Stardust Demon

Good game so far, haven't finished yet. I'm currently stuck going through all the past worlds trying to find 4 specific key items to continue the game. Saying this it also means that the game is not doing the best job at leading me to where they are and finding secrets and getting items is going to be something that will probably make me feel overwhelmed. To this I warn you of the following: If you don't like games that don't tell you where to go exactly... This game will be dropped after a while since you won't know where to go. But if you like games that do that, then you are good to enjoy the game... Just know that the map is IMMENSE and the game expects to make use of your time trying to find items and secrets around. I'd love it to be streamlined into leading me to the end, but alas, this is what this game chose to be. I am happy I expected more than a Cave Story clone and I am guessing I've got that at least. I might update this review once I beat this game (if I do) Nonetheless... This game is stressing me and I don't want my friends to go through it like I am atm. Edit 16/03/25 Just finished the game. I still think the same. Hard to know where to go and not the most satisfactory gameplay... The songs are amazing, if there's only one reason to buy this game it's for the songs <3

lost motivation at the late game and gave up basically, my main issue is that i went into this [i]for[/i] the narrative, and it turns out stardust demon is really not a game you play for the narrative. the aesthetic is great, the premise is intriguing, and the writing offers decent set dressing if you're really into the gameplay, but every character is consistently and offputtingly infantile in how they speak and behave. there's a bit of edge to the writing, but it's hard not to feel like i'm spending my time reading dialogue intended for eight year olds

Ce jeu est hyper intéressant, bien travaillé, et parmi les jeux de plateforme les plus difficile à compléter que j'ai dû faire. Il n'est pas exampt de défauts, ou de mécaniques qui viennent casser le rythme de jeu. Mais il a son identité, et je ne peux pas le blamer pour ça. Il fait plusieurs référence à des jeux rétro, notamment l'époque NES et MEGADRIVE (avec des cinématiques qui rappellent l'arrivée du support CD et qui sont plus que les bienvenues). J'ai apprécié l'histoire. On a quelque chose qui se construit petit à petit et plusieurs éléments comme des dialogues moins mis en évidence ou des objets trouvés vous permettent de déduire et de reconstruire l'histoire. Côté Gameplay, vous devrez apprendre à gérer vos munitions. C'est un choix de gameplay douteux, mais qui est contrebalancé par des munitions données avant les passages obligatoires. Ainsi qu'un moyen d'en regagner en échange de santé. Si vous souhaitez réellement tout compléter, il va falloir apprendre à gérer vos stocks et faire du secondaire. Côté plateforme, on retrouve ce qui fait la force des Megaman avec un dash complexe en plus. Attention, même si tous les mouvements vous sont appris par des tutoriels ou naturellement via des pièces d'entraînement, il vous faudra chercher les mécaniques avancées par vous-même. Autrement, impossible de compléter le 100% du jeu. Promis, je ne spoil rien. Les musiques qui accompagnent le jeu semblent un peu étrange quand on ne fait que la démo. Mais cela change assez vite. Et je dois le dire, bien que cela met un petit temps avant de se mettre en place, je suis fan du genre. Côté énigmes, rien n'est impossible. Il faut se poser et parfois chercher la fin pour trouver le début. Il y a plusieurs niveaux d'énigmes et les plus ardues ne sont pas requises pour terminer le jeu. Toutes les épreuves difficiles sont donc secondaires. Et j'ai beaucoup apprécié la "surprise". Bien que je ne l'ai pas moi-même résolu au moment où j'écris cet avis. Mon aventure et ma completion à 95% avant mon combat final se sont bien passé. Par contre, je n'ai eu AUCUN succès steam via mon Ubuntu ou mon Steam Deck. Je ne comprend pas ce qui a pû se passer mais il semble que passer sur Windows trigger la validation des succès.

If you're coming to this from Mibibli's Quest hoping for more of that then prepare to be disappointed. It's just a lot of the same puzzles, very very basic platforming, and spammy mindless combat. If you haven't played Mibibli's Quest just play that.

Another game with a good premise and bad execution.

This game will get a solid recommendation if control rebinds for keyboard are added. I cannot fathom the non-rebindable Z for jump & interact, X for attack, and arrows to move. It's borderline unplayable for me this way but if that gets fixed, the soundtrack is awesome and the gameplay is good.

Stardust Demon is a delightful platformer in the 'metroidvania' tradition where re-exploration is key to greater progress. You play Algol, a lazy demon who has been tasked with feeding berries to a statue. Things quickly go out of hand from there as he encounters a new best friend called Scringles, and the story blossoms into something with far greater meaning than you'd initially guess. The narrative and design aspects are interesting in how they portray Algol's character: there are several design decisions relating to Cave Story, specifically Algol's floaty controls and a handful of enemy types + movement patterns. However, as Algol gradually learns to become less self-centered and willing to work to help others, the game reveals a fascinating design philosophy about potential: there's multiple power-ups that make Algol's moveset more fluid but there's also moves in their basekit dash attack that seem sluggish until you figure out how to use it optimally, and then suddenly you can start to move very quickly. The game's storyline is relatively simple platforming that's interspersed by sometimes preposterously difficult side content (I went "you want me to do WHAT?!" several times in multiple rooms that reward you with a Berry Gem) but the way this helps the player gradually move into a greater confidence with the game's challenges has to be admired.