Asdivine Knot is a JRPG developed by Exe Create and published by KEMCO. It checks all the boxes for a typical game within this genre from a unique storyline to turn-based combat. But in terms of breaking the mold of JRPGs, this title misses the mark.

You play as a young cleric named Verselio. He’s devoted his life to serving a deity that turns out to be a lie. Asdivine Knot is his journey of breaking free from his vow, and rebelling against all that he once stood for. Throughout the adventure, Verselio will meet and join forces with a few other colorful characters giving you a well-rounded party.

The strongest part of Asdivine Knot is its battle system. There’s much to customize from your party’s formation to their battle styles. Of course, you control what each party member does in battle, but if you’re looking to grind levels, there is an auto-battle button. Sometimes that made it easier to get through certain areas when a lot of enemies are about. You can toggle the amount of random encounters you get, but I always like to keep those on. The more experience points, the better, right?

I found myself getting too strong too fast though, the deeper I got into the game. There are many hidden passages and chests to be found when exploring a cave or dungeon, which can give weapons, armor, healing items, or even currency. Sometimes I’d go to a town to buy the latest weapons for my party only to realize I found it in the previous dungeon. It got to a point that even leveling up didn’t seem as important, and the battles were only worth it if it was a boss that progressed the story.

However,even the battles can be boring at times since that’s all there is to the gameplay. Overall, Asdivine Knot can grow repetitive the longer you play. I found myself playing in short bursts of time because of the rinse-and-repeat style.

You move your characters from one town to the next, fighting enemies along the way, just to be met with a long cutscene and tedious dialogue to get through. It would take five minutes to get through a conversation or some flashback from the story just to be told where to go next, which would only take a minute or two, before getting thrown into another lengthy cutscene.

The story did have some good elements of redemption, sacrifice, and beliefs, but I found myself skipping through some of the text. The characters sometimes fell flat for me, especially in the beginning of the game. It didn’t hook me right away. I like strong stories, but when it comes to playing video games, I’d like to actually play first and get to know the characters and stories as I go. Asdivine Knot had roughly fifteen minutes of cutscenes before I got to do anything.

The overworld map was cool to look at and explore. Random battles can be encountered on the map from traveling from one town to another, and once you’ve reached a spot, you have the ability to fast travel back to that area. The party also gets an airship that allows for easier traveling, which is fun to use. 

The airship is customizable with useful rooms, such as a crafting area, so the airship is more than just a method of travel. It adds a little extra to this game, but it’s not the main gimmick.

I think Asdivine Knot is a great JRPG for those who have never played the genre before. There’s enough customization within the game, and the flow is easy enough to go through the motions and get a feel for the genre and game as a whole. Not to mention that you can customize your difficulty setting at the start. However, for those who have played many JRPGs before, this game might get boring fast for you.