Star Stealing Prince Review (PC)

There are times when the RPGs developed and sold by big companies like Square Enix, Namco Bandai, or Nintendo just don't satisfy one's current tastes. If you're willing to dive into the RPG Maker scene, there's tons of different games to try out (and most are free). Star Stealing Prince is one of them, and it's evident that a lot of work and care was put into the development of this title.

Story

You play as Snowe, prince of the Kingdom of Sabine. At the start of the game, Snowe has a strange nightmare about a girl trapped in a tower. He soon rashly sets out to rescue her, only to be mauled and left to die by a large monster. Though he is rescued and survives, he finds that the citizens of his Kingdom have suddenly began to treat him coldly, and are nowhere near as friendly as before. Slowly, you'll begin to realize that there's something off  about this Kingdom as a whole.

The story as a whole is really intriguing and unique, being something that hasn't really been done by mainstream RPGs. The characters are all memorable, and you'll slowly find yourself growing attached to them. Arguably, the biggest motivation to keep going through the story is to find out what exactly is wrong with the world the game takes place in.

Gameplay

Star Stealing Prince sports a solid turn based battle system with similarities to the Shin Megami Tensei games. The game can get quite difficult at times, and you'll need to inflict status effects and debuffs to win. Star Stealing Prince also has an interesting take on magic. Each element of magic can inflict a certain status effect; that status effect can be canceled or exploited by being attacked or healed by a spell of the opposite element. You also have "IP Attacks" at your disposal; each piece of your equipment can come with an IP Attack, which costs a certain amount of the IP Gauge. The IP Gauge fills when you are attacked by enemies.

Outside of battle, it's a simple exploration based affair. The world map is similar to a point-and-click map, but the dungeons have lots of hidden secrets and treasures in them. Exploring is the only way to find Spell Tomes, which are how you get new spells and attacks in this game.

Graphics and Artstyle

Star Stealing Prince sports a very unique artstyle that emphasizes the fairytale-esque setting. Graphically, it looks very nice and clean. It's very impressive considering the fact that this game is completely free to play. Sprites look nice and somewhat detailed as well.

Soundtrack

The game's soundtrack can be quite immersive, and a lot of the music is memorable. Again, it's an impressive effort since this is a freeware game. However, the game's selection of music is a little small, and the battle theme can get rather repetitive.

Length

Star Stealing Prince is rather short; most players will finish in 10 to 11 hours. Despite this, it's still a unique experience that can't really be found mainstream games. There's not much replay value, however, as the game was designed to be short and somewhat bare in terms of extra content. There are two endings, but both can be easily acquired if you know what you're doing.

Final Verdict: 9/10

Pros

• Great artstyle and graphics
• Immersive soundtrack
• Intriguing story
• Solid and challenging battle system

Cons

• At 10-11 hours to beat, it's rather short
• Not much replay value or extra content

Star Stealing Prince is a short, but very sweet game. With an interesting mystery-esque plot that motivates you to find out what exactly is wrong with the Kingdom of Sabine and a memorable cast, there's a lot to love despite the game itself being quite short. Star Stealing Prince is definitely worth playing if you're a fan of RPGs, especially since this game is completely free.