Asteria

Fun game from my childhood. Glad to come back to it. It's satisfying and the progression/fighting is simple. The bosses/enemies are a bit janky but interesting enough for me. I like the chitinous alien aesthetic. The building can be kinda fun but the options aren't overly varied as far as I've seen. Worth it for just a few bucks. Best played with friends, the more the merrier.

"Asteria" is a 2D side-scrolling action adventure game developed by Legend Studio. In Asteria, players take on the role of a young hero named Callum, who sets out on a quest to save his kingdom from an evil force called Darkness.

The game offers a variety of weapons and abilities that Callum can use to fight enemies and solve puzzles on his journey. Also, there are different biomes that the player can explore, each with its own unique creatures and challenges to overcome.

Players can acquire items and equipment, level up their character and customize their play style to their preferences. The game has received generally positive reviews for its challenging gameplay, beautiful pixel graphics and captivating storyline.

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An interesting idea that simply did not work out.

If you want a game in the same style with elements of magic try terraria instead.

If you like the sci-fi themes and don't care for magical elements try starbound instead.

Both terraria and starbound have plenty of mods available to add content after finishing with a vanilla playthrough.

I loved it when it worked. Bought a new gaming PC, loaded up the game, and simply won't launch. Does this require an specific c++ libraries to be installed?

Have played on and off for a while, but since some form of 'update' unable to use the mining tools without physically moving the character around. Game is unlikely to ever be fixed.

I want to rate this one somewhere in the middle. It's a Terraria-like game but with platforming levels and an objective rather than just building to survive. It's not awful but it's not great due to some frustrating bugs. I think with a bit more work this could've been amazing but pick it up on sale.

Feels and plays similarly to Terraria. However unlike Terraria this game is very bland with questionable game design choices and too much linearity in a game which should've focused more on exploration.
I played around 10 hrs of this until I couldn't take anymore, I highly recommend you stay away from this game and spend your limited time on better things.

Did I mention this game is literally unplayable on a > 60 hz monitor?
2 / 10 game at best

So on my quest to find interesting sandbox games I came across this... game.

And well I read the reviews and I saw many criticize the "Mechanics" but never specify why.

Ultimately there is a lot that I could like about this game if it was not for one small detail. It's building/mining system is wonky at best. You have a ranged mining tool which seems great at first but then quickly becomes it's gaping flaw.

It's not precise, at all. In most other games when you are mining you can pretty much target the tiles you are mining and then construct based off of that fact. So you want to carve out a 10 x 30 Tile room to start your crafting workshop to build your way to victory? Well be prepared to over complicate a simple task of having a mining gun that will always fire to max range and a tile placement system that if you shift your mouse JUST WRONG enough you'll have uneven floors... in which you need to mine again with a mining gun that knows no chill.

Part of the allure for games like this include building a base - but this game takes that element and makes it far more tedious of a task than ANY other game like it. Even the mining portion itself becomes a bit of a weird chore as you are constantly shooting out the most uneven surfaces to get yourself stuck on single pixeled dirt spots. If this game was going to go through the trouble of making mining/building as difficult as possible in a mining/building game... could they have at least given me some kind of empy base to work with?

At least then I could work with such a premise instead of trying to break my patience in creating a room in 15 minutes that would take 2 any where else.

Ok, so maybe building isn't the main focus then, what about the rest? Considering that enemies don't give you any real feedback to signify you've been hit even the lowliest of spawns can destroy your healthbar quick just by standing next to you.

It's a shame because using an overworld to find "Gates" to go from dungeon to dungeon and play some metroidvania-type levels sounds like an Amazing premise. But these gaping flaws are just too big to ignore and what it does deliver just feels so underdeveloped.

This game supposed to mix sandbox gameplay , boss dungeons and item crafting all in one, kinda like a mix of Metroid and Terraria, the first thing I must highlight is that it completely failed being a sandbox and item crafting game.
The base building choices are extremely linear and oversimplified at first I had fun designing it but about at the half of the game I just created a large cave near boss dungeon portals placing all crafting stations near it like in a cave.
as for item crafting, only interesting choice lays in weapons, there are many with many different styles and tiers, but from the 7-9 weapon types I think only about 4-5 are considerable. Only fun part in this game is a few early boss dungeons and boss fights. I mean it seriously, but considering how 90% of your game will be about finding boss dungeon entrances I wouldn't pay 5$ for it.
As for multiplayer, you'd think they atleast include the server executable in the game's folder but no you has to download that seperately from the game's website (Which is I think down for a while)

Pros :
• Boss fights are actually fun except the final boss
• A few enemies are actually interesting, the graphics looks unique

