Star Renegades’ Gameplay Advances the Rogue Genre
Written by Jonathan Lee, September 22, 2020, 6:00pm. Tweet to: @Writerscube
With a neon-bright sci-fi aesthetic, you’re thrown into an intergalactic war that spans literally all the multiverse. Slowly but surely every universe is being conquered by the malevolent Imperium that grows, subjugates, and assimilates the defeated. Now, it’s up to a quantum-powered time-jumping robot and the motley crew that makes up your party to put a stop to this dimension-jumping foe before it takes over every universe there is. Developed by Massive Damage Inc and published by Raw Fury, Star Renegades is a pixel art Rogue-type RPG that was released on September 8, 2020–and it has been quite the experience so far. The pixel-art graphics are nostalgic and the glitch-pop tunes are worth the soundtrack that I got with the game. But the real gem here is the gameplay and how it combines multiple concepts to make a fun, addictive experience that pushes the Rogue genre a bit further.
What’s in the Game?
The game engages its players with an addictive gameplay loop that challenges you to really learn the mechanics of the game in order to progress. With every attempt to fight your way to the endgame, you put another universe at risk of domination by the evil Imperium. When you lose, everything resets as you try to save the next universe. Every universe is unique as the maps are procedural. However, you get to keep certain resources that allow you to buy a starting item and unlock new characters.
Combat is easily the most engaging part of this game. The turn-based mechanics are built on an order-based system, with speed impacting who goes first. The fun comes when you have to orchestrate various attacks that have direct effects on that turn order. This prompts the kind of combat strategy that I enjoyed in Vambrace: Cold Soul and Star Traders: Frontiers. With proper strategy, you can not only steal the initiative from the enemy, you can rob them a chance to even strike back. I found it highly rewarding and a reason why I can’t put the game down.
That’s not all, the game even carries a nemesis mechanic that’s a bit like Shadow of Mordor. Your mini-bosses get promoted each time you die, some of them even come back for revenge. Defeating them usually gains you large amounts of experience and higher-level loot. All of it definitely motivates one to pursue these particular foes while exploring each planet.
Every Star Renegades Character, a Purpose
Every character that you choose for your party (5 characters max) adds various strengths and weaknesses that you’ll have to balance. You’re given choices ranging from the Valkyrie, suitable for light tanking, but more for critical damage, to more specialized classes like the Empath, excellent for direct health damage, but mainly a support choice for regeneration.
What I could appreciate about Star Renegades was how every character choice made a significant impact on how your party would perform through the rest of the run. Some characters such as the Scoundrel and the Commando are experts in pushing enemies down the turn-order until they Break and lose a whole turn. You’ll find yourself wanting to capitalize on that ability a lot, especially against mini-bosses and bosses. Other characters feature high-damage characteristics, or defensive and supporting abilities.
It’s also worth noting that in-between every three map movements or battles, your characters will camp out. This is your opportunity to develop character relationships through granting bonuses. This is also where you can unlock new character classes through the progeny mechanic.
Beating Star Renegades’ Loop
When you begin the game, your options will be few. But as you die and loop back, you’ll have the resources to unlock more classes. My favorite starting party so far has been the Valkyrie, Empath, and Commando. While it may seem wise to have a dedicated tank like the Aegis, but high damage and keeping your enemies from even having a turn can be so darn effective!
But it takes more than party composition to beat this game. Every enemy has their own combat habits, defenses, and weaknesses. Frontline and backline positioning also makes an impact on targeting for both sides. The stage bosses, known as behemoths, are easily the most entertaining as they have unique strategies and even abilities to throw off your initial strategies–you will likely suffer a total party kill a couple times while figuring out each behemoth’s habits. But that does make beating them so satisfying!
But even when you reach the end and “defeat” the Imperium, it isn’t the end. Yet, anyways. I’m currently on the second loop of the story, and it does change up slightly from the first loop, both in the big bad enemy as well as your main protagonist. I won’t spoil the details, but I’ll say that after that initial high of beating the first loop, you’ll find yourself challenged once again to refine your party composition.
Final Thoughts on Star Renegades
On depth of gameplay alone, Star Renegades has proven itself worth playing! The pixel art and glitch-tune music only adds to the fun factor. While I’m still playing through the game’s second loop, I find myself wondering what awaits after that. I’m quite hooked on further strengthening my party, acquiring new item unlocks, and discovering more character classes. But if I had to point anything out that I wanted more, it would be the story.
The conversations between the characters as you build their relationships don’t quite contribute to the plot. Occasionally, you learn a little more lore of the world around you, mainly revolving around the long-dead Titans. You may also then run into other side organizations that are looking to kill you. But while I welcome new combat opportunities, I haven’t found myself wanting to learn much more about the world because I’m kind of waiting on the characters. I’m hoping that the endgame will provide that bit of cast characterization that I’m looking for. But given how most of the game dialogue is mostly light-hearted or even whimsical, I’m not holding my breath. It’s worth noting though that this is a small gripe. The gameplay is so engaging that the plot isn’t as paramount to me as it usually is with other games.
If you’re a fan of Vambrace: Cold Soul, or any other strategic turn-based Rogue RPG with lots of fun, layered game mechanics, you’ll enjoy Star Renegades greatly! I can easily give this game a Buy!
