Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Apr 13, 2022

  Looks promising. It lags a little, but it's the very first version, so it's fine.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 13, 2022

  I'm a huge fan of games like Risk of Rain, Dead Cells, Wizard of Legend, etc. These pixel-y indie roguelites are probably my favorite genre of game, and Astral Ascent is a lovely addition to that collection. The difficulty is well-balanced, the graphics are beautiful (especially the animation!), and the combat is intense with a lot of complexity. Only complaint I have is that the dialogue is a bit cheesy. Honestly if that's the only actual criticism I have, that's a really good place for a game to be.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 13, 2022

  Sort of a mix between Dead Cells and Hades. Really fun so far and looking forward to new content.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 14, 2022

  I like this game a lot so far and would recommend it. Adding some edits to my initial review: Things I like: - Graphics are great - Combat is pretty satisfying - Movement gives a lot of flexibility on how you approach enemies and adds a nice vertical dimension to fights - Meaningful choices about routes through the different zones, giving you a ton of options for how you want to scale your character - To add to that, HOW you upgrade seems to matter. It feels like you can make a better or worse choice along the way and that can make the run notably tougher or easier for you. I think as I'm starting to make better choices, the runs feel more streamlined - The healing system is interesting, utility spells are a nice departure from your "active" spells, and the auras give nice permanent boosts that feel like they matter from within a run - It feels like there's a LOT of replayability here, and the NG+ system is fun so far and looks like it's shaping up to add some nice difficulty and give the player a lot of control over how to apply that difficulty from run to run Things I'm less fond of: - Even with damage scaling, it never really feels (to me) like your character hits very hard if it's not a spell. Honestly, I don't want to melee regular enemies 10-20 times to kill them, and IMO, melee damage could be scaled up. Right now, the meta-progression feels like I have more options per run as I go, but it doesn't feel like I'm getting much stronger at all from run to run. This can be particularly egregious during boss fights, which ARE fun, but which can tend to drag on for a LONG time because you have to hit them through SO many attack cycles. Edit: I still think the damage could be scaled up BUT it feels like less of a problem with some of the stronger auras, and I'm seeing those more frequently now. The boss fights still sometimes feel like hitting an angry sandbag with a spatula. - There are situations where a reward like an astral chest will be placed between two traps. It's a minor thing, but it doesn't feel great. I don't want 2 tree stumps to chuck 6 explosive dudes at me repeatedly while I decide which stat I want to scale. Edit: I still think this is true. I've had a few instances now where I've gotten smacked by a static trap while standing in front of an altar or at an end-of-level reward. It's never ruined a run, but it's made me grind my teeth a little. - Some parts of the "return to town" experience feel weird. For example, a bunch of the unlocks from the poet and the dragon (who wears his name well, despite what my character may think) were already auto-unlocked prior to my completing my second run. It makes the meta-progression aspect of it feel less fun, because I didn't have to work to unlock them. Edit: I think I was wrong to suggest that a bunch of the selectable spells and auras were "fluff", so I deleted that from my first comment. After some more play time with them, they do feel better to use than I expected. I do think that synergies seem harder to build than I'd like, but maybe that's because they're not meant to really lock in until late game, which isn't out yet. Might be nice to see an added bonus if you have like 2 of the same type of gambit apply to a spell or something, particularly since there are a limited number of Pavo feathers and you can only upgrade so many times. - My own personal thing, but 4 spells feels like maybe 1 too many. I'd rather see more ways to upgrade the spells I do get. Combat is frantic enough that I'm not really actively choosing individual spells during fights most of the time, and the icons are small enough that I'd have to memorize the rotation during each run or stare at the lower left corner to pick them in real time anyway. The pace of the combat just makes it seem like there isn't really time to do that. It's a little different with boss fights, but given that you HAVE to cycle through spells, it feels like they're on a conveyor belt most of the time anyway, and 1 fewer might make for a better rotation, and synergies would be a little easier to build up. Edit: I'm torn on this. I still feel like the spell rotation is a little clunky. Maybe it's because I'm usually still toting around one "beginner spell" even by the end of the second zone. It's probably because I'm prioritizing keys and spell upgrades and Andromeda's bar when it shows up, but it seems like you SHOULD be prioritizing those things. It just always feels like there's one weak link in the rotation that doesn't really need to be there, especially because the "gambit slot" upgrades are so rare. Weaker/neglected spells are just going to continue to stay weak/neglected, because you're not going to spend the resources to level it or add a slot, when you already have 2 or 3 other things that are better and aren't maxed out. - A new one: I've had a few runs now where, even though I've taken keys whenever I'm low on them, I'll still hit a spot where I won't get any keys for several rooms in a row. It doesn't happen often, but it really sucks when you have to pass up 4-5 astral chests in a row. It seems hard to make up missing that many upgrades or auras, and so the run is kind of scuttled just because of bad room RNG. Maybe a mechanic where if you have 0 keys, the likelihood of a key room choice appearing at the end of a room increases by a small amount every time one doesn't appear. That way, if you're ever out of keys for more than a few rooms, it's because of a choice you've made and not because of bad luck. I like this game a lot. It's a ton of fun, and I'm eager to see where the devs go with it. I think it's more than worth the asking price, even at this point in its development.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 15, 2022

