Review: Astlibra Revision
Astlibra Revision is one of those “hidden gems” that I was advised to go into as blind as possible. To paraphrase, I was told to trust it would be worth my time to see it through to its conclusion. Now, three weeks and change later, I have finished Astlibra Revision. And while I don’t think that advice was totally necessary, I still don’t know how to begin describing the experience.
For lack of a better option, the best way to understand this game is to understand its creator. Astlibra was developed predominately by one Japanese developer who goes by the name “KEIZO”. From what I’ve gathered, KEIZO is not a professional game designer. So in addition to his full-time job, Astlibra was the passion project he worked on in his free time. In that sense, Astlibra isn’t unlike that one RPG Maker game you might have spent a month tinkering with. Except KEIZO kept working on Astlibra for 15 years, releasing chapters episodically until it was finished.
Astlibra Revision is the final version of that decade and a half of work, featuring some extra talent to help the game cross the finish line. This notably includes artwork from Shigatake, who worked on Vanillaware games like Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Dragon’s Crown.
Since its Steam release last year, Astlibra has developed a devoted cult following. Sporting an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on the platform, some have even gone as far as saying it was the best game of 2022. If nothing else, Astlibra represents an incredible amount of work on the part of its creator. I don’t know if I’d praise this one that much, but I can certainly say that it was an absolute trip, and I don’t regret taking that plunge.
Astlibra Revision (PC, Switch [reviewed])
Developer: KEIZO
Publisher:
