Astria Ascending launches today with Xbox Game Pass

Xbox fans, move up!

We are very excited to announce the launch of Ascending astria, a JRPG Posted by Dear Villagers, Available Today for Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S and with Xbox Game Pass. The French-Canadian studio Artisan Studios has developed Ascending astria in collaboration with some famous and talented Japanese creators whose names may be familiar to you.

Here are five reasons to check out this new turn-based JRPG. Let us begin!

A rich and mature history backed by a sumptuous score.

In a world where chaos looms, eight fated heroes are chosen. They become demigods and are doomed to die while holding the fate of the world in their hands. The captivating story is written by the great Kazushige Nojima, known for his work on the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series. His wish was to offer a mature and intriguing story, emphasizing the complex relationships between people and their choices regarding their duty.

“Each hero has their own perspective, but it’s the relationships they form with each other that really bring the story to life,” said Julien Bourgeois, game director at Artisan Studio.

The fate of Ascending astria characters is supported by a meaningful soundtrack composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, known for the Chronicles of Valkyria Serie, Final Fantasy XII, Vagrant history, and many others. The music wonderfully supports their adventures and draws players to the heart of their destiny, grappling with their fears and sacrifices.

“My music supports Ascending astria characters to help players understand them. (…) That means that my music should invite players to have faith in the potential of people, ”said Hitoshi Sakimoto in reference to his musical contribution to the game.

A richly imagined and hand-drawn 2D environment

On Ascending astria, explore the world of Orcanon, a richly imagined and fully animated 2D landscape, and travel through five cities with a wide variety of inhabitants. If you like the artistic style of Ascending astriaYou should know that the backgrounds and beautiful animations are hand drawn and created by Akihiko Yoshida and Hideo Minaba’s CyDesignation studio.

There are 25 walking dungeons full of monsters, called Noises, and for those who like to brainstorm, they will have to solve environmental puzzles with clever use of their powers. A dynamic weather system will accompany your exploration with sunny and rainy moments, but also with snow and sand storms.

An astonishing cast of unforgettable characters

On Ascending astria, you are in control of the 333 Demigod unit investigating the mysterious events that threaten Harmony. The demigods are not immortal and have a short life as they have accepted their duty and their destiny.

It’s a diverse team of eight heroes ages 13-63, with completely different backgrounds, aspirations, and personalities. From Meryos to Arktans, including Awisis and Zefts, you’ll assemble a team of characters from various fantastic races and an extensive arsenal of abilities.

An expansive customization

The unique work system in Ascending astria offers a lot of customization by allowing each demigod to develop their individual abilities. As you progress, you will unlock up to three jobs in addition to your base job for each demigod and as you fight the noise, your team of demigods will level up and gain skill points (SP).

These skill points can be spent on each character’s skill tree to unlock new skills, passive skills, and stat boosts. Therefore, the different jobs that you unlock have skill sets that you can customize through an ascension tree that makes each game unique. You will have to choose wisely!

An innovative and rich turn-based combat system.

Ascending astria offers rewarding and innovative turn-based combat. Along with the more traditional turn-based battle functions, you will have to manage new mechanics. You can collect legendary beasts and summon them to fight and use powerful moves called Cosmo Breaks to give your team the upper hand. But that is not all!

Successfully hitting an enemy’s weakness will earn you focus points, which can be used to improve your skills and make them more effective. However, your actions can be counterproductive and can accumulate a deficit of focus points when hitting the resistances of the enemies, so your challenge is to analyze and know the characteristics of each monster to combat them in the best possible way.

If you are thirsty for battle, you can either accept the hunt for strong monsters that the Orcanon inhabitants ask of you or find the Arena. Prepare your arsenal and prepare to fight against waves of increasingly powerful enemies!

Ascending astria is a gorgeous turn-based, hand-drawn JRPG developed with the help of veterans of the genre, and is available to play today for Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S and with Xbox Game Pass.