Astria Ascending First Impressions

Astria Ascending is a 2D side-scrolling jrpg. It was developed with the help of several Final Fantasy veterans. That fact alone adds a lot of hype to this indie rpg! We just got a review code for the game yesterday and here are our first thoughts on Astria Ascending for the Nintendo Switch.

Astria Ascending is a turn-based jrpg. The combat is about what you’d expect: pick Attack, guard, special attack, etc from a menu. You can also switch characters in and out of battle too, much like you could on Final Fantasy X.

However, Astria Ascending is doing some things that we don’t normally see in jrpgs too. Granted, its early in the game and more gameplay elements could reveal themselves but so far…

The game takes place in a 2D sidescrolling setting. When you’re are not in combat, it feels more like a Metroidvania than an rpg. You can even jump and attack enemies to stun or start combat. Its pretty neat!

Astria Ascending is also using a bit more puzzles than we normally see in jprgs and this again feels more Metroidvania like.

And then there’s the graphics! Astria Ascending is absolutely beautiful. The graphics have a very drawn, almost storybook quality. It is a gorgeous game. The first boss is really cool looking!

The game isn’t too hard yet and difficulty can be adjusted up or down depending on how you want to play. There is a lot of story to the game so far. Sometimes there feels like there is too much dialogue. There also may be too many characters in your party. Whew. Time will tell how much we’ll get to know each of them.

There is also a card-like mini-game in Astria Ascending. Instead of cards, its tokens that the player uses. I don’t fully understand the mini-game yet but I have won a couple of times! I’m looking forward to playing it more.

Astria Ascending is a pretty interesting game. The graphics and combat especially are captivating but there looks to be plenty of depth with skill trees and jobs lurking around the next corner.

We will play more Astria Ascending and hopefully have another article or two on the game. Also keep an eye out for our review!

Thank you to Future Friends Games for providing a review code for this game. Astria Ascending is currently available on the Nintendo Switch eshop!