In Stars And Time

[h1] Underrated Emotional Journey [/h1] WARNING: mild and heavy spoilers For a long time, a different game of a similar genre was standing in my top-1 among indie titles - that was Omori. However, you can't hyperfixate on the same game too long because there is nothing else left to explore at some point. My goal was to find a game that combines 3 similar key aspects: 1) It must be an indie game that you can beat in less than 30 hours. 2) The story must be heartwarming and emotionally devastating at the same time, meaning it has absolute dark moments and bright things as well. 3) It must be something that you might enjoy EVEN MORE if you're older (let's say, in your late 20s). While searching multiple lists and recommendations, I came across In Stars and Time. Something in the trailer, in it's monochrome, cute artstyle made me think that I should give it a try. [b] [i] Oh. My. God. Boom goes the dynamite! [/i] [/b] If you like to torture yourself, to receive psychological damage while playing the game and also feel something warm in your heart —that's exactly your point of destination. ISAT is an absolute MUST! [h3] Brilliant character writing. Human connection [/h3] What I find amazing in this game is that main hero and party we see, this "Found Family" of some sorts is highly convincing. Bonnie acts as a kid, like a real kid! There is no that weirdo stuff that you can see in the media lately. Four other members are adults and treating him like someone who they must protect at all costs. Mirabelle reminds me of a real person, a friend of mine back in college days - same optimism, innocence, being modest but... some strange traits too sometimes? (like being attracted to strange horror-romantic stories) Odile is a perfect representation of sarcastic clever-minded individual being sometimes cold but actually someone who doesn't want to be alone too. Isabeau is a real human being with their insecurities who is trying not to show them and has good emotional maturity. And, of course, Siffrin - our main character who, as we will see later, doesn't know that much about themselves. [spoiler] They are from other country that was forgotten due to unknown circumstances, they can't remember their real name, their parents, childhood, their past and they even forgot at some point about the fact of amnesia itself! Quite a pressure on individual, especially according to game lore - in their late 20s? That's really an identity crisis here and really relatable! [/spoiler] [spoiler] They also have a thing similar to... "Hedgehog's Dilemma", like with Shinji Ikari from Evangelion? They don't feel comfortable to be someone others worried about, they're not used to being touched and they don't notice how important for them to be together with someone; but once they finally stay without anyone beside them - they feel horrendous rush of loneliness [/spoiler] The chemistry between all those characters is what makes this story a special one. They all have some interesting bits of story in their past and their journey by now. Some of their jokes and interactions really remind you of real people's relationship. Like if they weren't fictional characters but... real people instead? Just less vulgar and more polite than modern TV series depict "real people". [h3] Play that's divided into acts [/h3] Time loop trope is more or less known. The things remain the same, and we've a full focus centered on the character who loops and observe change in their emotional state and thoughts. We see all their internal struggles, listen to all their monologues, we see how their commentary on everything change throughout the game - and it's really heartbreaking sometimes to see how they gradually lose themselves. In Stars of Time executes this idea with brilliant writing and good pacing. The idea of dividing the game story into ACTS that represent the level of awareness about the whole situation and level of mental/emotional changes MC is going through is a clever one, especially when they start to refer to every loop as a "play" of some sorts, with characters "entering the stage" and "following the script". While many people say that gameplay is repetitive (and it's truth - you will feel that later in second half of the game) - it has it's purpose. Like a work of art, those feelings of being annoyed, frustrated, puzzled about what to do next, tired from seeing same things - that's something you will share with protagonist. It reminds me of Haruhi Suzumiya's "Endless Eight" when you had to experience the same things - just like the characters, and it's slowly driving you crazy - on purpose, to deliver you perfect ending later. Catharsis we experience in final acts when EVERYTHING suddenly goes wrong - that's hard to describe. For me, it was one last all-night game session. I was just sitting in silence and going through the House and... how miserable and devastating it was, oh gosh. [h3] Nostalgia, friendship, loneliness and oblivion [/h3] Four core themes of the game (in my personal opinion) are discussed in very interesting manner. 1) How does it feel when you struggle to remember and there's nothing you can do? 2) Can you overcome your yearning for the things that you can never return back to? 3) Can you accept that the world is always changing and things can't remain the same? 4) And finally, is loneliness a curse or a bless? People who read this review and who maybe tend to stick to life without friends and other people: what do you think of this story? Is it the answer that neither of us wants to hear - but a real answer? That people can't live alone? There is a section in the game about [spoiler]touch starvation with those quotes: (You brush against everyone again.) (You've read somewhere that humans need a certain amount of skin-to-skin contact otherwise they go insane.) (Asking for skin-to-skin contact would be weird, so you content yourself with clothes-to-clothes.) (You rub your arms once, twice, thrice.) (Your throat tightens.) (You feel like you're floating in your own body.) (If only someone would touch you to make sure you're real! Someone, anyone!) This one really hit right in the heart personally to me. Such a simple, not important line - but silently "screaming", it says so much! Sharp observation about the life of a person in period of loneliness. [/spoiler] [h3] Game execution [/h3] The game itself is just a project on RPG Maker - a genre on it's own. Despite of that, it makes you feel unique emotions, something that you might miss even in AAA projects. The fact that it was made primarily by one person is INSANE to me. I didn't experience any bugs except for 1-2 minor things closer to the end. Time loop mechanic works very well with RPG and a habit of re-checking every piece of map, every tile, object and NPC you see. Game music was done by a separate team who helped insertdisk5. Their tracks are last, important key aspect that makes the journey emotional one. I personally liked those tracks: "Do You Remember (We've Been Through This Before)" Act 5's House Theme "Go Back (Death's Theme)" "An Island North of Vaugarde" Dormont theme All OST was so efficient, invoked so many feelings - and I cried and sobbed twice in the end. I had to do some achievement runs and unlock a secret so I had to go through last two acts again, and it still hit me in the heart like in the first time. [h3] So... [/h3] Overall, these were amazing 30-35 hours of my life. That's one of the games where I could say something like "I would like to experience it once more like in the first time" - but that's not possible. There is no "Perfect Ending" and you can't capture the moment and "freeze" it. And the lesson here: don't push other people away from you and ask for help even if it doesn't feel right, not for you. Being silent can lead to worse outcomes. 10/10 slipped on banana peel deaths. You feel like a living comedy sketch.