  This is what I look for in a good roguelite, love it. - Multiple character with different skills and upgrade paths - Each character in interacted with differently, each boss will introduce themselves to each new character in a nice touch - The town you go back to is fun, alive, and easy to navigate - There's variety: Multiple skills, each skill can be modded up to 4 times during that run, utility skills, and 2 passive charms - Has nice next level selection, you see difficulty, rewards, and type of room. - Fun little extra rooms with everything from free stuff to extra mini bosses - Feels smooth and fun to play - Art is great and on point
• gamedeal user

  Apr 17, 2022

  I'll drop the explosion shtick for this one. It's obvious from the first moments that real heart and soul has gone into this game and it deserves better than a meme review. I'll leave it to more savvy reviewers to describe the beauty of the aesthetic, fluidity of combat, subtly perfect sound design, unique lore, fascinating character design and worldbuilding, et cetera, as I'm sure all of those facets will receive their due praise. Instead, I'll answer this question for you: Is it fun? It's fun. Omg guys, it's so much fun. I really haven't experienced such a gleeful sense of escapism since the first games I played as a kid -- that so transported me into their world and machinations that I was set down the path of video games for life. At the time of this review, the game is in the first few days of Early Access, and it must be said that only about half of the game is currently playable. If that doesn't bother you, then I can't recommend it enough. What's present already in the playable portion feels very polished and extremely special. Can't wait for the rest.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 19, 2022

  I only have 2 problems with the game in it's current state: The realistic looking characters look a bit off-putting when in dialogue. I feel bad saying that because I'm sure a lot of work and effort was put into the characters design. As it is, I feel like the game would be better if it stuck to pixel art, like have the characters be about as detailed as they are in the cutscenes. The second problem is I'm having is frame drops when I hit one of those pink bubbles or if a lot is going on onscreen. I feel like this game has the potential to spiral out of control with the amount of spells and augments. Having this many things happen at once should not slow the game down if it is the main gameplay. For reference I have a rtx3070 and 16 gigs of ram, so I'm curious why sometimes the game is stuttering. I don't care too much however, the game is still in early access after all. Other than those 2 very nitpicky things, I love this game and it's combat. It feels very nice to play and rewarding unlike many other games like it. The atmosphere that the game puts you in, the visuals, the character design are all amazing.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 19, 2022

