Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles from Akupara Games and Little Leo Games brings us a dice deck-building roguelike with some interesting twists. Check out our Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles review!
Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles from Akupara Games and Little Leo Games brings us a dice deck-building roguelike with some interesting twists. Many, many moons ago, when what we now see as ancient ruins were once the ground for flourishing civilizations, all people lived under the mystical light of a star that governed over everything and everyone. The star blessed the titular Six-Sided Oracles, and all was well for a long time. Unfortunately, peace never lasts. Due to the Crimson Dawn Cataclysm, an inferno rained from the sky and destroyed society’s foundation, corrupting the souls of the weak-willed and consuming the disciples of the star in battle. Now that eons have passed, descendants of the original Six-Sided Oracles are embarking on a quest to finish what their predecessors started in order to give it their all and try to save the star system before it’s too late.
As mentioned before, this is a dice deck-building roguelike, which means that instead of using cards for combat – as we’re used to for most deck-building roguelikes on Nintendo’s console – we’ll be using dice. They’re split into reliably safe, perfectly balanced, or powerfully risky. You’ll have to plan your strategy accordingly and decide if you’ll be taking things slowly or going with a full-on high-risk, high-reward scenario. With more than 350 dice to choose from, there are many different valid strategies for you to use. On top of that, you’ll have the option of editing die faces with new actions, thus changing the potential outcome for each battle scenario that you find yourself in. Since enemies also attack using dice, you have a window of opportunity to affect your opponent’s intent.
Why is the game called Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles in the first place? Because you can choose from six Oracles for your roguelike runs. Each of the Oracles will have its own dice sets, abilities, and playing style, so be sure to try them all to see which one best suits the experience you want to have. Do you want to go with a slower take as you use abilities at a steady pace to chip away at your enemies’ health? Do you want to brute force your way to victory even if it leaves you open to attacks left and right?
As expected, you’ll start with access to only one of the new Oracles – that would be Moonie – so that you can take things slowly in order to get the hang of things as you learn about Purification, Corruption, Overcorruption, turn order, dice rolls, Virtue, and more. Complete one run to unlock another Oracle. After that, you’ll need to level up specific Oracles to unlock the remaining ones, which will introduce different dice deck types for you to take for a spin.
The game uses a dual damage system to change things a bit: Purification vs Corruption. Purification is something that can be used to deal damage to enemies or to heal yourself if needed. This means you can use Purification to pacify enemies and continue with your quest. Corruption is used to either deal damage to yourself or to heal enemies. Why would you want to deal damage to yourself or heal enemies? Because, if you use Corruption to damage yourself, you’ll gain access to powerful abilities that you can then use to turn the tide of battle. Abilities are tied to a dynamic health bar system, but you should keep an eye on how much Corruption you use… since it could end up consuming your soul.
Astrea: Six-Sided brings us a dice deck-building roguelike with some interesting twists. Many, many moons ago, when what we now see as ancient ruins were once the ground for flourishing civilizations, all people lived under the mystical light of a star that governed over everything and everyone. The star blessed the titular Six-Sided Oracles, and all was well for a long time. Unfortunately, peace never lasts. Due to the Crimson Dawn Cataclysm, an inferno rained from the sky and destroyed society’s foundation, corrupting the souls of the weak-willed and consuming the disciples of the star in battle. Now that eons have passed, descendants of the original Six-Sided Oracles are embarking on a quest to finish what their predecessors started in order to give it their all and try to save the star system before it’s too late.
The game uses a dual damage system to change things a bit: Purification vs Corruption. Purification is something that can be used to deal damage to enemies or to heal yourself if needed. This means you can use Purification to pacify enemies and continue with your quest. Corruption is used to either deal damage to yourself or to heal enemies. Why would you want to deal damage to yourself or heal enemies? Because, if you use Corruption to damage yourself, you’ll gain access to powerful abilities that you can then use to turn the tide of battle. Abilities are tied to a dynamic health bar system, but you should keep an eye on how much Corruption you use… since it could end up consuming your soul. Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles is out on Nintendo Switch with a $24.99 price tag. If you hurry up, you can get the game with a 13% discount.
Disclaimer
This Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Akupara Games.
