I don’t tend to play games with an anime-esque style usually, but The Star Named EOS stood out to me. However, it describes itself as a ‘story-rich puzzle adventure built around photography’. That is exactly my vibe. Not only do I love puzzle games in general, but photo mechanics in games always enthrall me. I knew I wanted to a The Star Named EOS review and see what it could bring to the genre.
Although relatively short, there’s still plenty to discuss. The game wasn’t entirely what I expected, and I’m super excited to share my thoughts with you. I’ll let you know what the game’s about, and hopefully you can decide whether it’ll appeal to you. Let’s get into it!
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Story – A Touching Tale of Familial Love
I have to commend how well-written the story is in The Star Named EOS. It’s beautifully told in a way that really connects you to the characters and their emotions. You play as a young man named Dei (it’s only revealed later that he’s a man, initially I falsely assumed I was playing as a woman, possibly due to the softer nature of the game, so I had to confront my own gender biases) who’s following in the footsteps of his mother. We get glimpses of their relationship through letters and flashes of memories. I actually love that we never really see them interact on screen, it makes the narrative more compelling.
My favourite part is how photos are used to tell a story, by connecting the past and the present. Your mother is sharing her journey with you by photos which you then need to recreate. It’s this process of trying to emulate her pictures that helps you appreciate them. A picture of a flower in a window isn’t normally something that I’d look twice at. But when we both have our own similar pictures, in 2 different settings… There’s an artistry in that.
I won’t give any spoilers, but the story is touching throughout. The ending especially is an incredible way to close this chapter of Dei’s life, and I loved it so much that I even sat through the entire credits, feeling the emotions of what I’d just played.
Gameplay – Look Up, Look Down, Look All Around
I do love a good point and click game. When I was a kid, I’d play those Escape the Room games on the school computers when the teacher wasn’t looking. I have so many fond memories of quickly clicking away from the tab and back on to my work when the teacher walked past. But rather than letting this nostalgia blind me, I actually think it has the opposite effect. I can be very critical of these types of games, and I’ll be the first to point out when it doesn’t hit the spot. Luckily, The Star Named EOS was able to meet my lofty expectations.
The game doesn’t highlight points of interest in any way. You have to look around the room and carefully move your cursor around, looking for the arrow symbol to change to either an eye (story relevance/ puzzle clue) or a hand (something you can interact with). This was a little tricky on Xbox, but I often find that cursor controls are always too slow or too fast. Whilst I’d have liked it to be slightly quicker, it wasn’t so slow that it ruined the experience.
When you click on something, it zooms in so that you can isolate that asset. That allows you to focus on the puzzle at hand without being distracted by other objects in the room. It also helps make the space feel more dynamic since you can only look around, and can’t actually move.
Puzzles – Get Your Head in the Game
This is arguably the strongest area of a game which already has a lot of strong points. I really loved the puzzles in The Star Named EOS, they were perfectly crafted. The balance was just right; they weren’t so difficult that I got frustrated and gave up, but they also weren’t so easy that I got bored. This was consistent throughout the game, and even though some puzzles were more difficult than others, they all felt accessible to most players. I did have to use a walkthrough a couple of times throughout the game, but that was more because I’d missed a point of interest, rather than because I was stuck on the puzzle itself.
There was a really decent varied range of puzzles. Some involved paying attention to your surroundings to learn clues about a code. You might have to find symbols to input in the correct order in a code lock. These are such a staple of escape rooms, and I relished the opportunity to test my observational skills. Others were more traditional style puzzles. You might have to slide tiles around a box, or arrange scraps of paper in the correct configuration.
Overall, I had so much fun solving the puzzles. There are plenty in each level, and because there’s such variety, it never feels repetitive. If you enjoy flexing your thinking muscles, you’ll definitely enjoy The Star Named EOS.
Using the Camera
I’m a sucker for an in-game camera. One of my favourite ever Pokémon games is New Pokémon Snap because the entire ‘catching’ mechanic involves snapping picture of the pokémon in their natural habitat. So when I saw that The Star Named EOS not only had a camera, but that it was an integral part of the gameplay, I was thrilled! It’s a classic Polaroid style camera which produces adorable photos. Something about having that iconic border makes it feel so much more special when you slide them into your little scrapbook.
You can take as many photos as you like, although you can only keep a maximum of 80 in your scrapbook. There are also ‘star’ photos when you shoot particular objects from a particular angle, and these go into a section of your scrapbook that relates back to the story. The camera can also be used to zoom in on details in the room. When you’re looking around with the regular viewfinder, you can’t zoom in or out, but with your camera, you can examine things in the background. This becomes necessary when trying to find codes that are hidden in posters and the like.
The main use for the camera is actually to beat the level. Unlike trying to find a key, like you would in a regular escape game, you’re trying to recreate a photo that your mother took. You have to find all the assets of the photo, then arrange them and snap an identical shot. This is a lot of fun, and requires a keen eye.
Audio & Visuals
The audio and visuals are where this star truly shines. You should see how many screenshots I took while playing this. Seriously, the ones you see in this The Star Named EOS review are just the tip of the iceberg! This game is utterly stunning, and I couldn’t believe how gorgeous the graphics were. I was genuinely in awe with what I was seeing. The visuals are hand-drawn, and you can tell the love that Silver Lining Studio put into them. The colour palette uses adorable pastels in rich hues which really captivate the heart. The locations felt so welcoming because of the wonderful artistry of the game.
The dialogue is all spoken by voice actors, and they do a phenomenal job. Their voices convey such emotion, and you can really connect to the characters. I’m so glad they hired people for this, as it fleshes out the game and makes such a difference.
The soundtrack is also beautiful, it sounds like something out of a Studio Ghibli movie. The melancholy piano tunes are so relaxing, and when you play, it’s almost like you’re isolated in a singular moment of time. You forget your real life, and become fully and calmly immersed in the world of the game. The theme song is delightful, and honestly nearly made me tear up at times because of how well it fit with the storyline.
Verdict
Overall, I had a wonderful time playing this incredible game, and hopefully my The Star Named EOS review has helped you realise why it’s so special. Unfortunately, at one point during the game, one of the objects completely disappeared, and even when I reloaded, it wasn’t there. The game crashed several times after that, and wouldn’t load back up when I tried to. Eventually I was able to get it working again, and I didn’t encounter any future issues, but I do still need to reflect this by slightly lowering the score.
It’s also a shame that this game is so short, as it can be completed in just a couple of hours. I was really enjoying my time with it, and even though I feel that the length is able to do the storyline justice, a few extra levels would’ve been the icing on the cake.
Have you played The Star Named EOS? Which other point-and-click games do you enjoy? Join the discussion over in our Facebook community, or tweet us on Twitter!
The Star Named EOS (Xbox)
£12.49
Pros
- Heart-warming and well-written story
- Excellent variety of puzzles
- Gorgeous hand-drawn graphics
- Relaxing and immersive soundtrack
Cons
- A bit too short to justify the price.
- Crashed a few times
- Moving your cursor is slightly too slow
