Sometimes a game isn’t exactly what you expect it to be. It might be graphically more impressive, have surprising plot twists, or even be a completely different genre than you originally thought. Stela, from SkyBox Labs (the same guys working on Halo Infinite) is one of those games for me. It completely slipped under my radar and it just looked neat. I hadn’t bothered to read up on it, and I was completely shocked when I started playing.
Stela is a gorgeous, atmospheric tale of the end of the world, told without any words whatsoever. It’s a side scrolling platformer with puzzles to solve, and it’s absolutely immersive. Going in, there was no expectation of the horrors I would face within the game, and honestly, it’s pretty darn impressive, especially for a game that was originally designed for iOS Apple Arcade! Gameplay is simple. Keep moving and survive! There’s no hand holding, no hints, you simply die if you fail and respawn at the last checkpoint. This is a game entirely focused on immersing you in a terrifying environment. No menus get in your way, no life bars, no death counts, nothing. It’s absolutely gorgeous in a minimalistic way too. Weird totems and odd structures abound and the loping gaits of the monsters are horrifying on a visceral animal level. You will fear the beasts that roam this world, and you will progress anyway.
When I initially played Stela, it reminded me heavily of Limbo and Inside, as well as some of the epic visuals of Ico (though without the depth). It’s obvious that the style of the game is based on those titles, but it manages to find a personality all its own, more of an adult, Lovecraftian feel than either of the Playdead titles. Stela is unique and glorious to behold as you progress from environment to environment, shifting to new enemies and challenges with each one (a variety of enemies have been purposely left out of screenshots for the purposes of surprise).
One of the most notable things about Stela is its absolutely spectacular soundtrack. Every note produces an emotional resonance that pulls the player in. Music is directly keyed to the experience, even taking over from the sound effects in many cases as the most important part of the game. The immersion level created by the tense, pounding beats is without a doubt impressive. While I was playing, my wife happened to be watching and she actually asked me to turn the game down because the music made her uncomfortable, something that rarely happens. It’s easy to place the Stela soundtrack on a level with that of the Silent Hill soundtrack (available here) for its pure impact on the player.
Visually, as mentioned before, Stela is stunning. What’s also great about it is that it’s not repetitive at all, shifting from abandoned farms to burning plains, pillaged forests to lonely mountaintops, and horrifying ruins filled with giant worms to snowfields, silent but for the snow demons lurking beneath. Every area has a fundamental shift in look that matches its puzzle design and creates a cohesive feeling of travelling huge distances across a ruined world, searching in vain for safety. It’s a remarkable achievement to manage the scope of this game with no words, no exposition, no introduction, and depend solely on gameplay and sound.
Now, aside from the allure of Stela visually and audibly, there are only a couple of downsides to the game. One is the length. There are no sidequests or expansive missions here, simply straightforward linear gameplay. Even with the occasional pause to admire the scenery, this is a short title, weighing in at around 2 hours. On top of that, the difficulty is not all that high. Automatic save points are frequent and it’s easy to repeat areas that you’re having trouble getting through until you succeed. You won’t be stumped for long if you get frustrated and puzzle solutions are always straightforward. This impacts replayability as there’s really nothing else to be done once you’ve blown through the majesty of Stela.
Unfortunately, that leads us to our last issue, the price point. Stela is $20 on the Switch eShop. For a game that’s only a couple of hours long, that’s a hefty price tag. Sure, it’s amazing, but once you’re done, you’re done, unless you want to terrify your close friends and family in silence. This is a title that’s amazing, but should be more like $7-10 tops. On the other hand, the soundtrack is probably worth $20 if SkyBox released it separately (but actually only costs $7 on Bandcamp here), so it’s not like you’re not enjoying that two hours, it’s just one that you aren’t likely to repeat after clearing the game. Personally, I don’t play games over and over so it felt a bit pricey to me, but I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. Definitely a tough balance.
Control is a bit iffy in Stela as well, adding to the tension and the frustration a bit. It’s not really an issue, but the controls are slightly less responsive than they should be, making it easy to miss some of the split second jumps required to escape the lunging monstrosities that lumber after you and survive the abrupt deathtraps. It can be irritating to miss a jump three to four times in a row for no reason other than a minute variance in where you are standing, especially when you would have sworn you hit the button at just the right time this time around.
Stela is amazing, gorgeous, disturbing, tension-inducing, and a fantastic experience. A short experience as well, but that allows it to really focus the impact of each scene and a longer game wouldn’t provide that punch to the gut feeling that the game delivers in every scene. It’s a bit pricey, but worth the admission, as very few games manage to really make you sit up and take notice in this manner, especially these days. Stela is an artistic masterpiece of fantastic horror that delivers non-stop thrills for its entire length. That’s a rarity in this overloaded market and worth taking a closer look at.
This review was based on a digital copy of Stela provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes and was gorgeous and immersive in both, although headphones are highly recommended for the full experience, especially in undocked mode. Stela is also available on Apple Arcade for iOS and on Steam for PC! If you love Stela, definitely try reading some H.P. Lovecraft (available here free digitally, no strings) as they absolutely go hand in hand!