Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity
Can’t you hear me yella? You’re puttin’ me through Hella!
STELLLAAA!
Tags: Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Jake McNeill on May 9th, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Role-Playing | No | ||
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Atlus and Pinegrow’s Stella Deus is another one of those strat-RPGs in the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea that are all the rage these days (something that I’m very grateful for), and barring any horrible balance issues or rigid linearity (both major problems in Pinegrow’s last RPG, Hoshigami), even the worst of these types of games still tend to be pretty darn good. Yet here I am, with very mixed feelings about one of them. It’s no single major flaw that hurts Stella Deus, either, but a series of smaller ones.
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The story, for starters, places interesting characters in not-so-interesting situations. The hero, Spero, is a kind-hearted and level-headed guy who’s fighting for the wrong team. His friends and allies-in-arms are Grey, a hothead with little patience who feels duty is more important than ethics, and Adara, a friendly and compassionate girl who’s very sensitive about her prosthetic arm. This depth of character extends to villains and “grey” characters, like Viser, Spero’s longtime friend whose goals may or may not be for the best, and even potentially one-dimensional characters like madman Viper get extra depth (underneath his wild demeanor, he’s kind of kind of showing off to hide his insecurities, in a sick kind of way that involves murdering people). Unfortunately, the story they’re tossed in is less interesting.
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There’s a fog that’s enveloping the world and killing people, and the power of the spirits is all that can hold it at bay, but an evil warmonger wants to harness this power for blah blah blah blah blahblahblah… Hey, everyone! Grab a sword and a traumatic past, because it’s time to play “RPG Cliché-O-Rama!” To be fair, Atlus’ localization is impeccable and often very funny (at one point, Viper begs for one of Viser’s inventions, whining “don’t be a dick!”), and the voice acting is outright phenomenal, selling us on the emotion of the scenes even when people are just talking about an “ancient power” that can “save the world”. Still, how I wish these characters could have found themselves in a plot more befitting their quality.
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The graphics are another mixed bag. The character designs are from Shin Megami Tensei artist Shigeki Soejima, who is quite possibly the most talented character designer in the industry, and it shows here in every character, down to the common fighters and mages. The characters are fairly well-animated too, although that’s come to be expected as a tradeoff for the generally unimpressive graphics present in this genre. Sadly, things are a bit worse here than usual. Perhaps to fit in with the game’s foggy theme, the entire game looks like it’s been bathed in white, giving everything a washed-out look. The framerates seem to be unusually low, making scrolling around the screen a dizzying experience. The sprites are small and poorly-detailed, meaning that any time the camera gets close to them they end up looking all pixellated and jaggy. Furthermore, each sprite is represented facing only one of four directions, which often means they’re not facing the way they look like they are. In addition, while the camera can zoom out and spin anywhere you want, it’s always looking down at the same angle, often making it hard for you to get a good look at what’s going on. While graphics in these types of games are often nothing special, this is the first time I’ve felt that they’re so bad that they hurt the gameplay.
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And what about the gameplay, huh? Doesn’t it have grids and skills and all that stuff? Hmm… yeah, I suppose. But in many ways it’s very simplified and minimalist. Characters can only have a few skills equipped at any time, and players can only bring six onto the battlefield for any given fight. Building up your characters is vastly more limited than the standard that was set by Final Fantasy Tactics, and expanding your party is vastly more limited than the standard set by Disgaea. While there is an item fusion system and some brief distractions in guild quests, there’s not much in the way of variety. And because the game’s strategy seems to focus less on skills and abilities, and more on timing and conserving energy (AP) for the right moment, battles take longer than they really need to.
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Stella Deus is not a bad game, and there are a lot of good things about it, but compared to other games in the genre, it ultimately falls short, thanks to its lack of gameplay options and graphical problems. That’s a real shame too, because what this game does right is wonderful. It’s just… not enough.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Outstanding character designs + Phenomenal voice acting and localization + Interesting characters |
7.4 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Limited gameplay options - Graphical problems that actually hurt the gameplay - Cliche-O-Rama story |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Stella Deus puts a phenomenal presentation on top of a game that's not much more than so-so. If you love strat-RPGs, this one has some good stuff to offer, but as a whole it falls far short of the standard set by Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea. | |
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Tags: Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity
Posted by Jake McNeill on May 9th, 2005 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
