This is one of the hidden gems I've played this year, I came to the game with low expectations, seeing the previous games of the same studios were such letdowns for me, but with Cosmic Star Heroine, Zeboyd Studios really nailed their formula this time.

I like playing games in their highest difficulty most of the time, and with Breath of Death/Cthullu saves the world, that meant hours of grinding because the game wasn't balanced around those difficulties. But this time, there was almost no grinding needed at all once you fully understand the whole battle system.

The main gimmick of the battle system is also something I would like to see on more games. Here, you can't just spam your best skill over and over again, since almost all abilities are a one time use only, and are only recovered when you defend for a turn, this combined with hyper mode, a state where your next attack will do double damage every few turns, means that controlling the flow of the battle is the key for success.

The only downsides I've found is how many items are permanently missable, with a lot of places not being able to be revisited, and some side content is a bit obscure to find, abd also the story is not something extraordinary, but any of those things really hurt.

A simple and somewhat short JRPG-like. Nearly unplayable on the higher difficulty, so I'd stick with the default.

Encounters play more like puzzles than actual adhoc strategy.

Story is fun, but nothing to write home about and doesn't wear out its welcome.

Cosmic Star Heroine is a science fiction RPG developed by Zeboyd Games. Initially released in April 2017 for the PS4 and Windows platforms, the game was eventually ported over to the PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Switch in 2018. As a fan of RPGs, I had high hopes for Cosmic Star Heroine, but was ultimately let down by its underwhelming battle system and lackluster story.

The game centers around Alyssa L'Salle, a sharp-tongued former agent of the Agency of Peace and Intelligence (API), who discovers the dark origins and purpose behind Project Lumina. The player spends their time investigating Project Lumina, recruiting allies to their cause, and ultimately foiling an evil plot to take over the world. This all sounds good on paper, but the pacing, uninteresting villain, stereotypical doomsday scenario, and the lackluster party members leaves a lot to be desired when compared to much better RPGs. Ultimately, the premise of the game holds promise, but the execution is uneven.

While the game has an undeniably great pixelated retro presentation, with vibrant pixel art and chip-tune music that evokes nostalgic feelings of classic turn-based RPGs found on the SNES, the game simply can't compete with those older titles.