Starlight Shores

After your childhood friend Theo wins a weekend getaway to the town of Seaside, you prepare to spend your birthday in paradise. It’s been months since you last saw Theo, and she’s incredibly excited to spend the weekend together.

She invites her roommate Lena to join the group, and Theo extends an invitation to your friend Alec. After parting ways to attend different colleges, it’s just the get-together that you need to reconnect.

Everything seems to be coming together perfectly… until Alec insists on driving by himself. You arrive at the cottage before him, certain that he’s ditched the group. A short while later, he calls to announce that he’s bringing along an uninvited guest.

Although Erika may be from the same small-town as most of the group, that’s about the only thing you share in common…

Will you enjoy your night with Theo and wish on a star?
Starlight Shores, Synopsis from Delphinium Interactive

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Technicalities

Starlight Shores is a visual novel developed and published by Delphinium Interactive and it is their first visual novel released. According to the visual novel database, Starlight Shores is on the same setting as Tidal Blossoms, another title Delphinium is a developer of. Although, at the time of this writing, Tidal Blossoms has not been released so I won’t be able to make a comparison. This visual novel is short and can be completed in about 90 minutes but be aware that there are more content than that.

The developer advises readers of mature content in Starlight Shores. Although, there are no explicit adult content, this visual novel uses drinking games as a storytelling technique and mentions some sexual references which might cause some readers discomfort. The characters depicted in this visual novel struggle with a history of depression and anxiety so readers should be aware before continuing.

Quality

Quality-wise, the background art is amazing and appears to be native 1080p. The character designs, however, is mediocre and wasn’t very appealing if we’re comparing it to major titles. No characters are dubbed in this visual novel. As for the music, it portrayed a peaceful aura that best matches the peaceful beachside at night.

Experience-wise, it’s not a very good one. The character sprites enlarges whenever he/she speaks. This might be annoying at first but I can understand the sprite enlargement because it’s one way of telling the viewer “this character is speaking” because this visual novel is not dubbed. The names of the characters are color-coded and while the idea itself isn’t bad, the choice of the colors used isn’t good and looks more annoying to the eyes. The lines transition by a slow fade in and a cut out. The slow fade is a big turn off for me and kept throwing me off as I read Starlight Shores.

Plot

Starlight Shores is kind of like a one-shot manga. After the introduction, the plot happens within the same time period at the same place. Starlight Shores features Will, the main protagonist, in this one-shot visual novel. The other characters include Theo, Lena, Alec, and Erika. Theo is Will’s childhood friend, Lena is Theo’s best friend, Alec is Will’s friend, and Erika is Alec’s girlfriend. Theo invited them to a weekend stargazing at a peaceful beachside. At least, until Erika suggested to play drinking games.

It’s worth noting that Starlight Shores is not a kinetic visual novel. The abundance of dialogue choices which can either land in a good end or a bad end with either Theo, Lena, or neither. This also makes Starlight Shores have a good replayability as different choices allows the reader to learn more about the characters or explore different endings. The choices not just affect Will’s relationship with either Theo or Lena. It may also affect Alec’s relationship with Erika. What I like the most with how Starlight Shores is written is that it’s the same plot from start to finish with different endings.

Conclusion

Too soon? The visual novel is short and there isn’t so much to discuss. Despite being a first-time developer in the visual novels scene, Delphinium Interactive did a great job on the presentation of Starlight Shores most especially when they employed drinking games as a way of presenting the characters’ stories. I look forward to seeing more of their titles but I hope they address experience-impacting features present in Starlight Shores. I recommend Starlight Shores to those who like short stories but don’t mind with some of the features impacting the reading experience.

We give Starlight Shores the Blue Mochi Stamp.

Starlight Shores may just be a short one-shot visual novel, the employment of truth or dare drinking games as a storytelling technique explores a unique way to present dramatic stories among friends.