There’s lot of RPGs out it seems as of late. Not complaints here, of course. One look Starbites will instantly transfer anyone back who grew up or played PS2 era games, and that’s not a bad thing. The game is very much stylized after that era of games which helps it stand out today among a sea of 2D indies or more realistic titles which lends a certain amount of charm to Starbites. I’m happy to report the charm extends to the characters as well.
Starbites is a set in a distant future on a desert planet called Bitter, where remnants of an advanced civilization litter the cosmos where you play as a group of young scavengers trying to survive by exploring abandoned ruins and obtaining ancient technology of the past while uncovering long forgotten secrets. The primary character we play as is a young scavenger named Lukida who owes a ginormous debt to her credit, and alleged mayor of the city of Delight, Fennec. There’s a fragile mother/daughter relationship between the two that unfolds along the way. The primary narrative driver sees Lukida and her team gallivanting across Bitter and battening enemies in turn based JRPG goodness. The characters themselves are pretty expressive with solid voice acting and wonderfully drawn 2D illustrations that assist in telling the story.
As one would expect, there’s lore scattered through the land of Bitter via documents, maps, items, etc like is standard in most RPGs. I enjoyed the combat system quite a bit. Each party member has their own mech (called a Motorbot Mech) with various abilities based on the character’s class. You can craft new items and equipment which also change how your mech looks. You’re free to swap armor among all mechs but weapon types are fixed since each class specializes on specific enemy weaknesses. The enemy weakness mechanic reminds me of the Persona or Octopath Traveler series. Turn based battles present a timeline showing enemy and player turns with each enemy also having weaknesses such as slash, piercing, burn, etc which ticks down en enemy’s shield bar. Once that bar reaches zero, the enemy is stunned for a turn and takes more damage ala Octopath Traveler. Starbites has another trick up its sleeve for combat called Driver’s High. This is a gauge that fills up over time and allows the player to take a turn at any time during battle and unleash an empowered version of a skill.
Speaking of skills, each character has the standard skill tree we’ve all come to love and expect that’s filled out via Talent Points awarded upon leveling up. There’s also lots of fancy cool gear to be bought at various shops in town as well as lots of goodies and treasure to find littered about the world. And if, like me, you wind up straying too far from your main objective there’s a nifty scanner feature that shows you the direction to that quest you found yourself so very far away from.
All in all Starbites isn’t revolutionary or groundbreaking and that’s absolutely fine. What it offers up is JRPG comfort food in the way of being a solid title with a fun cast, tried and true gameplay mechanics, and enough customization and treasure to keep you trekking across the world of Bitter—which is something I was not after rolling credits.
