Xbox Game Pass has been dedicated to stacking itself with new titles over the past year. This has lead up to the subscription service getting some massive titles like Psychonauts 2 recently, while it still has other great additions in the future. The service also has some massive AAA titles like Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite heading its way this Fall, but Xbox Game Pass also has a range of smaller day one titles releasing still this month as well.
These titles include striking indie titles like the comical sports title Skatebird, and the stealth action game Aragami 2 coming on September 16 and 17, respectively. It also includes the astoundingly gorgeous open-world exploration game Sable, joining the service on September 23. This month also sees the day one addition of the time-bending multiplayer hero shooter Lemnis Gate on September 28 that has been receiving a lot of buzz ahead of its release. However, September 30 brings the brand new JRPG Astria Ascending to Xbox Game Pass, and it is definitely a title that fans of the genre are going to want to keep their eyes on.
The History of Astria Ascending
Astria Ascending is a follow-up to the JRPG Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey, which received a lukewarm reception upon release. The game was originally released on iOS in 2015 with its planned ports to the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 canceled after the game's poor reception on mobile. Astria Ascending is not a direct sequel to Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey, so players do not have to play the mobile game before this new title, but it does take place in the same world. However, Astria Ascending is developed at a different studio than Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey, although it does have the same JRPG veterans behind its development.
These veterans are Kazushige Nojima and Hitoshi Sakimoto. Nojima is a legendary writer within the genre that is well known for working on the Final Fantasy series, including titles like FF7, FF7 Remake, FF8, FF10, FF13, FF15, and the first two Kingdom Hearts games. Sakimoto, on the other hand, is an iconic composer that worked on the soundtracks of titles such as the Valkyria Chronicles series, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, and Final Fantasy 12. The two developers are hoping that Astria Ascending can bring their original vision for the world of Orcanon to life.
To do this, the game utilizes a unique graphic style that combines hand-drawn animations with animation loops that look stunning and take advantage of the more powerful hardware that Astria Ascending is releasing on.
Astria Ascending's World and Story
The world of Orcanon is a sprawling fantasy land that allows players to explore its areas of untamed wilds, hazardous dungeons, and five distinct cities freely. The developers have said that the game offers more than 50 hours of gameplay and a variety of mini-games, including its own Gwent-like fantasy card game, shoot 'em ups, and environmental puzzles to challenge players.
The world of Orcanon has been shown off in one of the game's trailers that show off its diverse cast of races and varied environments that range from expansive deserts to dense jungles and sprawling fantasy cities. The art style looks undeniably beautiful in action, and the world's range of settings and fantastical areas lend themselves extremely well to it as well.
The game follows a group of eight heroes known as the Demigods. Each hero can be customized and players can assign one of 20 unique classes to each of them. The story follows the Demigods as they fight to protect the harmony of Orcanon from a mysterious force of chaos known as the Noises. The developers have promised that each character in the game will have their own plotlines for players to experience across the world of Orcanon, while they have also said that Astria Ascending will feature a more mature story and tone, similar to what Square Enix has said about the upcoming Final Fantasy 16.
Combat in Astria Ascending
Astria Ascending also features traditional turn-based combat that fans of the JRPG genre will be familiar with, although it has a few modern twists thrown in for good measure as well. This is helped by the 20 classes each boasting a unique tree of skills for players to strategize with, alongside its Cosmo Breaks and Focus systems.
Focus points can be gained during combat by hitting enemies with elements they are weak against, which can then be spent to power up attacks throughout the battle. Cosmo Breaks, on the other hand, are powerful moves that can be unleashed in especially tough battles to help give players the edge to win. With the new additions, the combat in Astria Ascending looks as though it will stand out from other JRPGs while still playing like a classic title in the JRPG genre.
Across the game, players can also expect to face more than 200 different types of monsters. Those monsters can also be caught in some way to later be summoned by the player in battles. How exactly that system will work has yet to be shown off by the developers, but it is definitely an interesting inclusion that should help shake up the game's combat quite a bit.
What has been shown of the game's combat has featured a number of interesting enemy designs that are all very distinct from one another. The game seems to feature enemies like goblins and slimes that are more common in the most influential JRPGs but also features diverse creatures like bubbling amorphous noises and tree-like creatures.
It will be very interesting to see the reception of Astria Ascending when it releases later this month. Hopefully, the developers will be able to properly meet the vision for the land of Orcanon this time around, and the game will be able to stand out from other big JPRGs that have been released like Tales of Arise. Of course, only time will tell, but the game's inclusion in Xbox Game Pass should help it attract more players that are at least interested in trying it out and seeing what it has to offer.
Astria Ascending releases on September 30 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.