HomeFeaturesAstral Ascent
The RPS Selection Sprout: Edders' bonus game of the year 2023Dead Cells-likers come on through
Dead Cells-likers come on through
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Hibernian Workshop
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Hibernian Workshop
Everyone’s saying 2023 has been a stonking year for video games. To be honest dear reader, I don’t think it’s beenmyyear. That might be because I’ve not had a huge amount of time to play loads outside of review duties and general life things, but there’s only been, like, less than a handful of games that have truly commanded my attention.
One of said games comes backflipping in right at the tailend of this year:Astral Ascent. It’s a 2D roguelike in the vein ofDead Cells, where you battle through stages, power-up, try and get as far as you can, inevitably die, reinvest your winnings, power-up permanently, then go again. It saddens me that I’ve not seen much excitement for the game elsewhere, so here I am with a little pudding for you. A little treat. Here comes the plane, nyaaaooownnn.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Hibernian Workshop
The setup isn’t jawdropping, but it’s interesting enough, and introduced to you through another cool animated short. You inhabit a world where some horrible leader called The Master has wars waged for entertainment. They go about collecting the strongest warriors, caging them as trophies and to protect the Master themself from any unwanted hero who happens to be quite good at roguelikes. There’s 12 in total, all of them matched with a zodiac and mostly all smoking hot, naturally. Your job is to fight through stages, defeat these warriors, and try to reach The Master. Of course, because it’s a roguelike you’ll likely die a lot early on in your attempts, but you’ll earn points you can spend to upgrade your characters permanently back at base. Then you’ll go back to those points you died and, hopefully, overcome them with your bettered spells and such.
Return to base and not only are there plenty of folks to talk with if you’re into story, there’s always a new visitor or a new reward waiting to be discovered. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Hibernian Workshop
Working your way through Astral Ascent’s stages grants you a lovely amount of control. Stages are mostly split into “Exploration” or “Fight room”, and you’ll always have a choice as to what you’d like to tackle. Exploration has you platform to the end, with a touch of fighting along the way, while fight rooms challenge you to survive an onslaught of increasingly difficult enemies. Beat a stage, and you’ll have the choice to jump into either of these options, all complete with differing difficulty levels, and better rewards for the hardest stages. Take on tougher rooms and you’ll be given more crystals to spend at shops on spells, more stars to spend on stat-buffing drinks, and more keys to unlock yet more stat buffs.
It wouldn’t be a roguelike without super rooms popping up, though. Some options let you visit an enormous whale who gifts you a selection of powerful spells, while another has you select a ghostly companion who’ll trigger when certain conditions are met. My fave pal was an enormous merchant I’d met previously, who’d rock up whenever I used my signature ability (oh yeah, each character has a signature spell that defines their playstyle) and blaze through enemies on a cart. Other rooms have you enter mysterious dark voids and gamble on whether you’ve got the mettle to best a reaper. The list goes on.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Hibernian Workshop
I wouldn’t say the environments are all that inventive, as they’re mainly basic rooms or simplistic platforming bits, all set-dressed with a theme: coral, desert, woodland. But, I think the combat more than makes up for it! And there’s still wow factor whenever you visit rarer spaces or take on the flashy bosses.
And the boss fights are excellent, with interesting moves and carefully constructed windows of opportunity. Importantly, many of these tangos feature a lot of signalling, so you’ll know when to time your dodges to avoid red alert bars and the like. You won’t fight the same folks repeatedly, either, as you’ll come up against swift spellcasters or lumbering lads with massive swords. They’re just the right amount of nails that victory feels hard fought and death feels fair, which is all you can ask for really.
You can find Astral Ascent onSteamandGOGfor £21/$25/€25, and it’s easily the most fun I’ve had in a roguelike for quite some time. Don’t pass it up.
