STARWEAVE

Wow!! I bought this on sale, but even 5 bucks is well worth the experience. Overall, a really interesting and meta game that explores the ideas of strategy, communication, and autonomy. I don't want to spoil too much, but there are some very interesting mechanics at play during the turn-based combat sequences. Took me about 2 hours to complete the game, but there is still more content I haven't seen yet!! The story is very interesting and the worldbuilding is so intriguing. First of all - and this cannot be understated - the art is BEAUTIFUL. The set pieces are so incredibly stunning. Everything feels so mysterious and painterly, really really beautiful! The portraits, character sprites, and environment are all cohesive despite the slight differences between chibi and full portrait design. The colors are genuinely delectable. The characters are very unique and have their own strong personalities but I really wish that we could spend more time with them! I'll have to replay the game to get all of the conversation options, but I am still left feeling a little distant and curious about my teammates. The camera is a little odd to get used to at first but then it felt very natural as I kept playing. I don't play a lot of turn-based tactics games but I thought that the combat was VERY well done. I am honestly quite bad at the game, which has a really interesting effect that you may not expect as the story progresses! However, I slowly understood the intentions and strengths of each character and got better at the combat, which felt very rewarding (and when I died/did poorly, the feedback from my teammates felt a lot more personal lmfao). I don't want to say too much more because I think that this a very good game to go mostly uninformed into. Please play it and amazing job by the team - this is such an impressive piece of media, especially by a student thesis team!!

i have a lot to say on this game, but in the interest of not making this 5 paragraphs, [url=https://backloggd.com/u/Octodad/review/4297767/]here's my full thoughts.[/url] overall i really enjoyed it, the writing was good and i really liked the art, the main reason why i bought it in the first place. though i didn't really resonate with the story the way others seemed to, i did understand what it was trying to tell. this is definitely a game for someone. i think it plays with other tactics games conventions in interesting ways, but it doesn't really explain what it's doing to you. the gameplay itself is also a little janky, but it's a 3~ hour game, half of it being walking around, so i didn't mind that much. i found the characters and their dynamics to be well written, my favorites being troubadour and lighthouse, and the twists(?) were genuinely crazy. this was a good game. you should play it

A small studio game with big heart Starweave has a lot going for it, especially when you consider the ambition on display: the systems, art, music, voice acting, and story the team is reaching for. It's a big swing for a small studio, and overall they hit their mark. Is it perfect? No, there are plenty of QoL improvements which could be made to the UI/UX, the story could be a bit more fleshed out, and the gameplay has some jank / quirks. But is it good? Yes. There's a ton of heart behind it, the visual language is polished, the characters each feel like they have a lot going for them, and both the enemy & world design feel quite cohesive. I'd love to see what this team can and will do next given the opportunity!

How much of your story is fate, and how much of fate is your choice? That is the question Starweave aims to answer, and it succeeds. You'll be drawn into a mysterious world with a cast of colorful characters, from the ever optimistic Troubador, the brooding Blackguard, to the ever-patient Lighthouse. The art is simply fantastic and I found myself exploring every nook and cranny to appreciate all the assets. In the end, Starweave is a narrative that leaves you thinking about your answer long after the credits have rolled.

An absolutely beautiful game wrapped up in a gorgeously poetic experience about the human existence, friendship and courage, and what it means to question and to be questioned. Even though it can easily be completed in one sitting, it is not simple at all. This game genuinely surprised me with some of the twists, and its lovable yet human characters make you really care for each and every of them. The dialogue and narrative are absolutely heartbreaking at times, and has such a poignant touch to it done extremely well alongside the mechanics and level design that support the story. The final fight was a bit of a challenge and I took a couple of tries, but once I figured it out, I was able to finish the game in just over two hours. Some things mentioned in other reviews like I would need to replay to get all of the dialogue options available, but I would really love to get to know the characters better, including the player themself! Overall an amazing game that touches the heart and really sits with you even after you've completed it.

This game has some great ideas with a Madoka Magica vibe and a Fire Emblem-style gameplay. The voice acting is lovely and the arts are very pretty. The dialogues though are pretty simple and some things are not very deepened, making the whole experience feel a bit more like a conceptual idea for a bigger title, which is fine for the price and length. But I could really see these ideas be expanded and make for an outstanding big JRPG game. Although I really loved the title and I recommend it, I also have one complain: in my opinion, the concept of the characters not following your orders is constructed in a pretty annoying way without expanding enough on it. By that I mean that the mechanic happens so often that I was even wondering why I was playing at all, and at a certain point the strategy became that of moving units in places in which they would have no other possible option other than following my orders. Additionally, the game doesn't really expand on our role: are we players a sort of "personification of team collaboration" which explains why they don't follow our orders, or are we actually the protagonist who is vocally giving orders to her companions? Because in the first case, the idea is not flashed out enough, while in the latter case, the protagonist doesn't really discusses seriously the fact that the they are being constantly ignored in battle. Lastly, I found the combat animations to be too slow, which became a problem in two instances in which a bug forced me to exit the game and re-enter, thus having to redo a whole battle. But all said, I think it's really worth its price, and that it is a very fascinating 2-3 hours experience.

Charming and amazing art, music, and storytelling. Does so much in a short amount of time, absolutely worth checking out!

very very fun game, w/gorgeous art and design. the integration of gameplay and story is especially well done. will be replaying for all the dialogue i missed the first time around!

it's a beautiful game with a message i feel that means a lot in today's world. the gameplay is really fun and reminded me how much fun tactics-based rpg games can be. it's a wonderful story with such amazing music, fantastic art, and characters you grow attached to so quickly. definitely worth the buy & the play!!

Starweave was such a lovely experience from the story, the characters (with a stellar voice cast), the art, the combat; there's genuinely a lot of love in this project from multiple sides. I especially adored the trust and refusal mechanics. Within a map's time, it completely changed my mindset from how I would normally play a tactics game to carefully considering how to best meet a party member's needs even if it wasn't the strategy I thought would be most optimal at the moment. It was such a fun part of the journey that wove in nicely with the themes and feelings of the game for me moving forward. I had to stop myself while writing this from going on a complete ramble about just one element of this game and there's still more to love. If any part of Starweave interests you please go and play it!! It's well worth your time!