ASTLIBRA Revision

After finishing this game, I can give it a solid 9 out of 10 in my books.
Interesting story, some funny scenes and some that tug on the heart strings.
Combat is fun and didn't feel like a grind while going through all of the story.
Game rewards exploration and on higher difficulties where you can't freeze time while casting spells, you have to really know the spells by heart to spam it quickly.

Graphics feel nice and remind me of the classics.

All in All, enjoyable experience and our hero is a chad for getting strong to survive his battles at the end and trying so hard for his childhood friend.

Astlibra revision is a mixed bag, the story can be wacky but It's characters and the moments you spend with them are very memorable. Gameplay can be wonky but is deep and complex, you can customize a lot of aspect of it. Graphics are good, some backgrounds are breath taking and there is support for a wide range of resolutions. Music is probably it's strongest point I could say that you could just purchase the game and just listen to it's bgm via it's own music room.

Even tho it has faults, it is now one of my favorite game and I would recommend giving Astlibra a try even if it's not your type of game to play.

Absolutely fantastic game that brings back the gold era of games like Y's III, with a soundtrack that would give Falcom a run for it's money. The translation can be a bit rough sometimes but you will understand the whole story without problem, other than that, the fast paced action, responsive controls, difficult boss fights and the story will keep you engaged for at least 60 hours if you plan on getting all the weapons/armor in the game and the best ending. This game is worth every single cent you pay for it.

when i saw the gameplay, me who a fan of sidescroller interested...but the main reason is because the first area music is fkin banger!! decided to buy it and first village god fight bgm is even banger holy shyt,
then i arrive on chapter 3, lava area? EVEN BANGER MUSIC HOLY COW DAMN BRO....

Where the fuck did this game even come from? This is easily the best 2d action game I have ever played and I am a big fan of the genre. The current 95% positive ratings tell you everything you need to know, honestly. Buy this.

Editing this since im near the end. Game and story has somehow gotten way better than I ever expected. This is easily my GOTY and a must buy. Shilling this to everyone I know.

I'm really enjoying this game so far! I've played Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, and many other similar games and this one is definitely holding its own! There are a lot of well done overlapping systems all being introduced as I progress and they just feel good to use.

I began playing this game when the demo came out during NEXT FEST. From there I was hooked.

Discover items, weapons, armor and shields. Craft new items and arms to help you on your journey. Learn abilities from your equipment and with the help of your crow Karon, make use of them. Put points into stats as you level up, spend [Force] to upgrade your characters stats and unlock summons via a growth tree. All of this will help you as you set out on find our home land and your childhood friend.

The game is a lot of fun and there is a lot to do. I sunk 60+ hours into it and it's been an amazing ride.

I'm absolutely hooked on this game. The story is awesome (it's been a while since a story has made me say "no wait what the fuck?" in a good way), the combat is sooo satisfying and the systems are pretty in depth.
Also ignore the time played. I'm closer to 30 hours in game time.

This game is a lot of fun; I think it took me around 70 hours to almost 100% it, and for only $25, that's a lot of value. The graphics and music are very nice, and the gameplay is pretty smooth with a controller. It also has a lot of quality of life improvements over the typical Action RPG formula, such as being able to easily redistribute all your level-up points to try out different build focuses.

Story-wise, I found the plot interesting throughout, but there are a few instances where I think the English translation might have struggled to convey some points clearly. All in all, though, it kept me wanting to see what direction things would go next, and typically defied my predictions in a satisfying way.

So basically, go ahead and buy it, thanks.

this is early access material at best. it is full bad placeholder sprites, bugs, bad animations and sloppy coding.
if it ever gets a lot more polish it might become a nice game, because it shows some novel ideas in systems.
oh and the music is below bad.

One of the best games of the genre and i fell in love with it.

For starters its a grind game, but a rewarding one for you not only level up the char but also the weapon, armor and shields skills, get gems for skills tree, materials for synth, and chests that give good rewards as you go on about completing quests.

Then there is a lot of content in the menu like crow skills, the libra (that i havent quite yet figured out), the skill tree, the synthetizer, etc..

Its not a straight forward game and allows you to return to early areas, that have hidden things, mining spots, acess arena, etc..

The story will get you and the music is on par with that feeling.

The visuals arent actually bad as it looks in the videos, and carry a good detail landscape wise.

There is a LOT of content in it to do and i love that, definitely recommend this as one of my main games in the type.

A game at the confluence point of Ys III, IGA's sidescrollers, and Neverland's ARPGs (Record of Lodoss War, Shining Force Neo, Lufia DS). If you can even conceptualize what that means, you should at least play the demo for this. The English localization isn't impeccable, with some noticeable typos and a fair bit of questionable phrasing, but it's comprehensible and still leaves some impactful writing.

Bought it on a whim and have not stopped playing it. There is some jank, the translation can be a little weird at times but.... man. This game puts most AAA titles to shame. I'm only about half way through and I want a sequel already. If you are on the fence, if this game appeals to you at all, just pull the trigger and enjoy.

Where do we even start...

Its simply stunning. Over the course of 14 years Mr. Keizo has put in so much love and dedication to create a masterpiece, that will most likely go down into the so called "gems" that the jrpg-genre have to offer.

The characters are well written, the story is very much enjoyable, and has alot of twists to it. It keeps you hooked throughout the stages of the game, and never holds back surprising you aka the player.

