![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() It’s very satisfying to pull of the perfect plan and use the field to wipe out your foes. This end up exposing the enemy’s weak spot (their back) which grants a damage boost and an instant tactical edge. So one way to take advantage of this is to let the enemy come to you while you have one character sit and wait in the grass. An example of this is that a lot of the battlefields will have tall grass that grant a 10% boost to defense and evasion. When in battle, you will also encounter different field conditions that force you to consider your movement and placement more carefully. Spending time with characters unlocks abilities, exploring on your own can net you rare items, and part time jobs give you extra cash that can give you that shiny new weapon with a +3 damage boost. You are only granted three sessions of free time in between story missions, and the game gives you a variety of options to do with different rewards. The free time is also an important aspect of the game in that you have to strategize how to use it. These can be anything from a critical hit boost when a character has low health to an increased chance to block incoming attacks. On top of the story telling, the bonuses you get from spending time with your party members translate to in-game advantages. One the better side stories involves the fearless, strict and noble knight Archibald who turns into a scared, bumbling idiot when presented with the idea of an arranged marriage. This ends up being some of the best storytelling in the game as it does a great job of turning your first impressions of the other characters on their heads, as you learn about what they are like away from the job. Between missions, you are encouraged to spend time with your party members which come in the form of mini stories that give you insight into the true nature of the other characters. Stella Glow takes a page out of the Persona/Shin Megami Tensei handbook of how to handle downtime. Stella Glow is not afraid to upset this balance for the sake of narrative logic, and in the end Alto and Lisette’s level disadvantage isn’t really problem unless you are dumb enough to use them as your frontline fighters. I can’t tell you how many RPG’s I have played where the game tried to tell me that certain characters had more battle experience in their pasts, yet all of the characters were about equal strength for the sake of game balance. This may sound like a trivial detail, but when you first begin the main quest to find all of the Witches, the main protagonist Alto and his long time friend Lisette, who are the first two characters you meet in the game, are fairly far behind most of the other characters you will play as in terms of level (they start at Level 1 while the others are between 6-8), given that their backstory is that they are simple small town folk. It also helped that the amount of coin I earned was enough to buy all of the latest weapons for every character, so I was never missing anything. Most of the time, all it really took was fighting 2-3 battles between story missions and I was powerful enough to defeat every enemy without having anyone fall. It was immensely satisfying to feel like I could get ahead of what the game was asking of me in a short time frame. There are great grinding opportunities early in the game and they never feel like “too much work”. This is because there is a good chance that at least one of your characters is going to level up and the level recommendations that the game sets down for the story missions never feel too far out of reach. Statistical progression, cash flow and leveling up have a very consistent flow throughout the game and just about every battle you get into whether it’s a part of the story or simple grinding feels worthwhile. The rule of thumb here is that if you’re gonna go weird, at least start off grounded and familiar to get your audience’s feet wet, and Stella Glow does that very well. It helps that the game eases you in with a very basic introduction to the characters and the world, and although some of the details are typical tropes (like the small town protagonist with no memory), it doesn’t really prove itself to be a negative. As long as you aren’t looking to be challenged and can accept certain development simplicities, I can easily recommend Stella Glow as a quality title for the Nintendo 3DS.ĭespite the oddities that Stella Glow’s narrative revels in, the story ends up working very well. ![]()
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