astlibra revision thoughts

[highimpactsex]

let's talk about the famous 15 year old free game project that turned out to be one of the most legendary rpgs of all time now.

a bit of Context

before we really get into the weeds, i think it's important to acknowledge what astlibra is: a furige. this is kinda close to what we usually mean by freeware, though the owner still holds copyright. it's just a free game released to the public.

astlibra has a rather prestigious history since its inception. it was one of the titles that people thought might never come out because, well, it took fifteen years. when it did come out in 2021, it took the free game writing world by storm. it garnered a lot of japanese press and if someone ever pays me a dime to write a proper mimidoshima/minidoshima article, i wouldn't mind writing about astlibra's reception in the free game world.

but to put it simply, it's an impressive title no matter how much you slice it. there's already epic length rpgs that are on par with commercial titles (thinking of Tobira no Densetsu and Fanastasis), but i think an action rpg is a new one. people have made action rpgs for free but not on the scale of a 50-70 hour game.

astlibra revision, the version on steam, is a remake of this free game with the help of someone who worked with vanillaware. according to this rpgsite interview, revision added features and a new postscript story to the request of the publisher. as of this writing, this version currently has "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews thanks to the power of chinese reviewers.

astlibra is cool

so why do people love this game? well, i think the answer is fairly simple: it's quite good. and i'm not saying it's "good for what it is (a free game)", it's comparable to early falcom titles and other action rpgs. we're talking That Good.

for context, i played 99.9% of the game on hard/difficult. steam says i played for 75.5 hours.

astlibra's gameplay is simple at first: you press square to attack and x to jump. but as you continue, you start unlocking a magic system that also acts a bit like a parry system. then, there's also the very addicting weapon system where each weapon, if used enough times, can give a bonus or a gem. this gem can be used to unlock an entire subset of buffs and modifiers. these interlocking systems are refreshingly intuitive and encourages experimentation, especially with the tools you get.

like let's say you got bored of swinging your twig and want to do some touhou shmup wand magic, you can drink a reset potion (or level up) and respec your characters from a hard attacker to a magician user. or you might be a savvy rpg player and realize LUC affects exp and item drop rates, so you'll bump up LUC to the max and then drink the reset potion when you accidentally trigger a boss battle.

the game gets more in-depth with these interlocking systems, but the complexity is merely reiterative: it's not adding new systems but new buffs and side-effects that affect how you engage with these existing systems. and it makes for really creative gameplay/expression: people have somewhat different strategies and approaches to the game, so it's interesting to see folks talk about how they do stuff.

you could put on a modifier called Berserker for example and while the drawback of dying whenever you get hit once is real, it triples your damage output. for higher difficulties like Impossible, you might as well use Berserker and find yourself cheesing some bosses with your sword.

i'm quite fond of the base systems. it's really thought out and the numbers going up progression doesn't feel too hackneyed as an action rpg.

the story is neat for the most part

likewise, i enjoyed the story, especially the beginning parts. when you are introduced to your protagonist, you are put immediately in this strange fantasy setting to find your protagonist's osananajimi and then suddenly you just gain ASTLIBRA, which is a bunch of scales that seem to change HISTORY ITSELF.

the story is all too familiar for people into science fiction and fantasy settings, but what's really unique is how much it commits to the CHANGING OF HISTORY itself. every time your character changes history and averts disasters, they realize many things have changed ... including the people who die or are born. the game is very adept at dealing with the CONSEQUENCES OF CHANGING HISTORY and you can feel the larger-than-life tragedy story pathos slapped into your face.

it makes any little good thing to come out of astlibra feel good because most of the game is quite serious and dramatic. the game has this rawness i quite like in other doujin games: i call it the "no shit attitude" since it doesn't mind doing abrasive things to the storytelling. you see it in akai mato when they created King Exit and Demons Roots, in TS's Shinsetsu Mahou Shoujo, etc. it's the kind of storytelling that is always surprising and shocking because it isn't simply "i'm going to kill off your favorite character" but escalating stakes so high and never letting the player/characters off the hook. even if you fought this hard ass boss for hours, you might not get the happy ending you think you deserve. and that's great.

well, Astlibra is no Demons Roots in terms of how Committed to Not Giving a Shit (tbf, Demons Roots might be a high bar) but i can see people get owned by the direction of the story because it really doesn't give a shit. this leads to some fun surprises like gau's character who ended up becoming my favorite character.