The combat itself is super thrilling, and skill based id say. The more you know the utilization of every mechanic the game has to offer, the better your combos, damage output and overall defense and survivability. Slaying enemies grants you different "elemental cubes" as i might call them, which will allow you to "grow" your character and unlock different stats and skills you can use during combat. Some stages of that "grow"- skilltree are locked until some later chapters in the game, giving you the boundary to max out the present "grow" that is currently available.

Every Weapon/Armor has a proficiency level, once maxed out (by killing things and collecting exp ofc), its overall performance improves or even better: grants you unique passive skills. The game also offers you to use the skills of the maxed out weapon/armor free of charge once equipped, leading to some very situational and interesting builds!

I myself enjoy grinding every last bit of armor and weapon after crafting them/obtaining them.

The music focuses on each stage of the game, offering a unique listening experience to the player, i myself was surprised by energetic and empowering vocals put into them!

My conclusion:
I dont want to get further in detail, find out for yourself!
The game is packed with mechanics and content of retro goodness.

The price is fully justified, and id be glad to pay such prices again if it means i get to play such a wonderfully crafted jrpg.

Well, I write this review 125 hrs. into the game, this is certainly a hidden gem, you can tell by looking up info about it, there´s barely anything. It fully reminded me of Symphony of the Night, (if you needed some reference).

Collect weapons, armor, accessories, unlock skills, try different builds with the Karon system; melee, "range", magic builds, it´s also really easy to respec your character (and free). You can level your skills/summons, improve your character and your resistances, enhance your gear, everything in a mix with a good story (which is long btw, 80 hrs aprox.), good music and really nice endgame, yes, it has endgame after you "finish" the main story, were you will be able to unlock even more stuff.

I´m not one to write Pro´s and Con´s because I think those vary between people, so I´ll just recommend this game wholeheartedly if you´re into this type of collector SotN games and are not bothered by long stories.

Fun button masher side scrolling RPG with Chrono Trigger like story. Its a fun game, but lots of frustrating moments and puzzles. I've been to the future defeated massive machines, demons, and monsters...but now I'm back to my homeland getting killed by bugs and trees in a long as sequence with no saves...

With amazing side scrolling action rpg game play. this game has an amazing story that you can get lost in. and with levels ranging from super easy story only to nigh on impossible. it has replay value

This game was developed by one guy and took him 14 years to finish it. An action JRPG style with vania seasoning. If you are a fan of those two genres, then this game will be an experience you will never forget. Outstanding story and visual design.

Addictive action gameplay with countless avenues for upgrades and customization. Sweeping fantasy tale that evokes shades of Ys and Chrono Trigger. Feels like the best SNES action RPG game I never played. Also a fair amount of optional content for those completionists out there (me). And the soundtrack is fantastic, full of jams that are still stuck in my head. If you're a fan of action JRPGs then it's already a must buy. And if you loved Japanese-developed games during the 90s then seriously get it ASAP.

This game is so much fun. Excuse me, I'd write a real review, but I want to get back to my Adventure. Maybe after hour 100 I'll expand on this. Excellent job dev, this is one of my favorite hidden gems this year!

Where to begin..
When I saw some reviews compared this game to Elden Ring I just laughed it off.
Once I got into the story, it turns out it's not so much the difficulties or the game play but the stories reminds me of Elden Ring. It will keep hurting you until you love it. Once in a while, it will give you a bit of fun and sweetness only for the sorrow to hit you even harder.

Having said that, it has REALLY solid game play with the amazing variety of items similar to Symphony of the Night and the fluid combat that reminds me of Oboromuramasa. This is most definitely my top game of 2022. I'm placing it higher than Elden Ring on the basis that it was made by a one man band, and it's challenging but a lot more forgivable. The story, while it hurts me it also makes me want to keep playing and see what's coming next.

Hoo boy, where to even start here. Indie hobby project sidescroller-Ys-a-like that reaches for Chrono/Xeno heights. A desperate struggle across time that is frequently interrupted by such things as panty raids. Text all comes off like it was written by a horny teen via machine translation. Art is crude and clip artish but it works. OST is a mixed bag but has some really good tracks. Gameplay is excellent but the postgame difficulty falls off a cliff. I cleared Hard but wish I'd gone harder.

Try the demo.

Amazing game. I have seen some reviews saying things about the graphics, but I think they look great. The backgrounds are beautiful and the animations are nice and clean. The progression system in the game is deep and the game play is satisfying. Also the soundtrack is legit. Everything about this game that I have experienced has been fantastic and a reminder of what video games should be.

Astlibra is something that hardly any other game is these days. It's a finished and incredibly polished.

Astlibra can easily take its place among the JRPG behemoths of the 16 bit era, and it may well be one of the best -if not THE best- JRPG ever made. The fact that this was created by a single person is simply mind blowing.

Although you can still clearly feel the indie jankiness in the game, it has been polished to the degree where it just becomes its art style. At times you feel like you're playing a mid-2000s flash game that has been iterated on a million times until it was effectively a AAA release. It borrows stylistic elements from at least a dozen other successful IPs yet manages to outshine most of them in execution.

While I could go on endlessly about the things Astlibra does well, let me critique the few things that it didn't.

