Astria Ascending - 'Trying Something New'

Gamespot asked the developers of Astria Ascending what they are trying to achieve with the game.

Storytelling From The Perspective Of Kazushige Nojima

When asked about what makes Astria Ascending stand out, Nojima told me, "I would say it's the age of our heroes. They may be older than the typical party of heroes." That can be a tricky thing to reflect in a story, so I asked him about how he designed characters well into adulthood. "Regardless of the in-game world's design, if a character's age is close to your own, you must be careful so that they don't reflect your personal habits and behaviors; it will diminish the feeling of stepping into a fantasy world and your players will notice that," Nojima stated. He continued, "So, this time I paid special attention to creating a fantasy world with a strong consciousness [of that]."

Characters are, of course, always key to telling a meaningful story, and their backgrounds seem to be important to understanding the stakes of Astria Ascending. "We establish the elements required for each character and the game world--their individual techniques, how to obtain them, where they are needed, then [their place in the world] itself). Then we mixed them into the settings and scenarios to make that world real," Nojima explained. Although we've yet to see how these ideas manifest in the actual game, the expectation is that we'll see cohesion between narrative and gameplay.

Nojima explained that this story--said to be a grand tale of sorts--is contained within a few weeks' time in that world, but several complementary and heavy plot threads could lead your imagination in filling out the world. "Players will have some room to interpret and think about those details and elements. Allowing players to contemplate and consider these details is part of the game's spirit," Nojima said.

Although quite vague in specifics, he attributes this as "part of the reason why Astria Ascending can be thought of as a mature experience."



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I'm actually interested in this one….good thing is it won't cost me a thing to play it more then I already am paying for gamepass.

Originally Posted by rune_74
I'm actually interested in this one….good thing is it won't cost me a thing to play it more then I already am paying for gamepass.

Psst…according to a few developers that makes you the bane of the entire industry.

“I do have an opinion on something that your audience may find of interest, and it might piss some of them off,” said Garvin. “If you love a game, buy it at f-cking full price. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen gamers say ‘yeah, I got that on sale, I got it through PS Plus, whatever.”

There is more but it's about gamer's wanting a sequel but the original not selling.

If a dev is upset he should probably take it up with his employer/publisher since they're the ones making the deals to become part of Game Pass, Plus and/or use retailers that do sales.

I'll check it out on Game Pass as well. Dunno much about it. This is one of the cooler parts of a sub like Game Pass - when the stars align and they actually have a game you're interested in, you can just wait for the game then try it - you don't feel the need to research it to see if it's worth buying and all that - just go for it without worry.

GP would never be my primary game acquisition mechanism - I'm not into the vast majority of AAA games, already own Beth/EA games I want, etc. But it does give one another way to trial games, clear wish list, try games you might not otherwise risk trying at all, etc, and once in a while you can just play a new game without wondering if you just flushed $60.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Psst…according to a few developers that makes you the bane of the entire industry.There is more but it's about gamer's wanting a sequel but the original not selling.

You mean ones who say you should buy their games at full price? A lot of these devs make a lot off gamepass…with dlc etc as well as their deals…I think they will be fine. Seems those devs have less business savvy financers

It wouldn't be a proper thread if rune_74 didn't mention Gamepass.

Originally Posted by JDR13
It wouldn't be a proper thread if rune_74 didn't mention Gamepass.

boohoo, but funny.