Astria Ascending Reviews

Astria Ascending is ranked in the 25th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
GameGrin
Top Critic
4 / 10.0
Oct 27, 2021

While Astria Ascending's gorgeous world has a basic gameplay loop that can satisfy for a while, it lacks the knowledge to challenge minds or the spirit further. With no strategy in the later battles, a story moving too quickly to be poignant, and severely unlikeable stereotypes as characters, the lessons are forced and the result is grating.

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Sep 30, 2021

Astria Ascending has the makings of a great game, but it falls short on several fronts. A version of the game that started out at an earlier point in the story, in order to gradually introduce each character and their abilities, would have helped smooth the transition into the main quest. A number of QoL improvements, especially related to the speed of the battles, would also drastically improve the gameplay. As it stands, Astria Ascending feels like a throwback to a different era, while needlessly ignoring the modern conveniences that have improved the genre in the time that has passed since then.

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VG247
Top Critic
Sep 27, 2021

With so many other incredible JRPGs released in 2021, it’s hard to recommend Astria Ascending. It does have a very pretty artstyle, which is what will draw most players initially. The battle system and customization options can be enjoyable to tinker around with, but the lackluster story and unpleasant cast of characters really bog down the whole experience.

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5 / 10.0
Oct 11, 2021

If you're ready to go all-in on Astria Ascending… well, you probably already have. If not, there's plenty of fish in the RPG sea on Switch and some more marlins coming before the year's out. You'll be able to get your fill.

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5 / 10 stars
Oct 5, 2021

Astria Ascending has the makings of a unique RPG but never builds on its strengths to rise above average.

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5 / 10
Sep 28, 2021

Astria Ascending is not a great JRPG. I would hesitate to label it a good one. In a year of winners, it's not a complete outlier but it's no contemporary classic. Despite a few flirtations with intrigue, the story is generally vacant of anything compelling enough to stick around until the credits. Poor writing compounds the problem and unlikable characters can't overcome it. Gameplay ranges from strong to stale, with just enough gumption and innovation to keep things lively. Pound for pound and for all its pedigree, this is a disappointing experience I'm not inclined to recommend.

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5 / 10
Sep 28, 2021

Astria Ascending is a beautifully hand-drawn game with an old school JRPG feel. It tries to keep the experience modern with some much needed quality of life improvements, but annoying bugs hold it back. It's a bit of a shame that the story is fairly forgettable but the fun combat system does help alleviate this to an extent. With a very detailed job system and plenty of optional side content to get involved with, there is entertainment to be found here if don't mind the grind - but as an overall role-playing adventure, Astria Ascending has clear flaws.

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5.5 / 10.0
Oct 19, 2021

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.

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5.5 / 10.0
Oct 14, 2021

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

5.5 / 10.0
Oct 1, 2021

Astria Ascending is a JRPG of remarkable ideas and great visuals, but, unfortunately, its execution leaves much to be desired. The combat system that rewards exploiting enemies' weaknesses is promising, though the fact it's deeply unbalanced and the pattern repetition makes the battles frustrating. There are many options to customize and develop characters, nonetheless, a lot of grinding is necessary to make the most out of these resources. Orcanon's many activities and an elaborate minigame may satisfy eager players but it's a shame the plot, characters, dungeons and locales lack inspiration. At least, the universe has a really beautiful visual and quality music. In the end, its meager qualities aren't enough to save Astria Ascending.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

Oct 8, 2021

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.

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6 / 10.0
Oct 4, 2021

A sensory achievement for nostalgic JRPGs left without any enjoyable game under the hood and falls short of an already exceptional 2021 JRPG roster.

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6 / 10.0
Sep 27, 2021

While Astria Ascending adds some flair to traditional turn-based combat, it has a lot of gaping flaws and too much going on for it.

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6 / 10
Oct 1, 2021

Despite some of the JRPG royalty involved, Astria Ascending just isn’t able to live up to the high expectations. The good news is that Artisan Studio seem committed to updating the game over time, so ideally the rough edges present will get smoothed out.

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Oct 15, 2021

There are a few issues that stop it from being an amazing experience like the huge difficulty spikes or lack of quality of life features that JRPG fans have come to expect from the genre. But Astria Ascending for the most part is an exhilarating experience that could be the starting point for something spectacular.

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JVL
Julius007
Top Critic
12 / 20
Oct 4, 2021

Despite its convincing 2D aesthetic, its music and its undeniable richness, Astria Ascending misses the boat a little to hope to compete with the greatest of the genre. The fault is a certain lack of inventiveness in the gameplay, a difficulty sometimes too demanding and an unclear course of missions, not to mention some fatal flaws.

Review in French | Read full review

IGN
Top Critic
6 / 10.0
Oct 2, 2021

Astria Ascending attracts you with its art, keeps you interested with its combat, but may lose you entirely due to its bland story full of annoying difficulty spikes.

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6.3 / 10.0
Sep 27, 2021

Astria Ascending tries to convey the "feel-good" atmosphere of the classic JRPGs with an aesthetically pleasing art direction and promises of pure turn-based combat extravaganza. Unfortunately its ambition falls flat due to a forgettable writing and an unbalanced combat system.

Review in Italian | Read full review

6.4 / 10.0
Sep 30, 2021

Astria Ascending is a bit of an odd bird to me...

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6.5 / 10.0
Sep 30, 2021

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.

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