Video games are a uniquely interactive medium, and as long as they've been around, there has always been a desire to share that experience with others. Some titles are just better with friends, and that's what the action RPG Starlight Re:Volver takes to heart. Inspired by the theme of togetherness seen in anime like Sailor Moon, Starlight Re:Volver gives a group of friends a chance to be magical heroes on an adventure influenced by their choices.
Fighting monsters in dream worlds full of familiar roguelite mechanics combined with fishing and taking selfies in a world built for nostalgic online socialization to bring this colorful anime world to life, The Best War Games recently had the chance to go on a tour of it all in Starlight: Re:Volver. Of course, no tour of the colorful Nishi Island Metropolis would be complete without diving into SoMi to take on a monster or several to see a fair amount of what Starlight Re:Volver has to offer.
Starlight Re:Volver Invites Players to Socialize Online Like They Used To
Before players can get into the fighting, they'll need to pick a character and enter the world of the Nishi Island Metropolis, aka NIM. Here, they can meet up with friends or match up with other players to form a party of four. Players can then head to the Diving Stage to queue up for a dungeon together or warm up for one by exploring the town. NIM is rather expansive, offering plenty of space to walk around, explore, and talk to other players through stickers, if not the actual text chat.
Starlight Re:Volver's inspiration in its wide-open city and park areas is worn on its sleeve, feeling like a nostalgic walk through the old online worlds of the early 2000s. Each character has a unique mode of transport they can ride to get around the area faster, and a chat wheel makes it easy to choose selected stickers to keep up with the conversation. Even with these more modern ideas, though, it still captures the same feeling of what it was like to connect and talk to friends in large lobbies filled with other players. Even if players get into Starlight Re:Volver for the multiplayer roguelite gameplay above all else, the overworld will likely grab their attention eventually through its sheer charm and implementation that works hand-in-hand with Re:Volver's dungeons.
How Every Player's Choice Can Make or Break a Run in Starlight Re:Volver's SoMi Dungeons
At the top of the island is the Diving Stage, where players can jump into a dream-like dungeon to explore the world inside. Here is where the game switches into a roguelite experience where the strategy matters. In each room, the party has to handle a wave of enemies that will react to their presence as they make their way through. This helps limit how many monsters they have to fight at once, although the number and strength of the enemies grows throughout the dungeon. Players can unlock and utilize Starlight Re:Volver's anime-inspired abilities in these dungeons. Each character has a wide variety of special moves they can obtain through each dungeon run, which is supported by Starlight Re:Volver's build mechanics.
Players can obtain three moves that can level up and act as stat boosts. Each stat boost falls under specific categories and strengthens different things, so players need to understand their character's playstyle and have a general idea of what they wish to power up to get through the run in one piece. This ties into Re:Volver's charms and shop items, in that gathering the equipment that boosts specific stats helps create the builds players want with ease, yet there's still room to go off the beaten path if fans want to experiment. This flexibility is an important part of Starlight Re:Volver as simply having a basic understanding of its stat boosts and its characters will make any player a valuable asset to the team.
On the other side of the coin, picking abilities without a goal in mind will make it hard to get through the dungeon as the difficulty ramps up. The map is rather lengthy, made up of multiple rooms that give players plenty of chances to strengthen their characters through room clear rewards and shops, even including the chance to test their builds with mini-bosses along the way. However, it'll likely take many players multiple attempts to get through Starlight Re:Volver's dungeons. Even with assistance, our team almost made it through but still had to get sent back to the Island Metropolis to try again in the future.
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An uncommon pairing, these notable JRPGs each feature distinct roguelite or roguelike elements, creating fresh and unique gameplay experiences.
Starlight Re:Volver Uses Roguelite and Socialization Mechanics to Bring an Iconic Genre to Life
This is where the gameplay loop for Starlight Re:Volver may captivate varied friend groups looking for a game to play together. The experience thrives better when it co-exists with both sides of itself, the action-packed and the social. There are shops and activities to do, such as crafting, in NIM that give bonuses in SoMi that will help empower future dungeon crawls. There's optional content to allow players to express themselves as well, such as crafting additional outfits to customize the characters.
Almost everything in Starlight Re:Volver embraces the idea of it all being "better together," even down to the fishing mechanics, which give boosts if the party specifically fish closer together. The roguelite elements found in SoMi go well with allowing players to organically learn their character and party dynamics through trial and error, which sets them up well for going on a unique magical and anime adventure.
Starlight Re:Volver still has a ways to go in its development cycle, and that may be the biggest catch about the game so far. It's still got a bit left to go with its growing pains. Starlight Re:Volver plans to release in early access this year, which means players can watch it evolve as they're playing it. It's certainly a title to keep an eye on in the meantime, but some gamers may want to see it with a bit more polish before they dive in. It'll be interesting to see where Starlight Re:Volver goes when it's available to more players, and if it lives up to its promises, it'll be a title worth playing over and over again with anyone who adores anime.
- Developer(s)
- Pahdo Labs
- Publisher(s)
- Pahdo Labs
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Roguelite
