This Starry Midnight We Make
- June 1, 2015
- CAVYHOUSE
Get on SteamIn "This Starry Midnight We Make," create celestial objects using the Star-seeing Basin as you follow overserious clergywoman Hamomoru Tachibana's journey. After meeting Chuuya Shingoh during a night festival in early 20th century Kyoto, Japan, Hamomoru becomes intrigued by his star-growing experiments and joins him, leading to a unique celestial growth simulation adventure.
Reviews
- The game offers a unique and meditative gameplay experience that encourages experimentation and creativity.
- Beautiful visuals and charming writing enhance the overall atmosphere, making it a relaxing experience.
- The story, while simple, is engaging and well-integrated with the gameplay, providing a sense of purpose and character development.
- The game lacks sufficient guidance, leading to frustration as players may struggle to figure out how to create certain stars and constellations.
- There is no autosave feature, which can result in lost progress if players accidentally exit the game without saving.
- The gameplay can become tedious and grindy, especially towards the end when many combinations are required to complete tasks.
- story39 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some praising its charming characters and unique setting in 1910s Japan, while others find it slow-paced and lacking depth compared to previous titles by the developer. Although the narrative is delivered through engaging visual novel-style cutscenes, some players feel the overarching plot is ham-handed and not particularly groundbreaking. Overall, while the story serves its purpose in driving gameplay and character development, opinions vary on its execution and impact.
“Great translation, awesome Taisho-era aesthetic, entrancing story as always from Cavyhouse.”
“The story is even deeper than it looks like at first glance (because of the true story at the end).”
“I also like how they use the story to drive the progression of the game, give you hints for certain types of stars, and give you an overall sense of purpose.”
“While I liked Cavyhouse's previous game, Forget Me Not: My Organic Garden, this one falls short in terms of story and gameplay.”
“The game is let down by some ham-handed and poor writing in the overarching story aspect - especially with the game's endings - but this is very much an unavoidable problem with the original script rather than any fault in localization.”
“It's a slow-paced and rather boring puzzle game, gating a slow-paced and rather boring storyline.”
- gameplay17 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 82 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a meditative and experimental approach, with a minimal tutorial that only covers basic mechanics, leaving players to explore and discover on their own. While some players appreciate the variety of mechanics and the charm of unlocking story elements through gameplay, others find it frustrating due to unclear mechanics and a tedious trial-and-error process. Overall, the experience can be both engaging and challenging, depending on individual preferences for exploration and creativity.
“Forget Me Not gets you right to the gameplay; the explanation is quick, and you can very quickly get into a rhythm of fulfilling requests, which then leads to more world and character lore.”
“The gameplay here is very meditative; there is a small tutorial and tips throughout the game about how to create structures needed for your quests, but it only shows you the very basics of gameplay mechanics. Everything else is up to your imagination and ability to experiment.”
“Compelling zen gameplay.”
“While I liked Cavyhouse's previous game, Forget Me Not: My Organic Garden, this one falls short in terms of story and gameplay.”
“Starting off, you've got about 15 minutes before the title, and only 2-3 minutes of that time is gameplay.”
“However, the gameplay can become tedious.”
- graphics8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are praised for their unique art style and beautiful visuals that enhance the ethereal mood, with a notable taisho-era aesthetic. However, some players experience discomfort due to certain moving patterns, and while the animation includes appealing details like lip-flapping and flowing hair, the quality can occasionally appear crude. Overall, the graphics contribute significantly to the immersive storytelling experience.
“This game has a fairly unique art style overall, which I think adds to the 'ethereal' mood.”
“Beautiful visuals and music.”
“Here there is lip-flapping, clothes and hair moving in the wind, etc. The drawings can be a little on the crude side occasionally, but it still fits within the distinct art style.”
“The graphics give me a mixture of motion sickness and headaches due to the moving patterns on certain characters.”
“The drawings can be a little on the crude side occasionally, but it still fits within the distinct art style.”
“Hmm, anime style with not too shabby graphics; this may keep me playing...”
- music6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as calm and unobtrusive, effectively enhancing the relaxing and meditative experience. While it may not be particularly memorable, it successfully conveys the game's tone and complements the beautiful visuals. Overall, the soundtrack is well-regarded for matching the mood and style of the game.
“The music is calm and not annoying, which really makes it a relaxing meditative game about throwing pebbles into the pond.”
“The music likewise is very good and matches the mood and style of the game very nicely.”
“Beautiful visuals and music.”
“The soundtrack usually doesn't stand out, but does a good job of conveying tone.”
“The music is fairly decent, but it lacks memorability.”
“While the art and music are fairly decent, they don't elevate the overall experience.”
- grinding5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be quite tedious, especially towards the end when specific star combinations are required, leading to frustration if mistakes are made. While the game allows for some multitasking with evolving stars, the slow regeneration rate of essential beginner stars can make progress feel painfully slow and repetitive.
“However, the gameplay can become tedious.”
“Moreover, it’s definitely very tedious towards the end, when you have to combine many stars just to get a specific cluster and, if one star is wrong, everything just stops working.”
“The game puts a timer on each type of star you can plant and that's fine as long as you can switch between multiple different 'building sites' where you try to figure out how stars evolve; however, it gets tedious as soon as you are set to get this one star that completes a sequence and you need like 20 or 50 of these beginner stars which only regenerate at a snail's pace.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is perceived as lacking, with users finding both the puzzle mechanics and the storyline to be slow-paced and unengaging, leading to an overall dull experience.
“It's a slow-paced and rather boring puzzle game, gating a slow-paced and rather boring storyline.”
