Celebrating Great Games on Steam

https://store.steampowered.com/app/332380/Asguaard/

Asguaard is your average turn-based RPG. That announcement should come as either great or disappointing news, depending upon what you're looking for in your faux-Japanese fantasy material. As expected, you assume the role of a teenage boy, venture through a fantastical landscape along with a dwarf, a unicorn, and a girl who's obviously your love interest; and stave off the forces of darkness with the power of friendship. However, there's one huge difference here: you aren't playing the usual, spunky, over-eager adventurer that usually pops up in titles like this...

Let's face it: if any of us were to jump into our favorite pieces of media, we wouldn't be the badass characters we think we'd be. None of us turn out to be the master survivor during a zombie apocalypse or the spaceship captain who effortlessly outmaneuvers an alien battleship. In fact, we'd more likely end up one of the millions of zombies roaming the country or dead among the floating debris in space. The same can be said for the roleplaying genre, especially if we're talking about our fifteen-year-old selves being transported to a fantasy realm out of the blue. That's what happens to this game's protagonist, Glen. He turns out to be your average, moody teenager who's socially awkward and lacks confidence. Basically, he's me from twenty-six years ago...

Glen makes his diffidence known straight off. A dwarf named Grom informs him that he's been randomly selected from the world of humans to help fight off an evil plague threatening the land of Asguaard. He informs everyone that he's possibly the worst person for the job, but decides to go along with the plan anyway because what choice does he have? Throughout his travels, he consistently bashes himself, doubts his talents, and mocks his teammates as if he's projecting his own insecurities onto them.

During a key event in the proceedings, Glen doesn't get what he wants from a particular exchange and ends up lashing out at his allies. He often shows what appears to be his true, ugly character, but you have to consider that his contempt comes from a lack of experience. Often, his pessimism crops up only to be proven wrong. He ends up feeling a tinge of remorse for how he conducted himself, and after a while he begins to change his tune. Midway through the campaign, we see him shed his initial self-doubt and overly critical attitude and shape into a more rational, clear-minded traveler. Honestly, that's how angst-ridden, buzzkill-type characters should be handled: as more dynamic folks with plenty of room to grow and mature.

Unfortunately, Glen's arc represents only one small facet that Asguaard nails. The rest of the storyline offers mostly forgettable material, from a one-dimension antagonist and his minions to a handful of fair-at-best plot beats. Your voyage mostly focuses on locating some items needed to complete your main objective. Though it's easy to recognize the imagination and creativity that went into dreaming up the game's many scenarios, you still conclude each act feeling a tad underwhelmed. For instance, at one point you travel into the depths of the planet itself, and somehow you come away not feeling even a little awed. The thing is it's hard not to dredge up thought of titles that executed that concept with due grandeur, like Final Fantasy IV. As a result, this adventure at times feels all the more meager by wearing its inspirations on its sleeve.

You can read the full review by clicking on these words right here.[www.honestgamers.com]

Want your own review to be spotlighted? Click here to find out how you might make that happen.