Astria Ascending

Publisher Dear Villagers and developer Artisan Studios have announced Astria Ascending, a JRPG with a narrative by Kazushige Nojima and score by Hitoshi Sakimoto, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Game Pass, and PC. Nojima’s prior games include Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy VII Remake — among many others for Square Enix — and Sakimoto’s vast prior credits include Final Fantasy XII and Vagrant Story. Meanwhile, the striking art style present in the Astria Ascending announcement trailer comes from CyDesignation’s Akihiko Yoshida and Hideo Minaba, who have also both worked on myriad RPGs, including Final Fantasy Tactics.

There will be eight playable characters, Demigods no less, with their own stories that play out across five cities (with dynamic weather), 25 dungeons, and 30-50 hours of gameplay, depending on if you go for 100% completion. Sidequests and minigames “including an original fantasy-themed token game” will come along for the ride, and battles will be turn-based. As for the story, PR materials dramatically state, “Fight for the future while you reckon with the past; sacrifice everything, relinquish nothing.” Heavy.