Astonishia Story

"Like a roadtrip down memory lane; the guys in front will enjoy it but those in the backseat will be bored to tears."

A remake of an almost unheard of Korean DOS game from 1994, Astonishia Story is what one would call an "oldschool" console RPG; a throwback to RPG classics from the SNES era. Nothing it does is new or revolutionary in any way but what it does do it does correctly to a certain degree that will bring a dozen hours of enjoyment to older gamers but will probably pass over the heads of newer RPG runners.

Story
Arguably the height of any RPG, Astonishia Story greatly lacks a moving plot. This would probably kill the game right here for most but realize this; what it lacks in actual substance and variety it makes up for in classic "corn."

You play as Lloyd, a royal knight tasked with guarding a mystical artifact of great power. Like most mystical artifacts of great power, it ends up being taken by the antagonist and, just like every royal knight main character, he finds it his ultimate duty to get it back no matter the personal cost. Thus begins your quest through a generic fantasy world filled with half-naked elves, cave dwelling dwarves, and spell slinging wizards.

So why is all of this great you ask? Execution. Watching the game's cinemas unfold is like watching a highschool play; it's melodramatic, campy, and incredibly played out. There are grammar and "engrish" errors littered about, inconsistencies in the plot such as purposely walking into a trap to admittedly advance the story, and numerous breakings of the fourth wall involving the main character to monologue to you, the player, as well as an obscure encounter with one of the game's afro sporting staff members who demands a password from the manual due to PIRACY PROTECTION (a homage to old NES games like StarTropics as well as an in-joke due to the piracy in Korea). The translation itself is average but the non-sequitters and odd items (like the HELLA GHETTO AXE) brings out a deep chuckle.

Combine this together with a sarcastic atmosphere and mood and you get an incredibly tongue-in-cheek game that does little to take itself or it's content seriously. You won't care for the personal quest of the main character or the supporting characters but the sheer fact that you'll never know what'll happen next keeps you drawn in the game.

Gameplay
Your standard RPG fair; enter a town, buy new items, talk to the NPCs to find the next dungeon, enter the dungeon, battle monsters for gold, enter a town, repeat. Monsters appear on the field so you can avoid them but the game is rather difficult so not leveling early will leave you staring at the gameover screen quite a bit.

The battle system is rather interesting as it combines a watered down grid-based system typical to Tactics Ogre or Final Fantasy Tactics. While it lacks the depth of the previous games in terms of terrain factors, it still allows you to employ some tactics such as putting your back to a wall to limit how many monsters attack you. It's nothing major, but it makes fighting more interesting than the standard "mash attack, use cure when needed." The game's difficulty is a welcome addition as most RPG's find themselves holding you by the hand.

Graphics
While many criticise the simple looking sprites and environments, the game does look nice when flowing together on your PSP screen. The sprites, while looking like something out of Chrono Trigger, are hi-res and very detailed. They have many animations (the battle scenes between sprites are a nice treat to watch) and the varying colors of the spell effects help bring out the battles. The environments are rather detailed and the outstanding spritework in them makes them look varied even though you're staring at the exact same dirt and grass tile all around.

The menu is also intuitive and easy to control; instead of having to scroll through 30 different pages and objects, every major RPG command including equipping, status, using skills, saving and loading, changing the options and configuration, using items, and the inventory is all streamlined on 4 selectable menus that barely take up 60% of the screen when called up. I wish all RPG's used this as it doesn't take 20 seconds to check who's going to level up and when. You can save the game at any time so you're not forced to devote 10 hours before a save point; a feature that many RPGs lack.

Sound
The music is nothing special and reminiscent of classic role-playing games in their simple, looping tracked chiptunes. Even the sound effects sound like they were selected from a dump of common A1 sounds and slapped together to make it sound reasonable. Regardless, the music is so simple and catchy you might find yourself humming that annoying town tune a few times over as you're talking to the NPCs.

Replay
It's a linear RPG... how many can you think of that you actually wanted to play more than once?

Summary
Astonishia Story is like the B-movie of videogames. You'll either hate it or find it to be the best thing you've played in a while. It feels like it was made in the garage or basement of some developer's house and the production values on it are incredibly shot. Overall, compared to today's RPGs, this is a BAD GAME but it's so godawful that it's actually good. Although it wasn't the developer's intention, this game genuinly feels like a darkly comedic satire on everything that's wrong with the RPG genre while still being a fully playable and enjoyable game.

Astonishia Story's appeal varies with opinion; if you're tired of dark and depressing role playing games with anti-social heroes wielding massive swords and fighting grey-haired pretty boy half-angels and want a game that just doesn't take itself seriously, this is for you. If you're looking for a revolutionary piece of work containing many unique and original systems, avoid this like the plague. Astonishia Story most likely applies to the older or nostalgic crowd or someone who's just looking for a good, "pick up and play" diversion for those long business trips.

Rent or Buy?
This game will only appeal to a certain crowd of folks; if you can rent it, I suggest you do otherwise you might be throwing your $40 down the drain. Personally, I find this game worth every penny.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/20/06