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Review of Starlight Shores

SubjectStarlight Shores
ByHelpfulness: 3
Vote: 9
NoahNovels on 2021-05-07
Review(If you want a longer and more thorough review, go to the bottom where you'll find a link to a review I made of Starlight Shores on YouTube!)

Plot summary: You play as Will, a college student who hasn't seen his best friend Theo in months, but good news- Theo has won a free weekend getaway to the town of Seaside just in time for Will's birthday! The story starts with Will on his way to the cabin where everyone will be staying for the weekend, ready for a fun weekend of reconnecting with his friend. Also joining Will and Theo is:

Lena- Theo's new friend that Will hasn't met before

Alec- Will's friend that Theo also invited

and a last-second arrival, Erika- Alec's girlfriend

Over the course of Starlight Shore's story, you will make a multitude of choices as Will while he hangs out with his group of friends doing things like roasting food by the campfire, playing party games, going out for a coffee, and more. The choices you make will decide who Will spends more time with, grows closer to, or maybe even who Will will grow farther apart from. And that is the story of Starlight Shores- a story that takes place over the course of just one night.

My thoughts: While the starting point of the story is a weekend getaway, Delphinium Interactive made the bold decision to write a story that takes place over the course of one night. This immediately interested me because that means taking on the task of writing compelling characters, introducing them, and having them undergo satisfying character development in a relatively short span of time. A daunting task to be sure- but Delphinium Interactive manages to do just that and tell an meaningful story about how friendship can fade over time, how to cope with this, and how to figure out which friendships or bonds you have in life are worth fighting for.

The story starts off with this nostalgic atmosphere as Will head towards the cabin and reminisces about the all the time he has spent with his friend Theo, how long it's been since they have seen each other, and then him him worrying if things will be awkward between them. When reunited, things seem to be fine, but as the story goes on and Will meets new characters, it becomes clear that things have changed, and he's not entirely sure he can go back to the way things used to be. Change is something I think everyone is scared of at some point in their life, and Starlight Shores does a wonderful job of showcasing that fear and how to deal with it through Will's story of reconnecting with an old friend and getting closer to certain characters depending on the choices you make throughout the story. Along with this great atmosphere/setup, you have wonderfully written characters who just act like real people. They don't feel like common anime or visual novel tropes,- they feel like real, stupid young adults who butt heads as things get potentially award the more they drink as the night goes on. These very well-written and relatable characters only add to the great atmosphere and overarching story of Starlight shores I just mentioned.

Also worth noting is that while I have already mentioned the main them of Starlight Shores (the fading out of friendship, how to cope with it, and how to figure out if a relationship is worth fighting for and who knows?- maybe even advancing past just friendship), the story does deal with a variety of topics that change depending on which characters you have Will get closer to. I do not want to delve into any of the character-specific topics, because I think that one of the most engaging aspects of Starlight Shores is learning more about the characters as you navigate a vast array of choices in order to get closer to the character you are focusing on, but I will say this- they are all very modern and relatable topics/themes, well-written through the dialogue and learning about the "emotional baggage" so to speak of each character as you get closer to them. One last thing I will mention about the story is navigating the choices is an absolute blast, and be ready to see things get pretty heated and flat-out depressing if you're as dumb as I am making choices sometimes. The choices require some serious thought behind even the seemingly most mundane of options, and I loved figuring out where things went wrong and how to patch things up between characters in order to achieve happier endings.

The artwork and soundtrack: The artwork is great. All the character sprites are well-drawn, bright-looking, and matches each of the characters personalities well. The backgrounds are all beautiful to look at, especially the main nighttime background art for the beach with the calming fire you will be spending most of your time looking at, and the Cg's are all great too. Starlight Shores has a good variety of CG's- some bright and energetic (much like the characters in the story), chibi art for some of the more casual and lighthearted scenes, and more. The soundtrack, much like the artwork is well-varied and very fitting for the story of Starlight Shores. You have calm and relaxing tracks, upbeat tracks with acoustic instruments, somber tracks which rely heavily on piano, and some downright beautiful tracks. One extra thing I'd like to mention before wrapping things up is the UI of the game- it's very pretty. The textbox looks like the starry night sky Will and the others will be spending so much time underneath, and the menu matches this aesthetic and is very easy to navigate.

Conclusion: In the end, Starlight Shores is an amazing, unique visual novel I recommend to everyone. It has a story that takes place over the course of one night that still manages to be as satisfying and impactful as any other story, realistic and well-written characters with amazing character development, an engaging choice system that makes reaching various endings and bonding with certain characters exciting to do, well-drawn and varied artwork, and an equally great and varied soundtrack (and an overall pleasing design/aesthetic for the UI of the game). All this in mind, I'd rate Delphinium Interactive's Starlight Shores a 9.5 out of 10! If you want a more through and in-depth review, check out my review of Starlight Shores on YouTube!: link
3 points