One factor that can make a big difference in a game’s reception is hype. It’s important to balance the amount of hype the game has so that it is proportional to the amount of content it offers. If a game has too much hype it can set the expectations too high and end up disappointing. On the other hand, an underhyped game might not reach many people, but it can make a great impression on the people who play it. In Stars and Time is a very underhyped game that offers far more than its first impressions would imply.
The Role You Play
You play as Siffrin, a one-eyed traveler who fights with a knife. He also can travel through time and reenact the same day over and over again. This allows him to correct any mistakes and avoid death by restarting the day from the beginning.
Siffrin is joined in his journey by his companions: a rapier-wielding housemaiden named Mirabelle, a fighter named Isabeau and a researcher named Odile, as well as support from a kid named Bonnie who aids the party by attacking the enemies and providing other support abilities to the rest of the party.
Plot
The world of Vaugarde has fallen into peril. The tears of an evil king have spread across the land and have caused most of the country to become frozen in time. Sefferin and his friends, each with their own motivation to unfreeze their homes, have joined forces. Their mutual goal is to defeat the king in hopes of undoing the damage he has done, unfreezing Vaugarde and allowing everyone to return to their normal, peaceful lives.
The game begins with Siffrin and company reaching the final stop of their journey: the town of Dormont just outside the evil king’s castle. As your party progresses through the castle, Siffrin falls victim to a trap and is crushed to death, only to discover that he respawns in the same spot where he woke up outside of Dormont. It becomes apparent that Siffrin is caught in a time loop and he must not only defeat the king, but escape the time loop as well.
Gameplay
In Stars and Time uses a turn-based combat system that uses rock paper scissors as a substitute for elemental weaknesses. The enemy designs incorporate the hand signs for rock, paper or scissors into their character design to indicate which symbol they represent. This way, there is a clear indication of what the enemy is strong or weak against. There is also the option for combo attacks. When you land five of the same type of attack in a row, you can execute a powerful combo attack that deals a lot of damage and restores health to your entire party.
Length
In Stars and Time is a bit deceptive with how long it is. At it’s surface, it seems like a straightforward RPG where you are on the final stretch of a journey to free the world from peril. However, once you dive further in, you quickly learn that there is so much more. Just when you think you have gotten to the end, the game is blindsiding you with a new plot twist that you need to get to the bottom of. There are also a lot of extra missions to complete for the townspeople, there is new information you can learn about your party members, and extra items you can gather to make your quest easier. All-in-all, In Stars and Time will take on average about 20 hours to finish.
Music
The soundtrack for In Stars and Time is very retro and chiptune-inspired to match the grayscale aesthetic. Several of the songs on the soundtrack sound entirely like chiptune tracks pulled right out of a soundtrack for a classic Gameboy game. Others take similar sounding elements and incorporate them to varying degrees (sometimes not at all.) The entire soundtrack has a nice tone that excellently pays tribute to retro RPGs while still fully showing off the modern day tools and hardware.
Notable Features
The biggest standout feature of In Stars and Time is the time loop mechanic. Every time Siffrin dies, he can restart the day with new information he did not have before. This information can be used to learn more about the world, gain an advantage against the King, or build a deeper relationship with his friends. Every time Siffrin makes a new discovery, it opens up a new path that you can take. This may or may not require Siffrin to intentionally end his life to start a new time loop.
The Talking Parts
The dialogue is an incredibly essential part of In Stars and Time. There is a plethora of dialogue exchanged between Siffrin and the rest of the other party members, as well as the other townspeople, interactions with the environment, even the king you’re trying to defeat. Each character injects the conversation with their own personality, with Siffrin being very stoic, Isabeau, being overly friendly, and Bonnie being juvenile and eccentric just to name a few examples.
The options expand as you replay through the time loop more and more. You begin to notice that conversations start to change and new details emerge. Siffrin can even skip entire conversations that he has experienced before in previous time loops.
Z…We’ve Reached the End. Anything Else?
While In Stars in Time may seem very child-friendly on the surface, it covers some pretty serious subject matter. Of the issues it covers, the biggest one by far is trauma and the response to it. Multiple characters in the game have dealt with some kind of physical or emotional trauma in their lives, and In Stars and Time does an accurate job of portraying the raw emotions of each character confronting their trauma. It also does so in a way that can still make the story palatable to a younger audience.
Final Summary
In Stars and Time is an RPG that seems very simple at first, but contains an incredible amount of depth when you dive further into it. The story and characters are unforgettable and will leave a lasting impression on you for a long time. This is a game you absolutely should not miss out on.
Final Score: 10/10
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