Info about Astria Ascending:

Official game description:
More from us
============
About the Game
==============
Explore the vast and beautiful world of Orcanon
-----------------------------------------------
Visit five different cities populated by unique creatures and solve more than 20 dangerous dungeons. With over 50 hours of game-play and a range of fun mini-games - including shoot ‘em ups, an original fantasy-themed card game and challenging environmental puzzles.
A grand tale of fate and sacrifice
----------------------------------
Immerse yourself in a fascinating narrative rife with betrayal, sacrifice and terrors. A story based around adult characters, Astria Ascending offers a more mature experience and extensive dialog.
A rewarding turn-based combat system
------------------------------------
Fight over 200 different monsters in captivating, turn-based combat. Collect and summon legendary beasts into the fight and build up your power to wield legendary Cosmo Breaks.
Meet an unforgettable cast of characters
----------------------------------------
Pick from eight customizable characters spanning a range of fantastical races and skills, and assemble a heroic team that must sacrifice everything to save the world. With 20 classes to choose from and an array of unique skills to command, their fates are doomed, but the world is not.
A hand-drawn adventure crafted with skill and passion
-----------------------------------------------------
From a team featuring developers from Final Fantasy, Nier Automata and Bravely Default, Astria Ascending includes full voice acting in Japanese and English, a traditionally animated, fully hand-drawn 2D world and a dynamic weather system.

Release date: Sep 30, 2021

Categories: Turn-based RPG, JRPG, Character Customization, Job System, Mini-games, Metroidvania, Card-based Gameplay

Feature scans:
- Wiki: score 50; verdict: Needs Improvement in In-Game Explanations; summary: The primary user complaints revolve around the lack of sufficient in-game explanations for complex mechanics and stat explanations. Users feel compelled to look up information externally to understand character progression, hidden quests, and detailed game rules, which significantly impacts their gaming experience.
- Steam Deck: score 90; verdict: Broken; summary: The Steam Deck experience is marred by several significant issues. Users have reported small text sizes that are difficult to read, frequent crashes and black screens indicating stability problems, and unresponsive or broken controls. These issues collectively contribute to a poor user experience.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Beautiful and unique art style (weight 0.58): The game features a beautiful and unique art style with vibrant colors and hand-drawn graphics. Players appreciate the visual appeal and the distinct designs.
- Classic JRPG experience (weight 0.36): The game offers a classic JRPG experience with turn-based combat and a story reminiscent of old-school JRPGs. Players enjoy the nostalgic feel and traditional gameplay mechanics.
- Engaging combat system (weight 0.31): The combat system is dynamic and enjoyable, featuring a fun class system and customizable characters. Players find the battles engaging and the combat mechanics interesting.
- Wonderful music and sound (weight 0.21): The game's music is highlighted as a strong point, with wonderful tracks that enhance the gaming experience. Players appreciate the quality and appeal of the soundtrack.
- Unique character and monster designs (weight 0.16): The game features unique designs for fantasy races, monsters, and characters. Players enjoy the creativity and distinctiveness of these designs.
- Diverse character customization (weight 0.09): Players appreciate the diverse options for character customization, allowing for a personalized gaming experience. The customization features are noted for their depth and variety.
- Convenient save system (weight 0.08): The game allows players to save at any point, providing convenience and flexibility. This feature is well-received for its user-friendly approach.

