Some of the greatest feats of media can draw back their origins to some of the most primitive corners of the Internet. Just think about how great Kingdom of Loathing or Nethack has been over the years. And that’s why we’re paying attention to ASTILBRA Revision, a side-scrolling action RPG that was once a browser title, but is now growing up and getting the Steam treatment!
WhisperGames is the publisher behind the project. A small-time publishing studio based in Xiamen, China, WhisperGames has been around since 2015, collaborating with a multitude of indie developers with multi-language text and audio localisation, legal support, and all the other goods and services you’d expect from other publishers.
The show’s real star, however, is the developer, Keizo! He’s a one-man studio, and is a regular guy with a regular job, making games on his own as a side hobby. Now, with browser games slowing falling by the wayside, he’s clearly decided that it is time to dust his classic project off and give it a Steam revamp.
The game itself follows the classic side-scrolling JRPG formula, and stars your own protagonist and his talking bird sidekick, Karon, as they traverse through a world split into various chapters. Some key features, as listed on the Steam page, are reminiscent of the original browser title, but the good news is that the original clunkiness of combat has since been fleshed out and polished for 2022! You’ll have the ability to choose between melee and ranged combat, with an expansive equipment system allowing for different styles of play. With boss fights against monumentally large monsters, and six separate difficulty levels, you’ll certainly need to learn the ropes around your various weapons, abilities, crafting, and forging systems if you’re hoping for even a chance of survival.
A demo has been out for some time now, available on Steam, but we’ve just now been given a release date, which is just over a week away, on October 14.
This is Keizo’s first release on Steam, and he and WhisperGames have put out all the stops, deriving outside help from illustrators and graphic designers. If this is a success, you can bet we won’t need to wait another 11 years for a console release.