- The music is sometimes a bit of off. While overall the soundtrack has been very good, it does have weak points.
- The translation work is occasionally lacking. It's not nearly as bad as it could be, but you can tell it's a game made primarily for a Japanese audience.
- There is a strong focus on grinding for power. This is perfectly fine and expected in the genre, but especially towards the level 40-50 areas you are no longer expected to grind where the story takes you. If you fail to figure that out, it can feel like you're running into a brick wall.
- The hardest challenges in the game effectively turn into bullet hell gameplay. That's also fine, but at times the visual clarity is severely lacking which can make the challenge feel artificially difficult.
- There are some random pop-ups of out of place sexually suggestive art that can at best be explained by "Japanese game". They are very few though.
- The optional content (i.e. arena challenges) are not very optional at all and yield de-facto required items.

To recapitulate: 10/10, amazing game, would recommend to anyone even remotely into JRPG.

I didn't like it from the videos and screenshots, but I saw so much positive feedback I thought perhaps it must be worth trying... But I just can't play it at all. I hate the demo, I hate its graphics, I hate its controls... I can't understand how people spend like 70+ hours playing it. maybe something is wrong with my perception :(

UPD (to dev): Look... I'm sorry if my words were a bit too harsh and it made you upset. As you see I didn't get too far into the game and maybe I indeed missed something important. It's just that for me personally the difference between the (very high) expectations set up by other reviews that praise the game all over and the actual experience was too noticeable, so I felt like I have to write about it...

Great game, overall 9/10. Would be 10/10 but the post-game drags a bit
The combat feels great, the customization is massive, the story is fun, the characters are good (Shiro is best girl)
70+ hours of content and you feel like a god at the end of your playthrough. Pick hard or above to have a real challenge.

This is hands down one of the best games I have played in a long time and easily in my top ten for the year. The music, game play, and difficulty were all better than I could have imagined. So much customization to your playstyle, so many hidden elements to the game's world.

But what stands above all of those is the story this game tries to tell. There is so much care and thought put into every character. Even background characters that I thought had no purpose turn around and in very believable ways start to have massive impacts. The lore of this world is built so carefully, I just want to know more.

Play this game, seriously it is 100% worth it!

This game is GOOD. It's pretty straightforward, yet addictive, in its gameplay.

It's not the greatest scenario of all times, but it's very well put, and while being about time travel, it's done neatly, and you know how easy it is to fuck up time travel stories.

It has an interesting twist at the end if you decide to push it one step further, and the character are relatable, fun and enjoyable.

I did felt something for most of them, which is more than I can say for most video game characters since at least a decade.

This is a brilliant game, depending on your difficulty, you could pour up to 50 hours in it.

It will not be legendary, but if you're searchin' for a game that did good on everything instead of just trying to be excellent on one topic and boring on all others, this is the one.

The artsyle and sceneries are also very beautiful.

I liked this game alot. Just hope it doesn't take that long for Keizo to release another game... (Keizo wasn't a professional game developper, once. So he developped this game after work, and it took him something like 15 years. The game here is an enhancement from the basic Astlibra, or so they say)

I wanted to leave a quick review. Astlibra is one of the best games I've experienced in quite sometime. I actually feel as if I'm a kid again experiencing something new. Not many games can do that after 40 years of gaming.

If you need something fresh to renew your faith in gaming this just might be your answer.

I do not really know what the middle part of the story bits are as I started skipping it after about three chapters. I know the ending though as I watched that. The story is not interesting at all.

Anyway, the game is a fun grinder with bullet hell bosses. You pick a magic staff and use magic to destroy everything and explore and find items and use most weapons only until you get their skill and then you switch back to a magic staff and that's pretty much it.

Fun game.

A lot of hours went to just running around trying to find the last few mini small medals metals and chests and whatever else. Still didn't find all the items. Sniff.

Proceed the story a bit further.....and the sky's already dark. Grind a bit to get those (insert numbers) gears that I want.....and it's sunrise already.
For those who likes action RPG, side scrollers, castlevania-like (not really a metroidvania). This is a MUST PLAY. You won't regret it. =D
And don't ask about the story. You gotta experience it yourself.

My initial impressions are this game has a lot of potential and a good amount of depth for an indie metroidvania with deeper than usual rpg mechanics. Enjoying it a lot so far!

This is far from a full review of the game but I wanted to at least encourage people to play it as this game is flying under the radar more than it really should. Astlibra has incredibly engaging side-scrolling combat with different types of combos, magic spells, and more adding depth. Each weapon in the game can be leveled which unlocks new abilities (which encourages you to try out everything). That's just the combat system and there are several more systems I think are pretty engaging as well. Music is much better than I was anticipating and it's been stuck in my head on-and-off today. I really don't know what else to add. I am enjoying this game far more than I was anticipating.

A bit tedious at first but until you get some magic skills and weapons it becomes a lot of fun, it has good music too.
Very fun game.

kinda meh you might like the old school style of it but as much as i love castlevania the combat in this game just felt too blah to me.

I'm really falling in love with this game, I played something like 10 hours of just the demo/trial earlier this week, so I'm already a ways into Act 3 continuing from that save. The combat's very satisfying and fun (and quite challenging on Hell difficulty) with a pretty neat and easy to use magic system, and all the art's just gorgeous imo. There's a good variety of different progression mechanics that have kept me hooked; maxing out the XP bar for each weapon, shield, and armor piece to either unlock new skills or more capacity to equip skills has been especially compelling. Currently trying to survive while using the tree branch from the beginning of the game because I'm finally getting enough XP from enemies to make good progress on its bar haha. The story hasn't done much to blow me away yet but its mysteries and few core characters have been interesting enough. There's time travel shenanigans involved so I expect things might get pretty wild eventually. Highly recommended checking the demo out at least, especially if you're a fan of games like Odin Sphere or SotN.

