Customer Reviews

Astonishia Story

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This little game has an unimpressive beginning but gets better as it progresses. The graphics are so 32 bit, and yet quite engaging at times. Even though this is not a strategy game, the battles are fought shining-force style on a grid system. There are barriers and land-effects. The menu style is also very shining-force like, as are some of the graphics. The magic system is very sraightforward. If you liked shining force and classic RPG's, you'll like this. One minor flaw: The translation into English is rather imperfect.

Reviewed for Big Boss Games By: Tim

Prologue: Taken from the instruction book.

Lloyd, a knight from the Latein Palmira State, and his commander, Lance, are bringing back a treasure of the royal family - the Staff of Cainan. As they return, Francis, a knight from Ferain, attacks them. Lance and his platoon are ambushed and wiped out, and Lloyd collapses. When he awakes, he takes off alone to find the staff. The Griffon on Francis' cape is his only clue, and his journey begins.

Story: 3/5
This story would have gotten a 5/5 from me if the game weren't so short. This game doesn't take itself too seriously and that is what I like about this game. This game breaks the fourth wall (talks directly to the player) a few times and it is funny when they do! The moments of comedy and high adventure make this game a joy to play.

Sound: 2.5/5
The musical score in Astonishia Story was average. There is not too much to write about, except that the music didn't put me to sleep.

Graphics: 2/5
The Graphics are severely outdated! I've seen graphics like these on the SNES. I love SNES graphics. The problem is that the system I was playing this game on can handle so much more!

Game-play: 3/5
Strategy turn based, on the light side. You move and attack. The opponent moves and attacks and you start all over again. You also get a list of special moves and magic to choose from.

Replay Value: 1/5
This game was short and sweet. There is not much to do after you have completed this game.

Overall: 3/5
Way too short. The game lasted less than 6 hours. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I truly wish the game were longer. UbiSoft has a hit here and just needs to expand on the story and adventure.
I hope to see a sequel with at least 40 hours of game play!

Although the story line is a fairly simple, it's very engaging and the characters are cute and very likeable! The graphics are typical of PSP RPGs, but the colors are fantastic. Some of the boss battles are pretty challenging, but regular battles usually just require learning how to work the system. I love this game, it reminds me of my childhood.

Astonishia Story is a very basic RPG game for the PSP. It offers top-down 2-dimensional style graphics with grid style battles. Whether you like this game or not will really depend on if you enjoy these styles of games.

For those of us who grew up playing Zelda and other similar games which had little blocky people running around a blocky world attacking enemies, the attraction here is very real. You don't need stunning graphics to have fun. You are a knight on a quest, working your way through betrayals and seeking to prove yourself. Random monsters jump you frequently, and you have to fight them off by moving around on a grid until you get next to them. You can only fight ahead or sideways - your attacking skills don't work on a diagonal :)

People who weaned their RPG skills on high end graphics and lush cinematics will find this game hopelessly pong-like. The dialogue is rather simple. The plot is rather simple. The graphics are ... less than simple.

On the other hand, people who can enjoy the elements of an RPG without needing the graphics around them will appreciate what this offers. Gameplay is straightforward. You don't need to memorize 80 buttons to attack - in fact, you can do everything pretty much with one finger. There aren't panic attacks as you try to hit buttons in time. The game patiently waits for you to make your choice. There's no swearing or mature situations. It's nice to find a game that is enjoyable and that everyone can play.

The graphics, once you accept that they're working in a flat two dimensional environment, are really are quite nice. The castles and landscapes have nice amounts of details to them.

Even so, I wish they did a little more playtesting before they released the game. There are subtle things that they could have improved that really would have made the game run more smoothly. There are maps where it looks like you can go from X to Y, but an invisible barrier blocks you and you have to go around another way. Why not put a ledge or mountain or something there? It is also hard sometimes to tell the difference between enemies and friends. Something like a colored block beneath enemies could really help out here.

Still, the game is what it is, and plays nicely for people interested in that genre. If you're not a fan of two dimensional RPGs like the old Zelda games, you'll probably want to give this game a pass.

I didn't hate this game, but I was fairly disappointed in it, to tell the truth.
The writing is bad, there are numerous cheesy jokes/references that don't fit with the story at all, and it's very generic in a lot of ways.

Some slightly nitpicky things:
This may just be me, but it was easy for me to get lost on the map at times. Mostly due to the fact that if I ever forgot where I was supposed to be headed and went back to ask an NPC to repeat his directions, most of the time they would be saying something else, instead. That sucks if you've turned off the game and forgotten the previous conversation. Even just having a world map would have been helpful.
It's hard to care at all about any of the characters, even the main character. It takes awhile to find shops that sell armor and weapons that are actually helpful to more than one or two characters, which wouldn't be so bad if the game wasn't so short anyway.
I actually thought the graphics were cute (I tend to lean towards RPGs that are more old-fashioned), but everything is so tiny it's impossible sometimes to tell what objects you can and can't interact with in a room.
Around 4 or 5 hours into it, when I finally got more people in my party, it started getting a little more interesting. But personally the two biggest things I enjoy about RPGs are a good storyline and a fun time, and this game seemed to fall flat.

So I'd recommend buying it cheap/used or renting it rather than buying it at full price.

This is a very fun game for the psp. I would definetly get the second one if it were to be made. In the game, you travel through levels and join up with friends in order to reclaim a sacred artifact. This is my favorite RPG for psp.