In Stars and Time is one of the best games I've played in like. A loooooong time. It's an RPG with a unique combat system, based around timing and a rock-paper-scissors style weakness system. It's not incredibly difficult, and it's not boring, so I didn't bounce off of it like I do with some other RPGs.
The game is alllll about the narrative. It's a typical fantasy setup-- Siffrin is going to fight the big bad with your party, and save a country from being frozen in time... But he finds himself trapped in a time loop, one that he has to figure out how to stop. As you progress through the story, the worldbuilding becomes more and more extensive, and linked to each party member. The characters feels like they came from somewhere-- they feel as if they could be real people.
This is the first time loop narrative that I've seen that I think really dives into how much being in a time loop could possibly mess with someone's mind. I won't say much more than that, but the narrative and the mechanics of the game do a good job of tuning you into Siffrin's state of mind, every sweet moment, every turbulent emotion.
There are some frustrations that are on purpose-- Siffrin forgets things, their mind full of memories of going through this over and over. You forget things too. Or at least I did! There are some other tricks that line up reaaally well with the narrative of the game, and they aren't ever ACTUALLY frustrating. My only real complaint is that sometimes the game is unintuitive-- you have to go about things in a specific order, check in with a character first... It's not too bad, though.
Overall, in Stars and Time is a game that really impressed me. I had heard good things in passing, I saw that it was about a time loop, and the art seemed cool. I was nervous for a while at the beginning, but it just kept getting better and better. I'm glad I gave this game a shot. It's going to go down in Ellie History as a Elliegame!!!!
(play it, it took me around 23 hours to beat and I got it on sale for 14 bucks. It's worth it!!)
