Astoria: The Holders of Power Saga

Thank you for your interest in Astoria: The Holders of Power Saga!  If you enjoy charming RPGs with epic, twisting storylines, containing intricate characters and cinematic cutscenes done in classic 90's, RPG-style storytelling, then ATHOPS is for you!

Description:

Astoria: The Holders of Power Saga is a charming, classically done RPG with an epic, twisting story, containing highly developed and intricate characters. It's approximately 30 hours of gameplay, with a story driven by intense cutscenes. The game's lore has grown immensely over the course of these 4 years of development, as I've gone back hundreds of years into the history of Astoria to help describe the playable world. This lore will come in handy if you decide to take on some of the more intricate quests of the game - some of the major quests begin at the outset of the game and aren't completed until a few hours from its end. The magic system is designed to add an extra layer of planning and strategy to combat, by encouraging the player to analyze the visible enemy and its environment, and choose the correct spells to bring into combat.

Story:

One hundred years ago, Astoria was invaded by the Supreme Demon, Buul, and his hordes of Demons. The people of Astoria and mighty King Romulus fought off the invasion as Romulus slew Buul in single combat after he ripped a blue stone from the Demon's armor. Witnesses on the field of battle stated the great Demon shrieked in fear and desperation as Romulus grasped the stone, and they swore it both invigorated him and gave him the strength to slay the massive Demon. After the Demons' defeat, it came to be known as the Stone of Power and it was assumed whoever possessed it would be all-powerful.

After many years of peace and prosperity, when he realized he had grown old, Romulus shattered the Stone into five pieces with his mighty hammer. He distributed the pieces to five individuals with opposing politics and interests to prevent the full Stone from ever being in the hands of the wrong person. These five came to be known as the Holders of Power.

The story begins at a meeting between the five Holders of Power and an unknown, shadowy figure who has evil intentions to re-form the Stone of Power once again.

One of the Holders of Power, the noble knight, Garreth, quickly learns that an assassination plot is afoot, and he and his piece of the Stone are the intended targets...

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Play as Nolan, a young Prince arriving in Astoria from a far away land, desperately seeking reinforcements to defend his country from an invasion. Little does he know, Astoria will soon be in a similar situation. As his envoy quest quickly spirals out of control, he'll meet a colorful cast with their own storylines: Calista, the bubbly clairvoyant whose dreams sometimes predict the future, Petra, the young firebrand whose life will be turned upside down when she witnesses tragedy, the mysterious Cheshire, who arrived in Astoria under his own suspicious circumstances, and a host of other characters willing to lend a hand and fight for their right to survive.

Explore an expansive world where you will encounter hordes of vicious monsters. Conduct stealth missions, fight in a pitched battle, and uncover great mysteries. Experience the emotions of love, anger, hatred, and fear as each member of your party has their own gripping story arcs that intertwine with the main storyline. All of this is done in classic, 90's, RPG-style storytelling.

Features:

The Magic System

The people of Astoria have different "affinities" for magic. A party member can learn nearly 100 spells or skills, but each character has a limited number that can be brought into combat... and that defines their affinity. In ATHOPS, the mage and the clairvoyant can each "memorize" 8 spells and bring them to combat. The hero, Nolan, has a maximum of 3. The size of your party - which varies from 1 to 6 - and its cast greatly determine the amount and types of spells you bring to combat. Since there are nearly 100 spells... choose wisely. Will you arm your party with powerful elemental spells, amplifying buff spells, crippling debuff spells, or a combination of each for proper balance?

Customization and Replayability

Customize your party via the plethora of powerups found in hidden or guarded treasure chests. Find and slay fantastic beasts and claim their rewards that can be sold for additional equipment upgrades that permanently remain with your desired character. Defeat deadly dragons and choose massive stat bonuses for each character in your party before the dragon's essence dissipates into the air. Swap different weapons, armor, and item combinations among your party members to further customize how they battle. I made it a point to make the player give serious thought into how they wish to build out their party.

Plot-centric Assassination Events

One of the main characters in ATHOPS is the young girl, Petra. She has an arcing storyline that ties in with the main theme, and she vows to become an assassin, to avenge her parents' death. There are two scenes in ATHOPS where you control Petra in real-time assassination events. There are visible enemies on guard, and you have to sneak by them/assassinate them from behind without entering their "line of sight." So take your time, notice patterns, and have patience! Remember, assassins never give in to their emotions! Hopefully these will be as enjoyable for you to play as they were for me to make.

- 35+ hours of gameplay
- 20+ side quests (some small and some large, spanning the entire game)
- 220+ maps
- 130+ weapons & armor, 140+ items, 175+ skills/spells (unique enemy skills included)
- A total of 16 party members, constantly moving in and out of the party in accordance with the plot!
- Highly developed main characters with tons of in-game dialogue!
- Nearly 1 hour of dramatic, cinematic cutscenes!
- Overworld map/hidden enemies, Dungeon maps/visible enemies
- 2 High action, REAL TIME stealth/assassination events!
- Be challenged by a group of "heroes" for status/bragging rights via intense "hero to hero" combat!
- Find and fight a total of 6 "challengers" inhabiting towns/villages in 1 on 1 combat with no items to test a character's might!
- 9 Dragons to find and kill that grant the party bonus statistics you can distribute to tailor your characters however you like!
- 8 Side quest bosses and their drop items that can be converted into unique equipment upgrades by a specialty blacksmith

System Requirements:

ATHOPS runs on PC

MINIMUM:
OS: XP
Processor: Core 2 Duo
Graphics: Discreet Video Card
Storage: Demo is 515Mb, Full Release estimated 600Mb)
Sound Card: Direct X 9.0 Compatible Soundcard

RECOMMENDED:
OS: Windows 8.1
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4200HQ CPU @ 2.4 GHz 2.40 GHz
Graphics: Nvidia GEFORCE GTX
Storage: 1 GB available space
Sound Card: Direct X 9.0 Compatible Soundcard