Stela Reviews

Stela is ranked in the 44th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Geeks Under Grace
Andrea Racoti
6.5 / 10.0
May 6, 2020

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.

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4 / 5.0
Apr 29, 2020

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.

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8 / 10.0
Apr 17, 2020

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.

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No Recommendation / Blank
Apr 9, 2020

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.

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8.5 / 10.0
Apr 9, 2020

The only thing that could affect the beautiful art, the incredible music and the simple gameplay of Stela is the fact that it ends much sooner than it should.

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TheSixthAxis
Drea Bunce
Top Critic
8 / 10
Apr 9, 2020

Overall, Stela is a beautifully well-made game, with the score and the background creating a wonderfully immersive atmosphere. Its mysterious setup creates curiosity that would have been lost with a comprehensive storyline, allowing for an unique sensation despite its fairly common game style. While the puzzles aren't overly tough, keeping yourself levelheaded enough in real life to keep going was more than enough challenge for me, making Stela as interesting and fun as it is beautiful and immersive.

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Unscored
Apr 3, 2020

It took me the best part of a month to come back to Stela in order to finish this review. I’m glad I did, as it still had some astonishing sights left to show me. But it was a close call.

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9 / 10.0
Mar 25, 2020

You won’t be disappointed in any way shape or form with this as a complete product.

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7.3 / 10.0
Mar 24, 2020

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.

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GameMAG
Top Critic
6 / 10
Mar 21, 2020

Stela is a nice looking, but completely soulless game that tries to grab a piece of fame from popular developments, but is not able to offer anything new. This is the case when the graphics and music do not draw out a weak story against the background of too simple puzzles. However, we never had any illusions about this game.

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7.5 / 10.0
Mar 19, 2020

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.

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6 / 10
Mar 18, 2020

Stela is a platform-puzzler that's quite clearly been made in Inside's (and indeed Limbo’s) image. It's a serviceable approximation of Playdead's work, with a beautifully strange world and even a couple of neat ideas of its own. But it fails to immerse you in its world in quite the same way courtesy of some unfortunate flat spots.

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6.8 / 10.0
Mar 13, 2020

There's no doubt that among the many influential indie games made over time Limbo is pretty high up there...

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5 / 10.0
Mar 13, 2020

Stela feels like a golem, crafted from the bones and sinew of better titles. Sometimes, this can be a successful experiment: Darksiders, for example, may not contain a single unique gameplay concept but manages to forge its own path through its worldbuilding, characters, and art direction. Stela accomplishes no such feat, and so I spent most of my playtime wishing I was playing its inspirations instead.

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6.5 / 10.0
Mar 13, 2020

As a fan of cinematic platformers, I rather enjoyed playing Stela from start to finish. Be that as it may, it didn't take me long at all, hence one of my leading (but not my only) concerns. At under three hours, and with little replay value to speak of, $19.99 is a lot to launch for on the Nintendo Switch. On sale, this would be one to consider for sure, depending on how burnt out you might be on the subgenre.

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PC Invasion
Top Critic
9 / 10
Mar 12, 2020

Stela is a nice break from the hectic shooters and other competitive style games. It opts for impeccable sounds and visual design in order to convey emotion throughout the three-hour playtime. But, don't let the overall length steer you away from something that's more akin to a short story than a full, AAA produced title. It's a worthy experience from start to finish, providing the right escape for those without a lot of free time on their hands.

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Mar 12, 2020

Stela’s tight platforming and beautiful yet oppressive atmosphere can only go so far when the game as a whole does little to impress.

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6 / 10.0
Mar 12, 2020

When it all clicks together, Stela makes for some beautiful platformer moments. When it doesn't, it's frustrating and obtuse.

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7 / 10.0
Mar 3, 2020

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.

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oprainfall
Jakeums
Nov 15, 2019

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.

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