There’s only one thing better than playing games and that’s collecting every piece of merchandise tied to them. There was nothing like flipping through your favorite gaming magazine and seeing a profile of a limited edition collectible or discovering a piece of memorabilia from a beloved game in an overlooked corner of a shop and it’s a feeling we strive to replicate every month as we look through our own collector’s cabinet and dig out items new and old to show the world.

The story of Shining Song Starnova begins in 2017 when a Kickstarter campaign hosted by Sekai Project launched. This idol-themed visual novel was successfully funded to the tune of $51,000. A year later, it was released on digital gaming platforms. During the campaign, there was a tier for the Shining Song Starnova Limited Collector’s Edition for $90. Despite the limited nature of this release, a scant few extra copies were left at the conclusion of the campaign. Sekai Project subsidiary Denpasoft had a few in stock up until the end of November when they finally sold out.

What's included in the Shining Song Starnova Limited Collector’s Edition? There's a copy of the game, a CD soundtrack and art book housed within a box reminiscent of when PC games came in big cardboard boxes. Note that the Kickstarter version would have also included digital keys to redeem the game on Steam and Denpasoft. There are no physical fliers including codes in this boxed edition itself. The box is signed by the director of Love in Space -- which was only offered as part of the “Waifu Oshi + Eventer Super Set” Kickstarter tier which cost an impressive $450. This is exciting, though the signature written in black marker unfortunately doesn’t stand out well on the dark blue backdrop of the box.

The physical copy of Shining Song Starnova itself comes housed in a black DVD-style case. There's a single disc inside for the game which fits on one DVD. Despite the lovely exterior, there's nothing else inside the case aside from a disc. You’ll find no instruction manual, pamphlet or anything else. This is a DRM-free copy of the game meaning that you are not required to run Steam or any other program for it to launch. The only question is to how owners of this copy (who did not contribute to the Kickstarter campaign) can receive any post-launch updates on their disc copy.

The Shining Song Starnova original soundtrack fares better in regards to the quality department. The soundtrack comes in a standard jewel case which features both front and back tray artwork. In regards to the front art specifically, it's just a single page and doesn't include additions such as liner notes or anything else. The printing looks lovely and colorful, at least. Included on this single CD are 21 different songs. The original soundtrack was performed by the artist Seycara Orchestral.

Also included in the Limited Collector’s Edition is an art book. Although it's a softcover artbook, it’s nicely sized and is likely the reason the PC box needed to be so large. There are 31 pages in the artbook and each page is glossy and full color. There are a wide variety of images included, from sketches to full blown CG illustrations and background images. Note that this artbook also contains images from the 18+ version of the game. As such, this book should only be viewed by mature gamers.

All in all, this is a nice but not particularly unexpected special edition for a game. The most exciting part of this release for collectors is that it truly was limited via a small production run to satisfy Kickstarter rewards. As a result, it likely won’t be easy to pick up now if there are any Shining Song Starnova fans still looking for a copy. Unless a physical release gets produced by a company such as Limited Run Games, your best bet is to simply download the game from Steam, GOG or other digital distributors.

Want to look through the rest of our Collector’s Cabinet? Head right here.