An elven princess, her bodyguard, a mute dragon man, a sexy runaway bride alien, a gunslinging catgirl, and a human prince walk into a bar… no, really. With a party like that, you will need a lot of determination and humanity to keep the peace in the Xerxes galaxy.

Rave Heart is the first commercially available game released by Philippines-based Starmage RPG Studios. This single-player turn-based JRPG-inspired game, which I lovingly described as “Final Fantasy in Space,” focuses on the bodyguard of Princess Ellemine, Klein, a trained Cipher, and their journey to ease the ongoing struggle between their people, the Errans, and the Draconian race. Explore the different Sectors and Houses of the Xerxes Galaxy with their team of random tagalongs while preventing possible intergalactic doom that may come of this conflict, of course.

GRAPHICS & VISUALS 7/10

Rave Heart is a pixel-style game that also features detailed portraits of characters. The game is available in a standardized size minimized window and fullscreen version. Although the fullscreen version initially feels a bit clunky, it is worth seeing the characters in their full, detailed glory.

Rave Heart contains an overall nostalgic feel. Including classic blue text boxes, colored arrows showing you where to go, and simple fonts.

In Rave Heart, it’s easy to feel like you’ve been sucked into the earlier aughts of Party-Based RPGs without the hassle of getting boxy game cartridges to work.

A few strange elements feel out of place or are overwhelming- such as hyper-detailed backgrounds that move and fall short or big flashing lights- but these are rarities that have an experimental feel to them, given the limitations of a space game being pixelized. The arrows and important markers do clash with the overall colors of the game, in bright pink, red, and cyan. Although some may find this distracting, I found it very useful, especially when playing the game in a minimized window. At times, these clues are very repetitive- however, this greatly helps make the game feel more accessible, especially to turn-based newbies. The clues do gradually taper off as you get further into the game.

Throughout the game, you’re visiting different planets, sectors, and the houses of each race. Each one has its own unique visuals, so you can recognize the scenery even as you travel back and forth. The differences are sometimes very jarring- but in the best way, as it fits thematically with showing the contrast and differences among Xerxes’s worlds. Even though the game is a galactic travel adventure, not every world is sci-fi themed, yet they all seem to fit together as part of the same galaxy. The balance is done beautifully, and I’m always excited to see a new planet whenever I land there for this reason.

MUSIC & SOUND QUALITY 7/10

The music of Rave Heart starts out as an insanely upbeat, beat-em-up hype playlist. I was prepared for this to be a forever headache and to keep the music turned down; however, I am so glad I did not. The classic soundtrack can feel repetitive if you are slow in an area. The looping does blend very well, however, and the shortness of the tracks does give the music a retro feel. The music fits the game's art hauntingly well, and I was happy to hear that each area had its own defined style of music.

I was also happy to see the sound settings were split up into the background music, background sounds, and sound effects. This was really useful when streaming the game and also when I would grind for experience and wanted to listen to a podcast in the background. These settings are done per save file, so you do not have to change if you have a separate save for streaming, a friend to play, etc.

Overall, I really enjoyed the music of Rave Heart. There were some areas where the music felt overwhelming, but the adorable sound effects and beautiful contrast of battle and nature music truly made this soundtrack stand out to me.

GAMEPLAY 10/10

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved the gameplay of Rave Heart. Typically, my time with turn-based games is spent trudging through the fights or having my husband do them for me and wishing I was getting more storytime. However, I didn’t get this feeling with Rave Heart, especially after one of the first big boss battles. The balance of difficulty and easiness really brought me in. I couldn’t sit and make a general attack for every turn, but I also wasn’t wiping my party constantly. Speaking of parties, the party compositions change throughout the story, and it always has an outstanding balance to them. Some take more learning than others, especially when using new characters, but their abilities always work well against the enemies and zone without feeling like a cakewalk.

I would recommend Rave Heart as an introduction to turn-based RPGs.

The game gradually gets harder as you play but it never feels like the next battle is out of grasp, nor do any of your abilities feel useless. The mechanics also utilize EP and SP points. EP points are filled outside of battle from recovery, potions/cubes, and are used for more magic-inclined abilities like healing and telepathy. SP points are gained during combat, as you attack or get attacked, and are used for more physical-based abilities. This also helps provide a balanced party, as each character has differing amounts (and some only use one or the other) and can influence even how you restore your health- more on that later.

As far as gameplay outside of battle, the game is played with the characters moving along a grid and random chance encounters. There are moments when there are real-time events, like a super fan following you around and blocking things accidentally or thugs that will fight you if you bump into them as they move. It adds a nice thrill to the turn-based rut, and I had a few moments in a spookier area where these interactions made me jump and scream. An elegant addition is the Astral State, something that only one character can use, that lets you move freely around the map, through walls, and even outside of the boundaries to help you gain clues and pick up glowing experience orbs. There are even unique monsters here that are visible and moving around, and as long as you can move fast enough, you can avoid fighting solo in these instances.

