Astra: Knights of Veda Review – Fantasy Meets Frustration

The ravaged kingdom of Planis teeters on the edge of apocalyptic ruin, its once vibrant lands overrun by the grotesque undead. This harrowing setup opens Astra: Knights of Veda, an eclectic blend of genres that could aptly be described as a “dark fantasy gacha RPG”. Developed by FLINT and published by HYBE IM, it merges strategic turn-based combat with side-scrolling action across a beautifully rendered 2D landscape.

You assume the role of the Master of the Book, a mysterious figure resurrected by the goddess Veda herself to become the realm’s last hope against total annihilation. With the corrupt King Magnus and his undead forces threatening all life, an epic revolution brews amidst the shattered remnants of Planis’ former glory. Accompanied by a ragtag ensemble of warriors, each with their own scarred pasts, you’ll unravel the secrets behind the present cataclysm – all while managing unlockable heroes in a familiar gacha system.

Launching initially on mobile devices as a free-to-play title, Knights of Veda has recently made the leap to PC via Steam, enticing a new audience with its unique premise and gorgeously sinister aesthetic. While its gameplay pillars may feel familiar to some, the journey through Planis’ war-torn oblivion promises an experience that transcends conventional categorization. Brace yourself, for this dark fantasy portends no shortage of haunting twists and white-knuckle challenges.

A Calamitous Tale Rises from the Ashes

While Knights of Veda’s opening salvo is admittedly cliched – centered around an amnesiac protagonist assuming a “chosen one” mantle – the game quickly finds its narrative footing. What begins as yet another fetch quest to retrieve a deity’s missing essence snowballs into an engrossing mystery surrounding your own murky past. Revelations emerge that your former self played a pivotal role in the kingdom’s downfall, adding delicious dramatic irony.

The main storyline is propelled by your pursuit of the nefarious King Magnus and the truth behind the undead apocalypse he catalyzed. But it’s the compelling side narratives that elevate the experience, peeling back the layers on your rag-tag battalion of companions. From the stoic knight-errant Eliyor to the alcoholic yet crafty mage Calvan, each hero’s tortured backstory integrates smoothly into the overarching crisis. Their intertwined tales of tragedy and triumph make investing in their plights eminently worthwhile.

Despite some occasionally hammy dialogue and predictable twists, the game maintains a pleasantly brisk narrative pace devoid of needless padding. A palpable sense of doom and dread permeates the writing, reflected in the grotesque anatomical descriptions and uncompromising depictions of violence. One particularly haunting sequence involves witnessing a monstrous behemoth crush an innocent bystander, their eyes gruesomely bulging from the fatal trauma.

Such macabre highlights are juxtaposed against more pensive, character-driven moments that humanize the eccentric cast beyond their archetypal roles. It’s an adroit narrative juggling act that mostly sticks the landing, even if the connective threads sometimes strain credulity. By the credits roll on this first story arc, you’ll have unraveled a dense, tangled tapestry of lore woven with anguish, remorse, and a glimmer of fortitude destined to echo through future installments.

Combat Choreography Amidst Volatile Systems

The core gameplay experience powering Knights of Veda is an unusual hybrid that blends side-scrolling beat’em up action with strategic turn-based combat. You’ll directly control a party of four warriors ripped straight from the gacha summons, swapping between them seamlessly mid-battle with a simple tap or button press. While mastering each character’s unique weapon skills and cooldowns is key, even basic button mashing can prove viable against lower-tier foes.

The real challenge emerges when factoring in positioning, enemy elemental resistances, and skillful resource management. Each warrior adheres to typical RPG archetypal roles – damage dealers, tanks, healers, etc. Deploying the right counter at the right time is crucial for besting the tougher opponents awaiting you. There’s definite depth for tactical enthusiasts to sink their teeth into, despite the relatively simplistic combat inputs.