Common complaints:
- Weak Storyline (weight 0.53): The story is widely criticized for being unengaging, confusing, and poorly developed. Many players find it boring and cliche.
- Slow Combat Tempo (weight 0.35): Combat is criticized for being slow and not able to be sped up. The pacing is considered poor.
- Clunky and Buggy Gameplay (weight 0.27): The gameplay is described as clunky, annoying, and disappointing. There are also numerous bugs reported.
- Poor Map Design (weight 0.23): The map design is considered confusing, unhelpful, and poorly designed. Players find it stressful and not intuitive.
- Unclear Enemy Weaknesses (weight 0.22): Players struggle with unclear enemy weaknesses, which are not easily remembered or displayed. Some enemies lack weaknesses altogether.
- Uninteresting Characters (weight 0.15): Characters are found to be uninteresting, lacking depth, and often annoying. They are seen as clichés.
- Lack of Tutorials (weight 0.12): There is a notable lack of proper tutorials and key explanations, making it difficult for players to understand the game mechanics.
- High Difficulty Level (weight 0.12): The game is noted for its very high difficulty level, especially at the start.
- Frustrating Mini-Games (weight 0.12): Mini-games are criticized for being poorly designed, difficult, and frustrating. They lack strategy and are boring.
- Unskippable Dialogue (weight 0.11): Players are annoyed by the inability to skip dialogue during cutscenes and voice events.
- Terrible UI (weight 0.1): The user interface is filled with bugs and poorly designed, especially the shop interface.
- Vague Quest Objectives (weight 0.09): Quest objectives are often unclear and vague, leading to confusion and bugs.
- Tedious Grinding (weight 0.09): The game requires a lot of grinding, which players find tedious and unnecessary.
- Useless Jobs and Skills (weight 0.09): Many jobs and skills are considered useless by players, adding little value to the gameplay.
- Mediocre Dialogue (weight 0.08): Dialogue is criticized for being simple-minded and mediocre.
- Achievement System Bugs (weight 0.08): The achievement system is buggy and does not match Steam achievements. Many achievements do not work.

Gameplay feedback:
- Job and class system (weight 0.47): A robust job and class system allows for extensive character customization and progression, similar to the Final Fantasy series.
- Turn-based JRPG combat system (weight 0.43): The game features a classic turn-based combat system reminiscent of traditional JRPGs, with a focus on strategic gameplay and character progression.
- Variety of gameplay mechanics (weight 0.22): The game offers a range of gameplay mechanics including hunts, side quests, platforming, mini-games, and exploration.
- Elemental weaknesses and status effects (weight 0.18): Combat includes a system of elemental weaknesses and status effects, adding depth and strategy to battles.
- Character progression and customization (weight 0.15): Players can develop their characters through various progression systems, including skill trees and stat development.
- In-game card mini-game (weight 0.14): The game features a card mini-game called J-Ster, inspired by similar games in the Final Fantasy series.
- Difficulty and gear progression (weight 0.12): The game includes systems for adjusting difficulty and progressing gear, catering to different player preferences and playstyles.
- Metroidvania-style exploration (weight 0.1): Exploration in the game is designed in a Metroidvania style, encouraging players to revisit areas with new abilities.
- Strategic boss fights (weight 0.07): Boss fights in the game require specific strategies and exploitation of weaknesses to succeed.
- Party member swapping (weight 0.07): Players can swap party members during combat, allowing for dynamic team management and strategy.

Performance notes:
- Frequent bugs and crashes (weight 0.25): Players report encountering numerous small bugs and occasional crashes, which disrupt the gaming experience.
- Audio-related bugs (weight 0.2): Various audio issues are reported, including intermittent cut-offs, extremely loud music, and glitches affecting gameplay.
- Game freezing issues (weight 0.13): The game frequently freezes, particularly during menu navigation and other specific instances.
- Frame rate problems (weight 0.11): There are issues with frame rate, including slow frame rates and significant drops during screen switching.
- Lack of PC configuration options (weight 0.1): There are no configuration options for PC performance, including resolution settings, leading to optimization issues.
- Performance issues in dungeons (weight 0.08): The game lags and has performance issues specifically in dungeon areas, affecting gameplay smoothness.
- Long loading screens (weight 0.07): Players experience long loading times, which can be frustrating and break immersion.
- Controller support issues (weight 0.07): Problems with controller support, including overridden vibration settings and loss of control during gameplay.
- Missing animations and effects (weight 0.07): Players note that some animations and sound effects are missing, detracting from the overall experience.
- Graphics settings causing crashes (weight 0.04): Certain graphics settings lead to game crashes, indicating potential optimization problems.

