Reviews for Astral Guard

[kcho99]

I agree with much of what Mistermind says below. I think its a game with good potential, but some very odd design choices in some key areas that need looking at.

As Mistermind said, grinding is a bit broken. One needs to grind levels to advance; it simply isn't possible to advance, with all the gold of the previous level, to match the difficulty rise of the next level. But the levels with the hardest difficulty jumps, usually the ones with bosses, give very little gold. This leads to the unsatisfying and counterintuitive strategy of intentionally dying in levels you can beat, to collect their gold.

Furthermore, I don't find the advancement is well thought out. Its nice that the staff has to be properly managed, with extra runes causing shots to cost more mana, but there is no indication that it is happening, nor to what amount, so its a bit of a crapshoot. Further, I tried most of the runes, and only saw value in the damage-dealing ones. Speed runes seemed like they would be necessary, but didn't seem to improve the shot at all.

The special spells appear to have great importance, considering how many there are, and their prominence on the upgrade screen. But they have very little impact compared to similarly-priced upgrades, and there is no point in having more than one because they all come from the same pool. The mechanics of this need to be rethought.

Lastly, for some ridiculous reason, it appears you can't buy items from the shop that aren't available in later levels. So if you didn't shell out for the 800 gold rune-extension item when it became available, not only will you have to pay 1000 gold for the same bonus in the next shop, but you'll be limited to a total of 4 runes for the end of the game. That is, frankly, pointless. It's a curveball the player has no chance of anticipating unless she has already completed the game once, and while I didn't mind playing the game, I don't think it has any replay value.

Still, a fine enough game, with interesting retro graphics and music, and an okay difficulty curve.

[Albimato]

NOOOOOO. I. DIED. my motto: GIT GUD

[norat374]

Not being able to reset progress or go back to earlier levels kills the game. I got stuck at the first boss and had no way to grind for gold. Plus there's no way to buy runes back after you sell them.

[1d4caltrop]

Gameplay isn't bad, but isn't anything spectacular, either. The game doesn't need a tutorial, but more information about what to expect as you play would be good, especially about how dying does not mean game over, but rather will take you to the shop so you can upgrade.

The opening frames that tell the backstory need improvement. I took the liberty of editing them for you. Each paragraph corresponds to the individual frame, in sequence:

“The thirty-third eclipse of the sun will mark the start of a new era and the confluence of the worlds. Doors to dark worlds will open and a great invasion will begin.” Only a few believed this ancient prophecy.

One of those who believed in the coming of this dark new era was Varlow the Wise, a great and powerful wizard. To prepare the world for the great invasion, he founded a special guild in secret mountain caves. He named this guild the Astral Guard.

Members of the Astral Guard strove to improve their spellcasting skills, their control over the primal forces of magic, and their intellect. This rigorous training took place daily, from dawn to dusk, from the day each member was born until the day they died. The guild produced very powerful, wise, and loyal people. No member of the guild ever betrayed the cause.

The day foretold by the prophecy finally came. At the height of the solar eclipse, thousands of portals opened simultaneously opened all over the world. Hordes of dark creatures spilled out of the portals. The world’s armies and militias could not contain the offensive, and were overrun within the first hour. Panic spread throughout all the lands. The world was unprepared because so few believed in the prophecy.

But the Astral Guard believed and was prepared to fight back. I am Zen, a member of the Guard. Eight days have passed since the start of the great invasion. We have lost so much and so many, but we strive to resist the invaders. I believe that we can stop the destruction and reclaim our world.

[Slartibartfust]

Alright, but I'm pretty annoyed that you can't go back to levels to grind for gold: grinding off the baddies in boss battles can take forever. Also, it would've been nice to show how much mana per shot your staff used. I noticed the more shi runes you have on your staff, the higher your mana per shot. Can't confirm other runes though.