Hooo boy this is a true gem. I literally don't know where to start. The stroytelling, character development, writing, and music are all crazy good. Ending made me cry, like Makoto Shinkai movie level of cry. Playing through all the past Sigono games to prep for this one was such a trip, because in the span of a couple days of playing I saw this tiny mobile game dev studio put out this lore rich intensely polished experience that blew me away. Highly recommend, had a great time playing it (Side note, don't try achievement hunting, I was frequently given achievements for things I did not do and was not given them for things I did do)

Opus: Echo of Starsong is a beautiful journey through an under represented genre of science fiction that stretches itself a bit too much.

I don't think I'd be able to do the story justice by trying to describe it in full, but I think the premise of witches and runners across the universe was done rather well. Having corporations and investment groups at economic war while scouting for rare minerals isn't necessarily new or unique, but when done well it can make a franchise rather interesting. Starsong takes advantage of a good premise and gets some mileage out of it, but down the stretch of the game relies too much on a rehashed anime storyline in which tsundere's become the main focus. It gets rather predictable and honestly the melodrama that exists within the crew takes a lot away from the captivating parts of the game's lore and the overall story at large.

Opus is the third game in a series, the first two of which I didn't play, but I felt like I had no issue jumping into this third and ultimate entry. The world and lore within Starsong is intricately laid out and told to the player through conversation, loading screens, item descriptions, and interactive items in the stars you visit. It's always tough to jump in and try to learn an entire franchises history that is brand new to you as the audience, but Starsong does a great job putting it all out there. Even though it seems like it can be too much at times, I found myself slowly but surely learning about the histories of the United Mining Association and its war to capture mining rights across the universe. I started completely lost about the witches, lumen, and the runners and ended up starved and wanting more.

As for gameplay, as other reviewers have written it's fairly limited and that's okay... but it did lead me to yawn and get a little sleepy during my playthrough. There's a lot of stretches within the "story" in which you're jumping from station to station only interacting with dice rolls, and once you get to a location that you have to scout with the main character, you're just running left to right with minimal interaction.

This game is absolutely beautiful, while the character models and sidescroller sections aren't exactly eye candy, the shots of the galaxy and use of colour during the game's deceptively lengthy runtime were phenomenally done. Everything looked good, be it the flashbacks or backgrounds while the party's ship flew through a galaxy, this is a pretty title. The use of songs and music is minimalistic but ethereal, playing into the otherworldy theme of the story and mystery at large. The way the music coupled with the art and design made Starsong feel like a spacey dream while playing.

Opus: Echo of Starsong is a great Gamepass game, I don't think I'd pay for it outside of the service. It's beautiful and has a lot going for it, but doesn't stick its story landing or its pacing well enough to be a title I could recommend.