Unfortunately, that rewarding complexity is bogged down by a potpourri of wonky user experience issues. The controller support on PC, for instance, is only half-finished – necessitating frequent swapping between gamepad and keyboard/mouse to smoothly navigate some menus. And while an auto-battle feature is present, its fundamentally flawed AI negates most of its utility for grinding. Party members will blissfully charge into hazards and simply hammer the basic attack ad nauseum.

Furthering the frustrations is an over-reliance on repetitive busywork and grinding that feels squarely aimed at padding play sessions. Juggling the upgrade systems for skills, equipment, characters, and more grows tiresome as the material goalposts continuously shift. And sourcing those precious resources often involves revisiting defeated bosses and stages on repeat – a chore made more tedious without a respectable auto-play mode.

The live service model governing Knights of Veda also leaves much to be desired, relying heavily on traditional gacha game tactics. While the initial launch period is fairly generous with free pull currencies, expect the free premium character influx to steadily dry up over time. Similarly, the earnable premium currency payouts often don’t feel commensurate with the heavy investment of time and effort demanded.

Monetization controversies aside, there are some commendable aspects woven into the character progression fabric. The elemental strengths/weaknesses system provides a compelling reason to experiment with new party compositions, even if the relentless level-gating makes that difficult. Achieving that coveted synergy between character roles and playstyles is legitimately rewarding. It’s just a shame the arduous systems undercut that gratification far too often.

A Haunting Phantasmagoria for the Senses

From a pure artistic perspective, Knights of Veda is an unequivocal masterclass in stylized 2D craftsmanship. The grimly beautiful dark fantasy realms ooze with an unmistakable Vanillaware-esque flair, each meticulously detailed backdrop telling its own bleak story. Corpses dangle from lampposts while ravens scatter from festering cadavers – no corner is spared from the perpetual gloom smothering Planis. This unflinching commitment to desolate atmosphere cultivates a palpable aura of dread seldom captured in games.

The character designs, while unabashedly adhering to well-trodden anime archetypes, still exude a brooding Gothic persona befitting the mature narrative tone. From the raven-haired femme fatale Veda to the battle-worn grizzle of Leon, each warrior’s distinct visual identity proves equally striking. The only minor quibble lies in some occasional awkward animation cycles that disrupt the otherwise arresting fluidity.

Just as the haunting landscapes will sear themselves into memory, so too will the excellent English voice performances. The entire script is brought to auditory life with gravitas and nuance, Veda’s paradoxical mix of elegance and ethereal menace being a particular standout. While the broader musical scoring settles for suitably atmospheric ambience, it lends the unsettling quiet moments an extra degree of tension.

From a raw technical perspective, there’s noticeable optimization that could be tightened up. Frame rate hitches and visual artifacts can permeate the experience on mid-range PC hardware, tentional pegging the bespoke art assets as the culprit. But these blemishes prove mere quibbles in the grand scheme – Knights of Veda perseveres with a relentless devotion to crafting an immersive, nightmarishly entrancing hellscape that will hold fast in your mind long after dislodging yourself from its clutches.

An Endless Grind Overcast by Monotony

For all its narrative ambition and artistic splendor, Knights of Veda is ultimately a slave to the compulsive loot treadmill synonymous with the live service genre. The opening hours ensure a fairly breezy difficulty curve, almost lulling you into a false sense that the grind won’t be too oppressive. But that respite proves fleeting once you breach the midpoint of the campaign’s first story arc.

From there, progression becomes an unyielding slog marked by constant backtracking to grind out character levels and materials. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself revisiting the same handful of stages ad nauseum, praying that the random loot drop deities will finally smile upon you. The lack of a competent auto-battle system only compounds the tedium.

Lamentably, there’s little incentive to keep persisting beyond the main story’s cliffhanger ending – at least for now. While the endgame promises episodic content expansions further expanding the lore, the prospect of replaying old stages with different party configurations holds minimal appeal. This is doubly true when you factor in the grind wall obscuring any meaningful character experimentation.

