Astra Hunter Zosma

A hidden gem of a game, in which you collect gems scattered around lovely environments together with an adorable companion! True pixel art is what I would deem the graphics. It is by no means a minimalist style, especially regarding the environments which contain plenty of detail that is not relevant to the gameplay or needed for the story. The designs of the characters and enemies are also quite cute and have just as much additional detail to them. Something that stood out to me multiple times throughout the game is the music, which is fantastic with many different themes fitting the environment and individual scenes, each a joy to listen to. All around a great soundtrack! Additionally the sound design is very nice as well, especially the little sounds your companion makes. While somewhat simple the story is full of humour and heart! Not only are the important characters fleshed-out with enjoyable personal stories, they also contribute well to the overall story and development of the main character. I don’t want to spoil anything here given how much I enjoyed the story myself, though I will say it made me teary-eyed at times. Having played on Normal difficulty I can say that the combat is well-balanced with no need to grind whatsoever. The harder bonus stages after each chapter are equally fair while still posing a bit more of a challenge. Combat overall is quite fun with a lot of potential on account of the different mechanics such as the sizable amount of equipable Sigils, the chain mechanic and the various enemy abilities and weaknesses that come into play. The optional puzzles are fun as well and often not too easy nor too hard though their difficulty fluctuates. There is a lot of variety in both puzzles and combat. As a feline enthusiast in my eyes the cat slime companion easily gives a few bonus points through sheer cuteness, however they are also a nicely done character who plays a major and impactful role in the story! After this much praise I don’t think I have to reemphasize that I recommend this game. You get a lot out of it visually, musically and most importantly gameplay- and story-wise. All that for free as well, even though it is definitely worth costing money in my opinion. In summary it is good fun! This has been the first game I played from this developer and I will definitely try the other ones as well.

I wrote a much larger review on rpgmakernet, but alas for steam does not let me ramble NEARLY as much as I'd like so I will give the summary: Astra Hunter Zosma is up there alongside my favorite RPG Maker games. Its scope was slightly less than Soma Union, but for some reason, it felt as grandiose due to the weight of the meaning of the story. I fell in love with the treasure hunting mechanics and it made me desperately want to make a dungeon crawler myself. The combat was so addicting, I fought every battle I found and completed the post-game without hesitation. The music is kick-ass. The story was a pleasant gut punch. I enjoyed walking in Zosma’s armor. Games need more characters like Zosma. I’m just glad this game exists. I can summarize this whole review with: this game is freaking great, go play it!!!

amazing game

Has a Zelda/Tower climb feel to it. Battles are fun and the puzzles are entertaining. The music won't get stuck in your head, but its decent. The writing isn't its strong poin, but it gets the job done. If I paid 10 USD for this I wouldn't have been disappointed. One of the best free games I've played.

Heartwarming

what a fantastic adventure, I haven't beaten it yet, so far the story is alright, the character dialogue is fun, all the characters are caricaturesque without overdoing it, biomes are nice and varied, with a bunch of traversing puzzles that are not particularly difficult, but are a good distraction between battles, I think is nice they decided to make enemies visible so you can avoid battles, and yet, combat itself is the most interesting mechanic of the game, you basically get stronger as the battle goes on, so you power your special attacks with normal attacks, you can tweak your companion to perform certain skills (letting it be a dedicated healer is a life saving move) you can also add new skills to your character with sigils... it is great, I'm honestlly delighted by this one.

Wow, for a free game I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely worth a try if you like old rpgs.