  This game looked really cool and I thought for sure I was really going to like it. I like rogue-likes and I like 2-D action games. I also love the art style of the game and the whole game is animated really well. Unfortunately, the actual gameplay is far too simplistic and way too floaty. Looking at the game, I thought it was going to be a Devil May Cry / God of War type game where you could do cool combos….. And you really can't. This is because your attacks, while flashy, are very basic. You have a button that you use in order to do basic attacks and a button that you use in order to use your spells. There's pretty much no variation to your basic attacks. In fact, you can just hold the basic attack and your character will automatically attack. In regards to the spells, you can equip a total of 4 spells and you can't freely select what spell you want to use. The "spell" button will simply use the next spell that's in the queue. Once you've used all 4 spells, they'll all "reset" and you can use them again in the exact same order. Using spells cost mana, and you gain mana by using basic attacks. So what the game wants you to do is to switch between using basic attacks and using spells. While that looks fine on paper, in reality you're fundamentally using one "combo" over and over again which is "Complete a basic attack sequence --> press spell button ---> repeat". I mean, I eventually felt God of War 3 got repetitive since I used certain combos over and over again, but even in that game I was at least using 4 different combos/strategies! With Astral Ascent, it feels like the same thing over and over again. While the game might have a lot of different spells, it effectively doesn't matter because there's no decision-making involved in how you use the spells. Spells will always do more damage than basic attacks, so you'll always want to use the spells as soon as you can. Not only is the core gameplay overly simplistic with effectively just one combo, it just isn't very satisfying. Sure the spells look good and flashy, but when I am simply using them at a press of a button, it doesn't feel satisfying at all to use them. In my opinion, there needs to be some level of difficulty in the execution of your attacks (e.g. Devil May Cry) in order to make it feel rewarding to see all the cool effects on screen, but this game doesn’t have any of that difficulty. It should also be mentioned that while the game wants you to switch between basic attacks and spells, even THAT has issues. This is because the game has almost no hit stun on enemies except for the very smallest of enemies (and sometimes not even them starting in the 2nd biome). This means that in the opening you have in order to attack an enemy before they move onto their next attack, you can EITHER choose to complete a basic attack chain OR use a spell. Not both. So the simple combo of "Complete a basic attack sequence --> press spell button ---> repeat" becomes EVEN SIMPLER to "Complete a basic attack sequence ---> dodge" and "Press spell button ---> dodge", repeat. I will say that the bosses are really well done. They can pretty much stand toe to toe with Hollow Knight bosses. The bosses in Astral Ascent have a large variety of moves and really make you think of how best to damage them while at the same time dodging their attacks. Unlike regular enemies who are simply a matter of building up mana in order to use a few AOE spells to take them all out, you can't do that with bosses because they have too much HP. So no matter what, you have to master the bosses if you want to defeat them, which is great. They also look really cool. In my opinion, some core changes need to be made in order to make the game more satisfying to play. • Have more hitstun and refine it: Hitstun is crucial to most action games. If players are attacking an enemy, they need to feel confident that they can complete their combo without risk of getting attacked back. Even defensive games like Dark Souls have hitstun! So a lot more enemies should flinch when players attack them. Even the "bigger" enemies should flinch after they've used an attack and are "vulnerable" to flinching, or they might flinch if you deal enough damage to them/do one huge damaging hit. This also helps players feel like their attacks have some impact. For good examples of proper hitstun, you can see games like "Have a Nice Death" and "Odin Sphere Leifthrasir". • Allow actual combos: This can really only be implemented with the hitstun being refined. Currently, since enemies don't really get stunned with attacks, you can at most do 1 or 2 attacks before having to dodge. If the game has a more refined hitstun system, players will then be capable of doing long combo strings, which will also feel really good to use (e.g. basic combo attack chain + spell + basic combo attack chain + spell + basic combo attack chain + spell + basic combo attack chain + spell. WITHOUT any dodges in between). • Balance the spells more: Currently, it seems that you'll pretty much always want to use long range AOE spells. The spells really need to be balanced so that there's a reason to use short range non AOE spells. For example, maybe AOE spells should have a long windup such that it leaves you open to attack AND can't be used in a combo chain (since the enemy will recover from hitstun before the move finishes being used). Then, there would be a reason to use short range quick spells since they have combo potential whereas AOE spells would not. • Allows players to use any spells they want at the press of a button instead of being in a specific order: I think this is the first game where I've seen players being limited/forced to using their special abilities in a specific order….and I don't think it's a good system. I really think you rob the players of their agency by not giving them the option to use whatever spells they want at the press of a button (e.g. by having the up, down, left, and right keypad correspond to the 4 spells). It would add a lot of depth to the system if players can use whatever spells they want, since then a lot more spells suddenly become viable. For example, currently I wouldn't use a spell that only attacks up or down because it's too situational, but if I could choose when to use the spells, I might want to always have a spell that attacks up just in case for aerial enemies. If you're worried about players making one spell OP and spamming it over and over again, simply get rid of the feathers that increase the level of specific spells. The gambits are fine since for the most part, they're only really useful if you use multiple spells together. • Re-work enemies to have more defined roles: Currently, all the enemies feel very similar. While they might all look different, they pretty much all do the same thing which is that they all want to run up to you and hit you. Enemies need to feel more unique. E.g. some enemies should be rangers and attack you from a distance. Some enemies should heal/buff other enemies. Some enemies should stay in the air. Etc… • Re-work exploration rooms: Combat rooms are far more fun than exploration rooms. Exploration rooms just have a series of 3 enemies that you need to fight, which isn't very difficult. I honestly think you should ditch the whole "exploration room vs combat room" idea and just make every room an "exploration room" but you're forced to go into arenas where multiple enemies spawn for you to fight (e.g. a typical combat room encounter). A good example of this is the game "Have a Nice Death". Overall, this is a game that looks really good….. But its core systems aren't very deep and therefore can quickly get repetitive. I can tell that this game has a lot of potential though because the bosses are an absolute treat to fight. If the core systems can be changed such that even fighting regular enemies is challenging and rewarding with a lot to master, I am sure this game can become a lot more fun.
• gamedeal user

  May 6, 2022

  pretty cool, i drop in frames tho, hope its not just my computer
• gamedeal user

  May 18, 2022

  Honestly, I want to love this game so badly. The art is great, the animations seem pretty good, the combat is interesting and the mechanics are slightly different from everything else I've played. Unfortunately, the game runs like complete dogshit and stutters so hard it makes almost any of the more precise timings impossible. Any more than 3-4 enemies on screen at the same time and you're basically running the game at half speed. I'll probably update my review in a year or so when this game is out of early access, but getting a hard thumbs down from me until some serious performance improvements are made. I've got a GTX3080 12GB and an intel i9 11th gen... the only reason a pixel art game should be stuttering at all is just poor, poor optimization or the underlying game engine. Lack of graphics options is another huge underlying issue--there are only two settings or so to change. No framerate options period, no vsync options, period. tl;dr: this ones still a bit too early