(rot13 spoilers) jung v svaq vagrerfgvat jvgu tnh vf ubj znal punenpgre nepf ur tbrf guebhtu, vapyhqvat va cbfgfpevcg vgfrys. lbh svefg guvax bs uvz nf lbhe 00f navzr oeb, ohg lbh raq hc ernyvmvat ur orpnzr guvf orpnhfr ur ghearq plavpny naq crffvzvfgvp nsgre orgenlvat uvf cnyf sebz abg xvyyvat uvf yvggyr fvfgre. gur tnzr arire uvqrf ubj fnq ur vf, ohg vg jvyy nyjnlf nggrzcg gb fubj ubj zhpu bs n onqnff ur vf. guvf vf fbzrguvat v ernyyl nccerpvngr fvapr ur ernyyl vf gur orfg jevggra punenpgre bs gur ragver tnzr.

tnh nyfb fgrnyf gur yvzryvtug va cbfgfpevcg. uvf puncgre vf ... vaperqvoyr gb fnl gur yrnfg. v ybir ubj zhpu ur'f jvyyvat gb fnpevsvpr, vapyhqvat jnvgvat sbe lbh naq gheavat byq jura lbh svanyyl zrrg uvz ntnva. ur'f fhpu n oeb...

ur vf gur orfg urebvar bs nfgyvoen va zl bcvavba... fbeel fuveb naq xheb... ohg tnh vf gur erny zbr urebvar...

i think the main game and the beginning of the postscript are very good at these kinds of surprises. it's really interesting to see How Far keizo is willing to go with the story and the characters. my heartstrings definitely got pulled at many of these impactful scenes.

and it's also neat how the game has crossdressing and doesn't shame characters for doing it. it's set up for comedic moments, but it isn't done in bad faith. i love it. indeed, i think the game's subtle nods to Gender are somewhat awe-inspiring.

it'd be remiss of me to not mention the variety of royalty-free music out there. you get badass rock music, pumpkin hill, and even atmospheric vocaloid music. it's great. take this track that plays in the very beginning of the game where you fight slimes roflmao.

those damn fucking hitboxes

unfortunately, i need to bring up some real weaknesses of the game that really soured some parts of the game for me. as the headline suggest, while i do like the base system and how the player interacts with them, the way you actually engage the gameplay can be very strange.

the game in general lacks polish and it's really stark if you play it on Hard or higher. the most obvious one would be hitboxes and you can feel this really early on in the first map of the game.

you see, slimes shouldn't be difficult. they're the basic enemy of many jrpgs thanks to Wizardry and Dragon Quest. however, the slimes might be one of the more confusing enemies in astlibra. it has a peculiar hitbox to hit and the flashing light that indicates it's going to attack is timed too late for the player to react. this actually means the slimes are VERY TOUGH, especially when you lack any good tools. the interlocking systems i've mentioned would not be in full force by the start of the game -- all you would have is just some shitty twig and the basic attack -- so the slimes become a real filtering force.

the game gets worse as you progress. there are enemies like the minotaur and the slime with shells where their hurtboxes seem to extend further than the visuals indicate. some bosses have ready poses that look too similar to each other, so you can't tell what projectiles they'll launch. and then, there's bosses where the projectiles are so low contrast (white bullets on white backgrounds as one of many examples) that you can't really prepare.

and oh yeah, the endgame bosses have some severe flashing lights problems. people with epilepsy or sensitivity to flashing lights should avoid this game. they give me eyestrain and i can't imagine anyone with some sensitivity to this would have a fun time.

