Stela Reviews
Stella takes a risk in story-telling and guiding players through the story of a beautifully complex ancient world. Don’t blame me when you find yourself lost in this gorgeous and mysterious world, wondering where the day went.
A look inside this polished me-too platformer reveals quality nuances often stuck in limbo.
Giving the gamer flexibility to come to their own conclusions is part of the beauty of it. Does this hit the height of Limbo and Inside? Certainly not, but it does have a very good go. Anyone who is a fan of those games, should certainly be checking this out.
The cinematic beauty of Stela can't be understated and I wholeheartedly hope that Skybox Labs expands on Stela because this beautiful and challenging world is one I need more of.
Including all unavoidable failures and retries, it only takes two hours to play Stela through. In that sense, the asking price of twenty bucks is a bit too steep. However, the game is well done and the gameplay focuses only on the essential as there’s nothing extra to distract you.
If you love Inside and Limbo, play Stela. If you love platformers, play Stela. If you love puzzle games, play Stela. It may not always feel original when compared to those other games, but how many games do feel completely original anymore? You could do a lot worse than be compared to such incredible games.
Stela is a 2D platformer that combines elements from LIMBO and Inside into a short but enjoyable nevertheless package.
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Stela’s tight platforming and beautiful yet oppressive atmosphere can only go so far when the game as a whole does little to impress.
Overall though, even with how short it is, Stela is worth a playthrough if for only the visual and the musical presentation. It won’t take long to go through, but this is definitely something that should have the sound system on high and the lights turned low to allow yourself to immerse into the world as Stela runs and puzzles her way through it.
A beautiful atmosphere paired with a lacklustre narrative and light gameplay make Stela feel like a mixture of great ideas that never reaches its potential.
Stela is an atmospheric platformer that offers solid puzzles and mechanics that will genuinely challenge the player, but may leave them wanting more than what is ultimately offered.
Stela is the sort of dark and moody platformer you’ll want to play after being saturated by colorful traps in Super Mario Maker 2. It does nothing new, and don’t expect to walk away from the experience with a new sense of profound realization. Nonetheless, you’ll enjoy the time you have with it, even if the ending is disappointing and the game requires a fair degree of trial and error.
Stela’s adventure is incredibly atmospheric and I certainly enjoyed playing through it, though the short run-time and slightly high price may put some gamers off. It offers a beautiful yet desolate world to explore and the brilliant sound design helps bring every intense moment to life, whilst each encounter with the grim creatures that ravage the environment will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat as you fight for your survival. Just don’t expect to be tested too much throughout the game, with most of Stela’s puzzles and platforming sequences feeling a little bit too simple in design and offering little challenge to the player.
Whilst the story that surrounds Stella went over my head, the world it built combined with an outstanding soundtrack still managed to touch me in ways I didn't consent to.
Ultimately, Stela is to remembered for its outstanding artistry and beautiful paint-like backgrounds and environments. Again, while being beatable within a 2 to 4 hour time frame, around 4 in my case, the shortness in no way hindered the experience and actually proved as a relief for not overstaying its welcome. I feel like $15 would be the sweet spot for this, but if you’re really into these particular cinematic side scrollers, this is an absolute pick up for $20. Stela, as it turns out, is pretty stellar.
There's no doubt that among the many influential indie games made over time Limbo is pretty high up there...
When it comes to indie horror games, very few illustrate a living nightmare as well as Stela does.
Stela will be a familiar experience for those who've played Limbo and Inside. That doesn't mean it lacks its own merits, though it does try to imitate those Playdead classics a bit too much.
Stela is good but unspectacular.
If you're into games for the experience more than the narrative, Stela might work for you. A few of the puzzles took more brute force than smarts to solve, but nothing was impossibly difficult. The idea of plane-jumping is good, except for when you can't tell if the feature is active. The graphics look beautiful, but the early levels suffer from too many dark colors muddying the waters. It's too bad that the set pieces lack anything special to connect them together. Overall, while Stela may not be top-tier material, it is solid enough to warrant a look.