Cons :
• Extremely linear crafting (from about the first quarter of the game you'll have the same crafting options just in different tiers)
• The sandbox element is supposedly there but you won't feel anything from it (You could build a very simple base from many material but only so you could store your items in chests and place your crafting stations , exploring is way too linear to feel like a sandbox)
• While the first two or three boss dungeons are fun after the fourth one it turns plain annoying and cheap, I'd say don't even attempt the cave one without multiplayer, it's near impossible alone in the spike pitfall part.
• The idea of finding boss dungeons sounds fun at starts it becomes annoying very fast, and the end of it I was fairly sure it was more about extending the gameplay so they could say longer experience but it was not fun at all at the end.
• Coop multiplayer is very glitchy at many point, there is supposedly an official game server but it didn't worked back then when I started playing and it haven't been fixed still, you can run your own server with the server executable but you need to download it seperately from their website (which is down for a while now... this may had changed but last time I checked the server executable werent't included in the game files)

I like certain aspects of the game and am recommending it because of that, also, I know some people love this type of gameplay, but it's just not for me. I suck at bossfights, which is why I usually don't play these games, this game has it hidden behind a sandbox/survival type of veneer, which is the part I do like. Can't move on because I can't get past the stupid boss and you need to get past him to be able to upgrade your mining tool, so I'm stuck with very little more to do than what I've been doing for 8 hours. I'm done with this game, but for those that like these games, have fun.

I really don't understand why many of the bad review stay on the terraria "ideal".. It is not terraria. It has elements INSPIRED of it...

The way i see this game is mainly a survival shoot stuff up 2d platform. the game at base is pretty linear in it's character progression, evolution.. It's not so bad.. Althought i would program a timer on unit respawn instead of just leaving the screen... Grenade turrets can be quite deadly if your mining in a line they can target you,,, they will respwan the minute you leave the screen and bombard you to death! Else then that i love it.

I am going to be honest here... on first play throught.. i was shitting bricks during boss fights, because i wasnt aware that i could use the material i was farming to make objects to either block the flow of water filling in caves of just block incoming fire... note.. Try beating the 3rd boss without using any material what so ever to protect yourself! Also don
Its not terraria and yes i totaly recommand this game to sidescroller lovers (metroid castlevania fans) (symphony of the night ish.) :P

Another one of those astounding games that seems designed to work neither with a controller nor with the mouse and keyboard. If you use a controller, aiming your phaser at many tiny pebbles that end up blocking your path is a pain. If you use the mouse and keyboard, moving your character is stiff and awkward. Seriously, even though he can jump a hundred feet in the air, it feels like he’s wearing a suit of medieval platemail (under his spacesuit).

With Asteria being like a futuristic 2D platform/sandbox game, it was pretty fun. The game does not last long and is not really a game that I can see myself going back to and playing again.

Pros:
The story line is pretty nice
The game is easy to learn

Cons:
Too much like Terraria with certain aspects
Too Easy and short
You take too much damage when you fall until you get the boots that make it so that you don't take any damage
Being too expensive (I would not have bought this game if it was not for sale)

7/10

After an hour of play I HAD to play Terreria again; it wasn't horrible, it just felt like a less polished, incomplete, version of Terreria with some features from other games in the genre tossed in. As a non-early access game it is hard to say how much more development, if any, will take place with this title, thus I can't recommend it.

As the other reviews note, similar to terraria and starbound, though feels scaled down. Probably a good thing as the crafting system and number of items aren't overwhelming in comparison. Mine, craft, boss level, upgrade.... and repeat until you reach the end. No real need to build a house or furnishings, just weapons and armour, and defeat the bosses.

Terraria + Metroid = Asteria.
This isn't a bad thing if you like both games, not at all.

The game is streamlined, fairly challening and kept me entertained right up until the end.
My only complaint is there isn't vanity items and such like Terraria has.

The controls, music, exploration, etc are exactly like Terraria, except that this is futuristic. Later on when you farm ores, etc you'll have great items with which to do so and cut large swaths of the world away.


Pros
-Gameplay, Music, Exploration

-Items don't require you to figure out paterns, everything you can build is clearly outlined, you just need the materials.

-When you mine, gas is expended so you can't continually mine. You have to be smart about how you do it so that the gas escapes upwards into the atmosphere. This sounds like it's annoying but it's actually a good feature.

-Inventory is limitless, so no micro managing how much stuff you can carry.

-Controlls. They are exactly the same as Terraria; which is perfect.

-Weapons , there are some really neat weapons in the game and the weapon progression isn't to steap.
I havn't had a chance to set off the nuke yet :)



Cons
-When crafting it defaults to making the MAX # of a unit. This screwed me late in the game because of a mistake I made crafting way to many of an expensive item. I forgot to quit without saving..

-There's a bug or issue with portals sometimes in which you go back to the starting area of the game, not the portal you're saved too. I lost where my home base was and it took me about 2 hours to find it again :)
This is arguably not a con!


Summary:
If you like Terraria, you'll like this for a good 10-20 hours if you're so inclined to finish it. It's got all of the base things that Terraria has and it's put a nice spin on things.