as a result, the game feels rather jank in some parts but polished in others. on the one hand, you have these lovely systems that supplement each other and level designs/challenges that respond to this. on the other, enemies are balanced assuming you have the new weapons and buffs that are in this level regardless of how much progression you have in this particular part of the story. to a certain degree, i don't mind this abrasiveness for the main game and i enjoyed how silly some of the early levels were (the volcano chapter is pretty fun). but there are parts, especially in postscript, where it just feels inexcusable. like come on, asking me to grind another ten hours because of one new system and weirdly balanced bosses? lol.

the bosses, especially the secret ones, also don't really feel good to play. i only enjoyed maybe two or three bosses out of the many bosses the game has. i think their patterns are too erratic for me and they are either too easy or too hard to see, so they just become a blur instead of something memorably abrasive.

as for postscript, let's just say i had to change the difficulty to easy on the very final boss because i couldn't see projectiles. it was blue on blue. i got pretty tired because you have to do a new 10 hour grind to get anywhere in this part of the game and the final boss wasn't very fun.

astlibra is likely the first and only title that would bear the distinction of "i was on hard for all of the game except the final boss".

??? on story

i also have mixed feelings on the main game story's latter half, but alas i must rot13:

juvyr v gubhtug gur fpvrapr svpgvba ryrzragf (yvxr gbxlb) jrer ernyyl pbby ng svefg, gur jnl vg hasbyqrq sryg yvxr vg birerkcynvarq rirelguvat naq znqr gur zlfgvdhr bs gur snagnfl srry jrnxre.

fvapr rirelguvat vf rkcynvarq nf gur "shgher" gelvat gb fbyir gurve znyguhfvna ceboyrzf ol vagebqhpvat zbafgref gb gur cnfg, gur tnzr ybfrf gur zlfgrel nfcrpg gung sryg fb vaivgvat gb zr va gur svefg cynpr. v nyfb srry yvxr vg'f n ovg pyvpur fvapr v'ir frra guvf gebcr hfrq (fpvrapr svpgvba gb rkcynva wect gebcrf, v zrna)

v nz nyfb hafher vs v yvxr gung xnv naq lbhe ts ner ebobgf naq fbsgjner erfcrpgviryl. vg'f cerqvpgnoyr va n obevat jnl, gubhtu v yvxr obgu bs gurve punenpgref' pybfher va gur znva fgbel.

fhssvpr gb fnl, v guvax gurer'f fbzr shaqnzragny vffhrf bs gheavat snagnfl vagb uneq fpvrapr svpgvba. gur nccrny bs snagnfl svpgvba (gb zr, naljnl) vf guvf haxabja fghss. jurgure vg or zntvp be whfg bofpher uvfgbel, snagnfl unf nyjnlf orra gur traer bs zlfgrel gb zr. v jnf rawblvat zl gvzr ernqvat gur yber obbxf nobhg qentbaf naq tbqf va nfgyvoen. fpvrapr svpgvba, ba gur bgure unaq, vf trarenyyl ohg abg nyjnlf nyy nobhg rkcynvavat gur zntvp va sha jnlf.

nfgyvoen'f ghea gb uneq fpvrapr svpgvba vf abg gung. rirel cybg qrgnvy gung znxrf gur snagnfl ryrzrag fb vagrerfgvat whfg trgf rkcynvarq nf Fpvrapr naq Grpuabybtl. v guvax guvf pbhyq'ir orra nibvqrq vs, sbe rknzcyr, gbxlb/raq bs gvzr naq gur qrgnvyf erirnyrq gurer jnf rkcynvarq zhpu. nsgre nyy, gurer'f tnzrf yvxr avre gung jbex dhvgr jryy fvapr gurl xabj ubj gb fuhg gurve zbhguf hc. rira jvgu gur gnagnyvmvat qrgnvyf jr trg nobhg gur ercyvpnag naq trfgnyg cebwrpg, vg'f abg yvxr rirelguvat vf shyyl rkcynvarq. va nfgyvoen, v svaq zlfrys xabjvat gbb zhpu bs gur nahovf cebwrpg gung v whfg qba'g xabj vs vg'f gung vzcbegnag.

