KEMCO has returned with a brand new journey for retro JRPG followers: Astral Takers. This launch was developed by VANGUARD, the corporate who earlier this yr gave us Dragon Takers. We weren’t keen on that one, however are comfortable to say Astral Takers fares higher.
This time round, we observe Revyse, a younger chap who meets Aurora whereas on a coaching mission. Aurora has misplaced her reminiscences; all we actually find out about her is that she’s wished by the empire Revyse serves. He shortly develops an attachment to her, and—with the help of his buddy, Fio—helps her escape so she will be able to regain her reminiscences and discover out why she’s a wished lady.
It’s a advantageous setup, albeit considerably predictable. You’ll meet loads of allies and enemies alongside the best way, and it’s by no means actually troublesome to find out the place everybody matches in. The story provides few surprises.
You might, nonetheless, be stunned by the sport’s visuals in each good and unhealthy methods. On the nice facet we’ve got the character paintings, which is properly detailed and animated. When the primary characters are talking, they’ve a swaying movement to them that provides life to the considerably stilted dialogue. The one downside to that is that if a personality is speaking to an unimportant NPC, the NPC isn’t depicted in any respect; the primary character darkens and fades again a bit, however nobody is depicted on the opposite facet of the display screen. I don’t suppose I’ve ever seen that earlier than.
Additionally good is the best way the turn-based battles are depicted. Fairly than the facet view typical of the style, we see the enemies by way of a first-person perspective. It’s a novel method enhanced by cool results that helps the sport stand out from its friends.
Then again, the graphics on show when visiting cities and exploring dungeons are extra rudimentary than I’m used to seeing in retro JRPGs, even these from KEMCO. They’re concurrently barren and repetitive. Additionally they don’t have a lot to supply with reference to hidden objects or compelling sidequests. Astral Takers isn’t a really thrilling sport to discover.
In fact, what actually issues right here is the fight. Gamers can take 4 characters into fight, together with beings you’re in a position to summon at sure factors within the sport. Summoning is a pleasant hook, because it permits you to swap round combatants with particular skills, and so they robotically hop in for any downed teammates. It’s enjoyable to experiment with a brand new summon, and also you’ll seemingly settle in your favorites fairly shortly.
Additionally distinctive is the best way that enemy strikes are outlined, providing you with the chance to arrange accordingly with the standard bodily assaults, talent assaults or buffs/defuffs, merchandise use, or defensive stances. Then again, your assaults are oddly imprecise. You possibly can select which enemy to assault, but when there’s multiple of that sort, you’ll be able to’t decide which one you’ll assault. Or, for those who can, I couldn’t work out how.
That drawback carries over to the UI typically, which is kind of cumbersome. Shopping for and equipping armor is a slipshod course of that requires accessing extra screens than ought to be wanted. Even figuring out which button you may have chosen may be exhausting to determine, because the spotlight is oddly troublesome to see.
These points damage the general expertise, however they don’t kill it. Retro JRPG followers will benefit from the distinctive fight presentation and the social gathering selection that the summons characteristic provides. And people on the lookout for a light-weight, breezy journey will discover it right here. The sport isn’t troublesome in any respect, as evidenced by the truth that KEMCO doesn’t supply the expertise/weapon increase DLC typical of their releases. Astral Takers isn’t probably the most satisfying sport you’ll play this yr, however it’s distinctive sufficient to function an excellent time-filler.
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