Asura
- April 13, 2017
- Ogre Head Studio
- 5h median play time
Get on Steam"Asura is a single-player Fantasy Hack and Slash game with an intriguing story, awesome game mechanics, and good visuals/soundtrack. The Vengeance Edition includes a new endless mode, "Vengeance Mode," with a leaderboard and a new difficulty level, "Mahasura," for hardcore players. The update also features a new Chakra System, new items, and Shamshan, where players can show off their gear."
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- The game features interesting mechanics, such as choosing between absorbing enemies for experience or scavenging them for loot, which adds depth to gameplay.
- Combat is fluid and engaging, with a good variety of enemies and bosses that require different strategies to defeat.
- The game incorporates Indian mythology, providing a unique aesthetic and narrative that sets it apart from other roguelikes.
- The game can be extremely challenging, with a steep difficulty curve that may frustrate players, especially those unfamiliar with the genre.
- There are issues with repetitiveness in enemy encounters and level layouts, which can lead to a lack of variety over time.
- Some mechanics, such as the burning effect that destroys equipment, can feel punishing and detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- gameplay72 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally well-received, featuring a mix of familiar mechanics from roguelikes and action RPGs, with a unique twist on skill trees and a scavenge/absorb mechanic that adds depth. While some players appreciate the smooth controls and engaging combat, others criticize the lack of originality and balance issues, particularly with certain mechanics feeling either overpowered or frustrating. Overall, the game offers a rewarding experience with good replayability, though it may not fully satisfy those seeking innovation compared to established titles like "Binding of Isaac."
“Solid gameplay, well-designed systems.”
“The gameplay loop is easy to pick up and understand: run around with a melee weapon and a ranged weapon, hit enemies, and either scavenge them for items and gold or absorb their souls for XP.”
“The various passive and active skills, along with the differences in gameplay between weapons and character choice, provide a lot of replay value.”
“No originality in gameplay and mechanics.”
“Barebones gameplay.”
“So the gameplay devolves to running and dodging away, turning and shooting, running away, etc. basically kiting the whole time.”
- story24 mentions
- 46 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The game's story, rooted in Indian mythology, is generally regarded as decent and engaging, with some players appreciating its unique take on the hero's journey and the variety of unlockable content. However, critiques highlight its bland execution and simplistic narrative, which some feel detracts from the overall experience. While the cutscenes and artwork receive mixed reviews, the story is often seen as a solid backdrop to the gameplay, with a few players finding it compelling enough to enhance their connection to the characters.
“The story is decent and incorporates what I understand is a great deal of Indian mythology.”
“Beating a run unlocks new bosses, items, and enemies based on your achievements, and on your very first and second wins, the story of the game.”
“Lots of variety for each playthrough, presented through a rad story essentially about playing as a demon rebelling against the corrupt kingdom of men and gods.”
“The story is also bland and very poor.”
“As for a final rating: due to the grammatical mistakes, a high difficulty curve (for me), and a limited story and soundtrack, this game loses marks.”
“A dark story of vengeance, a'la God of War.”
- graphics23 mentions
- 61 % positive mentions
- 26 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the bright and colorful aesthetic and well-done visuals, while others criticize the chunky and basic graphics as outdated. The overall art style is appreciated for its charm and creativity, particularly in the varied environments and cutscenes, though some find it simplistic and reminiscent of budget titles. Overall, the graphics are seen as a blend of appealing aesthetics and limitations in detail.
“The aesthetic of the game is bright and colorful, and the areas you go to are varied and interesting to look at, full of cover, treasure, and traps.”
“The visuals are nice and clear, and a lot of cool effects.”
“Running this with a GTX 1070 was smooth and crisp with maxed out graphics, floating steadily around 120 fps.”
“Graphics are outdated, and the simplistic style of models don't add much to enjoyment.”
“I didn't like the way the game controls and the graphics were of a budget mobile hack and slash game.”
“The graphics are chunky and basic, but the overall aesthetic is excellent.”
- music16 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its thematic fit and unique sound, particularly highlighting the good soundtrack that aligns well with Indian mythology. However, others note the limited variety, with only one or two songs leading to repetitiveness, which could detract from the overall experience during extended play. Overall, while the music is generally appreciated, its lack of diversity may hinder its long-term enjoyment.
“Very good soundtrack, matching the Indian mythology theme.”
“Great music and sound effects.”
“Sounds - 8/10 (unique is the best word to describe the music inside the game)”
“There's only about 1 or 2 songs in the game, so the music gets a bit repetitive.”
“The (limited) soundtrack would probably get on my nerves if I played for more than a dozen hours.”
“Due to the limited story and soundtrack, this game loses marks.”
- replayability15 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The game boasts high replayability due to its procedural generation of maps, enemies, and skill trees, which ensures a unique experience with each playthrough. Players appreciate the variety of unlockable content, including bosses, weapons, and characters, enhancing the overall value and enjoyment. The randomness in gameplay mechanics prevents players from settling into a single optimal build, further encouraging multiple runs.
“The various passive and active skills, along with the differences in gameplay between weapons and character choice provide a lot of replay value.”
“Randomly generated skill trees, which is awesome and just adds to the replayability.”
“The procedural generation of the levels and the skill tree lends to a lot of replayability even after completing the game.”
“Randomly generated maps, enemies, and skill trees make its replayable value intact.”
“Although the game seems to have solid replayability.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is characterized by repetitive gameplay with limited variety, leading to a tedious experience as players must repeatedly engage with preset rooms and enemy encounters to progress. While some players find enjoyment in the grind, many feel it becomes monotonous and slow over time, particularly when striving for specific rewards.
“For a grindy game, there is almost no variety - there are a few preset rooms with a few preset enemy encounters, and you'll quickly learn to identify these.”
“This makes the game feel extremely tedious and slow to clear rooms.”
“I usually want to clear an entire floor before moving on ahead, but this quickly becomes a tedious process.”
- optimization5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's performance is generally smooth and polished, but many users express a desire for better optimization, particularly for keyboard controls on PC. Despite running well for some, significant framerate issues have been reported, indicating potential optimization shortcomings, even on high-end hardware like the 1080 Ti.
“Smooth performance.”
“Polished, runs smoothly, and is even fun to boot!”
“In general, I wish it was better optimized (control-wise) for PC with keyboard.”
“However, the game does have performance issues.”
“Even on a 1080 Ti, I had severe framerate issues, which shows me that the game was optimized poorly.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game currently suffers from minor glitches, such as items spawning in inaccessible locations, leading to a perception of it being unpolished and insufficiently tested. While there is potential for a fun experience with further refinement, the existing bugs detract significantly from its stability.
“There are a couple of minor glitches, e.g., when forging items, it sometimes spawns in a location where it can't be picked up.”
“If this game gets polished and ready for a public release, it'll make for a really fun experience overall, but right now it's just too buggy and unpolished to consider it great. It doesn't feel like it was tested thoroughly.”
