Stela Reviews

Stela is ranked in the 44th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
6.5 / 10.0
Oct 13, 2019

Stela clearly wants to be as unnerving and fascinating as its contemporaries but the end product is merely an empty imitation. There is no element of surprise or wonder here, nothing to make players consider the game at a deeper level. Instead, it acts as a good reminder of the far superior titles that came before it.

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Oct 15, 2019

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.

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Oct 16, 2019

Stela is similarly brief but also a fleeting experience that doesn’t make much of an impact while you’re playing or linger once you complete it mostly due to its hollow world.

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7 / 10.0
Oct 16, 2019

Stela is good but unspectacular.

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Polygon
Top Critic
Unscored
Oct 16, 2019

Stela is a beautiful platformer, but not much else

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9 / 10
Oct 16, 2019

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.

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10 / 10.0
Oct 16, 2019

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.

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8.5 / 10.0
Oct 16, 2019

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.

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65 / 100
Oct 17, 2019

Stela hopes you’ll look at it with the same reverence everyone had for Inside. The problem is that Stela needs to do a lot more than just copying Playdead’s formula.

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Lee Mehr
Top Critic
6 / 10
Oct 22, 2019

A look inside this polished me-too platformer reveals quality nuances often stuck in limbo.

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7.7 / 10.0
Oct 22, 2019

Stela is an ok game, a snack while you're waiting for more consistent meals.If you're a fan of the platforming & puzzle combo, you should give it a try.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

Oct 24, 2019

When it comes to indie horror games, very few illustrate a living nightmare as well as Stela does.

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Oct 24, 2019

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.

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8 / 10.0
Oct 28, 2019

A platformer that sets a sombre tone and elicits an emotional response, that missed a few story opportunities that really could have set it apart from the pack

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4 / 5.0
Oct 28, 2019

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.

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IGN Spain
Top Critic
7.5 / 10.0
Oct 29, 2019

Stela is a very pleasant experience from the first moment. Beatiful visuals and soundtrack for a platformer adventure maybe too short, flat and excessively simple in terms of difficulty.

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Unboxholics
Στράτος Χατζηνικολάου
Top Critic
Worth your time
Oct 29, 2019

Stela is a 2D platformer that combines elements from LIMBO and Inside into a short but enjoyable nevertheless package.

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7 / 10
Oct 30, 2019

Stela is a beautiful atmospheric puzzle-platformer; however, it seems to emphasize style over substance. The musical score, however, is phenomenal, making almost mundane actions feel grandiose or anxiety-inducing. The first playthrough only takes a couple of hours, and once you know what to expect, you'll be able to run through the game in under 90 minutes.

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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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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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