Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity

"Stella Deus does has it's share of flaws but it doesn't mean it's a bad game"

After playing Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, this is where I begin to pay attention to the games Altus was releasing.

Stella Deus was one of the few SRPG that has caught my attention. I don't play SRPG much. I have played a few here and there such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Front Mission series. In general, the game is a great game but however, there are a few things that must be address.

Story
The story takes place in the world of Solum, where it is dying due to the effects of the Miasma. Because of the effects of the Miasma, people begin to sought alternative ways to cope with it good or the bad. You play as the main character name, Spero who leads this adventure to find the Gate of Eternity.

The story is one of your typical hero saving the world theme. It is focus more on the plot and actions than rather the character's depth and their growth within the story. Most people are probably going to be turn off by the story alone but I rather enjoy it. There are a few good twist here and there. It also has provide a good allusion towards religion.

In my opinion, I think most of the character's voices are decent but it does get annoying.

Graphics
The design for all the characters are drawn in a way where it is unique and different from each other. However, I am rather disappointment by the lack of variety of enemies design in the game. After a few hours playing in the game, you realized that you will be fighting the same enemies for the next 20-30 with a few addition to the group.

The color palette is consist of pastel colors which helps unified the characters and the environment by giving the audience an idea of the dying world of Solum. However, the colors they choose can make it sometimes looks bland. There are times where I felt that the characters was too similar to the environment where it hard to make an distinction from one another.

Music
It has a few good pieces here and there but it does not stand out much.

Game Play
On the battlefield, the system is consist of using an AP (action points) system. Each of the character movements starts off with 100 AP and each actions in which the character perform uses a certain amount of AP. On the surface, the system seems very straight forwarded and does not provided much depth to the game. Not only that, the battle also using a turned based system. The more you uses your action points, the further you will be. The combination between the AP and the turn based system provided a good amount of depth in the game without it being so overwhelming. It limits the amount of action you can perform on your character but with good management, you can perform attacks in order to fulfill your mission at the end.

However, the A.I. System for the enemies are a little bit less impressive then I was expecting. Sometimes, the enemies will not move until the character are within the radius of the area. There were times throughout the game where enemies will walk back and forth without moving.

Each of the character have their own jobs and skills where you use certain items to level them up. They also earn SP in the battlefield where it is use to learn skills and also increase their status. Basically, it's exactly, just like the job system of Final Fantasy Tactics however the difference between the two is that fact that Stella Dues does not has the freedom of customization then FF Tactics.

In the game, there's a fusion system where one can created different weapons, items, etc. However, I find the system isn't well thought out then I would like it to be. It seems that the creation have the items does not follow much of a strict and rigid set of rules of the game. The creation of the items just depends which two of the items you decided to fuse if you lucky enough to have both of them at the same time. Also, the fusion system can be very abusive because you can also created somewhat of a high level weapon early in the game. Not only that, it somewhat defeats the purpose of the AP system.

There also a place called the Catacombs where you are able to level up by defeating each floor. Just like the fusion system, this system can be easily abuse if you are level up very highly.

Conclusion
Stella Deus is a great game in general but it certainly does has it's share of faults. Even with it's faults, it does not mean it's something it's not worth looking into. It's a great game which has depth without being so overwhelming.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/12/05