EDIT: Oh yeah the music absolutely RIPS, definitely a big part of why I'm having so much fun just spending time farming monsters.

2D Action RPG Game of the Year

nah, maybe the best RPG I've ever played, including works by major companies.

Ok lads, it's been really good so far.

Pros: The BGM is PHENOMENAL. Combat feels absolutely engaging (vibrations on lol), smooth, and mmm best word SPECTACULAR! Character dialogue is actually good and funny. Npc's "feel" like they have a personality. Great for immersion purposes. I'm absolutely in love with the leveling system, it feels rewarding when you lvl up. There's an amazing amount of variety for weps, armor, and accessories. Enemies drop rare items, you can mine loot to!
Theres alot more Pros to this game but I kinda wanna move on since I'm being deprived of em' while writing this review.

Cons: Tbh, the only prob I've had in all my hours is translation issues sometimes. Everything else I've been loving.

As a closer to all of this- No I've never heard of this game before the demo release. Yes, It's probably the best 25 bucks I've blown on an Rpg lately. Rn I'm rating this game a 9/10 def worth full price!

A great marriage of twitch action gameplay and classic RPG storytelling. Highly reminiscent of pre-Trails Falcom games, Ys III in particular. Soundtrack has some solid bangers on it too. Only real issues the game has are the odd approach to inventory (having to click into a menu to use attack items feels odd,) and bosses have 10 times more HP than everything you fought in the dungeon combined, so if you don’t exploit elemental weaknesses, you will be whacking on them for a while. Overall, an excellent title.

If you like cringy dialogues, bad riddles, buggy and completely unthought-out boss fights, then this game is probably for you.

The story starts out interesting. But it turns into a tearful orgy where everyone keeps feeling sorry for what they did and apologizing hundreds of times.
The story is also very predictable as it incorporates elements from many other games and movies.
However the main characters are really dumb and don't understand the most obvious things.

It's really a shame that this game has turned out so bad because the combat is quite good.

Hidden JRPG Gem!

I'm not big on reviewing games but I have to review this one as it might fly under the radar...

I haven't played a ton of Castlevania/Metroidvania type games besides Bloodstained and this is a mix of that, Maplestory, and an oldschool beat em up.

Pros:
+ Challenging
+ Lots of character customization
+ Weapons seem to have different situations which adds varietya
+ Artstyle & Music

Meh:
/ Story, it's enough to keep me interested and it's occasionally humorous in the writing

Cons:
- Graphics? The character and enemy sprites are fine but backgrounds / map terrain is very reminiscent of old, web based flash games

Finally, a game dev/publisher that understands how focal immersion is to a game, no matter how big or small of a title it is... This excellent metroidvania is exactly what you've been waiting for; the action, visuals, RPG elements, and even OST makes it a hybrid of SOTN, Ys, and classic Zelda. Grab it now if you're a fan of those IPs--you won't be disappointed!

P.S.
All your equips are visible save for the trinkets. The game even does the courtesy of sheathing your unused weapon and not look like a crazed lunatic inside towns. XD

This game is so addicting to play, I literally can't put it down. I have about 7 hours in, Steam Deck didn't account for around 3 of my hours. Addicting gameplay, skill system and the story seems interesting. Worth every penny.

mind blowing that this game is from one developer its a must buy a throwback to the good days of gaming. The soundtrack is astounding and it has a great story also. Its art style is charming and alot of hard work has gone into this game the combat system is well done and develops more over time. Totally worth the purchase if your into castlevania or any side scrolling game in general.

good game, just finished it on impossible while missing 3 achievements

The whole trip was astonishing i loved it.

there was some technical issues but all in all it was fantastic, totally worth paying the full price for me

A game for hardcore , action , RPG player with nice art, interesting story , funny dialogue ...This is all i need for a Action-RPG. What are you waiting for?

- Fast paced story that doesn't exposition dump.
- Satisfying, fast, diverse, simple yet vast combat.

What else do I need to have fun? Also, 20 bucks and I'm 6 hours in only in chapter 2. I've never been an explorer guy but this game wants me looking for everything with joy.

It appear I have an hour but I start playing the game in another platform...

it may look ugly and feel clunky at the beginning, but give it time, it takes some time to get used to the rhythm of combat and a later enemies and locations look amazing. I recommend playing it on "hard" if you usually play 2d action games, "hell" if you are confident...there is one boss that you encounter early that has some bs invulnerability 80% of the time with only a vulnerable hitbox at the center until you get it to 40% HP, use skills and a weapon with long reach...but aside from that one boss everything else is quite fair once you understand the fight.
The systems and lore are a lot more complex than it looks like, the story is far better than it has any right to be, its been quite a while since I've played something expecting nothing more than "fun", yet ended up 100% the game for the story. (the previous game I went in like that was "MMQ", kudos if you know what I mean)
...it was good, truly damn good.

A masterpiece.
just give it a chance, its money well spend.

Fantastic Game. I enjoy the collecting of new powers through weapon mastery (Can feel a bit grindy at some points getting specific drops but not excessive.)

Absolutely gorgeous MetroidVania game this. Combat can be a bit on the tough side, but the challenging aspect of that makes victory all the more rewarding.

