Astonia Reborn

Great classic, but horrible server. Steer clear. This is a private server of the game that somehow made its way to steam. Server owner is extremely unprofessional and unreliable. Calls himself "god" in the game -- just let that sink in.

Alright. So I'm going to review this game. I wasn't going to make this review but you know what, after my 1 hour ban (for mentioning another third party server), why not? I have plenty of time. I'll start with some history. Astonia 3 was a game that was built by Intent Software in the 90s. The original developer ( from germany) dropped the project and moved on. The game can be found intact on several websites listed @ https://www.astonia.com/. The official servers of this game has been brought down. The original developer (Daniel Brockhaus) made the game open source for anyone to use. Afterwards, clones of this game started popping up all over the internet from third parties and it made it's way to steam. Each third party server have you donate to the host of the servers to help keep the game afloat. Sounds legit, right? Alright. I wanted to know if this version of the game related to another version of the same game, which gave me a ban. You can't talk about other third party servers or you get a temporary ban of an hour and you get karma points. Karma points are a mechanic put into place telling others that you are a person who likes to break rules. This, in itself makes it seems like the person who put this game on steam, doesn't want anyone to know about the other servers, even though the games are sort of idenitcal and free. There isn't any reason to not discuss them other than the worry of donation money going to them? That fact rubs me the wrong way but I digress. Info on open source --> Open Source and Creative Commons "Some video game designers choose to license their video games as open source or Creative Commons works. These games are still protected by copyright law, but the owners of the copyright have chosen to allow the general public to make designated use or some kinds of changes to the game. Creative Commons licenses can set out different kinds of authorizations, such as allowing others to make new games based on game characters or producing t-shirts or other commercial products based on the game, provided that the original copyright holder is identified on subsequent works, according to the Creative Commons organization. Video game designers who designate their game as open source, license the general public to use it and make changes to the original codes or incorporate those codes into new games, according to the Duke University School of Law Center for the Study of the Public Domain." https://info.legalzoom.com/copyright-laws-video-games-20305.html With that being said, the game on any of these servers are basically the same, with minor changes here and there. The main difference between each server is who is maintaining the server. Astonia 3 is an average old school MMO that has a huge time sink. You'll find yourself grinding for hours in Random Dungeons, Pentagram Mazes, Labrynths and more just to level and its fun. It's very basic in features. There's no friend list, party system, in game voice chat, and no "asdw" movement support whatsoever but it has a good community at its base (not including the new "devs" hosting the server). There are two classes you can start with. You can later "arch" these characters after completing certain difficult quests. These arched characters are more powerful and can take on tougher foes with new abilities. The sounds and music (I actually don't think there is any music) is very bare bones. There is a cat noise outside of the first town but there are no cats? Best to listen to some nice music while you play. You are not missing out on too much by not listening to the sound. The gameplay isn't the best but it works. The two classes work together nicely and effortlessly. You have the warrior with high defense and stong agility to take down foes and the mage cast spells to help support the warrior and can do some long distance spells to assist the warrior. How the two classes work together is my favorite part of the game. They just seem to be made for one another. As I said previously, this game is a timesink so be ready to put in hours to level. The first 10 levels are easy to gain by doing the quests and repeating them, after that its a long and tiring grind. Be sure to have plenty of patience and it will pay off for you. There is a change to boost your experience point gain. You have to be a "donor" and pay what looks like $2 USD to gain a 5% experience boost. So, hey, the game is free. I like this game. I feel that it's an oldie but goodie. If you are used to the new fangled mmos such as Black Desert Online, Final Fantasy 14 etc... This is going to knock you back a few yalms. Haha (FFXIV joke). If you are from the Ulitma Online, Early day Runescape era, you'll fit right in snuggly. The only warning about this game is the donating. There is no confirmation that this game will have any expansions or huge patches of the sort. The game is, for the most part, finished. I don't know why it says "Early access" but the game has been in it's current state for over a decade. Maybe the new "devs" with do something with this game but with any early access title, be wary to give your money hastly. EDIT: I just found out that this game server has been up independantly since 2015, the game hasn't been updated since, with exception of minor big fixes.