Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist stars the daughter of Rspadar Castle Town’s baker as the new protagonist, someone who was mentioned briefly in the base game but is essentially an empty slate for your adventure. After a demon attack traps many of the guild, including the main hero of Astlibra revision, in the cave of Phantom Mist, our new heroine must enter the dungeon to set things right and free everyone. There is more to it though, as the Cave of Phantom Mist takes from the memories of those who enter, which means that familiar enemies and locations from the main game will appear.
As a Roguelike, Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist expands on the randomized dungeon encountered towards the end of the game. You will take on groups of 10 floors, with each ending with a boss from the main game. Combat still feels like it did in the base game here, and you will have access to weapons, one and two-handed, as well as shields and armour, and using these will give you new skills to keep you trying to max out everything.
That said, as neat as this sounds, Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist has a major problem and that is that the experience doesn’t really work well because there is too little variety. Roguelikes need variety to keep players interested but Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist feels a bit too repetitive. This is not even getting into the fact that you can carry over nearly everything between runs and leave at any time to bank your Force instead of losing it when dying. Offering anti-frustration features is fine for some Roguelikes, but some of them feel like they break the game here.
This is not to say the game is not fun, because taking out enemies still has its charm and there is a new set of spells to discover and unlock for use. But another flaw does come up in that there is not as much story as was expected. Even Roguelikes usually have some degree of story that is gradually revealed throughout the experience, but Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist just kind of meanders in this area. This combined with the fact that the game lacks a major challenge to it, means Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist just never lives up to its potential, especially when the base game had an amazing story and could be very challenging at times.
I wanted to like Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist because I loved Astlibra Revision so much, but this DLC just fell short for me. There are some good gameplay innovations, such as new upgrade systems, new styles that offer different skills and state bonuses and more, but the lack of a substantial gameplay experience, and the fact that everything is just recycled from the base game, holds this back too much. There is some new music here, but that is not enough to keep the DLC value where it needs to be.
I was ultimately disappointed with Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist for its lack of variety and challenge and minimal story even for a Roguelike, and feel it falls far short of the main game. Astlibra Revision truly is an amazing experience, but its DLC just leaves too much to be desired. But if all you want is just combat that lets you mow down enemies, you may find some enjoyment here.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided for this review