Incredible game. The aesthetics may look a bit dated but it does add to a certain retro feel. If you like ARPGs, you should give this a try. Gameplay, music, setting and story are really worth it! There's also a lot of content, 40-60 hours depending on how much time you take is absolutely realistic.

Over the past few days I've sunk way too much time I like these kinda games more so on harder modes the story is there makes me feel like i'm going through the metal gear series with how much the story is broken then comes together the combat is slow at first then after about 20ish hours or so it pretty much turns into a bullet hell and I like it for that its a nice take on a jrpg and i'm glad the story and game play hold up to the older styles of jrpgs

Oh and PS I never turned off the music in this game which might now sound a lot to you but for me I turn it off in pretty much every game I ever play the sound track to this game is honestly one of the best composed playlists that fits the narrative and game play a true cult classic.

I love this game.

If you ever wanted Odin Sphere, castlevania, and the movie butterfly Effect to make an orgy love child then look no further.

Like many others I have sunk a ton of time into this game since release. Now that it is all said and done I will remember this game fondly. It has given me a sense of a nostalgia for the way games felt when I was younger.

The story was great, it starts a little slow but picks up steam as you move along. I stayed up much later then I should have several times as I got to key points in the story. Music felt like standard rpg fare at first, but really picks up in the later stages of the game. Combined with later boss fights and elements of the story it was just audible bliss.

Combat seems simple but it comes off as very fluid and the magic system is very straightforward. My only gripe is that during combat there can be so many effects going on that it gets hard to keep track of your character, especially with some of the later skills. It's probably just me though I'm getting old and this in no way took away from my overall enjoyment. I'm glad that there is multiple upgrade systems it really makes the grind feel like it pays off as the character evolves. I particularly enjoyed the Karon system and being able to modify your character on the fly as needed. It may seem like a lot but by no means was it overwhelming.

The gameplay has some raw edges as does the translation. However, this is easily one of the best jrpg stories I've played in awhile.

What to say about this game. I discovered this game during the steam event to try out demos by chance.

Ever since then I was intrigued by this title and bought it day one. So far i've played more than 30 hours and still can't stop playing it.

This whole game is such an insane amount of effort being put into one single game, I can't wrap my head around it.

If you enjoy 2D side scrollers with a lot of intricate subsystem, sick ass bossfights, really nice looking sprites, do yourself a favour and get this game.

It can be janky at times, but that's part of its charm.

A very cool, fresh, neat side-scrolling action RPG.
The story might shatter your brain at times, though.

F that lava area

To iterate on that: The game was pretty fun until the lava area, then its was hordes of enemies with some awful move sets, a stupid boss run up and an awful boss. Other mentioned that this is a low point in the game and for me its enough to do something else for a while before eventually returning.

If you really like old school Ys games specifically the sidescroller RPG Ys III: Wanderers from Ys then you'll probably love Astlibra.

There are a number of sore spots like the Aguni boss fight in the lava area and a number of really frustrating bosses in the post-game story where they'll throw multiple 150k HP bosses with 1 hit kill lasers but despite all that I ultimately enjoyed the 60+ hours I spent with this game and would highly recommend it to anyone with:

1. Someone who enjoys the difficulty of the Ys series
2. Someone with a lot of patience

The post game is excellent btw: it kind of turns into a diablo-like loot game where enemies start to drop Weapon/Armor/Accessory boards which basically makes all equipment viable at the end game by letting you slot in extra bonus stats or skills into everything.

Theres one other thing I should mention: I feel like this game is weirdly balanced around an ability in the game called "Berserk" which basically gives you 3x damage but also makes it so if you're hit once you die. Now maybe its because I was playing on Hard Mode but I was dying pretty much in 1 hit anyways without that ability. And if you do end up using healing items in boss fights, they don't reset if you end up having to restart the fight from a death. So, if you end up playing the game I would suggest going into the game knowing that you're probably going to have to use this ability.

Easily the best 2D RPG I've played in years.

Top tier value for money, a full run took about 57 hours on hard (I did everything there was to do), only to unlock what seems to be a "New game+" that unlocked more character progression methods and more story. Amazing stuff.

In short, it is a side scroller with lots of different character progression, some focus on story and a lot of combat. The game is tagged as a metroidvania, but I'd consider that to be false. Each chapter is straight forward, yes you unlock stuff like double jump and dash, but it's not used to access previous areas in order to progress. It's mostly used to grab items and QoL.

The combat and especially the keybinds on controller may take a bit of getting used to. Blocking by pressing "down" and dodge backward bound to "right trigger" is a bit strange to begin with, but you get used to it.

A couple of notes:

• This is a grinder. On hard you *must* grind a fair bit. but with this combat and so much stuff to unlock i actually just loved this
• Some of the puzzles use force you to think outside the box, they are not that complicated at all, but the game expects you to know the items you have in your inventory. An example of this is that you will be using a item form chapter one in a late are puzzle
• The story is good, but also a bit confusing. Lots of time travel and unforseen consequences
• Hidden "super" bosses
• You can go back to previous chapters whenever you are not in currently in the middle of a new chapter, you won't "miss" items or interactions. Some items require you to go back later after obtaining items/skills, but this is mostly just for completionism

The cons

• I really did NOT like the background music. It is repetitive as all hell. I ended up muting it (I gave it a shot every now and then)
• The exessive hitstop the game uses actually causes lag in some boss fights. Also if you do not like hitstop, give the demo a go before purchasing it
• The arena...my god this thing can be annoying. Every time you fail you have to go through loading screens, talk to a guy, select the mission you'd like to try again, another loading screen..
• Some of the arena challenges are just made to piss you off. "Dont fall off these tiny platforms when killing enemies", proceed to fall to your death because your weapon attacks "charge" your forward to your death... great stuff

The game is fun, the music is good, the art is incredible. Did I say the game is FUN? Try the demo, have fun, buy the game, have more fun.