Recommendations:
- Recommended for RPG fans (weight 0.14): The game is highly recommended for fans of turn-based RPGs, classic RPGs, and JRPGs. It is particularly suggested for hardcore RPG enthusiasts, especially when it is on sale.
- Underrated and promising (weight 0.1): The game is considered criminally underrated and deserves better reviews and more popularity. It shows promise for future games from the developers.
- Character customization appreciated (weight 0.08): Players appreciate the character builds and job transitions, which allow for a high degree of customization and flexibility in gameplay.

Other player notes:
- Accessibility issues for colorblind players (weight 0.05): The game has accessibility problems that affect colorblind players, making it difficult for them to fully enjoy or navigate the game.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.35): Players are frustrated by a multitude of issues including frequent game crashes, unclear quest directions, and poor optimization. The combat system is criticized for being slow, unbalanced, and repetitive, with enemies often hitting too hard. Additionally, the game's design choices, such as forced grinding, linear dungeons, and various bugs, contribute significantly to the frustration.
- Disappointment (weight 0.29): Players feel disappointed due to the game's lack of depth and polish, with a generic and shallow story, unengaging characters, and poorly integrated mini-games. The combat system and job mechanics are also criticized for being unbalanced and repetitive, further detracting from the overall experience.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.1): Despite the game's flaws, players enjoy the engaging combat system, deep character customization, and beautiful art style. The challenging gameplay and enjoyable story also contribute to a positive experience.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.05): Players are satisfied with the game's combat depth, character variety, and strategic elements. The engaging combat mechanics, skill tree, and overall design contribute to a satisfying experience.
- Anger (weight 0.03): Players are angered by the game's poor balance, non-functional skills, and technical issues. The frustrating card game mechanics and lack of support further exacerbate these feelings.
- Disappointed (weight 0.02): Players feel disappointed with the game's combat mechanics, job system, and story execution. The unbalanced combat and system issues detract from the overall experience.
- Joy (weight 0.02): Players experience joy from the game's challenging gameplay, engaging battle system, and appealing graphics. The art style and combat mechanics are particularly enjoyable.
- Mixed feelings (weight 0.01): Players have mixed feelings due to the game's beautiful visuals and decent music, which are contrasted by an unintuitive map and underdeveloped story. The combination of positive and negative elements creates a conflicting experience.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.01): Players feel nostalgic as the game reminds them of classic JRPGs, evoking a sense of comfort and familiarity. The similarities to beloved older games contribute to this feeling.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Players admire the game's art, music, and overall design, appreciating the passion and love put into the project by the studio.
- Excitement (weight 0.01): Players are excited about the upcoming game LOST HELLDEN and its appealing art style and voice acting. The anticipation of new features and experiences contributes to this excitement.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.01): Players are enthusiastic about the game's character customization and combat mechanics. The overall experience and features of the game generate a sense of eagerness and interest.
- Frustrated (weight 0.01): Players are frustrated with the game's balance issues, bugs, and unbalanced difficulty. The poor design of sub-events further adds to this frustration.
- Annoyance (weight 0.01): Players are annoyed by the poorly designed UI, which includes small text and bright menus that strain the eyes. This design choice detracts from the overall user experience.
- Sadness (weight 0.01): Players feel sad because, despite liking the game, they are unable to fully enjoy it due to various issues. The inability to experience the game as intended leads to this sadness.
- Happiness (weight 0.01): Players are happy to find a game in their favorite genre. The discovery of a game that aligns with their preferences brings joy and satisfaction.
- Appreciation (weight 0.01): Players appreciate the game's vibrant hand-drawn art and solid voice acting. These elements are particularly well-received and contribute positively to the overall experience.
- Discomfort (weight 0.01): Players feel discomfort due to themes of racial discrimination present in the game. These themes can be unsettling and detract from the enjoyment of the game.
- Excited (weight 0.01): Players are excited about the character customization and job classes offered in the game. The variety and depth of these features generate a sense of anticipation and enthusiasm.
- Impressed (weight 0.01): Players are impressed with the game's hand-drawn world and character animations. The high-quality art and animations stand out as notable strengths of the game.}