Many RPGs have mediocre gameplay but are carried by an excellently told story. Sometimes it’s the opposite, with a dull story carried by compelling gameplay. While it’s always preferable to play an RPG that balances both perfectly, sometimes you gotta take what you can get these days since classic turn-based JRPGs are a rarity.
These days, JRPG maniacs can’t always depend on the usual suspects to deliver the goods consistently and seek out indies. Massive crowd-pleasers like Clair Obscur or Metaphor happen once in a blue moon. Some righteous indie hits like Keylocker or Wolfstride are quirky JRPGs that dare to go against the grain.
If you’re desperate, you could always grab something out of Kemco’s garbage bin, but if you’re willing to look, you may stumble upon something earnest. What happens when you combine Mystic Quest and Pokémon’s overworld elements into one neat retro package? Find out in our Starlight Legacy review!
Starlight Legacy
Developer: Decasoft
Publisher: EastAsiaSoft
Platforms: Windows PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch (reviewed)
Release Date: May 28, 2025
Price: $12.99
Starlight Legacy is as humble as JRPGs can get and is seemingly self-aware of many of the tropes associated with the genre, yet it plays it all straight and sincere. The protagonist wakes up, is greeted by his mom, and then swiftly sets out on an adventure with his buddy Teryl.
The first thing gamers will notice is how the overworld is structured like an old-school Pokémon game. Towns seamlessly connect to maze-like routes, which are packed with treasure chests. Exploring with step/tile-based movement is easy enough, and ledges where you can only drop are other connections to the monster-catching titan.
Some treasure is unreachable until the party earns some upgrades. For example, the raft, or hammer, is functionally like the HMs from the old Pokémon games. Flying for fast travel is contextualized as riding a dragon in a glorious mode-7 representation of the world. It’s all very familiar, but you won’t need to worry about catching 150 monsters to get far because Starlight Legacy has a party of three.
That isn’t to say that Starlight Legacy is bereft of monster catching. Frida, the female mage party member, can summon monsters, which functions more like a spell or blue magic from an old-timey Final Fantasy. Every defeated foe, including bosses, is added to her summon list. While there are only about 66 summons, it’s enough to keep the random battles interesting.
The main kingdom functions as a central hub that spreads to the four main areas, not counting the starting town. After meeting the king and the eternal tree getting torched, players are tasked with getting the four plot coupons to restore balance and vanquish the evil separatists.
The party can go to any of the four main paths in any order, but can only do one at a time. The king allots only one passage token at a time, and completing one area will buff up the power levels of the enemies in the remaining areas. The dynamic difficulty keeps the balance in check. Starlight Legacy is not a hard game, but it’s appreciated that measures were taken to keep it challenging.
The random battle system is as basic as it gets. The old-style Final Fantasy profile perspective gets the job done, and the heroes stand in a line. There was always a nagging sensation that there should have been a fourth party member due to the way the party is spaced out, leaving room for one more on screen and on the bottom row of portraits.
The heroes can equip any weapon they find, and everyone can learn any spell. The limit is that only four spells can be equipped at a time. The cast eventually learn skill abilities at certain levels, which will seem familiar to Final Fantasy fans. There’s a skill that’s basically “jump”, and another like “kick”… there’s even an ability that’s functionally “cover”.
Planning and strategizing by choosing which skills to take with you into battle and deciding on equipment offers some level of tinkering. It doesn’t get anywhere as deep as Bravely Default II or Final Fantasy Tactics, but for such a modest game, there is something to this.
The visuals won’t impress, but for a sole developer, they aren’t offensive. The sprites and art are amateurish and simplistic. They don’t have much expressive range. Character portraits are lumpy and look like they were done in one attempt without any redrafts. The monster sprites are especially plain and look quaint.
The background art fares better than the characters. The battle screens especially look professional and could pass as a genuine 16-bit game from the 90s. The overworld tile sprites are passable, though there is noticeable repeated use of several assets. It seems like every house is made up of the same handful of elements without much variation.
The music sounds authentic to the 16-bit era, with an energetic soundscape and memorable melodies. Some tracks are too short and loop too quickly, and it would have been nice to have more than one battle theme.
For an old-school-inspired JRPG, Starlight Legacy would have been a worthwhile entry-level game for kids just getting into the genre. If this were released on Super Nintendo, it might have given Mystic Quest a run for its money. Most of the experience will only please gamers who grew up with these kinds of games, and Starlight Legacy fills that void.
The story could have been better executed in some ways. There’s a recurring theme of bigotry in the story that revolves are a race of people called the Lusorians, but there is never anything to back it up. Players never get to see Lusorians do much and must take all the hearsay and wordy exposition at face value.
The main party is nothing special either. They don’t have much character or personality. They aren’t silent characters either; they make quippy comments at each other’s expense and have motivations, flimsy though they may be. The real joy of Starlight Legacy is its authenticity in looking and feeling like a scrappy entry-level JRPG from a simpler time.
Starlight Legacy will appeal to a very specific older gamer who played the original Pokémon and 16-bit Final Fantasy games. While it is really short for a JRPG (about 8-10 hours), it earns its value due to its fair price point. It’s a very condensed adventure that packs in all the beats quickly and doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Starlight Legacy was reviewed on Nintendo Switch using a code provided by EastAsiaSoft. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Starlight Legacy is now available for PC (via Steam), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5
