Stela, developed by SkyBox Labs, is described as an atmospheric platformer, which has recently made its way over to the Nintendo Switch. I was recently lucky enough to spend some time with it and enjoy its spooky atmosphere. This dystopian, apocalyptic world came to me at exactly the right time, during this uncertain time. Spooky and apocalyptic it certainly was. This game really sucked me in and delivered on its promises with it being both atmospheric and cinematic.
First and foremost, Stela is a gorgeous game. I was blown away by the beautiful and haunting cinematics. The artists have used lots of shadows and fog to add to overall mystery of the game. The developers have also added a fantastic soundtrack, all which add together to make a very spooky and mysterious game. These are two strengths of the game that really make Stela stand out, in my opinion.
In addition to the art and the music, Stela tells the player very little about what is going on, and how to play the game. All you know from starting up the game, is that you are playing as a girl in an apocalyptic world, on some sort of planet. Other than that, nothing much is known by you! I was stuck running, in this spooky world, being chased by tiny little scary creatures that were constantly killing me. The scariest part was not seeing these creatures—the darkness and color palette of the game really kept me guessing as to who exactly the enemy was. My imagination was working overtime and it creeped me out even more!
In terms of gameplay, this is kind of where the game started to fall a little short for me. I think Stela was mostly focused on the cinematic experience, that the gameplay felt a little clunky to me. Movement was slow, and not a lot was explained to the player upon launching the game. In the first 30 minutes, I was running around trying to figure out how to interact with the environment when it finally clicked with me that anything red in the foreground should absolutely be interacted with by pressing A. This was the key and helped me continue through the game from that point forward, so that is my number one tip for players!
Moving forward in the game, puzzles do not really amp up in difficulty, so if that is what you are looking for here, I would not recommend it. The story really takes precedence here, and although the difficulty does not ramp up as the game goes on, the story continuously keeps you wrapped up and wondering where exactly the girl is, what is going on, and who are the creatures that are chasing after her.
Performance wise, if you had the option of where to play Stela, I might honestly recommend using a computer. The Nintendo Switch, to me, doesn’t seem to have the power necessary to smoothly run this game and give it the glory that it needs. In a pinch, I think the game is certainly beautiful on the Switch, but I did notice some frame stuttering while playing. If I could give any advice, I would recommend to certainly play this game DOCKED, and not handheld. The beauty of Stela is not properly shown on the small little handheld screen, in my opinion.
I think this game is perfect for anybody looking to get wrapped up in a story, and not necessarily be bogged down by an overly complicated platformer. A perfect game to take your time during this stressful time!
Check Out the Stela Trailer:
Stela is available for Nintendo Switch, Steam, Xbox One, and Apple Arcade.
For more information, please visit the official Stela website.
Nintendo Switch Review
I am a senior studying History at the University of Michigan. I've been playing video games since I was very young and around age 16 I had become entirely obsessed with the medium. I hope to one day work in the industry in any way I can.
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