Every Witch Way is a popular children's television series that aired on Nickelodeon. The show follows the life of a teenage girl named Emma Alonso, who discovers that she is a witch with magical powers. She attends Iridium High, a school for witches and humans, and navigates the challenges of being a witch while trying to fit in with her human friends. The main storyline revolves around Emma's powers and her struggles to control them. She must learn to harness her magical abilities while keeping her identity as a witch a secret from her human friends. Throughout the series, Emma faces numerous obstacles and conflicts, including evil witches, time travel, and the threat of her powers being exposed.
Discover the long-forgotten secrets and hidden paths in this high fantasy world, featuring exhilarating battle encounters, interconnected maps full of places to explore, and an immersive story where every choice matters. Play as Hilda – a brave young warrior from the Northwind Legion who embarks on a journey to the cursed city in order to save her lost father. The gameplay elements inspired by soulslike games alongside a lighter, dynamic combat system, create a fresh take on the modern actio.
Asterigos does a fair job of keeping most of the game settings calm and lighthearted, offering almost a Zelda-like adventure quality to the whole experience. If players die, they are automatically resurrected at the most recent rest altar they interacted with, albeit short some Starlight, the upgrade materials Hilda gains upon defeating enemies; fans of the original Bioshock will recognize this system.
Throughout the series, Emma faces numerous obstacles and conflicts, including evil witches, time travel, and the threat of her powers being exposed. The show also features a love triangle between Emma, her best friend Andi, and the school's resident bad boy, Jax Novoa. Emma initially has feelings for Jax, but their relationship is complicated by Jax's involvement with the school's rival group, the Panthers.
Asterigos: Curse of the Stars (Steam) Review
Sometimes, a game comes along that I have a great deal of difficulty connecting with, despite my best efforts. Asterigos: Curse of the Stars became one of those. Writing this review prior to finishing this game is out of pocket for me, because I normally don’t want to deliver what I perceive to be an “incomplete review.” However, my time with this game was mediocre at best, as much as I wanted to really enjoy it. While I wouldn’t disparage anyone from playing it, I feel as if Asterigos plays like a game that chooses to exist in a Soulsborne space without doing anything to engage me or teach me something new.
Asterigos, developed by Acme Gamestudio, takes place within a sort of post-apocalypse magic environment similar to what players of Horizon: Zero Dawn experienced in that world. Hilda, the protagonist, travels to a city long-forgotten to discover the whereabouts of her father and his soldiers. Inside the city, she discovers a population lost in time and magic, surviving on whatever scraps of power they can find. Hilda must perform tasks for an underground resistance group in order to learn more about her father’s fate, whilst also helping in side quests and doing favors for city dwellers. Players encounter a variety of NPCs to interact with, who offer lore and insight into the past of this city, while other story tidbits are offered from a sort of magic cloud recording of the past.
Much of the game takes place in the city of Aphes.
How I would describe Asterigos’ story progression is something akin to Diablo or Lost Ark. The game doesn’t rely on many cutscenes to tell its story. Rather, there are numerous in-game dialogue sequences with conversation trees. All of these conversations happen within the normal point-of-view for the player, eliminating a sort of natural back-and-forth flow in the talking. This detracted from the flow of the plot for me, as every interaction I had in the game felt less like a plot driver and more like a side conversation that holds less importance. Alongside the static dialogue, each interaction offered so many side branches to explore that would have interested me if the voice acting felt more organic and enthusiastic. A majority of the time, I felt as if I was selecting dialogue options to “gray them out” more than actually listening to what was said. At times I was actively listening, but the conversations, especially the in-event ones, seemed to drag on far too long.
Dialogue trees open up backstory, though sometimes conversations can overstay their welcome.
In terms of combat, Asterigos plays like a softer Soulsborne. Enemies can absolutely overpower Hilda if left unchecked, and though most of the baddies I encountered could be dispatched with some hack-and-slash maneuvers, the harder foes required the dodge rolling and parry blocking that I am accustomed to. Players can swap between two weapons at a time, each offering both regular attacks and special abilities to use. Hilda can also access quick-use items on the fly, such as healing vials and throwable offensive items. If players die, they are automatically resurrected at the most recent “rest altar” they interacted with, albeit short some Starlight, the upgrade materials Hilda gains upon defeating enemies; fans of the original Bioshock will recognize this system. Enemies return upon resting, as is the case in other Soulsborne titles, so Hilda can farm materials and experience if desired. This system never really gave me any problems, though I did find myself annoyed after dying once or twice and realizing I did not rest at a nearby altar, thereby having to retrace a lot of my steps. I blame myself more for this than the game though.
