In September 2019, Astellia was released, a classic theme park MMORPG from the Asian developer Studio 8. But how has Astellia developed since the release? And is it worth starting to play in May 2020?
What is Astellia? The Buy2Play MMORPG Astellia focuses on traditional values and therefore emphasizes:
- An open PvE game world
- A classic quest system
- A linear story
- A Holy Trinity consisting of 5 different classes.
The highlight of Astellia are the Astels, small companions that you can summon up to 3 at the same time.
You can collect, train, and equip the Astels. They can tank for you, deal damage, or heal. Additionally, there is a deck system through which they grant you bonuses.
In the endgame, legendary dungeons, daily quests, grinding for the perfect equipment, trading, and various PvP arenas, including Avalon, a PvP area with 300v300v300 fights, await you.
There is also an achievements system with over 700 achievements and Star’s Tale, a kind of compendium for players who want to discover everything in the areas.
Conveniently, you can earn useful rewards from it.
How was the launch of the MMORPG? The release of Astellia was rather unspectacular and mainly proceeded without much media attention.
For many, the game seemed like standard fare from Asia and was even referred to as Bless 2.0 before the launch. Bless was an MMORPG that came to us from Asia in 2018, flopped badly, and was already shut down in 2019.
However, Astellia managed to release without scandals and major problems. It impressed with a fair payment system without Pay2Win, good gameplay approaches, and an early roadmap that promised a lot of content.
But has the MMORPG been able to meet its goals? And is it still worth starting in 2020?
Content roadmap, which was only partially fulfilled
How did Astellia develop? Just 10 days after the release, the first major content update was released. This brought:
- Class expansions
- The first legendary dungeons for the endgame
- Adjusted localizations for the German and French versions
Even in the weeks and months that followed, there were still some updates, as Astellia had already been released in Korea before. There, new content was published that then came to us later.
In December 2019, however, the first unique content in the West was released: The area “Miodan Mine”. This is an endgame zone with new story quests and rewards.
Is Astellia’s combat system finally dynamic? Astellia offers classic tab-targeting in the combat system and many skills that require you to stand still for their effect. At the same time, there is a dynamic dodge roll.
After the first beta in July 2019, the developers announced adjustments to make the combat system more dynamic. Some minor changes were implemented at launch.
There is now an optional action view that slightly alters the game’s controls. With the patch on April 28, some skills were also adjusted to now be usable while moving (via Astellia Patch Notes).
Did everything really go smoothly with Astellia? No, the MMORPG also faced some problems and discussions within the community:
- Astellia launched with many gaps in localization.
- The game had and still has problems with bots and gold sellers.
- Furthermore, there were discussions about pre-order bonuses that were devalued by new packages after the release. Here, the publisher Barunson E&A reacted and brought compensation into the game.
- Another curious situation was the accidental opening of the PvP area Avalon. Players entered the area and collected loot. When the error was noticed, Avalon was closed again and players who were in it received a trade ban.
Additionally, some contents from the roadmap were not implemented. Thus, the promised 12-player raid and a feature that players have been waiting for since the release are still missing.
The Gender Lock Problem: In January 2019, the developers of Astellia promised that the gender lock for the Western version would be removed. But this has only been partially the case to this day.
At launch, the classes Warrior and Assassin, which had only male versions until then, were provided with female counterparts. However, the other 3 classes are still not playable with male characters.
Although it is said that this will be delivered later, this promise has been around since August 2019. So far, there is no indication that it will be implemented.
Closure in Korea and switch of the publisher?
Korean players in the West? On January 16, Astellia was closed in Korea. This happened at the request of the local publisher Nexon.
Barunson E&A then decided to bring the Korean players to the Western version with the developer Plan 8. Therefore, the forum now features not only English, German, and French news but also information in Korean.
The Korean section of the forum seems to be quite active, with several posts being commented on today, May 15.
Who is now actually the publisher of Astellia? In April, there was also some confusion surrounding the publisher Barunson E&A. This company is said to have withdrawn from the active development of Astellia, as an official forum post reveals.
Instead, the developers of Plan 8 and a new partner are supposed to engage directly with the players.
However, Barunson E&A is not completely gone because Plan 8 is a subsidiary of the Korean company (via Barunson E&A). Only the communication seems to no longer be handled by the parent company.
Release on Steam – No big success?
How is Astellia doing on Steam? On January 30, Astellia was released on Steam hoping for a surge of new players. The plan has only worked partially.
In the last 30 days, an average of 562 players played Astellia via Steam. 805 players were peaking online at the same time. The best month for the MMORPG was March, during which an average of 770 players were logged in with a peak of 1,171.
The numbers are relatively stable but not at a high level. Astellia did not benefit from the Corona crisis, unlike many other MMORPGs that were able to increase their player count on Steam.
Astellia – Is it worth it in 2020?
Astellia is a very solid theme park MMORPG that is currently receiving slow but regular updates and events. It is aimed at players who want a more relaxed experience and do not place great value on action-packed combat. With the Astels, it sets itself apart somewhat from other games in the genre.
However, it costs a one-time fee of 27 euros or you can use the trial subscription, which allows you to play for 10 euros for one month.
Additionally, there are occasional server issues and maintenance, as can be clearly seen from the graph of player numbers on Steam. There is also criticism of some Astels that look “childish” and offer a rather unusual sound environment.
Anyone currently looking for an MMORPG that has a solid foundation and with which one can intensively engage for several weeks may find a new home in Astellia.
On May 26, the next major update titled “Tulie, the City of Forgotten Time” will be released. This is set to introduce new quests, new stories, new dungeons, and numerous balance changes.
If you prefer to try another Buy2Play MMORPG, we’ve compiled 6 possible titles for you.
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