Astor Analysis: Monolith Blade

Publisher Versus Evil and Colombian developer C2 Game Studios surprise us with a title inspired by The Legend of Zelda

In the world of video games, there are many titles that have left their mark on players and have served as inspiration for many other developments. One of them, without a doubt, is The Legend of Zelda saga, whose concepts the developers still draw inspiration from today. An example of this is the title in question. Astor: Blade of the Monolith is an open-world action-adventure game very reminiscent of the Nintendo saga, but adding a hack’n slash touch to its combat. Despite many interesting aspects, the title remains subdued, quickly becoming repetitive.

Diodek, a planet to explore

The game’s plot begins with Astor, our protagonist. He sets out on a mission to find out what happened to an ancient race that lived years ago on Diodek, the planet where the title takes place. Without wanting it or drinking it, Astor reveals himself to be the savior of the world, since the planet is threatened by strange creatures. This begins a very enjoyable, but simple, plot that can be fun, but won’t surprise any players either..

Action and Dungeons

Astor: Blade of the Monolith gives complete freedom to the player. From the start of our adventure, we can freely explore the world of Diodek, on foot or “by vehicle”, in search of secrets, by completing secondary missions or by following the main mission.. We like this freedom at first, but after a few hours we realize that the world is a bit empty and that there isn’t much to do. On the other hand, the dungeons are exceptionally designed, showing the studio’s inspiration in adventures starring Link.

Another fundamental aspect of the adventure is its combat. It’s much more frenetic and dizzying than those seen in the famous Nintendo saga, having more similarities with those of a Bayonetta or a Devil May Cry. We can perform light and strong blows, dodge, parry and use different powers, creating spectacular combos.. As our game progresses, these will increase through character improvement. This combat in the first few hours of the game is a lot of fun and satisfying, but it quickly falls into repetition due to the lack of variety of enemies we face and realizing that it’s not as polished as ‘he should be, not responding in many ways. opportunities correctly to our actions.

Beauty at first sight…

The graphic part of the work of C2 Games Studio At first glance it is quite beautiful and colorful.. We also found the art design to be very remarkable, creating quite a well-crafted atmosphere. The problem is when we approach the elements that make up its world when we see the seams in the title, with very poorly worked and flat textures. This isn’t necessarily something that hurts the title too much, especially when it’s an independent. As for the technical part, in 20 hours of play, we did not encounter any bugs, even if we encountered some frame drops. In terms of sound, the game delivers without much fanfare. The narrator does an excellent job (although in English), and the melodies that will accompany us throughout our adventure are very nice.

Conclusions

Astor: Blade of the Monolith is a very fun and enjoyable action-adventure title. We are faced with an independent game that the Colombian studio C2 Game Studios has taken great care of, and which even looks like an AA. This ambition of the developers worked, in part, against the game itself. And it does and delivers a lot of things, but none of them are exceptionally executed. A very beautiful and big world, but empty… Frenetic and fun fights, but which quickly become repetitive… Despite this, it is a highly recommended title for players looking for a nice and fun adventure, which recalls the classics of the genre.