Asterism

SSOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

A beautiful experience exploring an epic soundtrack!

Asterism is a very unique game, like a CD whose music videos you direct. There's so much wonderful variety here! Every level is not just a different setting, mood and mode of interaction, it's often a completely different art medium, which does a great job of getting across the feeling of the song. Despite all this variety, the game as a whole still feels cohesive, and boasts some amazing handicrafts (and wonderful guitars!). Thanks to the button indicators, you always know how to interact, so even as the scenes change, you what you're able to do. You can play Asterism however you want - don't press any keys and just listen, use the actions to express yourself or how the music feels to you, or play it like a game with its own sub-goals. There are many layers to each song, so there's plenty of reason to replay, too (I know I regret not paying more attention to the lyrics the first time around - but there was so much to do and see! The game's namesake sequence alone is worth a few trips.) Also, while the game doesn't list controller support, I played the whole thing with a controller. A few menus were a little awkward, but nothing that really got in the way, and they seem to have fixed themselves as I kept playing.

This game is vital and human. You can feel the breath, see the fingerprints, "hear" the warmth of it all. Handcrafted Gaming to a degree I've not seen paralleled elsewhere (at least not in the digital space). - Is the music completely to my taste? Not necessarily, but this is a person communicating with the universe (and with themselves?) and I felt a certain degree of honor in being there to hear and participate. - Will I do all the the additional/optional tasks? Not sure, but I may feel the pull at some point.

Sometimes we drift 100 billion kilometers away from the people we love and that's OK.

What a very brilliant and lovely thing this is. A pure indie game through and through. It’s structured as an indie-rock space opera album: each planet a new song, and a vibrant new art style. Each of the planets you visit are essentially playable music videos, which, taken together, tell an engaging story that ends rather brilliantly. The handcrafted, mixed media art styles are all are incredibly tactile and beautifully messy. The world is surprisingly immersive; surprising because you can see the creator’s hand in everything (sometimes you can literally see their fingerprints in some of the models). It’s like you’re sharing in their delight in the creative process, while simultaneously losing yourself in the fictional world. This is quite an artistic feat. The main story is light on traditional gameplay elements, but the interactivity of the music and movement kept me fully engaged, and there’s some more ‘gamey’ elements on offer if you’re a trophy seeker. All the songs work wonderfully-well in tandem with the visuals. It seems that the solo dev did most of the art, music (including performing all the songs), programming and writing for the game. It’s quite an achievement. This is such a charming, inventive and original game.

A lovely, thought provoking experience that feels like you're playing an interactive album for the most part. Going through several mini-games with unique art styles and gameplay mechanics, you experience an immersion with the music that's being played. Whilst throughout there's a story about isolation and self-discovery playing in the background. It looks lovely, with the variations of visuals ranging from traditional handdrawn animation to plasticine model work to cut-out paper to full motion video. The gameplay is minimal, but it doesn't overshadow the main spectacle of the visuals and the music. The music is very alternative-rock in the vein of Muse, and accompanies the overall themes of the story. Best played in one sitting, it will take just under two hours to complete, but then there is a Tony Hawks-style challenge for each song that will eventually unlock some more stuff that I haven't gotten to yet. A great experience that I think should be worth your time.

if you liked Sayonara Wild Hearts, you'll really dig this. If you didn't, play it anyway, you'll probably still really dig this.

Short and sweet, Asterism is basically a playable music video in which the interaction between its music and video game dimensions manages to create an audiovisual experience greater than the sum of its parts.

Multi-media bliss