Starlight Vega first came into the spotlight in April 2015 when indie developer Razzart Visual decided to use Kickstarter for this visual novel. The project did wonderfully, easily surpassing the $3,550 goal and racking up three exciting stretch goals. What was it about this project which drew so much excitement? For one, the storyline seemed intriguing. In Starlight Vega, players assume the role of a young woman named Aria who has just discovered a strange book and gem in the attic of her late grandfather’s home. The moment she reaches out and touches the gem a being suddenly appears. It’s a woman in red, revealing outfit who also happens to have horns and a tail. No doubt that setup gets attention. Of course, there’s also the matter of this being a yuri title which brought all manner of visual novel fans out of the woodwork to support this campaign.

Yuri is the term used to describe “girl-girl” romance - aka lesbian relationships - in anime, manga, and video games. Given the increasing acceptance of LGBT characters in all games, the audience is generally very willing to support titles with this sort of content. So, now we’re just about a year after the Kickstarter began and Starlight Vega is out! So, how did the game come together in the end? Well, there’s actually a lot to go over with relation to all aspects of this title. As far as the storyline is concerned, it definitely gets off to a great start. The devilish woman, named Lyria, is immediately likeable and yet unbearable to Aria. Then there’s the matter of Aria’s best friend, Melody, who is both smart and sweet but kind of gets thrown under the bus during specific routes. The trio play against each other well, sparking all sorts of arguments and amusing moments as would be expected with such an outlandish setup.

You see, Lyria was apparently cooped up in some limbo realm for the past fifty years. Now that she has been released from this prison she’s indebted to Aria. It’s not just that she’s really thankful, but the two have actually become fused by the power of an antique gem. The two must remain in the same general location due to this magical tether. If one is injured, the other also feels her pain. As you might expect, it's a total inconvenience for both parties! Thankfully, Melody’s inquisitive nature gets her started on translating the old tome from the attic in order to find the means to sever this connection between the two. Of course, there is the possibility that romances may foster between Aria and either one of these women - alongside another character or potential harem ending which is unlocked after every other “main” route.

There are three main routes to trek down, and each of these is accessible from the get-go. The two for Lyria and Melody are pretty simple to work toward - simply make choices favoring one of these characters. You’ll also find that there are good/bad versions of some endings. These typically depend on a single choice, so it’s not a bad idea to always save before some difficult choice comes up so you may return to that same spot later. The first playthrough of Starlight Vega took me approximately two hours. After this point, completing the other endings was a fair bit faster as the common route (what you seen between all characters) feels about half the length of the full game. To fully complete every path took me a little over five hours. This is far faster than Sekai Project’s estimated playtime of ten hours, but then again, I’m apparently a faster reader than most.

Length isn’t the most important part of a visual novel. What matters is exactly how well the writer(s) manage to tell a complete story in the allotted time. There’s no doubt that the cast of Starlight Vega is charming. However, it is not the most compelling tale out there. For as brief as a playthrough is, the storyline still manages to drag itself out in some instances. Various acts by the rambunctious Lyria do not need to be constant to understand how rowdy she is. They also don’t necessarily need to be so focused on the invasion of poor Aria’s personal space - at least, until Aria finds herself interested in these advances. Seriously, just replace Lyria with any dude character and it feel fairly icky to see the character behave this way. It also feels that story closure wasn’t quite there. The wrap-ups say a little bit but it’d be nice to get more time with the characters as couples. The harem gets the short end of the stick by barely receiving any conclusion at all.

On the plus side, there are not many typos to speak of throughout the game. I only noticed one and any of these fixes will almost certainly be applied quickly. As a whole, the writing carries a tone and gives each character a distinct personality. Well, all the main characters, at least. Side characters like Aria’s mom and such are basically thrown away at a moment’s notice. Changes that aren’t about to be resolved anytime soon is the matter of the soundtrack. No, it’s not awful, but does feel slightly unfinished. For example, certain songs have a very obvious end to their “loop” before starting up again. It’s honestly distracting the first time you hear a sudden stop and start. I’d speak on the voice acting but there is none available for this title. That’s not an issue, of course, as many visual novel developers follow this same voiceless path. Still, it could’ve been fun to hear voices of the different demons.

Aside from writing, graphics are a key point in the acceptance of a visual novel. Personally, I’m a big fan of the sketch-like art style used to illustrate character sprites. Most sprites are also given multiple different looks to facilitate emotional responses to the dialog at hand. It also provides a distinct look for Starlight Vega which helps distinguish it from other English visual novels. On the other hand, the backgrounds are a bit odd. They vary in quality in style so perhaps they were drawn by multiple people. The same is true of the CG artwork which at times looks far better and sometimes worse than the sprite art. This isn’t a killer issue but personally it’s generally best to shoot for a cohesive style. At the very least, having all CG art of the same quality lessens disruption for players.

Closing Comments:

We have seen an increasing amount of yuri visual novels on Steam this year. With so many to choose from, it is hard to settle down and find one which really speaks to the reader. Starlight Vega may not be the best yuri-centric tale, but it is still an enjoyable romp through a world where demons exist, are downright beautiful and want to romance you. What this title lacks in polish it (mostly) makes up for in amusing moments and endearing characters. Of course, the short overall gameplay time leaves little opportunity to truly get to know the cast. With some extra polish, additional scenes and maybe even voice acting, Starlight Vega would really begin to shine.