Review: Astebreed (PC)

For our next game review, we present Astebreed, for giant robots and loli AI equals justice. Astebreed is a bullet hell shoot ‘em up (SHMUP) from Japanese indie developer Edelweiss. PC (steam) version was released in May 30, 2014.

First note to cover: this game looks absolutely stunning. As a proper SHMUP, Astebreed does not fail in delivering intense, non-stop combat, and players will stop blinking and breathing as the screen fills with beautifully rendered bullets, missiles, lasers and explosions. All the eye candy the game provides certainly helps in giving itself a high replay value.

Beautiful, flaming explosions....in a vacuum of space.

Astebreed’s combat mechanism is very intelligent and complex. Players have three types of basic attacks at their disposal: spread shot (ranged), focus shot (ranged), and sword (melee). Two aforementioned ranged attacks also have an additional homing mode (activated by holding the attack button for some time and releasing) that locks onto enemy units and increases the damage dealt. When the gold meter under the player’s mech is filled, additional attack option called EX attack becomes available that can dish out huge damage to enemy units. Like the ranged attacks, EX attack can also lock onto enemy units, dealing more focused, devastating blows.

While blindly mashing attack buttons may work, using the right attack at the right moments will allow you to take out the enemies quickly and keep your health bar up higher. Mastering the large arsenal game provides is challenging at first, but you will be feeling like a true badass when you are clearing the screen from hordes of enemies in a blink of an eye with cleverly picked and placed attacks.

Two mechs fighting makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

For a SHMUP, Astebreed is pretty lenient on the players, providing frequent checkpoints and unlimited continues. This saves some tears of blood and frustration dance whenever your mech succumbs to the non-stop rain of enemy bullets. Game has three difficulty modes (easy, normal, hard) and I found these modes to be accurately assessed (I have played SHMUPs where playing in easy mode made me drop the controller and sit in the corner of my room for hours).

The game does have a storyline. Humanity is at a losing war against the technologically advanced alien race known as Filune. Players take on the role of Roy Beckett, a young pilot who operates a mech called XBreed equipped ex-human AI named Fio. The story develops in a predictable, anime cliché way (which is not necessarily bad), and in the end, Roy Beckett saves the humanity from Filune while scoring some loli AI love.

CUTENESS = JUSTICE

If there is one small complaint that I could raise, it’s that much of the story driving dialogues happen in midst of intense battles. While voice acting in the game is excellent, it’s in Japanese and I certainly don’t have time to look at the bottom corner of my screen to read the English subtitle when enemies are constantly trying to feed my face with countless number of death beams. I ended up missing most of the plot during my first playthrough and was only able to piece the story together during my second playthrough.

Overall, Astebreed is one of the best SHMUP I’ve come across. The game is visually pleasing, intense, and adequately challenging. Add this game on your list of “must play.”

Cool mechs don't look at explosions.

Overview:

Score: 9 out of 10 – Very Good

PC Steam release 05/30/2014

Game length: Short (1~2 hours), with high replay value
ESRB Rating: N/A

Pros:

+Stunning visuals

+Voice acting

+Complex and rewarding combat

+Adequately challenging

Cons:

-Hard to keep up with the plot during intense gameplay

How much I would be willing to pay for this game: $10 ~ $15