Asterigos:
Curse of the Stars Review

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars (2022) is a fighting adventure game where you explore and fight the monsters on a quest to find your father. Like Elden Ring, precise parries, dodges, and rolls are important but with more forgiving difficulty settings. This, along with a branching world to explore, skill system and the ability to hold (and quickly switch) two different weapons, make it a compelling adventure for younger audiences.

You play as Hilda, a brave northern warrior on a quest to extract her father from the lost, ruined city of Asterigos. Soon, you discover a mysterious curse lies on the city; the cause of its decay that resulted in its people transforming into monsters and foul beasts. As you explore, you face off against these enemies in tough fights, using all your strength and magical powers to overcome even the greatest foes as you face to free your father and liberate the city.

Play focus on fighting enemies in one-on-one, or sometimes one-against-many, combat. Six different weapons can be used, each with unique abilities, strengths, and drawbacks, and you can equip two at a time, quickly switching between them during fights. You experiment with different weapon permutations, discovering what works best for you in different scenarios.

Fights are very fast-paced, with enemies dealing powerful blows you need to parry or dodge, before coming in for a counterattack. If you die, you get sent back to the last checkpoint, but you can find shortcuts as you go, to get back to areas more quickly. In this way it's like Jedi Fallen Order, where there is a main path but several shortcuts and hidden routes.

The result is a unique blend of challenging fights and exploration that encourages experimenting with new weapons and performing ambitious moves and attack combinations as you seamlessly switch between equipped weapons. Discovering a new way to overcome a familiar challenge is hugely rewarding and means you can play through multiple times as you uncover the hidden nuances in combat.

Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Asterigos: Curse of the Stars 13 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 5 months ago.