Astria Ascending Reviews
If you’re looking for a game with dynamic environments and nostalgic JRPG combat, Astria Ascending ticks those boxes. Its inclusion of Final Fantasy greats such as Kazushige Nojima, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Hideo Minaba, and Akihiko Yoshida makes it a wonderful turn-based RPG that reminds me of the series I grew up with in the 1990s.
Astria Ascending is a beautiful game to look at, and the various systems provide plenty to do while soaking the aesthetic in. There’s a deep, interesting world here that took a bit of time for me to sink my teeth into, but once I got into the groove I really enjoyed peeling back the layers. That said, there are concerns around the pacing at times and the platforming elements fell a bit flat for me as well. Astria Ascending is a good JRPG overall that fans of the genre will likely want to give a try.
Astria Ascending is a beautifully hand-drawn JRPG with tactical and strategic combat, rewarding dungeon exploration and the ascension tree gives you much versatility in how you specialise party members.
Astria Ascending is full of wonderfully hand-painted visuals and fantastic tunes. While it provides plenty of customization options and sticks to established roleplaying mechanics, the arbitrary pacing and balance can dampen the experience.
When it comes down to it, Astria Ascending is a charming blend of new and old, and a very enjoyable RPG experience overall. I’m always happy when I see a game successfully emulate the spirit of the ever-sacred old-school RPG, and I can happily say that Artisan Studios really outdid themselves with this one!
Astria Ascending is surprisingly an accessible JRPG that could appeal to both veterans and beginners. The fact that your health replenishes after each battle makes dungeon crawling not as stressful as other RPGs. Not to mention the 2D graphics look awesome on both PS4 and PS5. This is definitely if you are a JRPG fan in general.
Astria Ascending is far from being a widely recommended RPG, but it can please those more avid RPG fans who appreciate differentiated art and want to appreciate the potential of its systems, although points such as level design and narrative design hinders the experience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Astria Ascending has the ingredients to produce a delicious JRPG dish but fumbles doing so. A chief reason for this is the balancing, and if rectified, I have no doubt it would solve a lot of problems.
Astria Ascending is a fantastic throwback to classic JRPGs. Its story may not be remarkable, but the overall gameplay experience makes the game memorable. The deep combat with the customization and unique boss battles with excellent enemy variety is what kept me playing. In fact, knowing how the game works now, I have been hungry to start a new playthrough with different character class combinations as I progress. It will be hard for players to pick up if they are not used to turn-based gameplay. However, fans of this style of game will be in for a fantastic treat. But if you are on Xbox I cannot recommend playing this game in its current state. When it is patched and you can get past the main menu, then feel compelled to pick it up.
Astria Ascending had me invested in the 25 hours it took me to get to the final dungeon. However, that comes with a padded runtime of level grinding, lengthy battles, dungeon navigation confusion, and many menu interactions. So if you begin, prepare not to understand what is going on until 10 hours into the game, but if you don’t have that time, don’t bother. However, those who do get far enough are in for a genuinely fun JPRG experience that only requires a few quality-of-life improvements.
I came into Astria Ascending expecting a pretty by the numbers classic RPG experience but came out pleasantly surprised. My only main niggle was I didn’t find the story particularly compelling. However, the battle system and the depth to character customization make this game stand out from the competition. Adding that to a very beautiful art style, this is an RPG that any fan of the genre should most certainly take the time to experience.
A JRPG that drinks from very good titles and has good ideas, nice and pleasant. Unfortunately it has certain design decisions that do not let it shine and make it a little heavy for its genre.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Astria Ascending seeks to captivate you by the eyes and she succeeds. However, convincing you at the controls has it more complicated if you are a veteran in the genre, since his history and combats could take a couple of more turns to be more original. Still, it is an excellent JRPG that will please most.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
While this choice may be unorthodox, Astria Ascending does a marvelous job at providing its players with a finely executed combat system, as well as a very engaging sense of character progression. Completionists too will enjoy clearing every single path for the development of the game's characters. Set amid a visually gorgeous world, Astria Ascending could have invested more in its plot, which is rather generic and unoriginal, but fans of JRPGs who can look beyond that will find a very fun and absorbing work landing on their Nintendo Switch.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Overall, Astria Ascending is a perfectly good JRPG that is familiar and traditional in a way that is both refreshing and frustrating. What it does differently from others in its class (fun and unique temple puzzles, amazing quality art assets) are enough to help it rise from the ashes of its storytelling faults. Major difficulty spikes and repetitive encounters hold it back from greatness and may make this a skip for some, but the adventure will speak to many fans of classic JRPGs.
An ambitious project featuring big names from the JRPG scene. It uses many JRPG conventions from the past, but ultimately, fails to stand up to the best in the genre.
Astria Ascending is a bit of an odd bird to me...