Awaken: Astral Blade

AWAKEN - Astral Blade is a stylish, combat-focused sci-fi adventure that hits more than it misses. With gorgeous visuals, engaging mechanics, and a haunting world to explore, it’s a solid pick for fans of the Metroidvania genre. While it falls short in enemy variety, narrative delivery, and platforming precision, its strengths in atmosphere and gameplay make it a journey worth taking - especially if you’ve got a soft spot for platforming, hack & slash, and 2D sci-fi Metroidvanias.

Awaken: Astral Blade is a beautifully designed Metroidvania with fast-paced combat. Exploring is fun, but the storytelling and some gameplay mechanics could use some additional work. Still, it’s good enough to show Father who’s boss.

Awaken: Astral Blade is an action game with elements reminiscent of Souls-like games, featuring an anime theme. Despite its weak level design, it can still be appealing to players.

AWAKEN - Astral Blade offers beautiful environments and engaging combat but lacks the polish to compete with genre leaders. For metroidvania enthusiasts seeking a new adventure, it provides satisfactory exploration and combat, despite its narrative and technical shortcomings.

Awaken: Astral Blade is a visually pleasing Metroidvania that has intense flashy combat, and an enjoyable world to explore, but it falls flat in areas that can get in the way of the experience. Its story and characters are immediately forgettable, and a constant slew of grammatical errors and painfully bad voice work really stand out in a bad way. There is a good foundation here for Dark Pigeon to work from and refine, especially as this is their first game. If you are the type to enjoy really any Metroidvania title and need a break from beating Hollow Knight for the twelfth time, then you could find some fun here if you don’t mind wading through its numerous flaws.

AWAKEN: Astral Blade is, quite simply, a great metroidvania.

AWAKEN – Astral Blade is a game that has all the hallmarks of a quality Metroidvania set in a dark fantasy world.

AWAKEN: Astral Blade is a fun Metroidvania. Is it perfect? No. Does it reinvent the genre in any way? Not really. But did it need to? Of course not! It is a great game for both newcomers and long time fans of the genre alike, but there's no denying that there are better ones out there. Even so, I still recommend it.

With a multitude of Metroidvanias out there, a prospective new entry in the genre must stand out from the pack to get attention. Awaken – Astral Blade certainly stands out, but not in a good way. A poor story, poor collision detection, and overly floaty platforming combine to provide an unforgettable experience, just for all the wrong reasons.

AWAKEN – Astral Blade was a beautiful adventure that I’m glad I got the chance to enjoy. With its beautiful artwork, amazing storytelling, and fun mechanics, this entire game is a treat. I hope that Dark Pigeon will continue this pace and make another game that I can’t take my eyes off of. Take it all in when you start this exciting adventure. I give AWAKEN – Astral Blade the Thumb Culture Gold Award.