Asterigos: Curse of the Stars - The Final Preview

ign.com:

In a time where the soulslike genre’s influence can be felt in just about every action-RPG, it’s easy for the plethora of challenging adventures to blend together in a montage of death screens. Asterigos: Curse of the Stars is a cartoonish odyssey inspired by Greek and Roman mythology with a stripped-down version of the soulslike formula at its center, and while at first I thought its formula might feel a bit too familiar, it ended up surprising me with consequential decisions in each act that made me lean forward in my chair. I’m used to being punished for my foolhardy behavior with numerous character deaths, but it was another thing entirely when my questionable decisions had an adverse impact on the story, and that raised the stakes for me in an extremely refreshing way.

Upon first look, I felt a sense of deja vu with Asterigos’ simple hack-and-slash combat that had me dodge-rolling and drinking potions as I fought my way through each area and boss. Similarly, its Greek and Roman mythology-inspired world and cartoony art style reminded me a whole lot of last year’s Immortals: Fenyx Rising. That’s not to say Asterigos doesn’t carve its own path – it clearly goes out of its way to be more accessible than typical soulslike games thanks to things like multiple difficulty options, resources you get to keep even after dying, and more. It also tells a fantasy story set in a larger-than-life world of Gods and monsters that feels quite unique so far. But with the embarrassment of riches currently available when it comes to action-RPGs, I still couldn’t help but struggle to find what set Asterigos apart…at least in the beginning.

But that differentiator smacked me right in the face when I discovered that many chapters present