MASTERPIECE!! This game keeps on giving. I would recommend that you play it on impossible difficulty if you like soulslike games, it works very well. (It can be grindy at the start on impossible difficulty but it gets hella good and it is a decent challenge.) The backgrounds are AWESOME. Music is good. There is a good of variety of ways to fight and there is no copypasta monsters. Every zone comes with brand new mobs. It plays a bit like a metroidvania/Megaman X.

Literally one of the best games I've played in a while.

Anyways, if you're thinking about it, go for it!!

Edit: I forgot about the story, the story is well made and is about time travelling. Main characters are all interesting and have good personalities.

TLDR: Press buttons, unreal fun happens. 11/10 GOTY not even kidding.

I almost dropped this game on the third chapter (volcano) but I'm glad I didn't, that's the lowest point and it really picks up after that.

If you like this kind of game (closest I can think of to compare it to would be the original Ys III, kinda reminds me of that with more indepth combat and RPG elements), then this is some incredible value. My playthrough was almost 80 hours. This game is DENSE with content.

PROS:
- Looks and sounds excellent
- Great story (reminds me in some parts of Chrono Trigger/Cross, Okami)
- Great characters
- Mostly stays somewhat challenging (I played on Hard) while being unbalanced enough for you to get insanely powerful and do some broken ass sh!t if you want to. Many aspects to building up the protag's strength. Combat is excessively satisfying.
- Has a postgame (new story developments included) with even more ways to get stupid powerful

CONS:
- The volcano area's boss is stupid. There's a couple sh!tty fights in the game but they're very much a minority.
- The combat can get extremely loud at times with overlapping, repeating sound effects. This isn't necessarily a problem but it really made the game tire me out in longer sessions
- The other female characters, thanks to how much time you spend with them, ended up being a lot more charming to me than the girl I was supposed to be finding/saving. The game teases them as potential love interests quite often but I don't think it's actually an option.

Also, Shiro is best girl.

This game was a pleasant surprise. I tried the demo on a whim, and enjoyed it so much I bought the full game as soon as it released. The game was much lengthier than I expected it to be, and I spent a lot of time playing it; I initially bought it to tide me over until Persona 5 Royal hit Steam, but I ended up wanting to completely finishing the game even after it released. I obtained all of the achievements in around 80 hours, playing in Hard (or Difficult) mode, and even want to go through the game again on Hell mode.

There are some flaws, and the game could use a touch-up and polishing on the clarity of the translations, but the overall experience is great. The main story is interesting enough and will keep you wanting to progress more. The combat is addicting enough to just blast enemies to level up and/or farm materials and not feel like a chore most of the time. Boss fights can get pretty tense and even some normal enemies will keep you on your toes since there are a few jank hitboxes. There's a wide variety of equipment and skills to extract from said equipment to equip. The music is top-notch in most sections, even if a bit odd sometimes. There's even Vocaloid songs, surprisingly. I wish there was a way to get the OST or listen to it outside of the game somehow.

Highly recommend this game if you are interested in 2D side-scrolling Action RPGs similar to Castlevania and others of the same vein. The current asking price of $25 feels like a great deal, although I got it for 10% off from the launch discount. Heck, just try the demo. You can play the entirety of the first chapter and a small sample of mid-game combat which will help you decide.

Deserves millions of sales and some kind of award for being the mostly expertly crafted ARPG I've ever played. Also an award for "highest amount of unique boss fights."

I can't even comprehend how many build options there are. Not just gear or stats, but it seems like every action game mechanic that existed is in this game, often in multiple forms.

It's got a pretty much perfect loop. Without getting in the weeds, I'll just say that fighting is extremely satisfying and you are always getting new moves/skills/gear constantly. Even 30 hours in it keeps the constant feed of new moves/mechanics/gear going. You can mess around in menus almost as much as you fight in the game, if you want.

It's also all at your leisure - since this game is expertly crafted, they just let people respec whenever and for free. Want drops to happen faster? switch to your luck build on the fly. boss fight? go back to either max ATK/max DEF to make it easier or go for a balanced build for a good challenge. This goes for normal levels as well. Basically, there's always something to adjust whether you feel the game is too hard or if it feels too easy.

also I think it really is 60 hours for that first playthrough. In this case, this is great news. I'm about 34 hours in and the gameplay loop is as fresh as the first hour.

Went from a demo I tried on a whim during Next Fest to what's possibly my favorite JRPG of all time. The game has some rough edges but it's well worth toughing it out, especially if you're into more "old school" JRPGs.

One of the best games I've played in the last 10 years. Genuinely reminds me of my childhood. God I love this game.

Fun game, but this game is freakishly long! At some point I wish to God for this game to finish already. Lots to grind, so for those who love to grind this is the right game for you. Combat is easy, really you just press attack and jump alot. Sometimes you dash and heal for a bit but not much else. Love the summon system.

This game has the charm and heart that a lot of modern games lack. Adding to that is a staggering amount of content and a story that, despite being cliché and kinda horny at times, had me gripped from about 5 hours in.
I can only reccommend this game if it looks at all interesting to you. It's well worth the money.

