Sophie: Starlight Whispers

I genuinely adore metroidvania's and I'm a big sucker for colourful pixel art, so when i saw Sophie starlight whispers close to its reveal in 2023 it immediately went on my wishlist. It has been there for a long time so I was really excited to finally play it but ngl, i was left incredibly dissapointed. I really hate to be harsh on indie games, especially in a genre that i love but this game really has nothing going for it other than the inarguably gorgeous visuals. If that's all you care for by all means go ahead, the game really does look stunning with lots of colours, incredibly detailed environments and beautiful lighting. There's a lot of attention to detail not only in the backgrounds but also in the foreground, which is rare for a pixel art game and gave this one a lot more depth. Sadly that depth didn't translate to the gameplay systems as everything was both basic and unfun. For starters the controls felt VERY clunky, which is crazy given how few moves you have (other than the many spells, more on that later). You only get a double jump and a dash throughout your 10 hour playthrough, which isn't a lot to work with to make platforming engaging. There isn't even wall climbi…

Sophie: Starlight Whispers is a 2D Metroidvania about a girl named Sophie and her journey in a magical world full of surprises, mysteries and secrets that she will find about herself. The game offers a big interconnected world with secrets around every corner for you to discover, lots of different magical spells that you can test out and build your combination that suits your playstyle during exploration or battling enemies. Many different accessories with different effects for you to try out as well. The controls were super flawless and played very well, didn't face any single issues / bugs during my playthrough which is really amazing for the big number of effects and magical spells available, you can clearly see that love was put into making this amazing gem. The music and OST were really emotional and engaging the whole time, it will allow you for an enjoyable relaxing morning or evening, depending on the time you're playing. The boss fights were fun and challenging at the same time, I like when both factors are there for a boss fight, if you create your own build to manage each battle or even all battles altogether then it should be no issues at all. The designs an…

I usually don't commit to reviewing a game until I complete it but this game has captured something truly magical. This has an indie game feeling very similar to another game I recommend of a different genre, Black Book. Both of these indie games are phenomenally voice acted but are balanced poorly -but not to their detriment. The inexperience of the design instead is met with inginunity. The power creep is massive and traps and bosses are punishing but the upgrades only escalate. I am early enough in the game to not have a dodge or dash, yet the game has invulnerability spells, the ability to make platforms. In any other game making these so accessible would feel like a mistake but the surreal fairytale vibe of the game, and how fluid the animation is just makes it feel fun. It is like a very polished appearance on questionable design, but as a design risk it succeeds with flying colors. Rather than feeling bad it feels whimsical. This kind of joy is elusive to capture and I eagerly anticipate more as this gem of an experience has shown me bottled lightning. Edit: After seeing most of the game/areas I have to credit this as an indie masterpiece. Was it the power ups and upgra…

Meu jogo travou na missão na missão do Senhor das sombras, que precisa falar com o feiticeiro sobre, a porta do relógio não abre de forma nenhuma. Fora isso, o jogo é encantador, perfeito, adorei a arte, as mecânicas e a história. Gostaria somente de um suporte sobre isso que não sei se é um bug, mas to perdida total! Ksks

I can tell a lot of love was put into this game. Absolutely love the particular pixel style and the background aesthetics. Voice acting has been good, even if I can't understand Portuguese. The English subtitles are easily understandable, so that's helpful. I don't usually play Metroidvanias, but this may have me wanting to try more. It's a good entry game if you're new to the genre. I like collecting the spells, as I really enjoy collectables. They're not just given to you, so you have a sense of achievement when finding them along the map. I haven't run into any bugs or anything yet, and I'm a (dungeon) areas in. I think an English dub would be lovely if this game keeps being developed for people who aren't going to bother with subtitles.

I tried but this one has far too many issues and frustrations to recommend. The biggest issue for me personally is that screenshake is used far too often, with no way to disable it. Along with the screenshake, the camera follows extremely closely to your movement, and when you land there's a terrible jerky camera animation. I could only play for an hour or so at a time before it would get too much for my vertigo. Anyone who is sensitive to camera motion or has motion sickness issues should NOT get this game, you will have a bad time. There are no sort of accessibility options to deal with this camera mess. There are a lot of interruptions while playing, most cutscenes are skippable if you have to repeat them due to a death in a boss but not all are. Each section of a cutscene has to be skipped individually, such as during the prince's reveal. During the Livia boss fight, there's a period where you can talk to the boss, and even though my language was set to English, the dialogue was in Portueguese and I couldn't tell what was being said. I can read French, but Portuguese is a bit too different for me to parse. After dealing with this boss several times, I wasn't goi…