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Every time I think it may finally be dislodged from my brain, Astlibra Revision gives me a new reason to talk about it. The weirdest, most underrated JRPG of 2022 has returned once again, this time with a chunky side story that turns the side-scrolling action game into a roguelike with procedural loot and levels for another "20+ hours" of ass-kicking with a new protagonist.
Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist – these titles just get better and better – was released on PC yesterday, February 13, for $9.99 (and is coming to Switch "soon," it seems.) I've been enjoying it so far, and I'm apparently not the only one; it's sitting at 338 Steam reviews with a 93% positive score at the time of writing.
Gaiden is a completely separate story about a girl who works at a bakery in the town that the heroes of the main game call home. Those heroes have disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and so a talking dog recruits this girl, whose combat experience begins and ends with hitting slimes with a broom, to brave a mystical dungeon formed from the memories of warriors who've vanquished at least four dimensions of demons. The girl's sick sister is counting on the medicine held by those heroes so she goes along with it, and I gotta say, she's doing a bang-up job so far.
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Combat has been retouched a bit but is mostly the same 2D hacking and slashing, now punctuated with a new magic system. You dive into the dungeon, explore floor after floor while assembling new items and gear from scratch, and collect XP to spend on permanent character upgrades. There's a nice variety of encounters ranging from basic fights to minigames to kill-'em-all monster zoos, and the cadence of upgrades feels good so far. I do think a few basic abilities should be unlocked a little sooner - maybe the main character could've just started with them - but it really only takes one decent excursion to get your foot in the door.
I've gone for the second-hardest difficulty, in part because the pinnacle challenge, Impossible mode, is described in-game as "a completely unreasonable difficulty mode." I know from experience that Astlibra solo developer Keizo is not messing around when he says this stuff, so I'll stick with good-old Hell difficulty, which is already pretty hard.
This is all really just an excuse to play more Astlibra, and I'm certainly not complaining. The progression and gear systems are a natural fit for the roguelike loop, and it's fun seeing another side of the world through this new heroine.
It is still an incredibly uneven game with esoteric upgrade systems (swords are made out of cake, and the skill tree is a dungeon), somewhat clashing visuals, and absurd story beats that struggle to fit 10 pounds of lore into a 5-pound narrative. But it's so punchy and earnest that I can't put it down. If you bounced off the original game, I honestly get it, and I don't think this DLC will change your opinion. But if you also can't get Astlibra Revision out of your head, this roguelike mode feels like a great reason to come back for more.
Final Fantasy and Tactics Ogre veterans unite for a new JRPG with eight "highly customizable" characters and gorgeous hand-drawn landscapes.
