Stella Glow Reviews
It is an excellent game all around, and an amazing surprise coming from a developer with a history a middling games and a turbulent ending. You would be missing out if you don't it a shot.
A fitting swan song for imageepoch and another gem in the 3DS' legendary RPG lineup, Stella Glow is smart, stylish, and seriously satisfying. Fans of SRPGs will get a kick out of the combat, characters, and strategy, the fun, fast-paced story will keep you entertained to the end, and the musical motif works wonderfully, winding its way through the gameplay and presentation with ease. A few interface wobbles keep it from being a totally perfect show, but they're minor concerns in an otherwise spellbinding performance. Stella Glow is absolutely worth singing about.
Needless to say, I had a ball with Stella Glow. From the opening moments in Mithra Village the game had me hooked to it's satisfying story, rich characters, and rewarding strategic gameplay. That writing this review is the only thing keeping me from continuing my adventures with the 9th Regiment is perhaps the best way I can convey the utter delight I feel while playing. While the knowledge that the company that brought this game to life are defunct is sobering, at the very least the team at Imageepoch got to say goodbye with a fantastic effort. Who would have though witches and upbeat pop music could be such a winning combination?
Stella Glow is influenced by traditional tactics games through and through, but Imageepoch's distinctive contributions to the genre and glossy finish prove that it's stellar on its own terms. It's as if the company wrapped up its love for the industry in its masterwork and issued an open challenge to top it.
As we come to the end of the year, I figured there'd be an Atlus-published strategy RPG on my game of the year list; I just never imagined there'd be two. But Stella Glow made beautiful music with my heart, and you definitely need to pick it up and get that soundtrack CD. Good night, Imageepoch – sadly, there will be no encores.
Even with those complaints though, Stella Glow is an awesome game if you like JRPGs. It has almost everything one could ask for: a lovable cast of characters, solid voice acting and music, a moving story, sharp anime stylings and most importantly, deep, satisfying game-play. As a new IP, I honestly thought Stella Glow would leave me wanting and with a list of improvements to be made in the sequel. Instead it left me surprised with how good it was, elated, and very hopeful for a Stella Glow 2.
Stella Glow isn't reinventing the wheel here, but to its benefit it's not trying to. It's trying to be a fun, engaging, and relatively brief tactical J-RPG that signs the end of Imageepoch's tenor with a franchise they started. The story is anime-solid. The combat and social mini-games are enjoyable, and what few irritants the game does have are easily bested by any invested role-playing gamer. Stella Glow has a talent for keeping you engaged all the way through, which is a rare trait for the increasingly niche world of Japanese Role Playing games.
While the story is a bit too predictable for my tastes, everything from the visuals to the combat felt very polished from beginning to end. It's quite unfortunate that this is likely the last game Imageepoch will release, but perhaps they will rest well knowing that they went out on a high note.
A great year for strategy role-playing games continues with Stella Glow, wherein a surprisingly dark story and entertaining battle mechanics combine to keep players hooked.
Overall, Stella Glow represents a polished rendition of the classic strategy JRPG that fans of the genre can appreciate. It doesn't introduce any groundbreaking mechanics but the mechanics it does have are mostly implemented well and make the game enjoyable. Despite a few issues with character imbalances and tuning sequences that aren't quite dialed down, Stella Glow does a good job overall of providing a modern rendition of the classic JRPG playstyle and should entertain old-school fans.
Stella Glow is a solid, old-school SRPG experience that will delight those who enjoy Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, or any of the other turn-based strategy games of the Japanese flavor that have come along in the last few decades.
Even on a system with as many great RPGs as the 3DS, Stella Glow stands out as one of the very best titles on offer.
2015 has been a great year for strategy RPGs. 'Stella Glow' stands along the likes of 'Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker' and 'Disgaea 5' to give SRPG fans and new genre players alike plenty of high quality titles to work through. 'Stella Glow' may have a couple of odd design quirks that may bring it down a bit, but Imageepoch's final title provides a great experience for all but the pickiest of RPG fans.
It’s a shame that Stella Glow will be imageepoch’s last game, but what a game to finish on. Based on the initial trailer and screenshots, I was expecting some great SRPG elements and an engaging story from Stella Glow and I can safely say it delivers on all that and more. Combining a brilliant soundtrack and fantastic visuals each map continues to impress upon each visit and with multiple ending the replay value is high. Strategy RPG fans this title is not one to miss and it’s easy to grasp for newcomers to the genre so definitely give it a try if you’re on the fence.
Stella Glow does a lot of things well, but it also has annoyances that hold it back from being an easy recommendation on the 3DS to any SRPG fan.
Stella Glow is a good strategy game for the 3DS that I can easily recommend for those whose enjoy the genre or are fans of the game's developer. However, it is far from a perfect experience. The frequent use of cliches, the lack of speed, and few difficulty options alongside other flaws keep Imageepoch's latest work from being a memorable experience.
Stella Glow may fail the Bechdel Test with flying colors, but its battles provide hours of fun.
Unoriginal yet competent, Stella Glow is your typical japanese SRPG with added fashion-witches.
Review in Italian | Read full review
In many ways, Stella Glow is a by-the-numbers strategy RPG, but it does have a partially interesting cast, some unique storylines, and a working combat system. Imageepoch has had some ups and downs in their lengthy career, but thankfully they can at least end on somewhat of a high note.
All this cannot save it from being covered head to toe in the usual JRPG clichés, with flat uninteresting characters and very a predictable plot. Had these structural issues been addressed, Stella Glow could be a landmark in the 3DS catalogue. Instead, it's held down to being just a good game which doesn't fulfill its true potential.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review