Maddmike Steam Curator

https://youtu.be/GVAMCk0u9wY

The base “Astlibra Revision” was one of my favorite games of 2022. It managed to be this nostalgic RPG adventure despite not throwing back to any singular inspiration: it had a unique aesthetic with anime characters scrolling against photo-realistic textures and a memorable soundtrack from its cozy towns to its fearsome encounters.

But where the game really sang was in its JRPG power fantasy—going from slime killer to god killer. You had progression on your character, on your weapons, you had this ridiculous skill tree that’s so big it gets its own map, but none of it’s ever intimidating because there’s no wrong answers. The character building was always a question of priority; any selection could be rectified with just a bit of grinding.

The best part was that the grinding was fun: you got this crunchy hitstop whenever you struck and a magic system that let you weave spells in between your swings cleanly.

There was one nagging problem though: Astlibra constantly insisted on interrupting its superb progression and combat with a really bad melodrama. Its narrative alternated between dumping random platitudes on you and giving you the cringiest and self-insertiest character writing that’s ever been put to paper.

So imagine my glee upon finding out that not only was Astlibra getting a DLC, but a roguelite one that refocused and expanded the core progression fantasy.

Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist is as good as its elevator pitch makes it sound. It takes an already enjoyable gameplay system and crystallizes it into easily repeatable chunks. It can feel a bit “remixy” even by DLC standards, but it compensates for any sameness with its tight balance and thoughtful progression systems. It's a worthy reason to revisit Astlibra for those in need of an excuse, and a great reminder to play the base game if you haven’t already.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3160970122

The Cave of Phantom Mist is only a rogue in the loosest sense. Yes, you repeat the same levels repeatedly to power up your guy, but what makes it feel different from your conventional roguelite is how much of that power travels with you run to run.

Meta progression isn’t a small boon but the majority of where your strength comes from. The only thing you lose when you die is your level, but your spells, weapons, and all of the upgrades associated with them stick.

This is not a game of individual builds or noteworthy runs, rather a game whose runs serve as the bedrock for the fantasy of character preparedness. Every run you do, every extra quest you take on back at town, and every new accessory you buy from the merchant is a tangible numerical increase to aid you in jumping whatever your next hurdle is.

It’s a timeless formula for a reason, and much like the base game this DLC doesn’t ask ‘what can we add’, but instead ‘how delicately can we concoct’ and ‘how can we make it taste great on the way down’.

You play as the daughter of the town baker, a modest start on your journey to becoming a powerful warrior who can follow in the footsteps of Astlibra’s protagonist. That’s literal footstep-following, too. The narrative shtick is that The Cave of Phantom Mist houses memories, and you’ll be going through memories of a base game playthrough. Each floor is a jumbled up version of an area from Astlibra with the same fauna. Once you clear a floor and its corresponding boss you can teleport back there freely on subsequent runs. Progress usually involves clearing a floor, collecting some of the crafting materials specific to that floor, then using those materials to create weapons and armor that will help you be powerful enough for the following floor.

All the while you’re gathering cross-run skill points and gold that doesn’t drop on death. It really does feel like you’re playing just a regular-ass video game aside from the de-emphasis on narrative and the fact that all these locations are accessed from a singular cave.

It’s all the better for it, too. Astlibra lends itself really well to this kind of setup. One of the base games’ best attributes that the DLC emulates well is enemy balance. It’s not just a smooth curve but a series of harsh spikes, giving you the opportunity to get a new weapon set, feel really powerful for a little bit, then get smacked down by a boss who's going to demand something stronger.

The Cave of Phantom Mist doubles down on this fantasy by introducing brand new progression structures on top of what was already there. There’s now a new class and subclassing system that exists independent of your character; they can be swapped in and out like hats and leveled separately… and after the first credit roll you even get the ability to nudge those classes into particular directions by shifting their stat allocation around.

A version of transmog exists here too, though it's limited to armor exclusively and acts more as a late game gold-dump. You’ve got a good range of outfits on the cool to horny spectrum, but the biggest miss of the transmog system altogether is that it exists in lieu of conventional armor and not in addition to it.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3160969791

Your look no longer changes when you equip a new armor set. It kind of hand waves this away by replacing the regular armor slot with a singular ‘shoulder pad’ slot, but swapping shoulders doesn’t represent any visual change on the character either.

Not having armor cosmetics is a small complaint but its absence is felt more acutely due to the base game having that system, and also because of how well it tied into the fantasy of making an ever more powerful hero.

But that’s easy to overlook with how much The Cave of Phantom Mist gets right. I’ve already clocked 12 hours since launch, rolled my first set of credits, and am already underway chasing more credits that undoubtedly exist at the end of a meaty postgame—as was the case with Astlibra itself.

This DLC has it where it counts: the elimination of nearly everything but combat and progression may yield an experience that’s less grand than the game its downloadable content for, but it's no less compelling.


Astlibra was already a great game and now it has an essential companion. Progression and combat are as good as ever if not better, multiplied by how much more oxygen they get now.
The kill-stuff, powerup, kill-more-stuff loop has been made the primary focus, and the Cave of Phantom Mist is playable proof of how deserving of that focus it was.

Follow our Curator page, Summit Reviews, to see more high quality reviews regularly.

