Cosmic Star Heroine Review

I'm not really familiar with turn based games outside of this and Child of Light. I remember being so mesmerized by the game at the time. A turn based game with a combat system I was really into, the soundtrack, a shorter RPG with quick action movie style pacing. It really did nail a lot in spite of not being familar with the genre in question and haven't really played many afterwards.

The story is interesting in that it's a bit of a double edged sword. RPGs are known for being long games and a time sync and this is game that gives you a quick and to the point experience. It's refreshing even now with only games made by the same dev and the occasional new release doing it.

As a result, the pacing goes by quick and there isn't too much meandering with the exception of going Rhomu and trying to get a macguffin there. The ealier parts and after do have the pacing go back to normal.

This can be a double edged sword like I said earlier. It's essentially what if a JRPG was paced like an action film? In action movies, you more or less expect the film to have charismatic characters with some depth thrown in here and there. In an RPG especially JRPG especially how long they are, it's expected that by the end, you have come to learn more and went on a big journey with them.

As a result, many of the characters at least on the main questline can feel like you don't know much about. It's like they're just there for the ride. It's charming but can also feel weird.

The soundtrack is amazing especially when I first listened to it. They add a sense of adventure and whimsy to the locations you are in. They are also catchy tunes in their own right. They can also be very chill to listen as well.

Combat is where things get interesting. You got the style system. What especially is interesting is how JRPG turn based battles can be infamous for how long they can last. Cosmic Star Heroine subverts this by encouraging the player to finish battles quickly. The longer they go on, the harder they become. The more fighting wears on, the less damage your characters will be able to take.

What helps with all this is hyper mode and when to time it right with your stronger attacks. There's also different enemies being weak to certain elemental weaknesses too or how you can give damage buff on a character one turn before a hyper mode activation.

To add to all this, there is different team up moves you can do with various party members. Depending on how experimental you get, you can end battles in wild ways too. Like for example, if you widdle down a boss' health down enough you can do a devastating attack that could to finish the fight but a risk is that you could have low HP. You can also finish fights by even using status aliaments too. You can charm enemies and even prevent them from attacking for one turn.

Two issues to level at the game is that the game requires you to play with certain party members so abilities and powers you were used to by that point are now taken away. You get to used to fighting with the new party members but then you swap again. By the time you get to freely swap, it starts to feel awkward since it's been so long since you used them. With a game as short as that, it's hard to get experimental with certain team ups too.

Second issue is that fights can go on for too long especially when you get a decent while into Rhomu and into the swamp level. Normal enemy battles have large amounts of HP and they start to feel like bosses. As a result, when you fight bosses especially when they can attack you twice in one turn, it becomes a game of them of constantly comboing you and then die. The game can get challenging even on easy at times.

Prior to the that the battles went on at a reasonable pace.

Overall, I still do enjoy the game and still give it credit for exposing me to a turn based combat system I find interesting. There are issues I notice a lot more now when replaying the game but there's lots of positives to balance it out.