Software:Stella Glow

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Stella Glow
North American cover art
Developer(s)Imageepoch
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Dai Oba
Producer(s)Hideyuki Mizutani
Programmer(s)Taichiro Kuroiwa
Artist(s)
  • Ideolo
  • Masato Shakado
  • Eriko Fujiwara
Writer(s)
  • Dai Oba
  • Hideyuki Mizutani
Composer(s)
  • Shunsuke Tsuchiya
  • Yasunori Mitsuda
Platform(s)Nintendo 3DS
Release
  • JP: June 4, 2015
  • NA: November 17, 2015
  • AU: March 10, 2016
  • EU: March 11, 2016
Genre(s)Tactical role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Stella Glow (ステラグロウ, Sutera Gurou) is a 2015 role-playing video game developed by Imageepoch for the Nintendo 3DS. It was released in Japan by Sega, in North America by Atlus USA, and in Europe and Australia by NIS America. Its story centers around a young man who must journey to unite four witches so he can save his home town from destruction. It was the final game by Imageepoch before their bankruptcy.

Gameplay

Gameplay is divided into different areas, free time and battle time. During either players have the ability to purchase items and fight random monsters, but there are certain things that can only be accomplished via free time and battle time. In free time players are given three opportunities to build relationships with their teammates, perform odd jobs, or explore the surrounding area. They are also given the opportunity to "tune" the witches, a process that becomes necessary when personal strife would prevent the player from increasing their relationship with the respective witch. Doing any of these things will cause time to pass and the extent to which a player develops a relationship can impact the game's ending. Engaging in battle time will progress the game's story. Battles are turn based and the extent of a character's abilities can depend greatly on how close Alto is to the person, as a closer relationship or friendship can allow the character to unlock various abilities.

Plot

A witch, Hilda, has been crystallizing people all over the country. Alto, an amnesiac, must unite the other witches and have them sing the Anthem that will undo Hilda's efforts. Alto can tune and amplify the witches' songs. The witches' powers stem from Qualia crystals.

Alto sets out with the Regnant Knights, led by their captain, Klaus, to search for the remaining witches. Along the way, they are harassed by Hilda and her followers, who attempt to assassinate the witches and claim that they are trying to protect the world in doing so. In some of these battles, Alto and the witches are assisted by Angels, alien beings that are hostile to Hilda. Eventually, Alto unites the witches, they sing the Anthem, and the crystallized people recover, but Angels attack the capital. Klaus reveals he is in league with the Angels, and he is Xeno, a companion of the ancient hero Elcrest.

Hilda surrenders to Alto and reveals that she is one of Elcrest's companions, and Alto is Elcrest, having been hibernating for the past 1000 years. Thousands of years ago, humanity's negative emotions spawned a godlike being, the Mother Qualia. Whenever humanity's numbers grew too large, Mother Qualia would awaken and perform the Eclipse, wiping out the majority of humanity. The witches are her way of observing humanity and they would sing the Anthem to trigger the Eclipse. 1000 years ago, Elcrest tried to destroy Mother Qualia. He stopped the Eclipse, but Mother Qualia corrupted him and he had to be put into hibernation. Hilda stopped her own aging so she could protect the world until Elcrest's return. Mother Qualia forcibly corrupted Xeno into one of her agents, and returned him to Earth as Klaus. Hilda believed the only way to prevent Mother Qualia awakening was to crystallize humans.

Alto resolves to confront Mother Qualia, and the five witches learn the Celestial Hymn, a spell to weaken Mother Qualia. Alto reawakens his memories as Elcrest. The young girl Marie is an Angel, and a piece of the Mother Qualia. Marie's sister Eve, who represents the Mother Qualia, kidnaps Marie with the intent to merge her back into herself. Alto and his companions travel to the Moon and kill Xeno when he attacks them. They weaken Eve with the Celestial Hymn. Marie pleads with Alto to kill her and Eve to permanently destroy Mother Qualia. Depending on whether the player raised their affinity with Klaus to rank 2, the player is left with the choice of killing or sparing Eve.

  • If Alto chooses to follow Marie's wishes and kill Eve, Mother Qualia is destroyed, but at the cost of Marie's life. The Eclipse is stopped and the Angels disappear. Alto and his companions return to Earth victorious, though the guilt of being unable to save Marie hangs over them, but Alto is confident that as long as positive emotions exist, Marie will return someday. This is the default ending if the conditions for the true ending are not met.
  • If Alto refuses to follow Marie's wishes and spares Eve, he instead attempts to tune her, reasoning that the Mother Qualia is essentially still a Qualia. By doing so, he awakens Cartesia, the personification of humanity's negative emotions. Gathering the positive emotions of all of the people they have helped, Alto and his companions defeat Cartesia. Eve finally begins to feel the positive emotions of humanity and ends the Eclipse, intending to go to Earth with Marie and Alto, but Cartesia refuses to admit defeat and attempts to crash the Moon into Earth. In order to protect humanity, Eve decides to stay behind on the Moon to keep it from falling. Even though she will be forced to stay on the Moon forever, she assures Alto that she will continue to watch over humanity as a benevolent god. Alto and his companions return to Earth as heroes, with Eve's story being told so that humanity will not repeat its mistake.