Asteria delivers a mixed experience. If you are a fan of games like Terraria, where crafting and exploration take center stage, Asteria's game mechanics will feel very familiar. Set in a futuristic world, you are the lone explorer on an alien world. Instead of Terraria's pickaxes, you have a energy gun that breaks apart dirt and rock alike. Despite the intriguing premise and occasionally clever game mechanic like however, Asteria disappoints in several ways. First, and most noticably, is the crafting system, which, while varied, does not provide tool tips or organization that helps the player figure out how to obtain the next material. You never quite know whether a required upgrade will need to be crafted or found as a creature drop, and trial and error is the only way to find out. It would have been helpful to have an indication that certain resources were only obtainable from killing certain mobs. The second thing that I found disappointing was the difficulty. The main game play is quite simple, as there is no real penalty for death other than backtracking your spawn point, but boss fights are another question entirely. I felt that the boss fights were much harder than regular gameplay, and for me, had the effect of bottlenecking me at important progression points. While games like Terraria use a similar progression system for obtaining new gear, in Terraria you usually have multiple boss fights and upgrade paths to alleviate the frustration of continually failing at the same boss. Unfortunately, with Asteria, you need to try and fail repeatedly without the benefit of any alternate route or upgrade path. On the positive side, the background graphics and audio are quite well done, even if the actual platformer foreground graphics are somewhat drab and uninspired. The game does support the Steam Overlay as well as widescreen and multiplayer modes, but lacks controller support. In all, Asteria is a game that will appeal to sandbox gamers and platform gamers alike, but will likely frustrate more casual players.

The gameplay does not feel like a sandbox. Instead, you mine resources for the first dungeon, then go that dungeon, after it you mine resources for the second dungeon and so on. Dungeons themselves are not generated but hand crafted instead, completely breaking the sandbox atmosphere. The worse thing is that the most of the time you spend in every dungeon is jumping on platforms, falling down, and parkour again and again.

Overally the game gets very dull and boring once you begin to understand its non-sandboxness. There are no trees, no houses, no decor, it's not even near Terraria.

I hate giving bad feedback but I am very glad, I spent a little bit under 2 EUR for the game.

Here a few things that I didn't find enjoyable:
- The crafting feels very generic, going from iron, steel, copper, gold, ... is always the same in terms of the most important tool, the mining tool. It requires you to go through the highest dungeon you can find by crafting a dungeon drone (or whatever they are called), so craft mining tool -> collect materials -> find dungeon -> beat dungeon -> craft next gen mining tool -> repeat
- the combat feels bad, never noticed this before but it feels bad when there is no "pause" in between damage ticks when one touches an enemy, you can simply drain your entire life in a second with the right kind of mob - none of them having an attack animation

I am very sorry not to find anything enjoyable with this game, it looked nice actually. :/

This game feels like a stripped down Terraria with a bunch of horrible mechanics.

Crafting is VERY linear. There are a lot of cheap deaths. World design is beyond uninspired. Very small selection of weapons (most of which you won't use). Infuriating last boss (lots of one hit kills and cheap moves to boot). Awkward interface (you can only use items in your bar at the bottom). No interesting items to make. No base building.

I completed this game and was underwhelmed from start to end. Most of my time playing was spent cursing the mechanics. Anything not taken directly from Terraria proved to be horrible and annoying, particularly the oxygen system. Also when you get hit, there is no break between damage, so an enemy standing on you drains your health very fast. Who puts that in a game? Who played that and went "yes, this is a satisfying element of the game". Does anybody EVER enjoy that?

The game is not challenging (I completed it in a day), but just frustrating. It is almost like someone made a bland game and then went down a check list of "bad design choices" and chose a few to add in. The last boss is horrible as well.

Do not bother with this game.

Sort of like Terraria, at least in feel. You'll be doing very little building though. Instead the focus is on gathering resources to craft armor/weapons which will allow you to tackle the next dungeon. The dungeons themselves are very cool, but the rest of the game is pretty shallow. As a result, it kinda feels like grinding to get to the good part. There's no real penalty for death though so you can rush as much as you want while mining.

Overall, it's okay. I got around 10 hours of gameplay out of it and that's probably about as much as it has. It's pretty small in scope and once you finish all the dungeons, you're pretty much done. You do unlock debug mode when you beat the game though which may allow for some amusement. Still, I'd only pick it up if it's heavily discounted.

Here's my first impression - it's not a crafting game. No, sure there are crafting elements, but you should be aware that mostly it is a "metroidvania" game where you explore the world. It's core is action. Jump, shoot, dodge. You gather resources by finding it in the wilds and by killing enemies.
Your first weapong is a "pew-pew blaster" (which is actually just a "pew blaster" because of it's fire rate). I've found hunting complicated with such a tool. And I've tripped into first boss after 10 minutes of game. 700 hp vs 20 dmg per shot...
Also - you have lives. Once you lose all of them you die? Dunno.

The controls are responsive and the aiming/shooting process done really good. And the game works smoothly, but to do so I had to play with screen resolution. The game eats a lot of resources because it's a procedural full destructible world.

TL:DR As much as I've seen I would recommend this game to those players who love Edge of Space, Signs of Life, maybe Starbound AND want to see something completely different. Nice metroidvania game with a touch of your regular sandbox crafting game. My personal score so far is 7/10. Cheers.
P.S. Will update the review with my progress through the game.