Asterigos: Curse of the Stars [Xbox]

Acme Gamestudio’s Asterigos: Curse of the Stars is an engaging action RPG where you play as Hilda, in a world heavily inspired by Greek and Roman mythology. The city of Aphes has had a curse known as Asterigos cast upon it, and a group of people known as the Adherents are trying to lift it. Whilst dealing with the curse isn’t Hilda’s main objective - as part of trying to track down her father’s missing battalion she helps them out in return for their support.

A safe zone known as The Shelter is your hub of sorts, where you can speak to others to learn more about Aphes. Minerva is the Leader of the Adherents, who can assign missions via the War Table; Roxane the Steward will help you manage the Storehouse, as well as to analyse Echo Stones which re-enact key memories of certain locations; and Vulcane the Smith can make protective trinkets as well as help to enhance Hilda’s weaponry; just to name a few.

Whilst it appears to follow the common gameplay style of a typical ‘Soulslite’ with challenging bosses and returning to Conduits upon death, similar to Dark Souls’ bonfires - dying doesn’t lose you anything, so it feels far less punishing. You’ve also got the ability to choose a difficulty from the get-go, with Story, Adventure and Challenge modes allowing you to take the game at a level you’re comfortable with. Facing bosses such as Ravenous the Devourer, you will be able to learn their attack patterns quite easily, and getting the knack of when to dodge and when to attack feels relatively straightforward - though the epic battle music and varied combat across the 22 unique bosses still makes their fights feel exciting and fun.

Having access to a variety of different weapons - with two being able to be chosen and swapped between with ease at any time, ranging from Swords and Shields, Daggers, Hammers, Spears and Staffs to Magic Bracelets - it’s a lot of fun testing out the different combos to find which works best for you. You’ll earn Attribute Points to increase Precision, which affects attack; Constitution, which increases maximum health; and Arcane, which will affect your APR (Astral Points Recover Rate) and SDR (Skill Damage Rate). Talent Points can be spent to allow you to learn new skills and abilities, or to gain passive improvements such as dealing more damage when health is lower, or allowing Salves to restore your health at a faster rate.

You can switch between different elements using Elemental Enchantite. Enemies all have different weaknesses, so using this to your advantage and switching to their weakness in battle will give you the upper hand. Combat doesn’t feel too extreme, even on the harder difficulty option - but it does still have an enjoyable feel to it, putting up enough of a challenge without feeling quite as frustratingly punishing as Dark Souls.

Having a wider variety of weapons and armour would have been a nice inclusion, as whilst the ones on offer are all great - and there are skins that you can switch between - having the potential for stronger or better looking weapons and armour to be found whilst out and about would have given some encouragement to explore further, and some reward for doing so.

The voice acting is fantastic and does a great job at selling the story, keeping you invested, though for some conversations you’ll notice that any extra questions are not voiced - instead opting solely for dialogue boxes before returning to voice acting upon the conclusion, which is an odd choice as it interrupts the flow quite drastically. The soundtrack has a very ethereal, mystical quality to it - peppered with some powerful tracks that emphasise key battles.

The visuals of Asterigos are gorgeous, with clear inspiration being taken from Ancient Greece and Rome. The world, and the characters within, are all well detailed, with interesting designs for the various characters you’ll meet - from pink skinned Minerva to Vulcane’s foxlike appearance. The layout of the world is interesting too, with much of the world having linear paths to follow - but you can find shortcuts between areas by knocking down trees, etc. in order to make looping round a tad less time-consuming. Seeing Hilda take notes in her journal is an enchanting visual detail that makes keeping track of useful info (and doodles) feel a tad more magical, and this - along with the decisions you make that affect the story all makes everything feel far more interesting and impactful.

Overall, Asterigos: Curse of the Stars is an enjoyable adventure with a compelling story and fun combat that kept us thoroughly invested throughout the 25+ hours we’ve spent with it. If you want to give Asterigos a go, you can pick it up for £29.24 on Xbox, though at time of posting, is currently on sale for £23.39 for the next few days, so be fast if you want that saving!

In the end, we decided to give Asterigos: Curse of the Stars the Collecting Asylum rating of 8/10.

Are you interested in Asterigos: Curse of the Stars? What do you think of it?
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- V x

Thank you to tinyBuild for the Asterigos: Curse of the Stars review code!