v thrff jung v'z fnlvat vf gung nfgyvoen zvtug unir gvrq vgf cybg gbb arngyl. xrvmb vf nqrcg ng sbyybjvat cybg guernqf guebhtu, ohg guvf xvaq bs cerpvfvba gb gur jbeyqohvyqvat zrnaf cynlref qba'g unir ebbz gb vzntvar. rirelguvat vf gbb pbapergr naq rkcyvpvg gung gur tnzr srryf gbb pybfrq-bss.

va n jnl, v guvax zl nethzrag pna or pehqryl haqrefgbbq nf "jbhyq crbcyr znxr snasvpf bs guvf tnzr?" bs pbhefr, crbcyr jbhyq vs gurl yvxrq gur tnzr rabhtu. ohg vagrerfgvat snasvpf erdhver fbzr ebbz gb fcrphyngr jung-vs fpranevbf naq arj frggvatf. guvf ynpx bs vzntvangvir fcnpr vf irel qrgevzragny gb nfgyvoen orpnhfr rirelguvat'f whfg gbb rkcynvarq.

naq nf lbh pna vzntvar, v nz nyfb hafher vs v yvxr gur cbfgfpevcg'f birenyy fgbel rvgure. qba'g trg zr jebat: v ybir gur ortvaavat bs gur cbfgfpevcg naq gubhtug vg jnf xvab. v ernyyl rawblrq gung lbh fnj n arj fvqr gb tnh'f onqnffrel naq gung lbh sbhtug gur shpxvat wect cnegl. naq v nyfb yvxr ubj lbh raq hc "fnivat gur jbeyq", juvpu ng svefg srryf purrfl ohg pbafvqrevat gur urnegnpur lbh tb guebhtu, v qba'g zvaq gur snafreivpr.

vg'f phgr.

zl vffhr vf jvgu gur nolff/tnvn fghss. v gubhtug gur frggvat erzvaqrq zr bs yvxr qnex fbhyf fcrphyngvba yber (gur onpxtebhaq va tnvn erzvaqrq zr bs gur gurbevrf ba gur cnenyyry jbeyq gerr fghss), juvpu birerkcynvaf n ybg.

na rknzcyr: ng svefg, v gubhtug gur rylfvba frggvat orvat haqreonxrq orvat erivfvgrq jnf avpr. ohg gur jnl vg jnf rkrphgrq nf n erunfu bs gur fnzr obff svtug jvgubhg zhpu arj cebterffvba zrnaf gur fnzr vffhrf nccyl ntnva: vg birerkcynvaf jung'f nyernql gurer jvgubhg nqqvat arj fghss.

v nyfb ebyyrq zl rlrf ng gur trargvpf fghss, yvxr gur fheiviny bs gur svggrfg fghss. gur znyguhfvna fpvrapr svpgvba fghss nyernql srryf pyvpurq, fb frrvat guvf jnf yvxr trggvat fynccrq jvgu zber pyvpurf.

v qb yvxr gur pbapyhfvba naq ubcr guvf vf whfg fbzr frghc sbe n arj tnzr, ohg v unir engure zvkrq srryvatf ba cbfgfpevcg va trareny.

conclusion

nevertheless, despite my misgivings, i think this game is one of the best titles out there. it expresses what i really like about free and doujin games subculture: if you have the passion, you can do it. i also find it quite inspiring that the entire game is made out of royalty free assets that anyone can just grab right now. it's the kind of dream any bored middle schooler kid would have -- "I want to make a game and this is the way I would do it!" -- but real.

my criticisms of the game come from a really passionate fan. i adore much of the game, which is why i feel the need to be harsh on certain aspects. i might consider it a top game of mine because it actually clarifies so much about game design for me and i had a lot of fun.

if you're in the mood for an action rpg that's demanding and interesting and don't mind flashing light spam, then i think astlibra is great. as moogy said it, it feels like a lost falcom game. anyone who enjoys classic and retro games would definitely enjoy this new take on side scrolling adventure.

definitely a title you shouldn't miss.