It’s been almost two months since I’ve finished this game, and I’m still thinking about it. I’ve written and rewritten this review several times since then, trying to explain how a game that wears its flaws on its sleeve ended up as my game of the year. Because in all honesty, this should not work as well as it does in practice. This is a game about the most tedious parts of a RPG and uses them to drag you into the shoes of a character going through a depression spiral. It uses its time loop narrative to numb you, the boss battles whose gimmicks you figured out hours ago to bore you, and a slow drip feed of information to keep you going. Maybe this is the run! Maybe this time something different will happen! After all, three acts is a typical story structure—

But as much as this game clicked for me and refuses to leave my brain, I think the main reason that it did work for me was because I came into this already invested in these characters and wanting to know more about their world and their story. This leads to the hottest take I have about this game: the prologue version serves as a better introduction because we’re thrown right into the middle of things and have to piece together the context for ourselves. If I’d been introduced to this story through the slow opening of the final town, I’m not sure if I would’ve been as immediately invested or charmed as I was through the mystery of the prologue version. And thanks to extremely late game reveals (if you know, you know), I think that prologue should’ve made it into the main game. It’s a good litmus test to see if this will work for you, because if it does? The storytelling in this game will hit you like a bus.

That personal investment got me through a chunk in the middle where I just could not parse what the game wanted from me. I spent more than a few hours stuck on a hint, and after not getting it through several runs, I had to look at someone else’s playthrough to continue the story. A section of the finale had some dialogue in a room that I never went to in any of my loops (but I recognized the text from the prologue, so it was fine). Audio cues from battles would load strangely on my Switch (although I’m not sure if this is RPG Maker’s fault or not).

This is all to say that the game isn’t without flaws. But, I think it’s fascinating when game mechanics are used in service of a story instead of the other way around. In Stars and Time is definitely One Of Those, where the mechanics - the time looping, the boss fights, the battle system, the equipment, etc. - are not the point so much as how those things make you, the player, feel as the story unwinds itself in front of you. As a result, how much you, the player again, are willing to put up with these mechanics directly correlates into how much you personally care about the story, its characters, and its world.

Even with the parts that frustrated me, all of it was worth it for that ending, and for the story that has remained in my mind since I finished it. The character writing is amazing, the worldbuilding is incredible, and the mystery at the center of this time loop had me thinking about this game even when I wasn't playing it. I loved this game, and anyone with any level of interest in it should at least give it a try. Play the prologue first if you’re curious about it and then move on to the full game. I hope it grabs you by the heart the way that it did with me.

This game makes me feel in a way I wish more games would. An absolutely lovely cast with such variety all completely knocking it out of the park, but of course that's natural when the rest of the writing is magnificent. Every new detail I hear about any character or the lands they come from is a delight, and the central conflict always feels like it has enough weight, pulling the rug out from under you when you think you have the hang of things.
A lot of time loop games can over time get really annoying with the busywork they ask of the player and while it's definitely an intended effect from the story to have the player grow tired of some of the routine, the extent the game goes to in order to ease some of the more irritating elements really shows it's being designed by people (or person, rather) who know what they're doing.
In case this game needed more to be complimented on, the presentation is absolutely off the charts. The black and white aesthetic could have made the game feel somewhat flat but there is such life and personality to all the world design and especially the character art. It's always a lovely time to see one you haven't before. This is accompanied by a soundtrack that may not hold the same staying power of some indie juggernauts like Undertale or Omori, but still provides an excellent expression of the constantly shifting emotions this game goes through. Not to say anything outright but track 24 on the soundtrack makes me tear up.
As for complaints, the only thing I can muster up is near the end a few of the necessary steps become a bit cryptic but it's nothing I could knock off a point for.
With all that being said, I can absolutely say that if this game has not exploded withing the year, there is something deeply wrong with the industry because this game deserves as many eyes on it as possible.