StarBites JRPG Delivers Nostalgic PS2 Style Sci Fi Adventure with Strategic Mech Combat and Deep Customization Despite Technical Flaws and Repetitive Exploration
In a time when huge open world games can take hundreds of hours, it is nice to find a brand new game that really captures the feeling of classic PlayStation 2/3 role playing games. Star Bites is a turn based, sci fi JRPG that proudly shows it is a mid tier, double A title. While it definitely has some rough spots and takes a bit to get going, it has a charm that makes it hard for fans of the genre to stop playing.
The story of Star Bites is set on Bitter, a planet that basically became a giant trash heap for the galaxy after a big cosmic war. You play as Luka (or Lukita), an always optimistic scavenger who is deep in debt inherited from her family. All she wants is a ticket off this trash covered planet. The problem is Fenik, the unofficial boss of Delight City, who uses Luka's debt against her in a weird, almost motherly kind of power play.
Luka doesn't travel alone. She teams up with a diverse group of unusual characters. Especially noticeable are Gwendel, a bounty hunter who drinks a lot, has a hidden past, and cruises on a cool hoverbike, and Badger, the group's quiet, heavily armored strongman. Later on, your team grows to six, bringing in a very smart kid and two quiet mercenaries. The story is split into five acts. Fair warning the start of the game is pretty slow. You'll do a lot of basic fetch quests and sit through a lot of talk. But if you can get past that first bit, the later parts of the game really bring all the character stories together well. It builds a strong foundation for what could easily turn into a big, much loved series, kind of like the Trails games.
The combat is probably the best part of Star Bites. Battles are typical turn based affairs where you can see the turn order, but they feel more exciting because of the cool looking mech combat. Every character controls their own special mech Luka has a two legged walker, Gwendel rides a sniper bike, and so on. What is surprising is how much you can customize these machines. You can switch out parts like upper armor, lower frames, engines, and cores (which are like accessories) to adjust your stats exactly how you want. However, be aware a big weapon might increase your damage, but it'll make you much slower in battle.
The main way battles work takes a lot from popular modern games, using a shield breaking system. Enemies are vulnerable to certain elements and weapons. Hitting these weak points lowers their shields, and once a shield breaks, you can deal massive damage and push back their turn. Adding more strategy, characters build up a Driver's High meter by attacking and getting hit. When it is full, you can activate this state to immediately jump ahead in the turn order, boost your stats, and totally change the elemental types of your abilities. It is a clever strategic tool that needs you to time things right, not just use it whenever.
You get to bring three members into battle, and the other three are held in reserve. If one of your active characters breaks an enemy, their linked support partner steps in for a big follow up hit. That part is very satisfying, but it has a frustrating problem backup members only get half the experience. This means you'll have really annoying level differences by the time you get to the end of the game. On top of that, you can't swap party members during a fight, which feels like a lost chance for more strategic play.
While the combat is truly a strategic pleasure especially during the challenging, thought provoking boss encounters the moment to moment exploration leaves quite a bit to be desired. Bitter, for instance, is a dull, brown desert, and the game constantly makes you go back and forth through it. The dungeons suffer from outdated design ideas they are mostly a collection of uninspired, visually repetitive hallways that stretch over overly large maps without much meaningful content.
You navigate the world from an overhead, angled view, but the movement feels strangely slippery, almost like your character is always sliding on ice. Fast travel is available, but it is quite limited, only letting you jump between major settlements rather than directly to dungeon entrances or specific areas. On the upside, the game includes a large, screen wide scanning tool that easily points out objectives and hidden treasure. Unfortunately, some players have reported a strange bug where treasure chests they dig up cannot actually be opened, which really discourages further exploration.
From an aesthetic standpoint, Star Bites presents a mixed picture. The 2D character portraits and illustrated cutscenes are beautiful; they have an expressive, animated film quality that really brings the cast to life. The voice acting is also superb across the board whether you choose English, Japanese, or Korean, the actors deliver nuanced, engaging performances that significantly improve the script, However, the 3D models and environments don't quite measure up. The textures look decent.
The soundtrack is similarly unimpressive. Beyond a few catchy, unique tunes, most of the music consists of repetitive industrial ambient tracks that quickly fade into the background.
Pc Version Tested.
Disclosure: We received a free review copy of this product from Devs
