In Stars And Time

Sometimes, fictional characters feel like real people to me. I've had the feeling in various games, like One Shot, parts of Undertale, some gacha games (yes I know, cringe). And lots of books. I think that the devs/writers of this game, probably feel the same way about their characters. And that's probably the highest praise I can give. If you're reading this you either likely just finished the game, or you're wondering if the incredibly positive reviews mean you should play it and to that I can only say... yeah. This one deserves it. This is one of those games that keep showing us things can be exciting and new again, that can inspire us or challenge us again. So I liked it! Also Siffrin deserves more headpats.

My cuteness aggression is off the charts with this one! I wanna pop Siffrin in my mouth like a mochi! They are just too adorable! <3

All these loops are not giving me a good time… Anyways, 10/10 game.

Would give mixed review but leaning towards recommend. I have a lot of thoughts about this game but TLDR: Hard carried by narrative and setting. I get that the repetitive nature is supposed to make you empathize with Siffrin, so it's hard to critique, but it is just so incredibly tedious as a game that I can’t fully hand wave it away. Was disappointed with the turn based battle mechanics and time travel nature of the game. Really liked act 5, but just wish that it explored deeper into the ideas the game presented on the psychological toll the loops took on Siffrin. Dialogue and writing was hit or miss for me, good amount of it was just a bit too quirky for my tastes but overall liked the characters. Overall story was what kept me playing. Liked the amount of small details in the dialogue as well. Soundtrack was also pretty good. Also no complaints about the artwork or aesthetic, those were great. Maybe like a 6-7/10. If nothing else, I can appreciate the amount of heart put in to this game.

Wasted potential, unfortunately. There is too much dialog, but not the good kind: things are repeated countless times. Don't get me wrong, there is also great dialog. But a lot of it consists of things that are repeated on and on and on and ON. The tutorial is easily the most infuriating part. You have to fight all of the monsters, and every single time there are tens of lines of dialog explaining the concepts. Instead of letting you figure it out and get satisfaction, you are just told exactly what to do. Because of this, I just wanted to skip the fights, and then figure it out on my own later. But you can't do that. You have to sit and go through the tutorial even if you already have a slight understanding of how things work. I get that it's the way the cast members interact with each other. It does have a certain charm to it. But it gets boring really fast. The character that was running around doing laps explained that you can use X to run, and repeated itself like 3 times. It was one of my first interactions, and honestly I found it funny. But later interactions with other characters became predictable, boring, and I just wanted to skip them. The party members tell you their backstories in the beginning. It's too much information! Not only can I not remember everything I was just told due to the sheer amount of dialog, but it makes you lose any sort of interest for the characters. Instead of figuring out why each of the party members fight (their motivations, aspirations, and what they want to do after defeating the king) as the story plays out, you are instantly given this information. Because of this, I don't feel the urge to analyze how the characters speak or how they interact with each other in order to figure out who they are. I'm already spoon-fed this at the start of the game! Maybe this is because you're supposed to be close friends with everyone and already know them very well, and the devs wanted to focus the story on the frustration and hopeless feeling of looping after each death. That's not inherently a bad idea, but I feel it was executed very poorly. It feels like there is no trust in the player to figure out anything for themselves. Maybe a fear that they won't be able to understand or experience the whole story as the creators wanted. I get that. But please, let the player experiment and explore the story at their own pace. If they want to skip the tutorial, let them. To force these things is to assume you understand what the player wants more than the player does. I wanted to continue playing past the first loop, and was positive that things would get better. But, from what other people have said in their reviews, it seems that you don't get much agency as the game progresses. For example: [spoiler]interacting with some items does nothing, until much later when the main character mentions that they could be potentially useful, and only then can you interact with them in any significant way.[/spoiler] I love the art and the potential of the chemistry between the party members. But unfortunately I couldn't continue playing.

It really is worth playing to the end. great story and characters and the mystery of the whole game is just so good. It is a bit repetitive tho, but come on thats the premise of the whole game

Out of every game I bought this steam summer sale, this has been the best by a MILE. In Stars And Time takes a simple concept of "what if you rewinded every time you died?", and makes it into an amazing story that had me crying my the end of it. Gameplay wise it's pretty simple, following a type chart of the hit game rock paper scissors (you may have heard of it, but it is pretty niche) to deliver weaks/resists/blocks, along with using 5 of the same type unleashes an overpowered ultimate (jackpot) attack, dealing insane damage of the type, healing/reviving your party. When it comes to the story, I'm not gonna say much because I don't want to spoil whoever is reading this review, but if it helps, it is one of the few games that has made me cry by the end, and THAT'S how good it is. Other things I do like about the game is the loveable cast of characters (Siffrin my beloved), all unique in style, and especially in battle UI, where all the craft (spell) names fit what said characters would say. Having pronouns in the menu is a lovely touch I like as well! The only negativity I would have to say about this game is the fact it gets very, VERY repetitive. Arguably you can infer this is for story reasons, but in act 3 I was getting annoyed/bored due to having to well, repeat (I'll leave it at that to not spoil). I'm glad I pushed through, but take my advice if you may not be able to handle that. Anyways, this is in my top 5 games of all time, due to how damn good that story is. Any game that manages to make me cry by the end is an immediate best. (I've also spent way too much money on merchandise help :sob:)

One of the best RPGs I've ever played, behind only Deltarune for me. If you like games where you'll have to replay, over and over and over and over and over and over again AND STILL FIND NEW STUFF, this is your RPG. (My first playthrough from start to end took me 3 days!) This is not a game you sit down and finish in one sitting unless you know what you are doing. In case you are the kind to buy the game and the soundtrack (Like me) The soundtrack is pretty good! It comes both in WAV and MP3, but no metadata sadly. But nothing audioranger can't fix. DON'T OPEN THE SOUNTRACK BEFORE YOU FINISH. THE TITLES HAVE SPOILERS. The Artbook comes in a PDF and has a lot of fun details and lore pieces too! But don't go reading it until you finish the game aswell (I got spoilered on accident about a important part of the game, I never threw my phone away so quick in my life lmao) Again 9/10 - Only reason it is not a 10/10 is because due to how lost you can be without guides and outside sources. But I suppose that matches how Siffrin must be feeling during the game itself lmao

A motherlike. Very entertaining, extremely charming characters. Gameplay can feel a bit tedious at times, but that is in fact Part Of It. Also happened to scratch a certain yaoi itch that had been bothering me for a while.

AMAZING game. As a time travel enthusiast, this has got to be the best depiction of time loops that I have ever seen. The story is incredible and the dialogue is realistic in an engaging way. The main cast feels like just your average friend group, it's amazing. 10/10, absolutely recommend.