This is also a turn-based game that you want to explore every nook and cranny, and where you should definitely heed the first piece of advice, you get to save CONSTANTLY. I save about 5 times per hour- maybe that’s me being cautious, but when you need it, you’ll thank yourself. Many Recover orbs will fully renew your party’s HP and EP, which is very helpful (and a good time to save!), but they will drain your SP. I’ve found myself debating if I should heal up or not, in case I needed to use a big physical ability. You may even want to go back to restart to make sure you caught every hidden part- I had missed a weapon coffer, and it made a HUGE difference when I replayed the battle that had initially party wiped me. 

I cannot put this game down, and the gameplay is probably 90% of that. I have never been so excited to get into a fight before, but I am also grateful for the escape mechanic! I never felt like I had to farm for AIONS (the game’s currency) or grind for experience, but there are many spots you can easily choose with the availability of recover spots.

Starmage really perfected the gameplay of Rave Heart in every sense.

If more turn-based games followed this formula, I would easily be converted to being a super fan of the genre.

STORY & CHARACTERS 8/10

The story of Rave Heart is an ever-changing one with twists and turns that will have you guessing your party’s next moves- and who will be in your party next, for that matter. Your objective is to protect the House of Rave at its heart. You play as Princess Ellemine’s bodyguard, Klein, for much of the game, which drives this point home. Even as your objectives change, it is clear that your part of the story focuses on Ellemine, her family of Rave, protecting Sector 4 and trying to make peace with the Draconians.

Yet it never feels like the cliche story of saving a helpless princess. If anything, Rave Heart’s story is far, far from that.

What is Sector 4? The Galaxy of Xerxes is divided into four sectors, each with its own history, race, and politics. You can quickly find a piece of technology called the Learnatorium, the database of all the Sectors and races of Xerxes. The Learnatorium is very useful in its own ways; however, it is also very overwhelming, especially when new to the game. The first branch of the game introduces you to almost all of these sectors and races briefly, so studying up does help; however, the information sometimes seems so vast that it becomes easier to skip the text and learn right from the story worked decently well. Still, with the prevalence of the Learnatoriums throughout the different regions, I had hoped to find new information or, at least, catered and less in-depth, drowning info. As I continued playing the game, however, these Learnatoriums became more scarce- and I had almost wished I had paid more attention to them previously. The reliance on Learnatoriums makes the story pacing a bit odd- some histories are rushed through in favor of adventure. You learn more by snooping around into every nook and cranny in some regions, but you often feel just thrown right into the story. Which does work for most of the game. Since the turn-based focus and real-time mechanics are on the back burner, you can spend an eternity just focused on battle and farming for AION currency or skill points. Even though the story can feel rushed, there is still a lot of depth to the characters.

You find yourself brought into connections along the way, with characters talking about struggles with their hometowns, families, dark pasts, and prejudices.

Your party in this game is ever-growing and changing as you take on different challenges and explore new vectors. You may be playing as Klein and protecting the Rave family, and then in the next scene, you’re Chad, the human prince with a heart of gold, who’s in the cafeteria helping his younger sister get hot dogs for lunch. Each of the main story characters has their own personality and quirks, and it’s hard to not love them all in their own way. With her abilities as an Empath, having Ellemine in your party will often give you a greater appreciation for both characters in your party and the NPCs. She can feel emotions around her, which is a great way to set the story’s tone and help to communicate with a mute team member.

The story of Rave Heart is the cliche tale of love and adventure, but the nods to the modern-day (“Hey, I just got Last Fantasy 17! It’s a classic!”) and witty dialogue really help make this game unique. The characters are lovable and fleshed out, and each of their personalities drives home the united front that this sci-fi epic brings.

OVERALL 8/10

I could not put this game down. The turn-based hater, a modern-JRPG-only, casual gamer, could not put this game down. Rave Heart does a fantastic job putting together a game that has balance, a riveting story, and classic graphics that doesn’t just rely on nostalgia alone for its audience like many pixel games do. Rave Heart has many Easter eggs for fans of the genre; however, you never feel out of place or lost for not knowing them. I never thought I would love a character named Chad or be crying over pixels, but this game just proved me wrong. This is a great introductory game to turn-based mechanics; with its witty cast and various stages and elements, there’s bound to be something for everyone.

I look forward to what Starmage has in store for us in the future — with Rave Heart being their first full release, I can only imagine what’s to come.

Rave Heart was released on August 28th, 2020, and is available now on Steam and itch.io for $5.99. The version of Rave Heart reviewed was from Steam and played on PC. The reviewer received this game for free in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
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