Welcome to our review of Asterix & Obelix XXL3: The Crystal Menhir, a blast from the past for someone who used to love the comic strips.
The year is 50 B.C. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely… One small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders. And life is not easy for the Roman legionaries who garrison the fortified camps of Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum, and Compendium.
Peace reigns in the small Armorican village, where the villagers go about their daily business. Our two heroes, Asterix and Obelix, hunt wild boar, the blacksmith, and the fishmonger quarrel, and the village chief strolls around the village square atop his shield.
One day, the village druid, Getafix, receives a strange letter. It is from Hella Finidrir, the high priestess of Thule! She warns the druid of a grave threat to his people and asks him to take a mysterious Menhir out of its hiding place… Set off on an exciting adventure and immerse yourself in the world of Asterix! Alone or in co-op, explore the lands of the Roman empire and unravel the mystery of the Crystal Menhir and its incredible powers!
When I was little, these comic strips were the bomb. You’d have the Gauls fighting off the Romans, big-time royal rumble style fights and big feasts where they ate wild boar in the end. Very old school and the politically correct movement nowadays would have a field day with all the oddball references in this show, but to hell with them, this is a great comic strip series and should be treated as such.
In this game, the previous one also released on Switch, we are presented with the story of a friendly druid whose town is in dire need of help. So you go around clobbering Romans all round the place and the further down the game, the tougher they become. You get to take down tents, Romans with horns that call upon more enemies, … The entire game is built around the same mechanic as the comic strips. Beat up the Romans.
You get to take down forts too, by far my favorite of all the fights. I love the near Musou feeling you get, but in itself, this is no Musou game. It is more a brawler than Musou really. The added option to play in co-op is a really great bonus for the gameplay. You can play either Asterix or Obelix in the single-player as well. You share the same health bar though. A health bar that can be refilled by getting some boar meat.
There are also tons of collectibles, special powers, you got that crystal menhir that should show you the way to Hella, … This game really brings a lot of action and content.
I must say, this is probably the nostalgia speaking, but I had a really great time playing this game. I love sliding on the ice not getting a single hit in. I loved being able to slap the shield out of a Romans’ hand and then clobber him or use my big belly as Obelix to stun some others. It is not the highest standard of games, but I loved it anyway. Once you get to upgrading our 2 fighters, you will get even more out of the game! More health and more powerful attacks for the win!
Downsides may be the choice of buttons. You activate the switch between our 2 heroes with the ZL and you activate the special attacks with L. I often clicked the wrong button and even after 2 hours of clobbering Romans, this was still happening. I know it’s a design choice, but really, I did dislike this bit.
In conclusion, Asterix & Obelix XXL3: The Crystal Menhir is a fun game! If you are into mindless button mashing to take out some Romans as a fat Gaul called Obelix or the smartypants called Asterix, you are in for a treat!
