Starlight Shores

[got_quiet]

Name: Starlight Shores
Status: Complete
Site: https://tidalblossoms.itch.io/starlight-shores
Pairing: M/F
Description: A short Bishoujo game set during a single starry night.

Starlight Shores is a straight forward Bishoujo game, where you and some friends are going to a vacation house to watch a meteor shower on the beech. The party consists of you, an old childhood friend, someone she wants you to meet, and a couple that causes all the problems. There are no gimmicks or new complicated technical elements to the game, just a few scattered choices in what is generally a linear story that takes place around a bonfire as you all settle down to watch a star shower and play drinking games. The choices are sometimes straightforward about whether or not you want to lean towards the best friend or the person you just met, but some are also a little more ambiguous. I was sloppy about my choices on my first run, picking either or just based on how I felt at the moment and I still got a good end with the old friend, so it doesn't seem to be that demanding of a game.

 

Story wise, most of the plot is driven by the fact that your other friend has brought his girlfriend, and she's a bit of a bitch, alternating between being pushing and demanding, and defensive and sensitive. The friend is not a great boyfriend either, negging her a little, being a little trolly, and in some branches straight up getting into a fight with her. But even so the lean is more towards trying to resolve the conflict and find some common ground than committing to make everything blow up. Things keep getting heated and then brought back to calm, and much drinking is done, and things get heated again, etc. It's not a game where you're supposed to fix any of those conflicts that come up. Your input can have some effect on the outcome, but the NPCs are largely capable of taking care of themselves. The game offers a CG gallery, and after two runs it isn't complete, so there does seem to be some pathing even though the two main paths seem pretty linear when I was playing them, which is nice.

The two LIs are cute and appealing, and are not super complex but feel deep enough in the short time they're around. Theo, your old friend, has clearly got a crush on you and it's hard not to just go for her when the game is telling you you've been friends for forever. Lena, the newcomer, is someone that you hit it off with immediately, and there is a lot about sparks, and seizing the moment on her path. In total the game is very short, an even shorter in reruns as there's no major branching.

I enjoyed my time with this, as short as it was. It's a straight forward little dating sim, with a simple premise well executed.