Listen...I'm gonna be real with all of you. Do you like anime? Do you like games that challenge your skills and adaptability? Do you like games that offer individualistic customization? Then why are you still reading this? Buy the D@** game before the developer realizes what they have, because this game is definitely worth WAAAY more than it's tag price. You can tell a lot of love, blood, and tears went into this game. It's full of depth and has much to offer. First off, the story line is great! It's well thought through and extremely elaborate. The game play isn't your run of the mill hack'n'slash. There is much skill involved that punishes lazy players and rewards skilled players. If you want to brute force your way through and just level up until you can do so? You can do that as well. There is a materials exchange system that allows you to find resources to construct stronger weapons and items. There's also a gene pool aside from the leveling system that kind of emulates the leveling system from FFX, that utilizes a feature called "Force" as the unlocking mechanism. What I'm trying to say is, the replay value of this game is off the charts and for the first time in quite some time, I found myself counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds until I could play again.

Absolutely masterpiece. To say Astlibra is horizontal Ys is an understatement. It even surpass Ys in plot, action and art. As we all know(I hope so) Ys is good. That will give you an idea the level of quality.

The english translation is a little rough in a few places, but the game play more than makes up for it!

Definitely worth the play if you're a fan of metroidvania type games.

Great game, the gameplay is fun and fluid, the story is good. Postscript is a great time too and feels like a deserved victory lap.

Wonderful game. The main story was pretty good and the time traveling was handled well. The "Mastery" system was quite refreshing way of obtaining custom/special passive skills and customizing your gameplay. "Grow" system (Passive stat tree) can be somewhat frustrating to navigate especially when you backtrack to fill out previous nodes. The controls take some time to get used to but everything can be rebinded as you want. Overall i must say the game is surprisingly deep, engaging and very fun to play. Definetly up there with games like Xenoblade and other AAA JRPGs (in my opinion).

Astlibra is a game with a well made combat system with a fair bit of hidden depth to it, a lot of character customisation allowing you to play with it, and a mostly linear story with a bit of exploration in each chapter's new locations. The story is great, being both a grand tale with grand stakes and being driven by a smaller, more personal narrative too, which gives it many touching moments. The music seems to be almost entirely royalty free stuff, but the soundtrack is fantastic regardless.

I'd probably say this is the best game of 2022, honestly. The only issues I have with it are the spotty translation (which has been getting fixed up), and the last third of the game dragging on a bit.

Bough the game as a random buy in RPGs and after reading some reviews. Whoa! Totally surprised and only 7 hours in I am elated at how this scratches that RPG itch! Reminds me of Chrono Trigger/Castlevania SOTN. Music goes hard and the customization is outlandish. Fantastic game and highly recommend.

Combines fun mechanical game play with perfect character progression, exploration, item variety, challenge and grind.

Nice story but can comfortable skip all cut scenes and still progress.

Everything I've been looking for in a game.

Made with love

This game has no right to be as good as it is. The more systems it piles on, the wider my smile gets. It isn't easy either. You routinely get faced with new enemies or bosses who rip you a new one if you don't learn their attack patterns, so don't expect to just button mash through everything or you will die miserably, especially on bosses. Ever wonder what you would get if you mashed Symphony Of The Night together with Dark Souls? This. You get Astlibra.

I've never written or left a review on this Website, so let me tell you this.
This is just pure, unadulterated videogame fun. The man who created this gem truly understands this.
I just got to Chapter 4 after a 6h session. I can't even remember the last time a game captivated me for so long in one session.
I'll probably update the review after I finish this gem of a game.

Tldr so far:
This is it! This is a
V I D E O G A M E,
if you do not like this game, you do not like videogames, ok?! I'm sorry, that's just a fact.

Walked in blind and was pleasantly surprised at how crisp the gameplay feels. You have quite a bit of reign on how you want to build your character, and you're not severely penalized for completely neglecting certain stats. I've dumped all of my points into attack power because I was enjoying the weapon gameplay and how each weapon feels unique from one another, but I still cast spells to take advantage of invincibility frames when I get in a tight spot. I can see myself trying a pure caster build in a future playthrough.

I'm playing on hard and it's just about how I expected it to feel: a decent challenge where you get punished for mistakes, but not to the point where you're one-shot by a random slime. I do have some frustrating times where I get hit-stunned and die, but that's because I did something stupid. Thankfully, the skip event system is actually pretty good.

This game should be able to run on practically anything out there...it has support for DX9, if that says anything.

Story's decent so far ... just hit chapter 4. It's not going to blow your socks off, but it's pretty well-written and the characters actually have personalities you can pick out.

This is exquisite jank.

Everything is familiar and also not.

The only thing I think it's missing is item sorting, because if you want to make use of one of the game's most unique systems, prepare to make spreadsheets

A great side scrolling RPG. Reminds me of YS games. Dark atmosphere. Brilliant music and unique art style. Very addictive battle system.

A beautiful spiritual successor to Ys III: Wanderers from Ys!
The gameplay is fun, stat-allocation is easy to distribute and reallocate, and the various systems sprinkled throughout this game are a delight. The music is phenomenal. Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to this masterpiece.

I only played for 3.5h but it already has the potential of being one of the best games ( that I've played) in the last few years. I'll update this review once I finished it.

