Pahdo Labs’ heart is in the right place, but Starlight Re:Volver seems too fixated on being a multiplayer hit.
On a conceptual level, Starlight Re:Volver is an easy sell: What if Hades, but a joyful anime setting starring magical girls and boys? It’s the sort of pitch that would’ve set Tumblr on fire if Tumblr were still relevant in 2025. Last month, I went hands-on alongside other members of the press with a preview build ahead of this year’s Steam Next Fest. While much fun was had and I was wowed by its on-point aesthetic, I couldn’t help but feel the scope was off.
I’m hoping I’m wrong here, I really am. Before the hands-on kicked off, we attended a short presentation by some of Pahdo Labs’ devs. There’s a plan in place. There’s a big vision for this all-new universe. More importantly, Starlight Re:Volver is leaning on the kind of colorful, anime-like visuals and cheerful tone we haven’t seen much of in recent times despite the success of Genshin Impact and other gacha RPGs. It feels like more of a throwback to the Saturday morning anime we old heads used to catch back in the 1990s while playing with our action figures. The average male kid back then would have a hard time accepting he vibed with Sailor Moon. Nowadays, many of us have gotten past gender-locked nonsense and accepted in our hearts that magical girl shows mostly ripped.
Pahdo Labs knows that and is fully leaning on a largely untapped nostalgia fountain to deliver a natural evolution of the Hades-like roguelite formula. Yes, you’ll read lots of comparisons to Supergiant Games’ ultimate banger, but we can’t dance around it. It’s alright though: Starlight Re:Volver smartly sticks to the core design tenets of that modern classic, but doesn’t emulate the art style or even its approach to light storytelling between runs; that’s where many other indies have fucked up, failing to separate themselves from their biggest inspiration.
Starlight’s otherwise eye-catching marketing materials have raised one huge question: What can Pahdo Labs possibly do to justify an MMO-like structure for a game that could capture casual players’ attention with traditional single-player and optional co-op? I’m not saying Starlight Re:Volver won’t be big. It could very well stun everyone and become a sensation. But this feels like yet another instance of an up-and-coming studio placing too much weight on its shoulders for no convincing reason other than chasing the live-service whale, even with more sensible plans.
According to the presentation, the developers are neither “chasing trends” nor trying to go after an overcrowded market sector, and that might be true. But it doesn’t negate the fact a lot of what I played will only click if a big enough player base sticks with yet another persistent world. Its size is smaller and, at the end of the day, the goal here seems to be creating something memorable that exists in the space between a streak of fast-paced co-op missions. The social activities at (early access) launch will include hoverboarding, fishing, stargazing, and arcade games. It’s uncomplicated fun reminiscent of Splatoon’s take on online social spaces, but during our short time with the game and the devs, it felt like Nishi Island Metropolis was bigger than a small diversion. If that’s the case, the required juice simply isn’t there and I’ve yet to be convinced of its long-term potential beyond unlocking new cosmetics and having quick chats with kawaii NPCs.
The “online multiplayer adventure” itself, which is why players should become Divers (this world’s heroes) in the first place, works. It’s breezy, dazzling, and fun in a very old-school way despite the modern DNA of its combat loop and roguelite structure. I especially appreciated that So Mi’s “dreamworlds” have distinct biomes over the course of a run and that characters are well-defined with class-like kits. As I helped clear rooms as Kira – an acrobatic gunslinger girl – I got the option to choose from a number of upgrades including both close-quarters combat and putting distance between myself and the enemies. In a single-player roguelite, this would be a “pick your flavor” kind of deal. In Starlight Re:Volver, it becomes far more important to figure out who’s doing what, at least when the difficulty begins to ramp up. These expeditions aren’t World of Warcraft-level raids, but builds and team composition seem relatively important if you’re aiming high.
By the way, this preview build didn’t pull any punches. Starlight Re:Volver’s relaxed and cheerful attitude can be misleading. It’ll kick your ass, and I’d say Constant Dashing enjoyers will thrive here. Past a certain point, the weird fantasy freaks (which have surprisingly basic visual designs) will turn the screen into a bullet hell nightmare. This is both good and bad. It’s good because Starlight gets sweaty and engaging, which is kind of really important if you want people to stick around. It’s bad because, at least at this stage of development, readability is rough during the latter stages of a run. Even with a very restrained, cartoony art style, it gets hard to keep track of where your teammates are and where some attacks are even coming from.
On the other hand, controls are clean and simple even as you gain new abilities. Mouse & keyboard works well, but as things got more frenetic and button-mashy, I started to wish I’d gone with the gamepad option. Regardless, we newbies managed to get to the end boss encounter of the “easiest” biome: The Grand Golem. After several knockouts and stressful revive moments, our HP bars weren’t where they needed to be to withstand the Golem’s attacks for too long. All our upgrades couldn’t make up for how mushy and beaten-up we were 30 minutes in. This game pushes back hard, and as someone who feels too many modern action RPGs and brawlers nowadays lack enough friction, I loved that.
At this stage, it’s hard to dissect Starlight Re:Volver in more depth. We learned and saw a lot in under two hours, but all of it was set up in a bubble with a small crowd. Some of it worked for me. Some of it didn’t. I don’t know how the audience will react to the whole thing and engage with the social side, but I’m choosing to remain optimistic. This wasn’t a launch build, and there’s time to course-correct and reshuffle some priorities around if the public feedback isn’t where it needs to be. I wouldn’t be totally surprised if the charming presentation and that electro citypop are more than enough to make Starlight a new independent sensation, but I’m also hoping for a game that doesn’t bite off more than it can chew.
Starlight Re:Volver will launch at some point in 2025 as a premium early access release on PC via Steam. Temporary access to a preview build was granted by the publisher for this preview.