[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/31028489-Maddmike/]Maddmike Steam Curator[/url] https://youtu.be/GVAMCk0u9wY The base “Astlibra Revision” was one of my favorite games of 2022. It managed to be this nostalgic RPG adventure despite not throwing back to any singular inspiration: it had a unique aesthetic with anime characters scrolling against photo-realistic textures and a memorable soundtrack from its cozy towns to its fearsome encounters. But where the game really sang was in its JRPG power fantasy—going from slime killer to god killer. You had progression on your character, on your weapons, you had this ridiculous skill tree that’s so big it gets its own map, but none of it’s ever intimidating because there’s no wrong answers. The character building was always a question of priority; any selection could be rectified with just a bit of grinding. The best part was that the grinding was fun: you got this crunchy hitstop whenever you struck and a magic system that let you weave spells in between your swings cleanly. There was one nagging problem though: Astlibra constantly insisted on interrupting its superb progression and combat with a really bad melodrama. Its narrative alternated between dumping random platitudes on you and giving you the cringiest and self-insertiest character writing that’s ever been put to paper. So imagine my glee upon finding out that not only was Astlibra getting a DLC, but a roguelite one that refocused and expanded the core progression fantasy. Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist is as good as its elevator pitch makes it sound. It takes an already enjoyable gameplay system and crystallizes it into easily repeatable chunks. It can feel a bit “remixy” even by DLC standards, but it compensates for any sameness with its tight balance and thoughtful progression systems. It's a worthy reason to revisit Astlibra for those in need of an excuse, and a great reminder to play the base game if you haven’t already. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3160970122 The Cave of Phantom Mist is only a rogue in the loosest sense. Yes, you repeat the same levels repeatedly to power up your guy, but what makes it feel different from your conventional roguelite is how much of that power travels with you run to run. Meta progression isn’t a small boon but the majority of where your strength comes from. The only thing you lose when you die is your level, but your spells, weapons, and all of the upgrades associated with them stick. This is not a game of individual builds or noteworthy runs, rather a game whose runs serve as the bedrock for the fantasy of character preparedness. Every run you do, every extra quest you take on back at town, and every new accessory you buy from the merchant is a tangible numerical increase to aid you in jumping whatever your next hurdle is. It’s a timeless formula for a reason, and much like the base game this DLC doesn’t ask ‘what can we add’, but instead ‘how delicately can we concoct’ and ‘how can we make it taste great on the way down’. You play as the daughter of the town baker, a modest start on your journey to becoming a powerful warrior who can follow in the footsteps of Astlibra’s protagonist. That’s literal footstep-following, too. The narrative shtick is that The Cave of Phantom Mist houses memories, and you’ll be going through memories of a base game playthrough. Each floor is a jumbled up version of an area from Astlibra with the same fauna. Once you clear a floor and its corresponding boss you can teleport back there freely on subsequent runs. Progress usually involves clearing a floor, collecting some of the crafting materials specific to that floor, then using those materials to create weapons and armor that will help you be powerful enough for the following floor. All the while you’re gathering cross-run skill points and gold that doesn’t drop on death. It really does feel like you’re playing just a regular-ass video game aside from the de-emphasis on narrative and the fact that all these locations are accessed from a singular cave. It’s all the better for it, too. Astlibra lends itself really well to this kind of setup. One of the base games’ best attributes that the DLC emulates well is enemy balance. It’s not just a smooth curve but a series of harsh spikes, giving you the opportunity to get a new weapon set, feel really powerful for a little bit, then get smacked down by a boss who's going to demand something stronger. The Cave of Phantom Mist doubles down on this fantasy by introducing brand new progression structures on top of what was already there. There’s now a new class and subclassing system that exists independent of your character; they can be swapped in and out like hats and leveled separately… and after the first credit roll you even get the ability to nudge those classes into particular directions by shifting their stat allocation around. A version of transmog exists here too, though it's limited to armor exclusively and acts more as a late game gold-dump. You’ve got a good range of outfits on the cool to horny spectrum, but the biggest miss of the transmog system altogether is that it exists in lieu of conventional armor and not in addition to it. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3160969791 Your look no longer changes when you equip a new armor set. It kind of hand waves this away by replacing the regular armor slot with a singular ‘shoulder pad’ slot, but swapping shoulders doesn’t represent any visual change on the character either. Not having armor cosmetics is a small complaint but its absence is felt more acutely due to the base game having that system, and also because of how well it tied into the fantasy of making an ever more powerful hero. But that’s easy to overlook with how much The Cave of Phantom Mist gets right. I’ve already clocked 12 hours since launch, rolled my first set of credits, and am already underway chasing more credits that undoubtedly exist at the end of a meaty postgame—as was the case with Astlibra itself. This DLC has it where it counts: the elimination of nearly everything but combat and progression may yield an experience that’s less grand than the game its downloadable content for, but it's no less compelling. [h2] In Conclusion [/h2] Astlibra was already a great game and now it has an essential companion. Progression and combat are as good as ever if not better, multiplied by how much more oxygen they get now. The kill-stuff, powerup, kill-more-stuff loop has been made the primary focus, and the Cave of Phantom Mist is playable proof of how deserving of that focus it was. [quote]Follow our Curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41449676/]Summit Reviews[/url], to see more high quality reviews regularly.[/quote]