on some dungeons (sewers, I'm looking at you) really lags.”
    • “There is a lack of optimization; keybind customization is also needed, and some aspects of the game are somewhat hard.”
  • emotional4 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is largely criticized, with players finding the characters to be generic and lacking depth, leading to a disconnect from the narrative. The party members are described as unlikable and emotionally flat, resulting in a gameplay experience that feels more mechanical than emotionally engaging. Overall, the game fails to deliver a mature or impactful emotional experience.

  • humor2 mentions

    The humor in the game is noted to be quite effective, with some design choices reminiscent of a sixth grader's perspective, leading to amusingly punishing outcomes for seemingly normal decisions.

    • “It's quite funny, actually.”
    • “It feels like a lot of design decisions were made by a 6th grader who thought it would be funny to punish you for normal choices.”
  • replayability2 mentions

    The game offers significant replayability, with users highlighting its enjoyable gameplay and the flexibility of the job system, which encourages experimentation with various build combinations. Overall, players feel that the game is worth purchasing for its lasting appeal.

    • “If you think you would enjoy this game, just buy it; it's great with tons of replay value.”
    • “The game was a lot of fun to play, and there is replay value in the job system that allows you to try new and different build combinations.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    The monetization aspect of the game has been criticized for excessive advertising, which detracts from the overall experience.

    • “This game is overloaded with advertisements.”
    • “The monetization strategy feels exploitative and detracts from the overall experience.”
    • “I feel pressured to spend money to enjoy the game fully.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

64% average critic score

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Play time

20hMedian play time
20hAverage play time
20-20hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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