OUT NOW! "Stars Arisen"—Wield the stars’ magic to reclaim the throne!

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41

This was really good, and very different in style to most of the books lately. Not having every dialogue option exhaustible in conversations was strange but I kind of liked it. The magic system was interesting, fairly unique and the good ending seemed pretty nice. A couple things I wish I could have done or had multiple chances to do, but even so nothing I could honestly complain about.

I don’t know if it’s just me or why, but I feel this is more of a witchy vibe/feminine in the beginning even as a male MC, and it shifts towards the half at or the end to the appropriate character gender and personality, nothing wrong with that btw, it just took me a little bit to not read as if I was a feminine character. (Not sure why either)

Coming out so close to the Infinity book 3 I am pleasantly surprised that this book holds it own after delving into that series so hard.

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Do you think that may be because the MC is presented as a caretaker in the first half and more of an adventurer in the second? I haven’t noticed any great tonal shifts that would give that impression, but there is a pretty big activity-type change.

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I don’t think so but it could be, I think it’s specifically a feminine witchy vibe I get. Possibly because of adjectives/sentence structure but to be honest I really have no idea why.

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44

I think [spoiler]Baz is the best part of this for me. replaying again and choosing his last name seemed to illicit a response from him.
that he also sacrificed so much and even planned his arrest made me emotional a bit. I freed him the first chance I got.

I tried romancing both Vivian & Parker but in the end it didn’t work out lol. I’m not sure if it’s possible? anyways was happy with Vivian so that’s good.

also glad there was a choice to make peace between the queen & the Assembly[/spoiler]

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45

Yeah, the only two people you can romance at the same time are Em and Natalia.

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46

Wait, who’s Parker? Did I miss something?

Anyway, for spoilers, you want to make sure that it is [spo iler] text goes here [/spoiler], except without a space! I hope that helps.

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47

There’s no Parker, I’m assuming it was Harper :slightly_smiling_face:

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48

sadly thats somehow not working, but thank you

yes, sorry I meant Harper lol!

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49

Came for “reclaim the throne”
Staying for this amazingly intriguing and captivating story and characters and icannotwaittodiscovermoreandtheend

(still in the middle of my first playthrough, but already the free part was enough to insta-hook and make me buy the game :heart:)

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50

So finally finished the game. What a ride that was! :grin:

I don’t know if the Author read this thread, but hope nobody minds I give my feedback here.

Loved the story, seriously I was hooked since I played the demo. And that cliffhanger had me raging cause…Urgh! Why did you stop there? I wanna see more! Lol

Let see:

  • Loved that I get to kill the romances. That was good, seriously because…

-…I really didn’t care for them. The reason is simple: They have Ties to factions I didn’t care for. I’m a Mama Daughter, none of the factions deserve the Stars, and it be freezing in hell I’m gonna let anyone get their hands on them. This brings me to the following point…

  • Even after romancing a few (Revanna, Em, Natalia) couldn’t get them to give up their goals. And that was on the kind-diplomatic path ever. :roll_eyes:

  • The romances (The ones I care to try) weren’t anything to write home about I’m sad to say. It really felt like Viv was the main one, which is disappointing in a way. You had more stuff to do with him than with the others.Still loved I got to erase him in the end lol

  • The Assembly stuff was pretty much boring politics. I SURVIVED POLITIC! :joy: Let’s not do that again, anytime soon aye?

  • I’m disappointed that even though in one run I was eager to give the stars to Mother, and didn’t want anything to do with this town and its idiots…in the end, I couldn’t just leave. No, I refused the city Magic, so I could easily just Run for the hill if I wanted. But in the Epilogue, there was no such choice. The only choice I had was ‘Rest’. Really? There is a whole freaking world out there and I’m stuck in this Town with all these people? Come on! Let me out! :sweat_smile:

(Hey! Wondering the country beat staying in that tower! It has no ELEVATOR!)

Honestly, the ‘Kill everyone’ Path was the most fun as far as I’m concerned. As I said, I didn’t care for the factions. So, sure like hell wasn’t going to help any of them. Nathalia is a follower and not a leader so Nope sweetheart, you don’t deserve the stone. Em doesn’t belong with the guards (Got them to resign), and can’t accept Facts when given to them, not siding with you either spineless idiot. Revanna was like 50-50 honestly. I think she could lead but only if she is guided by someone stronger like Mother. But alone? She just burns and crashes.

Rey is an idiot ruled by fear, I obliterated him and that was fun. He is also a coward. The Bastard wanted to run away from his family. So much for the ‘Leader’ :roll_eyes:

The Comet, I think is the weakest faction. Never went there, and barely interacted with Harper. Don’t think it had much of an Impact, so didn’t miss much.

Baz. He gets a crown for pushing coffee…sweet sweet coffee on my mc! :grin:

As for Mother. I liked her character, I also liked how she could change depending on what your goal is, and how receptive she was to the things I suggested. Like ‘Let’s kill them all’ VS ‘Let’s hear them out’. I think the only disappointing thing is…once we get the Tower and Throne, there is nothing. She is busy with Baz and that is it? Come on, we didn’t get much with her when the game started…lol

Another thing I didn’t care for was the Poly with Nat and Em. It really didn’t feel right to me. It felt like those 2 were mean to each other, and you were a 3rd wheel. And honestly, why did the game ask me about Marriage? When I barely got kissed by these 2???

