Stellaren II Review (English Original Visual Novel)

 

Stellaren, released exclusively to mobile devices in 2017 was an important game in my engagement with VNs. A dark sci-fi adventure with a captivating setting and a tense, at times brutal story stood out significantly from most other visual novels available for smartphones and I think to this day is one of the best dedicated Android/iOS games of its kind [you can find my detailed review of it here]. It also cemented my love for VNs as a storytelling formula and while some of that infatuation was definitely connected to me being a fairly inexperienced reader, many elements of Stellaren’s worldbuilding and character development are genuinely bold and interesting – and to the point where I wasn't even bothered by its rough edges and clunky gameplay elements.

                Because of all this, it is an understatement to say I was excited to hear about the release of Stellaren II July this year, coming out not only for mobile devices but also on Steam. Promising heavily updated visuals, a set of better-polished gameplay elements and a substantial, conclusive story (its predecessors had a tendency to end on cliffhangers), it seemed like a massive treat for someone like myself, already in love with this universe. What I found was both different and more complex than I expected – but did it capture the charm and stomach-gripping qualities of the original?

Stellaren II minigames are a massive step up in quality over the first game, and mostly skippable if they turn out not to your taste

Stellaren series is set in far future, where humanity is a space-faring civilisation mostly united under the Neo Galactic Conglomerate – an Earth-based government that manages numerous colonies with an authoritarian and exploitative approach, treating its inhabitants like second-class citizens. A few centuries back this injustice led to a civil war, ultimately won by Earth, while the breakaway faction, the Colonial Rebel Forces, established a ragtag domain composed of most remote human colonies. Over this background, the original game tells the story of M., a junk merchant scraping by on an impoverished planet by scamming NGC pilots. A sequence of unpredictable events gets him trapped on an NGC warship and involved in what would soon become a massive galactic conflict, with the stakes being the survival of mankind as a whole. I don’t want to go any deeper into the lore of the games, as I strongly recommend checking out the first Stellaren – something not necessary to enjoy the sequel (it recounts the most important plot points and most of the crucial lore), but worthwhile by the original game’s own merit.

                Stellaren II is set in the aftermath of the aforementioned conflict, on a remote and relatively isolated mining colony of Horus. It follows a blank-slate protagonist whose neural implants were hacked, forcing him to take part in a brutal rampage in the colony’s starport and wiping out all his memories. With few clues on his identity and past, he ends up working with two detectives investigating the murders: Lana and Rene, private contractors for the Weber Corporation, a powerful conglomerate that is the de-facto ruling power of the colony. Similarly to M’s story, during the 10+ hours experience this initial intrigue gradually escalates to galaxy-altering proportions, eventually linking with the plot of the prequels and giving conclusion to the overarching storyline of the series.

                All that being said, here comes my first issue with Stellaren II – while it works heavily to be a worthy conclusion for the main story of the whole saga, its most enjoyable moments are still connected to the initial 2/5 of the experience, happening on Horus. The two heroines that define this portion, aforementioned Lana and Rene, are interesting and well-developed, and after the game moves to space to pursue its grand narrative, they mostly move to the background, while other characters become the focus – particularly Len, the mysterious ex-NCG operative who appears in the colony following her own agenda and forms an alliance of convenience with the protagonist and his companions. At this point, the game also opens up with a space-travelling interface and several interesting locales, but in my opinion it never manages to recapture the good pacing and emotional impact of the initial chapters.

Who the protagonist is to one of the heroines… While the general tone of the story is dark and often brutal, the game offers enough humour and colourful personalities to never feel overly depressing

The next problem of Stellaren II is the sheer complexity of its story, combined with an unusual structure of the experience (at least partially connected to it being a Unity game, rather than one using a dedicated VN engine). With saving only possible at the beginning of every (often substantial) scene, a massive number of choices and an extensive affection system tracking your relationship with over 10 characters, it’s easy to get lost in all the options available to you. What makes it even worse is that the actual goals and consequences for affection building are obscured and nearly impossible to get right on your first playthrough. Often one slip-up can cost you the life of your preferred heroine and deprive you of the ending you wanted, with little to no indication on what you did wrong, or whether an alternative outcome was even possible (there are only two endings currently implemented, but more are being developed). In practice, you’ll likely have to finish the game once getting a default (Len’s) ending and then study the game’s wiki to get any other result – a problem not unheard of in VNs, but hardly an optimal situation.

                All those issues, however, can’t nullify the main strength of the game, that is its writing and worldbuilding. The post-war galaxy it presents is a brutal and chaotic place, with suffering and death ever-present. More importantly, Stellaren II is not afraid to make even its most important characters vulnerable and always handles their (either potential or inevitable) demise in meaningful ways. Every tragedy visibly impacts the protagonist and those around him, but at the same time they cannot give up on their mission, with stakes only rising as the time goes on. The occasional game over screens add to the feeling of vulnerability – the protagonist and his allies are routinely confronted with enemies they have very limited means of fighting against and the game makes it explicit that every bad move might be their last. At the same time, this dark picture is being offset by cleverly-written character interactions and humour, showing that the cast is making the best of their circumstances and adapt to the harshness of their world. Even in my initial playthrough, when I failed to avoid any of the “optional” character deaths, the ultimate message of the story felt hopeful rather than depressing.

