Star Shift Rebellion
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Infernis Prime is a mining colony in the Outer Rim, under brutal occupation. With the help of a hacked android and the discovery of a dark secret, the rebels finally have a chance. This is the story of how the Outer Rim Coalition formed, and how they broke free...
Download
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
I have weird impressions of this game that are both positive and mixed.
Strengths
Interesting Worldbuilding: The focus on alien species and their unification against a common enemy ads depth and intrigue, even if the premise itself isn groundbreaking. I really enjoyed seeing various alien species uniting under the same banner against common enemy.
Enjoyable Overall Experience: Despite its flaws, I find the gameplay enjoyable. Party customization is robust, gameplay is variable, and overall there are a lot of stuff to do.
Weaknesses
1. Lack of Focus in Storytelling:
While the details of the rebellion and alien dynamics were compelling, the fragmented narrative structure (shifting from rebels to androids to dogpeople) made it harder to follow or stay invested. This lack of cohesion detracted me from the overall experience.
2. Gameplay Overload:
The abundance of skill trees, most of which are repetitive or niche, makes the customization overwhelming rather than meaningful. A streamlined skill system might have allowed for more clarity and better strategic decision-making.
Likewise, making a combat for seven party members in a turn-based RPG (as opposed to Xenoblade 3 action-based system) feels very excessive. It bloats battles, making them longer and more difficult to balance effectively.
Suggestions for Improvement
Narrative Tightening: Focusing on fewer story arcs or interweaving them more cohesively would help prevent the mush effect I mentioned. A smaller, more focused cast could also improve player connection to the characters and their struggles.
Streamlining Mechanics: Reducing the number of redundant skill trees and offering clearer differentiation between skills would allow for more satisfying gameplay progression. Likewise, scaling down the party size could make combat more manageable and balanced.
Final Impression
The game has its heart in the right place, with strong worldbuilding and ambition, but struggles to bring its disparate elements together into a cohesive whole. My and others enjoyment despite these issues suggests that the foundation is solid, but refinement in both narrative and gameplay focus could elevate it significantly. If this series does continue, addressing these concerns could help it achieve its full potential.
The series is continuing to be developed, and all feedback will be taken into account to make them better. Partially the reason for releasing these prologue games before the capstone project (Star Shift Legacy) is to iron out the rougher edges before they become larger problems in the larger game.
Also something to keep in mind, most of the systems in the game are such that I found various plugins and put them together in what I thought was cohesive mostly. But some things like the skill tree, would have done it a little differently if I was doing it in a more custom way. Recently I've been getting better with coding and I'm starting to build these custom systems (such as improved tactical battle system and skill tree).
As for the storytelling, I do care about the story being good, I learned a lot from making this game (and I made up the story as I went along, didn't plan it out or anything), and the feedback about the cast of characters maybe being a bit too large/harder to connect with them individually is one of the common pieces of feedback I hear. I'm probably going to stick with the 7 battlers, but maybe not multiple teams of them like I do here. I'm thinking about it.
Thanks again, I appreciate the feedback!
hey, thanks for listening my critique. Tbh seven marty members isnt make or break deal for me, its just something I will have to get used. Otherwise im glad you are progressing, and I wish you success with upcoming two games. Cant wait for them!
Wow, I Just finished playing Star-Shift Origins and enjoyed every minute of the gameplay, so I'm looking forward to This one and the Main Star-Shift game.
Thank you so much for the comment! I am glad to hear you enjoyed Star Shift Origins, and believe you'll love Star Shift Rebellion and Star Shift Legacy. :) If you can give Origins a Steam review, we'd really appreciate that.
Already done, but the funny thing was I thought I did, but easily fixed.
Great to hear! It's a whole franchise and we're aiming to make each one better and better. Rebellion will also be longer, we felt Origins was a tad too short.
Well, that's good to hear, and yeah I did think Origins was kinda short but I figured maybe a few side missions could've been added to gain support from other systems, and alien races before finally assisting in the invasion of a planet with a new ally to reclaim the Dauntless crew's sister ship back from ESA custody. It also had me still questioning what happened to the ship's crew.
Another thing I hope is addressed in the upcoming game coming out in November is the actions toward the Dauntless crew on that ESA-controlled world in Origins and hope they have a chance to share their grievances with a certain space station commander about it along with the return of their ship.
Aside from that, I'm looking forward to playing Star Shift Rebellion and Star Shift very soon.
What is going to happen is that the survivors from the dauntless are going to form a group called "The Order of Restoration". Their goal is to restore the timeline to what it was before they got stuck in all of this.
In the main game, you as the player make all kinds of morality choices and you run into these guys. You will run into Carol Everson and Archer and all them in the main game, and based on your decisions they will either be neutral, or join you, or fight you. It will be good!
Congratulations for the new release!
Thanks!