So, in conclusion: While it seems like I have a lot of Negatives stuff to say, please understand that I still enjoyed the game very Much!
These are my feedback, my thoughts on how it felt to me (Nobody has to agree with me, but don’t reply to fucking argue or debate with me, I don’t care what anyone thinks. Got enough crap in my brain as it is lol).

Will I recommend the game? 100% sure I would. For the story, but never for the romances. Because they were utterly underwhelming and lackluster.

Looking forward to what you will come with next!

Best Wishes!

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51

I think the Comet route may have more of the City magic on it, so maybe it needs you to take that path to get much out of it? I’m still on my first playthrough (having to work is unfair) so I don’t know yet.

52

First playthrough done, and this was such a good game, very much enjoyed it and felt like I got my money’s worth back and more! :slight_smile:

It is amusing, looking back, because I was so confused by why Baz would be shook by me choosing his last name as my last name. Like, dude, didnt you just say that I am your niece? And then, later on, oh. Hi dad!

And then the end with me trying to venture outside Kelestri and being hit with that. Maker, one thing Sorceress was (too vague but still) genuinely warning me about, but I was too curious and little “f you mom, ill connect with the city if i want” :sweat_smile:

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53

I don’t usually replay games I’ve tested right after they release, but this week I was craving something familiar and reliably good, and this was perfect. I realized I’d never actually romanced Vivian during testing, so I decided to make that my focus. I had forgotten what a gem of a character Vivian is. He’s got a chip on his shoulder the size of the Star fragment I resurrected him with, he has no filter whatsoever, he’s a total pain in the ass, and I am fiercely and unreasonably fond of him.

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54

@abbytrevor Congratulations again on the release!

@Nm6k If you are not siding with the Sorceress, then
Falling Down from Mega Man Zero 4 starts playing when you are battling her, I guess?

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55

I’ve loved this since it first popped up as a WIP, and getting to play the full release was a long-anticipated delight! It’s a wonderful story with some genuinely unexpected twists and turns, and so much freedom to try different approaches - no wonder it hit a million words. Congratulations on finishing such a huge project.

I chose to stay loyal to the Sorceress, and was pleasantly surprised by how that played out - honestly I’d been bracing for the possibility she might let me down, after keeping so many secrets. But it was really nice seeing her reunion with Baz and how much she genuinely loved him, turning into a happy family, persuading her to take over the city without bloodshed and express regret the mistakes she made before. She didn’t even try to stop Vivian’s revival, was just like ‘ugh fine be an idiot then’ and left him to it. Sorry ma’am but your son has to disappoint you in at least one way.

One of my main delights was convincing Vivian of this at every opportunity, and romancing him regardless. The poor man just resigned himself to dealing with that forever. Top tier RO.

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56

Another outstanding game, Abby! I became a fan after playing Heroes of Myth recently. Saw that you had a new game coming out, and bought it immediately after its release. The main pull of Stars Arisen for me was how my choices had a palpable impact on the story and given extra weight when characters actually remember things that my character has said or done from chapters before. I played through an entire run in just two days. I was completely invested. Excellently done!

Played with my gut and was very happy with how my first run played out. My Benevolent Mother, the Assembly and I share power in the government. Broke Baz out of jail and reunited both my parents. They’re now living happily as a loving family. Kept all my contacts safe and ALIVE (phew). Managed to convince Mother and the Harnessers to use the Stars safely, and to only benefit the city. Got Em and Nat to date!! Truly resurrected my bae, Vivian, and gained immortality as well.

Can’t wait to completely turn the tables in my next run. Woo!

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57

My friend got me this game (as my birthday present), and I love it!

I played as a rather rebellious kid and killed the sorceress because my MC believed that no one should be immortal while holding all that power at the same time. He also killed Rey because Rey was using the star to stay in power, which was really not that different from the sorceress. In the end, he got the Assembly to rule alone. The only personal thing he did is to break dad out of jail, but dad did not want to talk to him anymore (which is also fine … he just did not want his last living relative to die there). And I was being dumb (missed my cue to romance vivi), so he ended up living alone in Baz’s home and unable to leave the city. But that is alright, because he had done right by the city, and gained friendships with pretty much the rest of the cast! (Aided Rao in her campaign, made Em & Natalia friends, and supported Harper in his quest for truth).

I wonder if we can make Rao and Natalia work together because their goals seem pretty similar. And for the next playthrough, I’ll see if I can kill mom and resurrect her, so MC and parents can all be mortal and forget about the stars to live with dad in somewhere quieter.

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58

So which do you guys prefer embracing the cities magic or staying starry? and how do you go about becoming immortal?.

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I’m not sure I have a favorite route, unless “hanging out with Natalia so I can pet her dog” counts. This game is just so good.

You can use the Stars to make yourself immortal in the end, if you either control or have access to them.

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60

I keep shying away from the city magic, but that’s probably partly because I don’t like the idea of it reaching out and grabbing me being portrayed as some sort of temptation. I’ll eventually do a run with it, but it’s kind of icky.

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