 STEAM DRUNK Cosmic Star Heroine started as a Kickstarter all the way back in 2013, the fully realized game however didn't appear until April of 2017 on PS4 and Windows. It's a turn based role playing game and for the most part it's structured in the style of games like Chrono Trigger and Phantasy Star 4. And yeah I know what some of you are thinking, there seems to be a lot of games like this on Steam, games that may or may not be preying on Joe Blow, Gamer's Nostalgia for games that looked and played just like this way back in the day. So the question I want to answer right away is, does Cosmic Star Heroine have real substance or is it just a shameless transparent nostalgia bomb? My answer is Cosmic Star Heroine is a perfectly good game with a decent amount of substance but not quite enough meat on the bone so to speak. I would definitely say though this game is more than just a nostalgic cash grab. I'll start with the story, you start out playing as Alyssa LaSalle who leads a group of special ops agents that slowly uncover a conspiracy within their own agency and eventually decide to take matters into their own hands. There's mutants, androids, mind control and all that good science fiction stuff. That's one major thing this game has going for it. There's a big time cowboy bebop vibe here with rogue agents, quick one liners and funny gags all set within a fantastic looking late 90s sci-fi style environment. And obviously that's another thing that pops out about this game, the visual presentation. Cosmic Star Heroine looks spectacular and it is legitimately cool to see a game that looks like it was pulled straight from the PC engine or late SNES catalog, but given a high definition widescreen treatment and that's not just the nostalgia talking, the pixel art here is really impressive, clearly a lot of work went into making this game look as good as it does. The music is also impressive, it switches from a rollicking sci-fi anime vibe to more of a laid back feel that's reminiscent of Blade Runner. It can be a risky choice to go with modern sounding music with throwback visuals because those two aspects don't always mesh well. It would have been cool to hear this music in 16 bit form, but as it is, it works perfectly okay. The main takeaway here is that the battle theme isn't annoying, even after several dozen battles and my starting point when it comes to ranking an RPG soundtrack is, do I want to hit the mute button after a few battles, and I don't here, so there you go. Speaking of battles, what makes Cosmic Star Heroine fun is the battle system. Sure there's the usual collection of equipable weapons, armor and items and all that good stuff, but there's quite a bit more here. First off, there's not totally random battles here, but you see the enemies on screen before you fight them. It's pretty much the same as Chroner Trigger in that regard. Each character has their spells neatly divided up into 8 icons, which is kinda nice. I think I'd rather have that than a giant list you have to scroll through every time. You can swap out certain spells for others anytime you're not in a battle. The catch here is that items, programs and most spells can only be used once per battle. At that point you have to use a pattern to recharge so to speak, although the most powerful spells you learn later in the game can still only be used once per battle. So in other words, you gotta get the most out of each program item and spell you use while you can. And how do you do that? Well, the combat system here has two extra layers, style points and hyper points. Style points reset before every battle, but accumulate as you start using your attacks, the higher your style percentage the more effective your attacks. This gives you an incentive to hold on to your stronger attacks and build up to them, rather than just shoot your wad right from the get go. Using a spell that counts as a burst attack will drain your style points, but there are tons of buffs available that can build it right back up. Hyper points accumulate throughout the game and your character will glow with a yellow light around them once they're eligible to use a hyper spell, and if you're careful enough you'll be able to take advantage of this and do huge damage with a strong attack. So yeah, in other words, the combat here is more than just leaning on one button, you gotta thoughtfully build up to a bigger attack as you go. I also have to mention that your attacks, programs, items and even your health all replenish after you win a battle. You might think that makes this game somewhat easy, but that brings me to the next thing that makes Cosmic Star Heroine stand out. You can switch between four difficulty settings anytime you'd like, so you can make the game super forgiving or really difficult. I recommend starting at the second difficulty setting to give yourself a chance to get used to the battle system and then switch to the third setting where things get a little more interesting. The fourth setting however is just freaking ridiculous, I wouldn't recommend that one to anyone. So how does it all come together? Cosmic Star Heroine is a perfectly good game, but I don't know, maybe this is just naive to think, but when I play modern games like this that take clear influence from and appear to be updated versions of the games we grew up with, part of me expects something new, maybe something that simply wasn't possible to achieve back in the day, or maybe just a new idea. Undertale pulled this off brilliantly, and Stardew Valley did as well, but it doesn't feel to me that Cosmic Star Heroine does quite enough to make this game really something special. Don't get me wrong, this is still a pretty good game, it's way more than a nostalgia bomb, and the battle system is well done and stands out as something at least a little interesting. But the story moved by too quickly, the characters weren't fleshed out enough, and I didn't feel like I had a chance to really sink my teeth into this game's universe. I feel like this game represented a unique opportunity to do something different with the genre, because all the elements are there. But instead the game just plays out as you'd expect for the most part, and I can't help but be a little disappointed in that. But yeah, I do recommend Cosmic Star Heroine, the battle system is great, but the story just felt a little bit rushed and underwhelming, so keep your expectations in check. This isn't the next great classic RPG or anything like that, but it's still a worthwhile playthrough.