Developed by a small team and published by EastAsiaSoft, Starlight Legacy is a cozy, nothing fancy, relatively straightforward 16-bit style RPG. This old-school 10-hour campaign doesn’t always hit high notes, but it is a quality option for busy adults who enjoy RPGs but rarely have the time to play them.
To its credit, it is most welcomed to play a classic turned based RPG starring heroes that have their memories fully intact. Instead of following this troupe, the game opens reminiscent of Chrono Trigger as the main character wakes up, goes downstairs, and talks to his Mom. Then the quest transitions from being a sword courier, to tree savor, to, well, I won’t spoil things here. Just know that the narrative has its stereotypes, sure, but it isn’t eyerolling.
This $13 digital download has taken some inspiration from other RPG greats. For example, the over world has many of those little ledge jumps, where it restricts movement northward just like the early Pokemon titles. Eventually the heroes gain the ability to fly on the back of a legendary creature like Secret of Mana. And of course, the turn-based battle system has plenty of Final Fantasy in there. It isn’t exactly the best-looking game, like a glorified RPG Maker, but for a small indie title, it is completely serviceable. Tiles are reused often but there is a large roster of enemies to kill, all of which can be summoned into battle using a certain skill, which is pretty cool for those who dig deep enough.
Speaking of combat, the three-character menu driven fight scenes are fine but there are annoyances that cannot be overlooked. Even though this is a new old-school RPG, it lacks modern features that create tedium. For example, after a battle, the player needs to click deep into the menu system to heal when it should have been assigned to a button when on the over world. This is somewhat alleviated thanks to the included option to double the amount of XP gained from the options screen. If this is activated, levels will be gained much sooner and each character’s health and magic is restored upon leveling. Still, once you hit the level 25-ish mark, digging into the menu to heal after each fight becomes a chore.
Which brings up the next point – leveling. Each character gains experience, which in turn grows in stats, but it feels like it doesn’t matter. Even with the 2x XP option activated, I never felt like I was getting stronger. Enemies still take the standard 2-4 hits, even if you venture back to early areas, so there are definitely some pacing and grinding issues. I think this is because the game gives the player the option to clear the areas in any order. There are four main, which can be completed in any order, but the king only allows the player access to one at a time. So the game needs to retain some semblance of balance since there is a lot of player freedom. To do this, the player is given the illusion they are growing stronger by gaining levels when in fact, enemies will still take too many hits, the weapon/armor system is lacking, and money is always in short supply. Weapons and armor don’t really make you stronger, they just raise one stat while lowering another. Cash is paramount too as players need to stock up on status curing aliments otherwise suffer the immediately consequences. Even sleeping at the inn costs way too much so when you find the occasional NPC that will heal, you need to take advantage. Dying brings you back to the closest Inn so at least you don’t need to restart completely. Like the optional 2x XP feature, the player can activate or disable random battles at will, another considerate inclusion.
Sometimes shops and chests can contain new magic spells and each needs to be assigned to a given character. Once that character learns that spell, it can be assigned to one of the four face buttons. Meaning, only four spells can be used in combat at any given time, requiring a mix of healing and offensive magic to be at your disposal. Personally, I found this system to be limiting but understand why it was implemented.
In addition to leveling issues, the elemental magic system isn’t fully explained and isn’t fair at times. By default, each character has a neutral magic affinity, but it can be changed by purchasing a fire, ice, earth element at the shop. However, this opens the door for a rock/paper/scissor style combat that can be unfair at times. For example, around the halfway point, the player will be faced against a throng of ice gnomes and is unwinnable unless elemental classes are adjusted. Unfortunately, they must be purchased in advance. Which means, players must stock these one-time use items, again, when gold isn’t thrown around as much as XP. Since there is no intuitive way to cure status aliments, some areas are more tedious than others. There is some slight spice to combat found within the abilities option, like jumping like a Final Fantasy dragoon or completing summons that cost higher amount of magic, but the game never fully explains these features. After a few hours, I wish there was a Bravely Default auto-fight option, where it repeats the last wave of commands at 4x speed.
The soundtrack has a few good tunes, but some sound effects are annoying. The wall bumping sound effect, specifically, is entirely unnecessary and will make you mute your TV. Like so many other games, the default volume level is very loud and needs to be adjusted within the menu.
Even with flaws and annoyances, Starlight Legacy is still a wholesome, nostalgic RPG that doesn’t really do anything unique, but it isn’t trying to do so. It wears its heart on its sleeve and offers a retro experience that players in their 40s will appreciate the most. Also, this is a new, retro RPG made by a small team that isn’t another needless simulator or Survivors clone so hopefully it gets some recognition.
SCORE: 6.5/10
Not As Good As: the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection
Also Play: the Octopath Traveler games
Wait For It: a new Golden Sun
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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