In In Stars and Time, created by Armor Game Studios, is a heavily narrative role-playing game (RPG) with a unique combat system. In the game, you play as Siffrin, where he and his party are trying to prevent the king from freezing time completely. However, every time you die, intentional or not, you reset back to the beginning, but Siffrin remembers everything from their past life, while the rest of his party doesn’t. 

The combat uses a rock-paper-scissors gameplay loop, where one type is weak to one, but resistant to the other type. Each character has their own unique abilities that work with one another and can send off a powerful attack when you use five of the same type of attack. You have to think through each encounter to best defeat the enemies.

The main bulk of this game revolves around its story and themes. The game centers around time loops, where time resets to a predetermined place in time everytime you die. This leads you to have to look at every corner in the game to progress. The game tackles themes of acceptance, family, and determination, along with harder themes to grasp, such as depression and death. You get to see the highs of Siffrin succeeding with his friend, along with the burdens of his failures and seeing his friends die. It made me look at myself and accept who I am. I feel like most people would find something that resonates with them, even if it’s something small. It will make you laugh, but also cry at times.

Overall, the game has a cute black and white art style and great dialogue, with each character having unique personalities that are fleshed out well. Although the game can get repetitive at times, has long grinding sessions, and some abilities that flat out don’t work, the experience is worth it, especially if you enjoyed other RPG games like Undertale or Omori.