Genre: RPG
Publisher: Atlus
Developer: Atlus
Release Date: April 26, 2005

Buy 'STELLA DEUS: The Gate of Eternity': PlayStation 2

Ah, controversy. When it comes to the online communities spawned around… well, just about anything, there's always going to be a fight. Currently, the hubbub surrounding Stella Deus is one that takes a glance towards the past; specifically, the developer's past effort, the hotly-debated PS1 release Hoshigami, which was one of the toughest SRPGs ever. It was deep, difficult, and required a massive time investment, which is significant of most games in this genre, but this one was a special case. Its major flaw was a reliance on level-grinding in the Towers of Trial, a set of optional battles aside from the main storyline.

Stella Deus is a different beast. It is streamlined, the battles are usually easier, and level-grinding is never the main focus, though it is required to some extent for those who aren't self-professed SRPG masters. It does have the Catacombs, which work similarly to the Towers of Trial and will likely annoy those weaned on the repetitive leveling required by N1's popular SRPGs, but nothing is as daunting as either those games or Hoshigami before them. What we have here is a deep, but not dauntingly complex, fun SRPG that does require a moderate time investment, but wouldn't be a bad first game for newcomers to the genre.

Certainly, with the recent glut of these games, one might be hesitant to dive into SRPGs in the first place. Between Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, La Pucelle Tactics, Disgaea, Phantom Brave, Makai Kingdom, Growlanser Generations, and the stranger entries like Phantasy Star Online Episode III and Metal Gear Acid, the current console generation has brought more of these games outside of Japan than ever before. With this overabundance of choices, where does one start? The easy answer would be Advance Wars, a properly simplified version of Fire Emblem with a great multiplayer mode. But which game would give the best unabashed SRPG experience to a new player? That was a question I would have had trouble answering only a few days ago, but Atlus has kindly placed the answer in my hands: Stella Deus.

Players will quickly recognize the traditional Japanese RPG-ness of the basic storyline. A great, death-bringing fog known as the Miasma (Legend of Legaia, Final Fantasy XI and Crystal Chronicles, every Nintendo 64 game [no, I kid]) has spread across the land. However, a twist has been added: Instead of heroes all over the world fighting to knock back the Miasma, all of humanity has resigned to a life of apathy, letting the environment take them where it may. Almost all productivity ... stopped. The development of culture ... slowed.

Admirably, an ambitious fellow by the name of Dignus has decided to put a stop to all of this uncaring laziness. "Un"-admirably, he has decided to do so by organizing an army of warriors to remove all those deemed apathetic by removing them from the gene-pool with the help of a sharpened blade. Interesting, yes? Not so fast. The blind hero Spero wants to find a different way to restore order, and spends the entirety of Stella Deus working to thwart Dignus and his Legion. Boring premise, interesting resolution, back to boring conflict, and there you have the story. The dialogue is slow to progress and excruciating to read (and listen to), but many of us aren't here for the story, now are we? With few exceptions, the beauty of a SRPG is always in the gameplay.

A chunk of land is divided off as the battleground. This is in turn divided into a grid. Battles are turn-based, party-based, etc.etc.etc.-based… you know the drill. If there is one thing Stella Deus isn't, it's innovative. If you've played even the simplest SPRG before this, you will be able to hop right into this one without giving the manual a second of attention. Even if you're a newbie, the basic workings of the game are clear.

All actions are based on Action Points (AP). Every turn, characters start out with 100 points. Every action has a set worth: movement (depending on how far you send your characters), attacking, item usage. This is the main point that separates Stella Deus from its simpler brethren like Fire Emblem and Advance Wars, which allow only a movement and action phase. This makes planning much more thought-intensive. Should I attack three times and hope I don't miss? Should I attack once and fall back? Should I use an attack and a heal spell, or should I only keep my party's HP up? These are only a few of the decisions one will make in even the easiest battles.

Grid-positioning is of even greater value than in simpler SPRGs, also. This is especially important when fighting bosses, which is evidenced early on during a battle with Legion member Viper. He has the ability to induce a dangerous status effect, fear, which disallows affected party members from attacking. (Avoid reading the rest of this paragraph if you would rather not have a very minute surprise spoiled.) But upon further examination, it becomes clear that fear is only produced when standing diagonal from Viper. Keeping characters adjacent from him will keep them fear-free, and ready to attack. But it's not that simple. In a testament to the fantastic A.I., Viper will do his best to stay adjacent from your strongest characters, if not completely avoiding them. Simultaneously, he will charge weaker classes - clerics, alchemists - head-on, hoping to wipe out the parties' entire support system.

Another good example of the importance of grid-positioning is the possibilities of Team Attacks. By lining up multiple characters adequately (depending on which classes they are and weapons they have equipped), they are able to physically attack in unison during a single turn, without losing AP during their own action phase. The increase in damage is massive, and this tactic proves to be an important deal-breaker during tougher fights that no level grind could alleviate.

To stick with the subject of level-grinds, the Hoshigami Towers of Trial holdover that is the Catacombs is not as bad as it sounds. Careful planning in the storyline missions can lead to victory, albeit not easily. Most players should spend minimal time leveling mindlessly here. I must admit, though… I've spent quite a bit of time crawling about the Catacombs, as I have been enthralled by exploring the depth of the battle system. Still, I am thankful that, once I tire of spending hours drilling away without any actual progress outside of leveling up, I will have the choice of ignoring this part of the game. Hoshigami this is not; let the arguments end, now that Stella Deus has arrived.

As generic as the grid-based, turn-based battling may sound, even with its depth, one would expect the graphics to follow the expected suit. And, in some ways, they do: a floating block of chunky polygonal terrain facilitates the square grid, as usual, and the characters are blandly animated 2D sprites, as usual. But, what's this? No Disgaea or Final Fantasy Tactics-esque super-deformed characters? And, while they have few frames of animation, they are superbly drawn, with creative designs unlike those in any other game? A pleasant surprise, to say the least. Also, blocky as the geometry is, the textures are so crisp and clear, with a hand-drawn style that looks beautiful (no hyperbole here!). It's like Shining Tears, except with a good game behind the pretty face.

And what's nice on the eyes is just as friendly to the eardrums. The sound effects are up to the delightfully "videogame-y" samples that a 2d/3d romp like this should always have. Satisfying digitized plunks, hops, and slashes all treat the ears nicely. But the real excitement is in the soundtrack, composed mostly by Hitoshi Sakimoto, known for his fantastic work on Final Fantasy Tactics, Ogre Battle, and Gradius V.

The voice acting is another story. It has clearly been thrown together with little direction to catch up with the massive script, and is therefore a pain to listen to. The main character is especially emotionless. Thankfully, the VA volume can be turned to 0%, and there is no more trouble from this standpoint. An option for Japanese voices would have been appreciated, knowing that the original Stella Deus was lauded for its fantastic voice work, but that may not have been feasible for Atlus' localization team. Next time, maybe the Japanese voices would be preferred? Though it must be noted: While not so good, Stella Deus does not sound anything like Shenmue's localization.

It's easy to pick up, it's tough but not controversial Hoshigami tough, it allows for level-grinding, but not Disgaea amounts of mindlessness… Boring, long narrative and bad voice acting aside, what we have here is the most balanced SRPG for those who would like to become serious fans of the genre. Genre vets may be tired of the formula by this point, and Stella Deus does not bring much new to the table. But what is here is so finely tuned, anybody from those with slight interest in the genre to longtime fans looking for more of what they know will be able to procure countless hours of captivating gameplay.

Score: 8.5/10