Wings of Bluestar
- October 12, 2020
- Shinu Real Arts
Get on SteamIn "Wings Of Bluestar," protect space from a former ally, a mysterious artificial life form, as enhanced trainee pilot Aya or veteran pilot Zarak. This hand-painted, frame-by-frame animated shoot 'em up offers a deep story mode with dialog choices and HD graphics. Every visual asset is meticulously crafted by the same artist, ensuring the game's visual integrity.
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Reviews
- Wings of Bluestar features beautiful hand-drawn graphics and a charming art style that enhances the overall experience.
- The game offers a variety of gameplay modes, including a story mode with visual novel elements, and a solid arcade mode that caters to both casual and hardcore SHMUP fans.
- Despite some challenges, the game provides a rewarding experience with a risk-reward scoring system and multiple difficulty levels, making it accessible for players of varying skill levels.
- The movement mechanics can feel unresponsive and imprecise, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences, especially for new players.
- There are several technical issues, including frame drops and bugs that can disrupt gameplay, which detracts from the overall polish of the game.
- The story and character development are often criticized for being clichéd and poorly executed, which may disappoint players looking for a compelling narrative.
- story32 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The game's story mode features a visual novel style that adds depth and branching narratives, allowing players to explore different character perspectives and endings. While some players find the plot clichéd and nonsensical, others appreciate the artistic presentation and the effort put into the storytelling, noting that it enhances the overall experience despite some technical issues. Overall, the story is seen as a significant, albeit imperfect, component of the game that encourages replayability.
“There's tons of unlockables and a fully fleshed-out story mode.”
“The visual novel style that takes place between stages in story mode leads to different endings, prompting players to replay the game not only for high scores but also to experience to a full degree the story of the main characters.”
“Impressive beautiful artwork throughout and a wonderful storyline.”
“First, this story is nonsensical.”
“Anyways, you've heard this cliché plot before in B-rated movies.”
“Although the story was fairly cliché and illogical, getting a lousy ending for acting on the information provided seems pretty insulting.”
- graphics26 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beautiful hand-drawn art style, vibrant colors, and impressive visual effects, reminiscent of 80s anime. Many reviewers appreciate the unique 2D manga aesthetic and the overall presentation, which enhances the gameplay experience. While some note that the action may not be as engaging, the artwork serves as a compelling showcase that many players enjoy.
“I like the hand-drawn art style.”
“This game is nicely presented with lovely 2D hand-drawn artwork and good VFX, sound, and music.”
“An outstanding retro style shoot 'em up with beautiful graphics and a superb soundtrack.”
“The action just isn't there unfortunately, and it seems it's more of a showcase game to show off artwork in a shmup.”
“Playing for myself didn't change my opinion of the visuals.”
“A developer that would spend this much effort on the visuals, at the very least, wouldn't be making a rushed, no effort shmup, which is all too common on Steam.”
- gameplay22 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a mix of traditional and innovative mechanics, appealing to both casual and experienced players. While some players find the charge shot mechanic and slower bullet patterns less enjoyable, others appreciate the variety of gameplay options, including manual turret rotation and a risk-reward system. Overall, the game offers satisfying bullet hell mechanics, solid scoring systems, and a visually stunning experience, making it a fun and challenging shoot 'em up.
“The bullet hell game mechanics are satisfying and seem to be approachable for players of varying skill levels.”
“Great gameplay, 2 pilots to choose from, great mechanics and variety of enemies, just simple fun!”
“The developer Shinu Real Arts crafted a visually stunning world with animations frame by frame, balancing gameplay among the two main pilots in a most satisfying way.”
“As a rule, I don't like charge shot mechanics in shmups.”
“The gameplay and bullet patterns are slow, so if you're just a casual shoot 'em up player, then this game will be a fair challenge.”
“I didn't like how the character portraits or gameplay footage looked.”
- music17 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its fit with the visuals and gameplay, while others find it unremarkable or repetitive. Many highlight the soundtrack as enjoyable, complementing the game's beautiful hand-drawn art style, though a few note that it lacks memorability. Overall, the music is generally seen as a solid addition, enhancing the overall experience without being the standout feature.
“Nice visuals, music, and gameplay.”
“I adore the art style and soundtrack, and while I know the main focus of the game isn’t story, I’m hoping it will remain compelling.”
“An outstanding retro style shoot 'em up with beautiful graphics and a superb soundtrack.”
“The music is fine, but I'm pretty sure I heard it pause and start to repeat itself partway through the first stage.”
“Music is just beeps and boops.”
“When listening to the music in the game, it's par for the course.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization appears to be inconsistent; while some players experience great performance with minimal GPU demand, others report stutters and frame drops, suggesting potential optimization issues.
“I’m still very early in the game, but performance is great using the default settings.”
“The game also seems to be well optimized with little demand on GPU.”
“I've played many more demanding shmups without stutters or frame drops, so this must be an optimization issue on the game's part.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game offers solid replayability through unlockable content such as gallery and sound effects, as well as bonuses that enhance gameplay. However, players express a desire for online leaderboards to further increase competition and replay value after all content has been unlocked. Overall, it provides more than just practice for mastering the game.
“In addition to your standard sidescrolling mechanics, there are credits that can be used to unlock gallery and sound effect libraries, as well as added bonuses during the game, so the replay value is definitely there.”
“Adds replay value beyond just 'practice for the one credit clear'.”
“The biggest addition I would hope for at this point in time is an online leaderboard to add replay value even after everything has been unlocked.”
“Adds replay value beyond 'practice for the 1cc'.”
“In addition to your standard sidescrolling mechanics, there are credits that can be used to unlock gallery/SFX libraries as well as added bonuses during the game, so replay value is there as well.”
- character development1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is generally viewed as decent, though some players have noted issues with certain character designs, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite these concerns, the characters themselves are not a major point of contention.
“The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with the protagonists.”
“I was disappointed by the lack of meaningful choices that affect character growth throughout the game.”
“The characters seem one-dimensional, and their arcs don't evolve in a satisfying way.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Users report experiencing several minor stability issues, primarily related to audio glitches, which can detract from the overall gameplay experience.
“I ran into numerous minor annoyances and bugs, mostly audio glitches.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it hard to enjoy the experience.”
“There are constant frame drops and stuttering, which disrupts gameplay.”
