Stella Glow

Expectations have been exceeded once again with this tactical RPG game that stands out in every way. It has great duration, but above all, a story that will make us want to play in order to enjoy the game as much as possible, even if it only features one language, English.

Bewitching.

Stella Glow is influenced by traditional tactics games through and through, but Imageepoch’s distinctive contributions to the genre and glossy finish prove that it’s stellar on its own terms. It’s as if the company wrapped up its love for the industry in its masterwork and issued an open challenge to top it.

As we come to the end of the year, I figured there’d be an Atlus-published strategy RPG on my game of the year list; I just never imagined there’d be two. But Stella Glow made beautiful music with my heart, and you definitely need to pick it up and get that soundtrack CD.

A fitting swan song for imageepoch and another gem in the 3DS' legendary RPG lineup, Stella Glow is smart, stylish, and seriously satisfying.

A surprisingly solid tactical game with interesting characters and well-written (even if sometimes too long) dialogues. [06/2016, p.64]

Stella Glow is a refined old-school strategy RPG with plenty of challenges, multiple endings, colorful visuals and lovely characters. Despite a few issues, it's strongly recommend.

Stella Glow is a lot of fun, and I found myself not wanting to put it down once I got started. [Issue #19 – January/February 2016, p.69]

Deep, fun and interesting, Stella Glow is one of the best JRPG that 3DS has received lately.

Yes, Stella Glow gives you nothing but old-fashioned tactics roleplaying. But it also is challenging, while adding a motivating character development.

Stella Glow turns out to be a very pleasant surprise. The story and characters are written well and while the gameplay isn't very innovative, it's highly addictive. If you like story-based tactical JRPG's, we can recommend you pick up Stella Glow.

Overall, I found Stella Glow to be a true delight, and really did open my eyes to the SRPG genre. With its tight combat and fast mechanics, to its great character development and overall wonderfully engaging story, I really, really did enjoy my time with the game.

A nice game that offers a solid visual representation and nice (but uninventive) gameplay mechanics. With a little more variety and depth it could have been outstanding.

It’s fitting that Stella Glow is ultimately developer imageepooch’s swan song; they came into the business making waves with their beloved SRPG series Luminous Arc and now they’re going out making waves with another excellent SRPG.

Stella Glow has a talent for keeping you engaged all the way through, which is a rare trait for the increasingly niche world of Japanese Role Playing games.

While the story is a bit too predictable for my tastes, everything from the visuals to the combat felt very polished from beginning to end. It’s quite unfortunate that this is likely the last game Imageepoch will release, but perhaps they will rest well knowing that they went out on a high note.

A great year for strategy role-playing games continues with Stella Glow, wherein a surprisingly dark story and entertaining battle mechanics combine to keep players hooked.

Quotation forthcoming.

The challenge is often quite limited, and that could be a problem for some player, but it's still an interesting game.

Stella Glow is a good strategy game for the 3DS that I can easily recommend for those whose enjoy the genre or are fans of the game’s developer. However, it is far from a perfect experience.

Stella Glow does a lot of things well, but it also has annoyances that hold it back from being an easy recommendation on the 3DS to any SRPG fan.

In many ways it feels like your average JRPG strategy game, and in some places it even stumbles over itself with attempts at being cute or sexy. However, there are also enough strong points that really shine through and make the game stand out from the crowd, even if its best features are reminiscent of ideas from more noteworthy titles.

Stella Glow is a game that makes a terrible first impression: The story is a hodgepodge of several other JRPGs that telegraphs its twists from a mile away, its villains' motivations fall apart under any scrutiny, and the game's attitude towards its female cast is abhorrent at the best of times. And yet, something happened as I spent time with it: I started having fun.

Unoriginal yet competent, Stella Glow is your typical Japanese SRPG with added fashion-witches.

All this cannot save it from being covered head to toe in the usual JRPG clichés, with flat uninteresting characters and very a predictable plot. Had these structural issues been addressed, Stella Glow could be a landmark in the 3DS catalogue. Instead, it's held down to being just a good game which doesn't fulfill its true potential.

Star Glow is a good SRPG, that has no major flaws, but does not offer anything really new. Still recommended to lovers of the genre and neophytes.

All in all, Stella Glow is a strong story that puts a clever twist on the tactical RPG format.

While not a revelatory experience that changed my life, the time spent with Stella Glow was fun most of the time.

In many ways, Stella Glow is a by-the-numbers strategy RPG, but it does have a partially interesting cast, some unique storylines, and a working combat system. Imageepoch has had some ups and downs in their lengthy career, but thankfully they can at least end on somewhat of a high note.

This sort of game could tick the right boxes if you’re looking for another strategy game to pass the time until Fire Emblem Fates comes out in Europe. Though if you’re rather picky about these sorts of games, then it’s probably best to wait for something better to come along.