STARBITES demo bullet point impressions

Nice planet. We’ll escape it.

I love a good sequel, and I love a good series, as much as the next JRPG fan. Seeing characters and battle systems evolve throughout a compelling story arc is a good part of the fun. But I also love digging into new games, and that’s what Switch owners will be able to do soon with IKINAGAMES’ STARBITES.

As described by the developers:

STARBITES is a brand new turn-based RPG from developer IKINAGAMES, featuring a story about regrets of the past and hopes for the future, a memorable cast of characters,each with a uniquely-designed Motorbot, and a nostalgic combat system that will keep you coming back for more.

Sounds good in theory, right? Well, I recently got to see it in practice, too, via a Discord demo hosted by NIS America. After spending about half an hour growing accustomed to STARBITES’ systems and world, I came away with the following impressions.

• Straight away, I was impressed by the game’s unique, colorful presentation. In a genre blanketed by retro pixel art and (in my opinion) overhyped HD-2D, it’s great to see developers go with a more unique (but still somewhat retro) vibe. The graphics are cartoonish, sure, but they work.

• The world presented through these visuals is akin to Fallout, by which I mean the planet—Bitter—has been left barren and largely inhospitable by an interstellar war.
• Players take on the role of Lukida, a spunky woman who—with the help of her friends—is trying to break free from life on Bitter. On her quest to do so, she of course ends up in a bigger adventure with implications she couldn’t have imagined.
• Lukida starts her adventure with two comrades, but will end up with a team of six over the course of the game. They may seem stereotypical at first (the buxom airhead, the taciturn tank), but it was apparent in even the short demo I had that there may be more depth to them than expected.
• Despite the party of six, only three can be taken into battles. You’ll need to choose wisely to make sure your team’s strengths are able to exploit the enemies’ weaknesses.

• Speaking of which, you won’t know those weaknesses upon your first meeting. As in the Persona games, you’ll have to attack to determine what works, and will then be able to see that in battle.
  Use the correct attacks will then deplete the enemy’s shields. Fracture them completely and they’ll become immobilized.
• A more unique feature is the Driver’s High gauge. This fills up as you take damage, giving you an instant extra turn once it tops off. Of course, that turn comes with stronger Driver’s High attacks.
• “Driver?” you ask. Yes, STARBITES features Motorbots that you can drive around during exploration and take into battle (as seen in the screen captures). As with your characters themselves, different Motorbots provide a range of skills that you can equip and level up to outfit your party as you see fit.

• As is customary these days, five difficulty settings are available, and you can swap them at any time. If a character does fall in battle, the Phoenix Service will whisk them back to base and take care of them. We were told this was inspired by Gunnm, which always gets my approval.
• I asked about the differences between the Switch and Switch 2 releases, and they’re what you’d expect; the Switch version has some visual and performance downgrades, while the Switch 2 version will be on par with the PS5 release.

Although an official release date has not yet been announced (currently listed as “early 2026), STARBITES is available as a Deluxe Edition physical preorder for Switch and Switch 2 (game-key card) featuring the game, a digital soundtrack, and a mini art book for $49.99. A Limited Edition featuring even more goodies can be preordered directly from the NIS online store for $89.99.

We’ll keep you posted on the release details, but you can learn more in the meantime by visiting nisamerica.com/starbites.