Without dynamic challenges, raids, or compelling endgame activities injecting variety into the mix, Knights of Veda quickly devolves into a skinner box loop of mindless repetition. Even the online PVP suite fails to enliven the experience, amounting to little more than just another outlet for grinding resources rather than an engaging competitive fixture.

As a purely single-player campaign experience unburdened by multiplayer hooks, there’s certainly enough engrossing narrative content to justify the initial investment for story buffs. But whether you’ll still possess the willpower to keep soldiering on once the credits roll is another matter entirely. Only the most ardent dark fantasy buffs and gacha gaming masochists may find the perpetual loot treadmill worthwhile.

Predatory Pitfalls Dampen Free-to-Play Appeal

On the surface, Knights of Veda’s free-to-play structure appears agreeable enough. The launch period is fairly generous with premium currency handouts, virtually ensuring everyone can nab a few highly coveted 5-star characters right out of the gate. And the game’s “pity” system guaranteeing a top-tier pull after 50 unsuccessful tries is an appreciated safety net.

Look past that limited initial generosity, however, and you’ll find an aggressively stingy model taking shape. The cadence at which free premium currency trickles out slows to an absolute crawl. Earning even a multi-pull’s worth requires countless hours of mindless grinding with scarce reward. It’s a dangerously manipulative cycle designed to apply immense pressure on spending actual money.

And when you examine the pricing structures behind those transactions, the predatory tactics become even more apparent. Value-to-dollar conversions are atrocious, especially for smaller incremental purchases. $5 won’t even net you enough for three pulls on a standard character banner – a mere drop in the bucket. Only the largest lump sum $100+ packs offer something vaguely resembling value.

For free players, the equation is more palatable if you possess the patience of a Buddhist monk. Steady attendance and consistent grinding can theoretically accrue enough resources to sporadically obtain new heroes. But you’ll perpetually be lagging behind the meta, forced to make do with suboptimal team compositions. Certain gameplay aspects like PVP will remain permanently gated absent spending.

Whether that suffocating sense of upperly is justified rests entirely on your ability to divorce expectations from decades of console/PC gaming norms. Those able to view Knights of Veda through the lens of a glorified side-hustle may find the time investment worthwhile. But prospective players seeking a more equitable free-to-play model would be better served sampling the countless superior options in the sprawling gacha marketplace.

Lasting Impression: Brilliant Hellscape Mired in Monotony

Astra: Knights of Veda exemplifies the immense creative potential that can flourish when passionate artists are given the reins to craft their darkest visions. From an artistic standpoint, few games can match its masterful fusion of haunting, Gothic romanticism and anime hyper-stylization. Every frame oozes with loving atmosphere and detail that will sear itself into your psyche.

Similarly, the core narrative foundations construct an engrossing mystery well worth unraveling for dark fantasy buffs. Despite some familiar tropey foibles, the world-building and character dramatics retain an intriguing allure throughout the maiden story arc’s climactic cliffhanger.

Unfortunately, that engrossing art direction and compelling premise are both undermined by the very gameplay systems meant to facilitate indulgence. The grind-heavy progression treadmill, aggressively stingy monetization model, and lack of substantial endgame activities collectively drain any joy from the experience long before the credits roll. It’s a brutal paradox – you’ll want more of the captivating world, but be actively dissuaded from pursuing it.

Solely for its narrative merits and artistic achievements, Astra: Knights of Veda stands as a remarkable cult curiosity worth witnessing first-hand. Immerse yourself fully in its haunted kingdom if you possess the stomach for grinding and patience for its free-to-play pitfalls. But know that you’ll likely emerge both enthralled by its atmospheric grandeur and fatigued by its greed-fueled gameplay philosophies. An unmissable indulgence for niche dark fantasy connoisseurs; for everyone else, perhaps it’s wiser to admire the grotesquery from a safe distance.

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