Star Renegades | PC Review
Something old. Something new. Something brilliant. Star Renegades really takes over the wheel of traditional turn-based combat and puts the pedal to the floor. The old school, “take your time and plan your next move” type of game is a dying art, so I appreciate when developers attempt to breathe life back into the genre. This game is all about the battles, with just enough story to give you a reason to keep going. Massive Damage, Inc. combined forces with Raw Fury, who brought us games like Atomicrops, and Bad North, to bring this tactical rogue-lite RPG to PC, with future releases for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
Is This Reality?
The destruction you rain down on the Imperium takes place on multiple planets, in different realities. You are a member of the Resistance, and it is your job to save these planets from The Imperium by defeating them and wiping them from the area. Should you fail to defeat the Imperium (which you will do, probably more than once), a droid appointed to assist the party will jump to a different reality to give you another shot, and your characters will start over. This gives reason to the procedurally generated levels and enemies.
Don’t expect to get too riled up or have your heartstrings pulled by anything other than the battles here. Once you set your feet against The Imperium, the story bits are kept pretty minimal and basic. Rogue-lites have become synonymous with this aspect, and this one stays true to form. It gives you just enough to keep pushing on. The lack of a story does actually take away from this experience a bit, simply because there is so much potential for something great.
Turn-Based Bliss
Each level, or planet, is a strategic challenge themselves. They are broken up into numerous areas, each one with its own designated battle. However, you only have a certain number of moves to traverse the land before the planet boss arrives, making it impossible to get to every area. Some areas contain only enemies, some contain enemies and power-ups, and some only power-ups. Deciding which direction to go after each turn was tantalizingly fun.
The most exciting aspect of Star Renegades lies in its battle system. The turn-based combat here takes elements of two of my favorite games – Grandia 2 and Octopath Traveler – and throws them into a blender with flare of its own. The result is one of the best, most exciting battle systems I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. Combat is “deterministic,” meaning you can see when your opponents will act. If you can act before them, you can get bonuses to your attack, and possibly “break” them, essentially preventing them from acting that turn at all. Be careful, though, because they can do the same to you!
An Alien World
The worlds you travel to in Star Renegades really are quite gorgeous in their retro style 16-bit graphics. It’s almost serene as you venture to your death. The music is repetitive, but feels like it belongs there the way it is. The two coupled together set an environment that I felt was ideal for an experience like this.
Final Verdict
Star Renegades is an absolute must-have for all classic turn-based RPG fans. If you’ve ever wanted to boot up your classic RPGs just to fight some battles because that was the part of them that you loved so much, this game defines that love. While the lack of story feels eerily off, this game was designed simply to enjoy the tactical strategy. And boy, does it deliver. It might take a bit to wrap your head around what Raw Fury and Massive Damage, Inc. had in mind when they created this experience (it was about two hours for me), but once it clicks, holy cow is this game amazing. Simply brilliant.
This review is based on a purchased copy of Star Renegades on PC. It is also available on Xbox One for purchase or via Game Pass).
Star Renegades
$24.99
Pros
- Extremely Well-Designed Battle System
- Procedurally-Generated Levels AND Enemies - No RunThrough is Ever the Same
- Challenging But Not Overwhelming
Cons
- Lack of Story
- Takes a While to Figure Out How Everything Works