There is an epilogue that varies depending on the character Alto has the highest affinity with.

Development

Imageepoch trademarked the name Stella Glow in August 2014.[1] The game was designed as a celebration to commemorate a decade of the company's history. The game was initially planned to be self-published by Imageepoch, but publishing rights went to Sega instead.[2] The game's soundtrack was written by Shunsuke Tsuchiya and Yasunori Mitsuda.[3]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic79/100[4]
Review scores
PublicationScore
4Players83%[5]
Destructoid7/10[6]
Famitsu32/40[7]
GameRevolution6/10[8]
Hardcore Gamer4/5[9]
Jeuxvideo.com13/20[10]
Nintendo LifeStarStarStarStarStarStarStarStarStar[3]
Nintendo World Report9/10[12]
RPGamer3.5/5[13]

Stella Glow received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[4] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of all four eights for a total of 32 out of 40.[7]

According to Famitsu, the title sold over 16,875 units in its first week on the Japanese market. It sold approximately 22,294 units during its lifetime in Japan.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}

References

  1. ↑ Romano, Sal (September 27, 2014). "Imageepoch trademarks Stella Glow". Archived from the original on August 18, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230818125608/https://www.gematsu.com/2014/09/imageepoch-trademarks-stella-glow. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  2. ↑ Ressler, Karen (March 31, 2015). "Imageepoch's Stella Glow RPG Headed to the Americas". Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231031131457/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-03-31/imageepoch-stella-glow-rpg-headed-to-the-americas/.86577. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sleeper, Morgan (November 13, 2015). "Stella Glow Review". Hookshot Media. Archived from the original on December 6, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231206082543/https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/3ds/stella_glow. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Stella Glow". Fandom. Archived from the original on June 1, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240601194544/https://www.metacritic.com/game/stella-glow/. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  5. ↑ Bischoff, Jens (March 14, 2016). "Test: Stella Glow" (in de). 4Players GmbH. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220524093745/https://www.4players.de/4players.php/dispbericht/3DS/Test/36835/81626/0/Stella_Glow.html. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  6. ↑ Carter, Chris (November 13, 2015). "Review: Stella Glow". Gamurs. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230929032327/https://www.destructoid.com/reviews/review-stella-glow/. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Uchizawa, Rolling; Yoshida, Ranbu; Ashida, Gigolo; Urara, Honma (June 11, 2015). "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: STELLA GLOW（ステラ グロウ）" (in ja). Famitsu (Kadokawa Corporation) (1382). Archived from the original on August 18, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230818125606/https://www.famitsu.com/games/t/31483/reviews/. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  8. ↑ Bates, Ryan (November 13, 2015). "Stella Glow Review". CraveOnline. Archived from the original on August 30, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240830225652/https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/69455-stella-glow-review. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  9. ↑ Halestorm, Bradly (November 13, 2015). "Review: Stella Glow". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on August 18, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230818125606/https://hardcoregamer.com/reviews/review-stella-glow/176593/. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  10. ↑ cKei (March 12, 2016). "Test: Stella Glow, un Tactical à l'éclat terne" (in fr). Webedia. Archived from the original on September 20, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210920090807/https://www.jeuxvideo.com/test/462590/stella-glow-un-tactical-a-l-eclat-terne.htm. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  11. ↑ Otero, Cesar (March 4, 2016). "Análisis Stella Glow" (in es). MeriStation (Diario AS). Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160308134908/http://www.meristation.com/nintendo-3ds/stella-glow/analisis-juego/2112254. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  12. ↑ Theriault, Donald (November 13, 2015). "Stella Glow (3DS) Review". NINWR, LLC. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230901054148/https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/41469/stella-glow-3ds-review. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  13. ↑ Moehnke, Mike (November 13, 2015). "Stella Glow - Review". CraveOnline. Archived from the original on November 15, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151115231152/https://www.rpgamer.com/games/stellaglow/stellaglow/reviews/stellaglowstrev1.html. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  14. ↑ Fenner, Robert (November 13, 2015). "Stella Glow". Emerald Shield Media LLC. Archived from the original on August 18, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230818125606/https://www.rpgfan.com/review/stella-glow/. Retrieved August 30, 2024. 
  • Official website
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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