There, you’ll enter each enchantresses’ heart, as you battle metaphorical monsters in a wonderfully surrealist spirit world that magnificently merges sumi-e and M. To improve the potency and breadth of your witches’ songcraft, gamers can also enter the Tuning Hall. The New Game+ option permits players to persist their socialization efforts, with a bonus of additional Free Time actions each round. Don’t worry, if you can’t foster friendship with all your witches and bros though. More importantly, there is where character and relational growth is depicted, with the sit-downs even influencing the game’s storyline and ending. In the Barracks, you can build relationships with your associates- with bonding bolstering your team’s arsenal of skill and abilities (ala Persona’s Social Links). Situated in the Capital City, Free Time extends a number of activities capable of augmenting your team. Gameplay is divvied into two main components, Free Time and Mission. While there are missteps, with foreshadowing that’s occasionally a bit too obvious, a sense of charm enshrouds the game, recalling the allure and virtue of golden era role-playing games. Occasionally, games can struggle to shift between comical and expositional elements, but dependably Stella swings between these moods, skillfully punctuating levity with a bit of pathos. Although Stella Glow’s story is entrenched in role-playing trope, with a hero trying to regain his memory and maidens who represent the quartet of J-convention ( tsundere, genki, stoic, and confidant), this is hardly a detriment.įrom the roots of conventions, the title produces a robust harvest- with fruits of indulgent familiarity, the unforeseen branch into the unexpected, but mostly a bounty of pure charm. There, the duo joins the Ninth Regiment of the Regnant Knights, a brigade which seeks to find the land’s four other witches and persuade them to overpower Hilda’s malevolent melody. It quickly becomes evident that Hilda intentions are more barbaric than bard-like, as she begins her wrathful destruction of the peaceful hamlet.Īs such, the adopted, amnesiac Alto and his ersatz sibling/authentic love interest head to the capital. There, he finds a mysterious women donning a pointed hat, who explains that witches are the only ones able to produce vocal melody. Naturally, when the game’s protagonist, a sociable young boy named Alto, first hears melody, he’s drawn into the adjacent forest. The game’s prologue establishes a fantasy world almost completely devoid of music, after a vengeful deity seizes song following act of human arrogance. Oh, and there’s even a healthy amount of J-pop to sooth that angsty, otaku soul. But overlook that, you’ll find a near-requisite role-playing game which combines visual novel-like storytelling with capable combat. As swan songs go, Stella might lack innovation. (Let’s just forget about Time and Eternity, ok?). Now, Stella Glow lingers as a legacy- a glum reminder of the studio’s prodigious potential. Mysteriously, the studio’s CEO, Ryoei Mikage disappeared, as did Imageepoch’s official website. After lending a hand to Arzest for Yoshi’s New Island, Imageepoch sought to craft a title to commemorate its ten-year anniversary, and thus Stella Glow was conceptualized.īut soon after the game’s Japanese release, crippling debt forced the company to close. Not long ago, Tokyo-based Imageepoch was riding a wave of accomplishment, churned by competent titles like Luminous Arc, Criminal Girls, and Black Rock Shooter: The Game. While it’s sad to see a disappointing game cause a developer to fold, it’s exceptionally tragic to witness a studio shut down after a string of successes.
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