Star Rift Saga

Solid indie metroidvania. A few minor bugs (eg can crash if you try buying out a chip vendor). There is a little too much inertia imo, but overall solid platforming mechanics and shooting mechanics. The chip system allows for customized builds and you get to save a few different quick presets. Not too long (most players will probably finish in around 10ish hrs). Story is okay! Font choice isn't super readable. Also the markings I made on my map didn't get saved - but late in the game you can unlock an in-game map feature that marks power up locations.

Fun game! I recommend having a controller. Music is great, mechanics are a bit different than I expected, excited to see where this goes. Will update as I play more.

I don't play Metroidvanias all too often, and the only ones I have found significant enjoyment in have been Hollow Knight and now, thankfully, Start Rift Saga. There are a few features that I really like: 1. The slight homing mechanic on the plasma gun makes a simple aiming system feel much less tedioius 2. The chip improvement system not only gives a lot of different builds and replay-ability, but gives a strong incentive to continue to kill enemies even late into the game. That is something that other Metroidvanias struggle to do, but this one does very well. 3. Although the inspiration from Hollow Knight is clear, a lot of the abilities, enemies, and gameplay is unique and refreshing. Overall, this has been a fantastic game to play so far, and I am pumped to keep playing more.

If you’re reading reviews for Star Rift Saga, you’re already half way there since the other 10 people who check the r/metroidvania subreddit already discovered this game. It’s a niche entry but it checks out. The graphics aren’t anything special but they are serviceable. The story is fun but pretty simple. Why give this a recommendation? To me, a good metroidvania tackles familiar game mechanics like exploration and ability progression in such a way that despite having played other entries into the genre I never get tired of unlocking the double jump or the hook shot (or whatever, you get the idea) because the game has piqued your interest in what secrets you’ll uncover once you have that new ability. That said, it’s also impressive when the developer mixes it up with some more unique abilities/weapons (I feel Supraland is the gold standard with this one). Star Rift manages to do both of these and also includes a nice chip system for unique weapon builds (like a much much more complex version of the Hollow Knight build system) which levels up so you can play Tetris with the chips you unlock on a bigger and bigger board. This means grinding is an option if you feel underpowered but not necessary if you’re doing fine. By the end game you have a ton of build styles and despite not having a super focused build I was melting enemies pretty easily on hard difficulty. This didn’t convince me to try the hardest mode since I’m too old to have a bad time willingly; the difficulty was just challenging enough for me. There were about 2-3 optional platforming/combat sections that took me a while to complete. If you’re a sweaty try hard who splits your time between doing hitless Silksong runs and commenting “I never once had to look up a guide for the secret ESA sections” in the applicable forums then you probably won’t have a tough time completing this on the hardest difficulty. My point is that this is a solid game by a dedicated dev and if you enjoy a good metroidvania you owe it a shot because that’s exactly what this is. Also it runs great on the Deck, in case that matters.

I enjoyed this little game. Good weapons and upgrades. Good level design. I beat it over the weekend but I can't wait for an expansion or a 2nd one if that happens. Developer patches things quickly and is active.

Star Rift Saga is a wonderful metroid style game, the music is fantastic, the pixel art is great to look at, the story is nice. The gameplay is really where things shine, it starts off slow, but eventually by around the middle of the game, things open up some more and damage you can deal makes most enemies feel less of a hazard and more of a speed bump, which is nice to be given that kind of power. The skill chip system allows for focus into different weapons and leads to build variety which is great for experimentation and replayability exploring the world is enjoyable, my only major complaint is for some rooms separated by one-way platforms leading to a long walk back around if you accidentally go past them, but otherwise the level design, layout, and environments are all good and fun to explore. At time of writing I have 59/60 achievements, the last one I need is completing the compendium (item list), I appear to be missing an entire type of item based on how the compendium is laid out which I find puzzling since I've reached the end of the game. Item drop rate could use a bit of a boost I feel. Definitely worth picking up at any price for fans of Metroid and metroidvanias

A good take on a metroidvania, with a good variety of progression mechanics to partake of along the way. With the use of the difficulty mechanics to leverage risk vs. reward, there are a lot of ways to play the game when mixed with the skill chips. I look forward to seeing how the story unfolds.