Wow, this game is dripping with soul - yeah, it doesn't have the polish of a big budget game, but it has a lot heart and care into its systems. Each new system makes you want to keep playing for just a few moments longer. I blinked and 2 hours flew by - totally worth the full price.

Awesome game. Ive been addicted to it to the point that Ive skipped out on my daily stream two days now. I think I might be in trouble here lol.

What can I say, I love everything about this game. The beginning scene is able to be skipped, and it is a bit long, but I find it charming. The music is great, the game play is great. The only thing I don't like is a lack of a map for the game, however this harkens back to the glory days of 16-bit goodness where you made your own maps or remembered the layout if you wanted to know where to go. I am only 6 hours in, but this game makes me want to quit my job and just stay home and play it. It has been a long time since I have felt that way about a game. To the gentleman who developed this game, you sir, are a saint and have saved me from the despair I have been feeling over video games as of recent. All of them are too easy and short. This sir, is a swan song.

Wonderful game that scratches all of the itches that I didn't even know I had in an ARPG. Fluid gameplay, and multiple different stat boosters keep you grinding happily away, just to do it.

This game is amazing , if you have an itch for games from vanillaware like Muramasa , or even Ys Games, then try this game .

The combat is addictive , the story is surprisingly good , there is an abundance of skills and weapons , and the OST is incredible .

This is a hidden gem , i didn't expect it to be this good at all.

my only gripe is that the sprites are weirdly placed and some just don't mesh well with the environment , and some enemies have a lot of HP (ch3 boss is annoying) and there are rooms with too many enemies, but considering this was made mainly by one person i can give it a pass because there is passion oozing from this game .

I wish if some studio like Vanillaware would remake this game with their artstyle because if they did it will be a classic JRPG

What an incredible game! I haven't been able to stop playing it since I started and I can already tell this will be one of those games I'll be sorry to see come to an end. Back in 2001 I played Shadow Hearts on the PS2 and it became one of my all time favorite game series because of the zany cast of characters and unique combat system along with an engrossing and endearing story that could be both ridiculous and comedic but also dark and serious in its overtones. Astlibra Revision has given me that familiar unique gaming experience all these years later and I can't tell the creator how appreciative I am of that. I highly recommend this game and hope we can see more from this game series and developer in the future.

Absolute blast of a side scrolling action RPG. This game is a remake of an older 00's doujin game and you can absolutely tell - and I mean that in a good way. If you have nostalgia for the kind of janky, passionate, and strangely philisophical games that you could find all over the internet 10+ years ago, this game has all the good vibes you remember from that time.

Compelling storyline, addictive combat, fun grinding, stat manipulation, extremely memorable soundtrack, beautiful graphics, tight controls. A unique experience and a game that truly shows it's had a lot of heart and soul put into it.

Put over 10 hours into the demo before purchasing.

Controls can feel sluggish and both monsters and bosses and feel grindy, but there's just something satisfying about this game.

At a first glance this game doesn't look anything special, but once you tried you get completely hooked with the addictive fast paced combat and absolute banger soundtrack. The story, while around what you could expect from a JRPG, it's interesting and the game mechanics have more depth than what you initially expect. Definitely worth checking out, at least the demo, if you enjoy the gameplay of classic Tales of games you will probably enjoy what Astlibra can offer.

If you are missing the 'Symphony of the Night' feeling, this game is meant for you.
There should be 10 more of these besides Bloodstain.
10/10 would buy again.

Nostalgic - Reminds me of a mid-2000 game with all the aspects of a good grinding RPG.
Semi-metroidvania but no real need to backtrack.
Amazing story, I havn't read all dialog of an RPG in a while.

Play if you miss a good old RPG experience as the market currently is diluted with random nsfw content.

I honestly did not realize what I was getting into when I got this. It's been a ride which ate into my daily schedules and left me a sleepless wreck at work for a week and I do not regret this one bit. It's been a ride, and a magnificent one at that.

Gameplay is a 2D side scrolling brawler, with JRPG-style progression. The whole feel of it feels nostalgic and made me think of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which I really think the developer drew a lot of inspirations from. The best thing about gearing up and character progression is that the whole thing feels super rewarding... It actually made grinding fun for me because it's always very exciting to see what comes next beyond the mountain of grind.

Understanding that the base of the game is actually a solo development freeware game made me overlook the animation janks and bugs that came along with it. Over the course of these few days, I've seen the developer putting out multiple patches for bug fixes, translation improvement and etc. Coming from games where developers just left the errors and bugs as is (cough, NIS), made me appreciate Astlibra's developer way more. A dragon sank through the ground one time and killing a God got me stuck in a timeless prison of the arena where I couldn't do anything or progress in another time, but seeing how proactive the developer is, I'm sure the game will be in a much, much more polished state when I'm back for round 2 to get the few remaining achievements.

Music is generally great BUT the occasional gratuitous English rap tracks do keep me on my toes. I shouldn't discuss this here because this review can very turn into a thesis submission by the time I'm done.

Bottom Line: This game invoked such a nostalgic feel in me even when I've never even heard about Astlibra or the developer KEIZO until 5 days ago. Initially I got the game for the gameplay but the story hit me like a truck and I'm stuck on the ride in front of the windshield. I love this game so much like you wouldn't believe.

After all that good stuff, the game leaves me wanting more. Like seriously, the game came out of nowhere and showed me its potential, leaving me slightly depressed knowing that if there's a sequel or any other project of this magnitude from the developer, it'll probably be a year to a few years away.

I just hope it ain't 14 years away.