A Retro JRPG That Tests Your Resolve
It appears that buses and retro styled turn based RPGs have something in common: you wait ages for one, and then two come along almost together!
Following on from my time with Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy, I’m now knee deep in another game with a similar air about it. The game in question is Starlight Legacy from Eastasiasoft, a company more known for cheap games with easy achievements than serious RPG experiences.
But can their foray into the realm of retro styled RPGs be a good thing, or are we better off playing one of the myriad other games in this genre? Well, if you want to know the answer, then read on! Or look at the score at the bottom, but I’d much rather you read the words I’ve sweated over…
SNES Aesthetics and Mode 7 Nostalgia
I’m going to start with the presentation of Starlight Legacy and there’s no doubt that it smacks of the SNES, 16-bit generation of Square RPGs. In fact, it has more than a whiff of classic Final Fantasy and, weirdly, Pokemon about it.
The game is presented from the classic top down view that we all know, with the world left to explore split into various areas, each with their own look. The forest realm, desert realm and so on all come across as very different, playing home to a variety of beasties in the process. One thing that impressed me was that as a telescope is acquired, it allows us to see the whole map. From there we can move and rotate this map, very much in pure Nintendo Mode 7 goodness. I remember being blown away when I saw this on the SNES back in the day, and while it isn’t anything like as fancy now, it is a proper piece of nostalgia for us older gamers.
The audio delivered in Starlight Legacy is also pretty good, with the usual battle music stirring you to action, and the rest of the sound effects being in order. There are no voice overs, as you’d expect for a game this retro in style, and instead conversations are relayed via text windows. All in all though, the presentation achieves what it sets out to do.
A Kingdom in Peril
Of course, a decent RPG needs a story, and luckily we are well catered for here.
We play as Ignus, a young man who goes with his friend Teryl to deliver a sword to the King of the Evaria Kingdom. However, the King has announced a ban on teaching magic in the Sky Kingdom, one of the provinces of Evaria, and this is causing unrest. This all comes to a head when the princess of Evaria is kidnapped, in turn leading to the destruction of the Eternity Tree. It was this tree that was responsible for enriching and purifying the soil, air and water of the whole kingdom.
Luckily, there is a way to restore it, and so we set off to gather the relevant things that we need to do so. You know, in an RPG-like style…
Brutal Difficulty and Persistent HP
What needs reporting in regards Starlight Legacy though is that the difficulty is also very much straight out of those early SNES games as well. The game is pretty brutal, and if you fall in battle, there’s no retry option: you awaken back at the last Inn you rested at. My strong advice is to rest at every Inn you see, whether you need it or not. The setting of the respawn point is worth the cost, trust me.
In fact, trying to get to the first Inn in the Desert Kingdom took me four or five runs, and the difficulty is ramped up by the fact that your HP and MP, along with any status afflictions you have, persist from fight to fight. So if you are poisoned, merely moving will continue to drain your health. This leads to my next piece of advice: spend all the gold you get on items to heal status conditions, including death. You won’t regret it.
Elemental Weaknesses and Spell Strategies
The rest of Starlight Legacy is pretty much business as usual. Once you are given the mission by the King, you are free to choose which of the realms to go and visit, which is a nice touch, allowing an element of freedom. The pattern carries on as you achieve each area’s objective, leaving you free to choose where to go next. Of course, the way Starlight Legacy plays is strictly traditional; walk around, explore, get involved in random fights.
In terms of the latter, understanding the enemies that you face and what element they are weak to is vital, as the best way to beat them seems to be to use magic. See, when exploring new areas you’ll not only find new weapons, but new spells to learn too. The thing is, you can only equip four spells at once, so making sure there is a good mix of magic to hand is key. Obviously, keeping up with new weapons and armour is also very important, so visit every shop you see!
A Hardcore Retro RPG for the Dedicated Fan
Starlight Legacy is a proper old skool game – from the look and feel, to the difficulty. But it makes no apology for being so either, so if you want a challenge, there is certainly one of those here. I do fear that it may just be too hard for some though.
Important Links
Forge Your Own Path in JRPG Starlight Legacy – https://www.thexboxhub.com/forge-your-own-path-in-jrpg-starlight-legacy/
Buy Starlight Legacy on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/starlight-legacy/9p37ktw0d2tn
