Stella Glow

A cute RTS named Stella Glow is coming to the 3DS in November. I can't find out much about it, but apparently it involves singing, and people weren't sure it would come out here but it did.

And the art style is cute. It reminds me of something but I'm not sure what.

So Stella Glow is getting an American release? That's awesome, I hadn't heard yet. And here I imported the Japanese version ...

Anyway, it's actually a turn-based strategy RPG, not real-time. I don't want to throw too many spoilers around, but songs in this game are Magic Music - and the sole province of witches, judging by dialogue fairly early on.

I'll check who the character designer is, but I love how the characters are drawn.

The character designs remind me of Phantom Brave and Disgaea a little.

edited 20th Jun '15 12:43:08 PM by lalalei2001

I don't have a name handy for the character designer, but it looks like Stella Glow is the last title to come out of Imageepoch, who also did Arc Rise Fantasia, Fate/EXTRA, and Time and Eternity, among others.

Tempted to rev up a wiki entry for Stella Glow, but I don't think I know enough to do that yet.

Huh, I was hoping for more info on this game. Oh well.

Demo's out in NA, at least. What I've seen of the story so far... I can make a few guesses about what's going on now, and what happened in the past, and I'm not sure I like what I'm guessing.

Gameplay wise, this is reminding me a lot of FFTA. Given that I liked FFTA a lot, this is a good thing.

Also, Lisette is hilarious, has really good timing, and her cooking is very distinctive. That is all that needs to be said.

Should we give it a trope page?

Eh, maybe we might want to hold on until the game's out for that. We can start putting together the tropes in the demo, however; and since the demo seems to cover the full game's prologue section...

As for my story guesses, I was partly right, partly wrong, and partly unsure. I was right that Doomed Hometown or similar would be in effect (by the way, does Taken for Granite cover being turned into crystal?), right that something would happen to Lisette (she watched her mom turn to crystal), and right that Lisette's cooking was foreshadowing something (she's a witch, or at least, became one).

As for being wrong, I thought that Lisette would be turned to crystal (everybody other than her and Alto did), that Alto would be the cause of the destruction (Hilda was the real cause), and that the town would serve as "base" (the Royal Guards telling Alto and Lisette to come with them had the unstated "or else" attached).

As for what I'm not sure about... The opening conversation, Lisette's history lesson right afterwords, Alto's amnesia, and Alto giving Lisette his pendant all seem like major plot points, but nothing came of them in the demo.

All in all, this demo grabbed my attention in a way that Atlus's previous 3DS demo didn't (combine that with a review saying things didn't improve, and there is a reason I didn't pick up Legend of Legacy).

Demo was fun. Lots of little things in the gameplay I can see having a big impact. Story and characters were eh, but not bad, and as long as the gameplay is fun I won't be too bothered. Definitely a consideration.

Just 2 weeks to go!

Amazon says this: "Stella Glow will have 40-60 hours of story and side quest content, with multiple endings, New Game+ mode, and more than 50 maps to battle on."

I preordered the game today :D

Honestly, the demo seemed like the most generic of generic RPGs (possibly intentionally? as a nostalgia thing?). That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's hard to look forward to something with sign as to what could potentially make it good.

That said, I did like the subtle twist on the "bad at cooking" joke.

A generic RPG? Hardly. A generic Tactical RPG? You might be on to something there.

However, as I've mentioned, the demo reminded me a lot of FFTA; and since I was introduced to TRP Gs by FFTA, I'm somewhat biased when I find a game that reminds me of it this much...

Also, I should add that one mechanic that's missing from the demo's gameplay but appears in the story is Songs. The livestream didn't really go in depth on what Songs do, but did show that they are charged up by damaging or defeating enemies.

Speaking of that stream... https://youtu.be/GUMyiOOwAno

I used to be like you. FFT was great, and therefore anything remotely like it should be good too. The years haven't been kind to me though, and many strategy RPGs kind of suck. It's no longer new and shiny, just another standard battle system variation, and not even a particularly interesting one (based only on the demo).

I haven't watched the video, but your description of the songs makes them sounds like standard Limit Breaks.

The game comes out tomorrow! :)

Well, although I likely have to wait a day to get the game, Gamexplain had Ash do a review and he seemed to like it. There was a minor hiccup do to Ash not having a capture-capable 3DS, so he had to borrow demo footage from another Youtuber, but otherwise it was a good review. http://youtu.be/DbpTy5-PZIQ

Guess it's a good thing I finished off the 3DS game that's had my attention for the past couple days, huh?

As for what I'm not sure about... The opening conversation, Lisette's history lesson right afterwords, Alto's amnesia, and Alto giving Lisette his pendant all seem like major plot points, but nothing came of them in the demo.

Remember this, from a couple weeks ago? Yeah, I would like to say I called it: the pendant Alto gave Lisette was a long lost stone that could turn someone into the Water Witch, and it's one of 5. I suspect that we don't get to actually see the others, but they are shown as a group illustration.

Also, that history lesson of Lisette's? The queen personally gives you a shorter but much more useful one later on, that fills in a few missing key details. It's also explained why the queen knows but nobody else does, the info was passed down by the royal family, from parent to child only... Until now.

Looks like Alto has some big shoes to fill, what with being the second Conductor. Who was the last one? The hero, Elcrest. Which gives me a hint as to who the Po V character for that opening conversation was...

I just got the game! I figured out why it cost 10 dollars more—the "Launch Edition Extras," which include a CD, a poster, and a charm.

Takes me back to the Lunar 2 days!

edited 20th Nov '15 10:40:39 AM by lalalei2001

That's fairly common for Atlus games, actually. Xseed as well, but to a lesser extent. The games costing a bit more is a relatively new thing, however.

Also, while I'm here and playing... Really, Sakuya? You and Nonoka are pretty much tied in terms of not being "flat" characters, so why are you insulting her like that? (And no, I am not talking about their personalities.) Incidently, you screwed over me getting both bonuses on your fist mission, simply because you just had to engage the enemy...

edited 20th Nov '15 11:23:40 AM by Hunter1

Huh. Any idea why that is?

Are you asking why they're included, or why they're getting more expensive? The reason for increasing prices is simple, it's either rising costs or a desire for more profit. As for why they exist in the first place, an incentive to buy early, or nowadays, a reason to buy physical instead of digital.

I'd prefer not getting extras on purchase if it meant the game was cheaper.

Looks nice, though. Can't wait to actually start it when I get off work. All I've seen so far is the first three fights of the demo. I skipped all the cutscenes since I heard the demo wouldn't transfer data over.

These niche games come at a premium price because they don't sell well. They sell so little I don't know how Atlus and Xseed can continue bringing them over. But a premium price is better than not getting these, so I won't complain too much.

Got my copy. Not looking forward to repeating the demo, but otherwise I'm interested in seeing more of what this has to offer.

Hint: Start allows you to skip most events, tutorials, or cutscenes.

That's what I did. Got past most of that stuff quickly. I did manage to get Alto to level 4 and Lisette to level 3 in the demo period, so that was good.

I really am not a fan of the chibi models used in battle. Especially for Hilda. It makes her outfit look dumber than it already is.

Alto is generic JRPG protagonist. Can't say I care about him much. Lisette is generic childhood friend, but she's more amusing overall. Dante is cool. Follows orders even when he keeps being attacked by the weak brat attacking him.

...Did the devs know Atlus would be publishing this, or was it an just an obvious choice for Atlus's translators?

If you're wondering what I'm talking about, just wait until you get to Popo's second Tuning.