Astral Throne

lowkirk peak

I am very conflicted with reviewing this game. I LOVE the entire principle of this game, how it feels like playing the 3DS-Era Fire Emblem Games but with added ideas and mechanics that still keep it fresh. It's mad fun, stylish as hell and it completely captures what made the FE games so popular, while adding a roguelite format to it. However: The devs shipped this without fixing major UI breaking and other bugs, that you have to actively avoid to not be forced to reload the game. For example: - During Match Preparation it will sometimes not show the tiles where you can place units, or straight up softlock you when trying to place any, giving you an "error buzzer" until you reload the game. - You will attack an enemy with a unit just to not be able to interact with any UI elements afterwards (selecting units, or navigating any menu really) until you reload. The issue will persist, unless you just don't use that unit that turn. - Visiting the arena you will suddenly only be able to choose of around 70% of your units during preparation. Pulling up the unit list and trying to select any that aren't shown in the little box on the left will cause that "error buzzer" again that st…

Astral Throne is a good game and worth the price--when it's on sale. If you only want to play a tactical RPG with a focus on gameplay over story, then Astral Throne will suit you. But it lacks polish, game design wise. The UI is flawed, but easy to pick up after an hour. The close-up camera glitches out when battles are next to walls or in closed spaces, but is overall fine. On a personal note: there's a lot of skills to choose from, but its annoying that the character forgets a skill if its swapped with new skill. The round limits are also annoying, but the custom game lets you that and other game aspects which helps. Having only one save drives me up a wall as well. I accidentally started a second campaign to see what another character run looks like, and my first campaign was lost to time RIP I grew up with the 2010s era Fire Emblem entries (DS and 3DS), so the low poly aesthetic and pixel art is what drew me in. But I expected FE level of story and character interactions as well. There are only a few interactions and cutscenes, so all of the characters seem cookie-cutter. Even the main playable characters have little personality. Even the worldbuilding is underdeveloped. An…

yeah its pretty interesting but why abandon the game almost half a year after release for a sequel? the UI and controls are abysmal, story and character writing non-existent, and seriously, why is there a turn limit when the map themselves aren't designed around that? it's probably worth it on sale, if you've pretty much played every good trpg and srpg out there.

Great game, good FE-like, rogue elements are fun. The UI is somewhat iffy and hard to navigate, but you get around it.

I really like this game. The turn based combat is fun, the weapon triangles, unit types, skills and rougelike setting mix pretty well. But I want to love this game and can't quite get there. Biggest thing for me is the turn limit. I understand why it exists, it just isn't fun. Same with resource management on things like health potions. The UI is hard to navigate- I like playing on controller but the interface outside of battle work better with a mouse. I would advocate for bringing the shops together. Lastly, the roguelike nature basically neuters the character development. Technically there are campaigns for the various leaders but it is a struggle to flesh them out within the game's constraints. The leaders barely feel different from the random militia members. This may sound like a negative review, but it is a game I legitimately enjoy and would buy again tomorrow. I will absolutely buy the sequel when it comes out. Be aware before you buy that this is an indie game with some warts.