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Writer's pictureGuilherme Ribeiro

Review: Awaken - Astral Blade

Updated: Nov 11


Face terrifying creatures as you try to explore the mysteries of ancient ruins in search of your origins.

Games-Review-Análises-Conquistas-Achievements




THE GAME


Awaken - Astral Blade is an action-adventure game developed by Dark Pigeon Games and published by ESDigital Games. Controlling Tania, a bionic girl with combat skills, we are sent to the Horace Islands to rescue a missing investigation team. In this place, animals and plants have suffered mutations due to Karpas energy. So, our heroine decides to investigate what is happening there, exploring ruins and improving her arsenal of weapons and skills, while facing several enemies.


Bizarre monsters will be a great challenge.
Bizarre monsters will be a great challenge.

MY IMPRESSIONS


In true Metroidvania style, Awaken - Astral Blade has its strong point in its combat. All the hits land nicely and you feel every blow as you land them on your opponents. Paying attention to how your enemies behave is essential, as this way you learn their patterns so you can eliminate them in the best possible way. As you progress through the game, you will receive new skills, as well as evolve your skill tree, which makes some aspects of your combat easier and adds new layers to the way you play. In addition, you will also be able to equip some equipment and items to improve your stats.


The story has many mysteries, but I don't think that's the biggest attraction here. The gameplay overshadows the story and even the characters. The game is in Brazilian Portuguese, which makes it easier to understand the story. I feel that everything in Awaken - Astral Blade, except for the combat, is very generic. The art doesn't draw attention, although some enemies have a cool design, for the most part, all the visual elements give the impression that you've seen them somewhere else. The game's difficulty is well-balanced, which makes combat satisfying and has a good balance between skill and reward.


Helping is also part of your journey.
Helping is also part of your journey.

ACHIEVEMENTS


In addition to achievements related to the game's story and progression, you'll have to collect some items, evolve your skills to the maximum, in short, the entire basic achievement package in a game of this style. In addition, you'll need to complete the game's different endings and, most importantly, collect cats. After all, who doesn't like cats, right? Getting 100% of the achievements will basically require a lot of exploration of scenarios, but it's not that complicated a task.


Prepare for all kinds of danger.
Prepare for all kinds of danger.

CONCLUSION


What got me most excited about playing Awaken - Astral Blade was its combat. You feel like fighting even the weakest of enemies just so you can perform different combos and feel each blow hitting your opponent. The boss fights are very challenging and balanced, always requiring you to use your skills correctly, learning the patterns to be able to counterattack. Unfortunately, what the combat gives us, everything else takes away, showing us generic and unexciting aspects, but which are so overshadowed by the gameplay that they don't detract from the enjoyment.


SCORE: 7.5/10

Games-Review-Análises-Conquistas-Achievements


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