Many players are currently waiting for new information about the MMORPG Astellia. We met the developers at gamescom 2019, and they exclusively revealed the release date for the game in Europe and North America. They also presented their plans for the online role-playing game leading up to the launch and beyond.
When will Astellia be released? The release of the western version of Astellia will take place on September 27. There will be no more beta tests before that, but a head start for pre-orderers is planned.
What is Astellia? Astellia is an Asian MMORPG developed by Studio 8 and published by Barunson E&A. It aims to appeal to classic theme park fans and offers five classes with a Holy Trinity.
In the open world, there is only PvE, supported by dungeons and crafting. For PvP fans, there are arenas and the area Avalon, which resembles the World vs World from Guild Wars 2.
The great feature of the game are the Astels, who accompany you in battle and can have up to 3 summoned at the same time.
Astels can also take on the roles of tanks, healers, or damage dealers, making gameplay in the open world particularly interesting.
Astellia adapted for Western release
What is important for Astellia for the Western release? The MMORPG places great emphasis on reducing content from the Korean version that is perceived negatively here in the West.
They want to adapt Astellia for the West. Pay2Win items have been removed, and gender lock has already been modified.
At gamescom, we were able to exclusively admire the female assassin and the female warrior. In Korea, both classes are only available in male form.
Many changes due to feedback
What major changes are planned before the release? Before the release on September 27, the developers plan to make several larger changes.
Particularly, the somewhat lengthy combat system has repeatedly been cited as a point of criticism. Producer Westley Conner is aware of the issue:
We have already revised some skills and plan to add more. At release, each class will receive two or three new skills to make combat more dynamic.
Nevertheless, the fundamental system with tab targeting and short cooldown times is not expected to change.
What changes will occur to the UI? After the initial tests, players requested more customization options for the user interface, the UI. Westley Conner live demonstrated some changes to us.
The interface is now customizable by the player. Each block, whether minimap, quest log, or skill bar, can be freely moved and resized.
Changes have also been made to the interface for crafting and skills to make them more intuitive and easier to use.
What changes are being made to the entry into the MMO? Another point of criticism in both beta tests was the tutorial, which was too brief and uninformative.
The developers are also planning larger changes to this before the release.
More quests in the game: Additionally, the “Story of the Stars” system will be introduced. This is a type of journal that tells players everything about the current area.
There you will find hints about rare mobs, dungeons, special quests, and hidden treasures. The goal is to find, defeat, or solve all these pieces of content and complete a map.
These changes will also bring about a revision of the achievement system, which now offers more than 700 achievements for you.
Many plans for the time after the release in September
What comes after the release? The developers of Astellia already have some plans for the western version for the rest of 2019.
For example, special events for Halloween and Christmas will make their way into the game. Additionally, legendary dungeons and the PvP area Avalon are expected to open in 2019, which are not available at launch for fairness reasons.
The gender lock for the last three classes still needs to be lifted. Westley Conner also briefly spoke about new advanced classes planned for the future of the MMORPG. However, no specific details were provided yet.
We tested Astellia in the first beta and provided a conclusion:
