Bronze365's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4
- Helpful Votes:26
- Reviews Submitted:1
- First Review:September 27, 2012
- Most Recent Review:September 27, 2012
- Featured reviews0
Bronze365's Review History
Overall rating
4
/
5
26 of 28 found this review helpful
The avid reader's review of Astral Towers
PostedSeptember 27, 2012
Bronze365
fromFront Royal, VA
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Puzzle, Strategy
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I played one hour of the demo and was happy to purchase the full game immediately afterward. So far I've played 45 levels of the main campaign in easy and 14 in hard difficulties. 89 total levels are advertised for each difficulty setting. There is a real & notable difference between the two levels of difficulty as you face different configurations of enemies. You can also play hot seat mode or have skirmishes against computer opponents. I have yet to try either of these modes. The AI battles and the two difficulty settings suggest high re-playability value.
Options & UI: There are a few settings for different resolutions. Seems to have widescreen support but I do wish I had the option for 1440x900 my native widscreen res. I am running it at 1360x768 fullscreen and it looks fine regardless. You can play full screen or windowed. There are options to turn off sound or music. All reasonable options. There is an in game help button available at the main screen and in battles, just not on the world map.
The "story" is Standard fantasy trope, not all that engaging but a serviceable backdrop. Basically you are a young mage named Allister sent by the Circle of Mages to investigate some undead activity and cleanse the area of evil doers. Each area has a description but that is about it. In general the game does little in creating an immersive fantasy world.
The art in looks quite good, there is a definite style to the UI elements, your character avatar, the cards, and the battlegrounds. It all blends together really well. However the world map you travel upon however is lackluster and a bit cartoony. Maybe its because it is so bright and sparse?! It doesn't really mesh well with the rest of the game in my opinion.
The sound in game is good. I can honestly say that I am usually too caught up in the
game play to really pay attention to the music. I haven't ever felt it was distracting or annoying. I think it serves its purpose sitting in the background while I think. Combat sounds and spell effects are well done and haven't become repetitive.
game play to really pay attention to the music. I haven't ever felt it was distracting or annoying. I think it serves its purpose sitting in the background while I think. Combat sounds and spell effects are well done and haven't become repetitive.
The card battles are are great. Beware they are addictive! Just one more battle before bed...sure! The gist is that Allister, your summoned creatures, and your spells are represented by cards on a battlefield. Everything is turn based. You get 1 "mana" in each spell category per turn to fuel your spells. You can only cast one card per turn. If Allister is eliminated you lose. Likewise there is usually an enemy that is the "boss". If you can take it out, you win. I say usually because I've had few battles where I thought I won, but it turns out I had to kill off the rest of the board.
There is real strategy involved. Sometimes you have to kill off the enemies protecting a boss to get damage through to him, other times you can splash damage around the enemy obstacles. There are ranks (the placement) of your creatures and the enemies to consider.
Overall it is a fairly interesting system that feels a lot like solving a number puzzle. I say this because your enemy may begin with a number of creatures already on the board. You have to logically figure out how to survive, turn the odds in your favor and ultimately win. If you are victorious, you unlock new spell cards (the tin says 127 cards to collect) and gain gear to improve Allister's abilities. If you lose, well you just try again without penalty.
CONS:
The written dialogue is a little off (there is no spoken dialogue btw). The phrasing and tense are odd. Once I had a look at the credit screen, it seems that the developers may not be native English speakers. There is a English Editor listed but I'm not sure what happened here. Its rough around the edges but it does not detract from your understanding of anything.
Sometimes when I win a battle and unlock a new spell or item, there isn't an after battle popup telling me this. I would enter the next battle or review my hero screen and all the sudden I had new stuff to use. The game has been inconsistent in this.
A few particularly hard challenges that led to trial and error frustration trying to figure out the correct sequence of play.
TIPS:
Sometimes your path on the world map branches, giving you a choice of two battles. Oftentimes you need to complete one first to get a new spell or a piece of gear that will give you a fighting chance in the other. The difficult part is figuring out which one is which, be persistent.
I recommend this game!