Combat includes a block and parry system stacked with abilities, light, and heavy attacks.
For RPG mechanics, this title offers a fairly robust system for leveling up and weaponry. Players don’t swap out different versions of weapon archetypes, but rather equip a generic version of the item, such as a sword, spear, daggers, etc. Starlight and scavenged materials are used to level these weapons up, thereby taking some of the decision-making out of the weapon process. For stats, players gain access to both attribute points that build up one of 3 major stats as well as talent points for abilities. The ability system holds the bulk of the customization in this game, as players can mix and match what abilities off of three trees to invest in. I found the visual representation of these trees a little jumbled, and I wish that everything was on one full screen instead of a scroll wheel I had to constantly adjust back and forth. Once I understood the mark and spend aspect of this wheel, the abilities seemed rather straightforward.
One of the aspects that I found most disappointing pertained to the different areas of the city. The game does a good job of keeping this from being a larger, open-world setting, which I appreciate. However, I never quite felt like any of these areas were interesting or worth exploring. For instance, in one of the main market areas, all the buildings, homes, and businesses looked incredibly similar. What makes this worse for me is that there is no world map or mini map to reference locations and previously discovered hidden areas. In one instance I must have spent close to 20 minutes looking for the next location for a main mission simply because I could not remember where I had previously found it and had no reference of where I should look. I found aimless wandering until finally finding the next step tedious and not engaging whatsoever. This also deterred me from doing any side quests, as I knew I’d have to almost rediscover where I found the quest in the first place.
Visually, Asterigos has a soothing art style to it. Setting aside my gripes on the various locations, this game has a bright tone, even when certain story elements became heavy or violent. The audio complements this too, with music tracks that never seem too boisterous or adventurous. Asterigos does a fair job of keeping most of the game settings calm and lighthearted, offering almost a Zelda-like adventure quality to the whole experience.
Overall, Asterigos: Curse of the Stars failed to really stand out above other games in the RPG action-adventure space for me. While the combat and leveling systems felt accommodating for both casual and tenured players of this genre, the lackluster environments and disengaging character interactions failed to hold my attention for any period of time. This game would, in my opinion, appeal to someone who is looking for a lighter adventure title centered more on the gameplay rather than the narrative. During this heavier release season, I didn’t find anything about Asterigos that was unique or exemplary. Perhaps in the future, I can revisit this game and gain a different opinion on it, but during my roughly 10-hour playthrough with it, I can’t quite recommend it to players looking for something refreshing this fall release season.
As the series progresses, Emma's feelings for Jax evolve, and she must navigate her emotions while dealing with the challenges of being a witch. Every Witch Way also explores themes of friendship, loyalty, and self-discovery. Emma forms strong bonds with her human friends, Andi and her love interest, Daniel. Together, they face challenges and support each other through the ups and downs of teenage life. The show has been praised for its positive representation of diversity and its messages of acceptance and self-empowerment. It has gained a dedicated fanbase and has spawned spin-off series and a made-for-TV movie. Overall, Every Witch Way is a fun and magical show that appeals to children and young teenagers. It combines elements of fantasy, romance, and friendship, and explores the experiences and challenges of being a witch in a normal world..
Reviews for "Remembering Every Witch Way: Jax's Memorable Moments"
- Jessica - 2 stars - I had high hopes for "Every Witch Way Jax" as I love supernatural stories, but unfortunately, this book did not meet my expectations. The plot was convoluted and confusing, with too many characters and subplots that were never properly developed. It felt like the author was trying to include every supernatural creature imaginable without really focusing on a cohesive storyline. Additionally, the writing style was lackluster and didn't engage me as a reader. I struggled to connect with the characters and found myself skimming through the pages just to get to the end. Overall, I was disappointed with this book and wouldn't recommend it.
- Mark - 1 star - I was extremely disappointed with "Every Witch Way Jax." The writing was amateurish and filled with grammatical errors that were incredibly distracting. The characters were one-dimensional and lacked depth, making it impossible to develop any sort of emotional connection with them. The pacing was incredibly slow, and the story seemed to drag on forever without any real sense of direction. I found myself forcing to finish this book, and by the end, I was left feeling unsatisfied and frustrated. I would not waste my time with this book again.
- Emily - 2 stars - "Every Witch Way Jax" had so much potential, but unfortunately, it fell flat for me. The world-building was confusing and inconsistent, which made it difficult to fully immerse myself in the story. The dialogue felt forced and unnatural, with characters saying things that didn't align with their personalities. The romance aspect of the book was also poorly executed, with little to no chemistry between the main characters. Overall, this book lacked the depth and cohesiveness that I look for in a supernatural fantasy novel, and I would not recommend it to others.