Review: Starbites (Nintendo Switch) – Pure Nintendo

Starbites is an easy game to enjoy. It has everything an RPG requires, and delivers it all with a bit more pep than we’re used to seeing. I just wish the game looked better on the Switch. Or even just fine.

Starbites centers around a young woman named Lukida who’s trying desperately to escape her life on the planet Bitter. Ravaged by an interstellar war, Bitter is now home to pretty much nothing more than scavengers forced to work in order to pay off their debts. Lukida is able to obtain a ticket off the planet for herself and her friends, but it’s quickly stolen by a giant robot. She immediately sets out to retrieve the ticket, thus initiating an adventure that—as one would expect—grows larger than Lukida and her friends could have imagined.

So, OK, not a whole lot new in the premise, other than the somewhat unique sci-fi setting. Bitter is a desolate planet dotted with communities built in the hulls of wrecked spaceships or seemingly cobbled together from the materials the scavengers are retrieving. Most of the citizens are robots (or maybe cyborgs), although humans are apparently the ones in charge.

This includes Lukida’s boss, who seems to respect her but treats her very poorly.

Lukida’s friends are humans, too. She’s immediately accompanied by Gwendoll and Badger, both of whom are useful in combat and make for some fun conversations. Yes, they fit the common tropes in functionality and general attitude, but the developers seemingly approached this from a love for the genre, not from laziness. Three more party members will join by game’s end, and their additions do help to keep the proceedings fresh, if not a bit out of whack. More on that in a bit.

The vast majority of Starbites’ gameplay involves exploring the area outside of the planet’s only city: Delight. Exploration is initially job/story and sidequest driven, giving you reason to walk (or hover) around the area to collect items, unlock new areas, and, of course, engage in combat. I say “hover” because each character is equipped with a motorbot that allows you to more quickly zip along the sands. Salvageable items can be picked up, and there are numerous treasure boxes scattered about, some of which can only be detected when activating the motorbot’s radar.

Of course, there are plenty of enemies out there, too. Coming within proximity of them initiates the turn-based battles, and these are quite fun. Each of the three characters has unique attack and special attack types that can be used to exploit the enemies’ weaknesses (exposed after first hitting them with the appropriate attack).

You can wear down and eventually break their defenses, pushing back their attack and allowing you to do more damage. You can also accumulate Driver’s High (DH) points that, when full, allow you to take an extra turn and unleash even more powerful attacks. I rarely had to rely on breaks and DH in normal battles, but they were certainly useful against the game’s many bosses.

As you fight, you accumulate Talent Points that can be used to increase the abilities and efficiencies of your attacks, DH attacks, defenses, etc. Assigned points can be easily removed and reused, so there’s no pressure to get your improvements right the first time.

You’ll also be able to recover, purchase, and craft new weapons, armor, and upgrades for your motorbots. There’s a lot to dig into, but it’s all manageable and easily optimized. Unlike most mech-focused combat games, I felt like I was on top of my party and equipment from the get-go.

So, Starbites has a lot going for it: good story, fun characters, engaging combat, interesting setting. Unfortunately, a few things prevent it from reaching its potential. First, new characters were always introduced at levels well below those in the current party, and there was no efficient way to level them up. As such, I was forced to relegate them all to support roles when fighting anyone of substance.

Second, the game’s missions and sidequests often require you to traverse vast expanses of the game map. You’re able to warp to a few unlocked bases, but are otherwise required to spend a lot of time moving through the same locations and fighting the same enemies to complete your assigned tasks. Also, the radar map shows you where your destination is, but doesn’t display topography to help you find your way. For that, you need to activate your location scan and follow the path marker, which quickly disappears.

Lastly, the graphics just look terrible on the Switch. They’re muddy, blurry, and inconsistent, taking the interesting setting and rendering it visually dull. The characters don’t even cast shadows!

I played games on the Wii that looked better than this, and that’s especially disappointing after being treated to a Discord demo of the game back in November of last year. I was big on the visuals at the time, and I likely still would be if playing Starbites on the PS5 or if the Switch 2 version hadn’t been delayed.

Performance was fine, though.

If you can overlook the graphics, sci-fi RPG fans will find plenty to enjoy here. Starbites uses fun characters to tell an entertaining story even if some plot elements are forgotten by the game’s end. And the battles will keep turn-based combat fans engaged (although you may have to jack up the difficulty if you want to be challenged). I’m certain, however, that the Switch is not how you want to play it.