A few months back I reviewed developer KEIZO and publisher WhisperGames’ action 2D side-scrolling role-playing game ‘ASTLIBRA Revision’. It’s a great game with a strong combat system and enjoyable narrative, easily worth the time spent. And many of those traits trickle down to the game’s recently released DLC: ‘ASTLIBRA Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist’. This little roguelite/like adventure stars the daughter of a baker as she takes on an unexpected role in the fate of her hometown and the main game’s cast.
Sit back, relax, and unwind to the power of ASTLIBRA’s 2D action potential.
One Odd Cave
Something to note is that this DLC does include spoilers for the main game, but I highly suggest you play that before coming to the unnamed hero of this story. A girl as Plain Jane as can be, the baker’s daughter soon finds herself at the whims of fate when the main cast, and our hero of the base ASTLIBRA game, goes missing on a request hunt. Soon, monsters attack the town, but our girl fends them off and is soon enlisted by a very familiar wolf to discover the secrets of the Cave of Phantom Mist. And all the while being very confused by the facts that smack her as she goes deeper and deeper…
The gameplay of the Cave of Phantom Mist DLC plays a little different than the base game in that this is a roguelike-focused adventure. Every time you enter and leave the cave, you are set back to level one with only the items, growth points, and coins that you carry on you. Levels change on return, but each stage has a middle checkpoint that you can return to at any point to continue your spelunking. As for the gameplay itself, it’s great as always—magic combined with a great selection of weapon choices and styles make for flashy and explosive combat. The best of the base game is here, but getting to it does feel slower paced, depending on how you approach your progression.
See, unlike the base game, our story is told more in smaller bits here and there rather than acting out as full episodes. Because of the roguelike aspects of this DLC, it often feels like the next story bit took longer and longer to reach as I ran in and out of the cave to level up my stats and play a bit of dress up. Speaking of which, as the maps are randomly generated along with their monster placements (many you’ll recognise from the base title), you’ll either find yourself at an advantage, whacking away at all the baddies with ease, or find yourself spawning right into a monster bonanza before getting clubbed into oblivion.
The maps themselves are easy to get lost in. Yes, you can enable a minimap early on, but clearing levels can sometimes feel like a slog as more gateways open up and more baddies show up. As a roguelike, naturally you’ll want to clear as much of each level as possible to gain resources and, possibly, find lucky rooms to score extra goodies and monies. I can’t say for sure if style of game works for this DLC as well as I hoped it would, but I can say that it holds up as a nice little side order for the base game. It’s fun when you feel like you’ve become powerful, but it feels like it takes longer to get there. Plus, I like our new protagonist, who seems just as capable as our golden haired hero from before.
Besides the cave, you can always take on the coliseum where baddies of yore can be fought at anytime. Don’t worry about failing those or in the cave, as outside of major boss fights, you will respawn back in your room with no sweat. A small grievance is that boosting your stats can only be done in this room, despite the town largely being a safe haven. But outside of that, you’re free to roam about and talk to your neighbours as you please—to get new items and equipment and whathaveyou. The base game’s charming graphics dot the landscapes with an old school PC gaming feeling which is only amplified by the lovely character art.
ASTLIBRA Gaiden’s roguelite gameplay adds a nice little twist to an already excellent base game. The fantastic combat covers for the repetitive nature of the DLC, but I still ended up enjoying spelunking the cave as our timid but capable baker’s daughter. You want more ASTLIBRA? You’ll find it right here. ∎
ASTLIBRA Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist is currently available on PC via Steam with a Nintendo Switch launch aimed for later this year. It is a standalone experience that needs the base game but doesn’t require its completion to start.
ASTLIBRA Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist
Played on
Windows 11 PC
PROS
- Great combat like the base game.
- Roguelite-focus makes for a fun addition to the main game.
CONS
- Dungeons get repetitive and you can get lost for the wrong reasons.
- Pacing makes it not as fun as the base game.
