Concept: Strategically battle on a grid based battlefield to save the world! Along the way, bond with comrades and tune witches to acquire additional skills and song magic.

Story: The world is being crystalized by an evil witch’s song magic. Alto has been sworn into the Regnant knight squad after his village was crystalized by this witch. Now Alto, along with his fellow comrades are tasked with retrieving the rest of the witches so that they may sing a song to counteract the evil witch’s song and save the world from oblivion.

Gameplay: Players battle on a grid based battlefield with a party of their choosing. Whenever players aren’t busy with battles, they are bonding with their fellow allies which unlocks additional battle skills for the player’s allies.

Gameplay time: My gameplay time was forty five hours upon completion. There is also some replay value as players can max out every social link on the second play through and there is multiple character endings to obtain.

Music: The music is topnotch. It’s all japanese vocalized songs with some instrumentals thrown in. The town music even changes at one point which shows how much detail was put into this game.

Graphics: The chibi style battle scenes may throw some players off, but these battle scenes can be turned off which also saves some time during the battles.

Voice acting: The voice acting gave life to each character in the game. I would even say it was close to Persona 4’s quality of voice acting. This game was voice acted about sixty percent of the time.

In depth review

From the folks that brought you Luminous Arc and Luminous Arc 2 comes a brand new game that feels like a masterpiece in every way. There is so much to love about Stella Glow including a character cast that outshines most other rpgs and a battle system that contains enough customization and strategy to please all of us rpg lovers.

Alto: “So have you guys heard about the guy who’s writing a review about us?”

Rusty: “Bartender! Four beers! Oh, my bad. Did you guys want anything?”

ARCHIBALD: “YOU IMBECILE! YOUR BEHAVIOR DOES NOTHING BUT BRING DISGRACE UPON THE REGNANT KNIGHTS!”

Commander Klaus: “Yes Alto, I have heard of this writer and this review he is writing. I’m looking forward to see what he writes about us.”

Rusty: “Hey ladies, care to join us for a drink? Don’t worry, the uggo was just leaving.”

ARCHIBALD: “YOU! I WILL STRIKE…”

Commander Klaus: “Now, now. Let us calm ourselves.We are the Regnant Knights after all and we must act accordingly.”

Alto: “Like I was saying..”

Rusty: “I personally don’t give a damn about the review as long as he doesn’t tarnish my good name.”

ARCHIBALD: “YOU MUST BE..”

Commander Klaus: “I actually have the utmost faith in this writer and I believe he will do nothing to bring shame upon our good names. Let us put our minds at ease everyone.”

Alto: (“I hope your right commander…”)

Now let’s breakdown the gameplay. The game consist of two parts; mission time and free time. During mission time, players prepare for battle by equipping their party members with the best equipment and orbs. These orbs attach to the party members weapons and offer stat boost or special perks such as, critical rate up after defeating an enemy. After that’s all taken care of, it’s time to open up a can of whup ass.

On the battlefield, players choose their favorite party members and then commence battle on a grid based battlefield. Each member has their own unique style and skills. Take Rusty for example, he’s quick with a knife which means he has range and his turn comes around more often, while Archibald is slower with less mobility, he helps shield the other party members from enemy attacks. Each party members also has a support effect that is always active when other members are adjacent to them such as, increased dodge or crit rate. Of course, grouping your members up also has a downside as many enemies have an attack that hits a wide radius. The witches in your party can also use song magic with various effects such as healing all party members on the battlefield or stopping all enemies from attacking for a short while. As you can see, the battlefield in Stella Glow demands strategic planning from the players.

During free time, players spend time bonding with their comrades, exploring, or taking a job. Taking a job just provides extra money and sometimes shop discounts, but money was never an issue in the game to begin with. When players explore, they uncover items and sometimes unique accessories for each character. I always considered the bonding to be the most important though as it unlocks special skills for your comrades and song magic for the witches. When you max out a witches social link, she changes her costume but sadly, you can’t revert back to the original costume which could sometimes be a bad thing.

Rusty: Oh, totally forgot. The queen wanted to see you about something. My bad.

ARCHIBALD: !? WHY AM I JUST NOW HEARING ABOUT THIS? I MUST TAKE MY LEAVE AT ONCE!

Alto and Commander Klaus: …..

Rusty: What?

Commander Klaus: Oh, look who just walked in. Hello Lisette, you look troubled. Is something the matter?

Rusty: Perfect timing beautiful, care to join us for..

Lisette: Yes there is. I lost the bracelet Alto gave me the other day. Please Alto, come help me look for it.

Alto: Did it really mean that much to you? I can just buy you a new one.

Lisette: YES!, and I don’t want a new one. Come on, (Tugs on Alto’s arm)

Alto: (sigh) Alright, alright.

Lisette: Hehe, thank you Alto.

Commander Klaus: We should be taking our leave as well. We have quiet the busy day tomorrow.

Rusty: Yeah, whatever. Not much action goin on here anyway.

Closing comments: I’ve read some reviews before I purchased this game that stated the story was mundane. This could not be farther from the truth in my opinion. I found the story to be above the usual plot found in rpgs and this is coming from someone who has played his fair share of rpgs to say the least. This game was perfect in every way, from beginning to end. Keep in mind that Luminous Arc and Luminous Arc 2 was made by the same people who made Stella Glow, so if you enjoy this game, check out the Luminous Arcs for Nintendo DS as well. They play about the same and are quiet the missed gem.

Sakuya: Where have you guys been and why are you socializing with this scum?

Rusty: We just happened to cross each others path this evening and I invited him along. Though I had no idea you had such a low opinion of our commander.

Sakuya: THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT YOU NITWIT!

Lisette: Oh! There it is!

Alto: That’s a rock.

Lisette: Oh, your right. Wait! There it is!

Alto: (sigh) That’s Bubu’s foot.

Bubu: oink? (dashes off)

Commander Klaus: Hmm…. that’s odd. Wait, who is that in the distance?

ARCHIBALD: (Charging at full speed!) RUUUUUUSSSSTTTTYYYYYY!!!

Rusty: !

Commander Klaus: (sigh)