It’s official: Astellia is launching in the west this year. “Let the Stars Guide You this Summer 2019,” the official site says. As we’ve been covering for the last couple of years, Astellia is a Studio 8/Nexon game under development in South Korea; it’s currently open beta in its home region.
“Astellia Online is a Classical MMORPG striving to return the genre to its roots. That is not to say it is a remake of what has been done before, but instead, a tribute to the original tenants of the MMORPG Phenomena combined with innovation and promise. Set in a vibrant fantasy world, Astellians are heroes blessed by the stars to call upon magical allies known as Astells. Each Astellian is charged with protecting the innocents of the world, a task that will take them through the darkest dungeons and across countless battlefields.”
The game features a holy trinity class system, multiple dungeon and PvP arena sizes (including an RvRvR mode), crafting, companion system, and TCG-like integration that seems to be played down in the western website.
Publisher Barunson E&A (yes, we’ve asked for clarification on the corporate hierarchy here) is revealing more at PAX South this weekend, where it will be delivering a panel explaining just how the game will avoid pay-to-win.