                Two areas of the game’s story I found fairly weak are the protagonist and the villains. The lead character is explicitly a blank slate and while we later learn a few things about his past, he does not have the backstory and compelling character arc of M. from the first game. It’s even something of a recurring joke that characters question the reasons for him being included in some events and his connection to the heroines, even though he eventually proves himself as a valuable member of the team. The one positive is that he’s not a harem protagonist who wins every girl’s heart for no reason – the romantic tension in the game is very low-key and mostly shows up if you really push for it with your choices. The antagonists, while properly menacing, lack depth. The main threat throughout the story, a homicidal clone called X2, is simply pure evil, murdering and torturing people without remorse and with somewhat unclear motivations. What’s worse, this is in stark contrast with the character she was created from, the rebel commander X. who served as the initial antagonist of the original Stellaren – someone who might’ve, at first, seemed like a sadistic monster, but showed a lot of nuance and conviction later down the line. The pirate lord Roto, on whom the mid-section of the game is focused, is hardly better, for the most part just feeling cartoonishly vile. Even the broader antagonistic factions, like the Horus' terrorist group called the Butchers could've easily been more compelling, instead of just serving as cannon fodder for battle minigames – particularly because the Weber Corporation they fight against is hardly a benevolent, moral institution.

Their returning characters and conclusion to the Stellaren’s overarching story should satisfy fans of the series, although the initial chapters on the planet Horus are still the best parts of the sequel... And yeah, we still don't know what those one-letter names are about

Minigames were always a crucial part of the Stellaren experience, particularly with space battles thematically integrated into story segments. Outside of the starfighter sections (this time in the form of a shoot 'em up), the sequel includes tactical ground battles and a real-time infiltration minigame. When it comes to the level of polish they definitely go above the clunky dogfighting from the original, but are still fairly simple. They are also, outside of the infiltrations, fully skippable, making the experience of replaying the game for alternative story paths, or simply for those only interested in the VN content, less painful than it could've otherwise been. At the same time, the one unskippable minigame still gets in the way on new playthroughs, while the ground battles felt very dull to me, with stiff mechanics and snail-paced combat. Even the power-ups bought with credits awarded for winning encounters are simply passive bonuses, offering little in terms of customisation and giving a weak sense of progression. Generally, the minigames were neither a negative nor a major positive in my experience, but I also generally prefer my VNs keeping their focus on the story. One other mechanic worth mentioning is timed choices, showing up in more dramatic portions of the story and often associated with game-overs. My feelings are often mixed on such gimmicks, but here they never overstayed their welcome or became frustrating with their difficulty, while also conveying pretty well the dynamism of some scenes.

                When it goes to the visuals, the game is a major step up in comparison to its prequel, with detailed sprites (including some poses and clothing variants) and a good number of dedicated illustrations, both full CGs and simpler lineart spicing up the crucial moments of the story. Backgrounds are still a mix of 2D art and edited photos, but their quality and tone feels a lot more consistent than in the first game – the original Stellaren took many shortcuts which were possible to ignore when playing on a smartphone, but the sequel avoids such jarring dips in quality or mismatched assets, giving a solid impression even on a large PC monitor. The soundtrack, while mostly composed of stock music, is very consistent with dark sci-fi theme and generally supports the tone of the story very well.

                So, what is my conclusion on Stellaren II? Among mobile-oriented VNs it's still among the best things available, with a compelling story, good production quality and none of the exploitative business model you usually find on smartphone apps (and mobile VNs, curiously enough, are often among the most despicable examples of unethical monetisation and bastardisation of the source formula into a money extortion scheme, with things like CGs, choices or even progressing the story being routinely paywalled). Particularly for fans of the dark sci-fi stories it should be a treat on whatever platform they choose to play it (at least when the paid "pro" version hits the mobile stores – the free one include adds and doens't let you skip combat). On the other hand, some of the elements that made me fall in love with the original Stellaren, like the moral ambiguity of major factions, compelling growth for the protagonist and surprising character development are less present this time around. As a result, the game was both more and less than I hoped for. Despite that, I feel no hesitation to recommend this series to anyone who isn't allergic to gameplay elements and various quirks typical for VNs created in not-dedicated game engines (i.e. missing options and quality of life features). Particularly for the low price of $4, it's a great value proposition and if any of the themes and storytelling techniques I've described in my review appeal to you, you should consider giving Stellaren II a chance. Hopefully, we'll get more smartphone VNs of this quality in the future.

Final Rating: 3,5/5

Pros:

+ Interesting, dark sci-fi setting

+ Well-paced, tense main story

+ Large cast of memorable characters

 

Cons:

– Fairly weak minigames

– Confusing affection system

– Weak antagonists

VNDB Page

Buy Stellaren II on Steam or play it on Android and iOS