- Lovely visuals and easy progression
- AFK questing for lazy adventurers
- Rare husbandos are up for grabs too
Hello and welcome to Ahead of the Game, a series where we tell you all about an upcoming game that, despite not being out yet, is available for you to play at the time of publishing. Through this series, you can grab a chance to play games well ahead of their release date, be that through Soft Launch, Open Beta, Demos, or more.
Nothing beats the thrill of adventuring across a vibrant fantasy world with your merry band of partymates – and when you take away the hardcore grind, the questing becomes all the sweeter.
At least, that’s how I felt when I first dove into Elysia: The Astral Fall, a fresh-faced idle RPG that very much reminds me of AFK Journey not just in the gameplay but also in the aesthetics.
Visuals are a lovely and colourful affair, and it’s also got that soft and picturesque feel to it that Lilith Games’ popular RPG has come to be known for. The character designs also take inspiration from that, it seems, but I don’t actually mind – it keeps things familiar yet fresh, and it adds a lighthearted and cosy vibe to what otherwise would’ve been another run-of-the-mill fantasy RPG.
Of course, there’s your epic quest to save the world and your team that’s made up of different classes and factions, but that’s exactly what I’m on the lookout for in this genre, isn’t it?
What makes it all even more refreshing is that it does away with the hardcore grind that usually comes with RPGs – and it’s all in portrait mode too, which means I can be as lazy as I want to be, or I can leave my phone running its own adventure while I, say, work on typing up this piece on Elysia: The Astral Fall. Who wouldn’t want to take back more hours in their day while still getting their gaming fix, right?
That said, it doesn’t really reinvent the wheel where its mechanics are concerned, but I do like how it lets you either auto-navigate to your predetermined quests or wander on your own discovering treasure chests on the world map or chatting up random folks on the street.
The Trailblaze Mode, in particular, lets you fight through foes in a neverending loop so you can farm materials without having to dedicate your entire day just so you can Ascend your heroes.
Plus, the gacha pool has actual husbandos – husbandos, for crying out loud. And that’s a rare thing in gachas these days – I mean, I don’t mind all the cool waifus in my roster, but having an eye-candy husbando or two is always, always welcome.
So, how do you play Elysia: The Astral Fall?
Open testing is currently open for Version 0.0.7, where you can complete Chapter 1, Act 1 and unlock the Astral Meadow on Android. It seems iOS users will have to wait – hopefully it won’t be long until we see an official launch soon!
