Stella Of The End Review – Do Androids Dream Of Being Human?

Sunday, December 3, 2023

Genre – Sci-fi, Post-apocalypse, Journey Play Time – 7 hours Developer – Key Steam VNDB

How To Make A Human

Key has an interesting fixation with robots and AI and Stella Of The End marks their third notable attempt to address this subject matter. While their games all use it to showcase something about humanity, using the machines as a mirror, each individual title takes a different angle in how it tackles the ideas it is handed. Stella Of The End chooses to utilise a post-apocalypse where giant city sized robots roam the earth and tackles them through the innocent android eyes of Philia and the jaded human eyes of Jude. If this sound vaguely familiar then you would be right since it bares more than a passing similarity to one of Key’s other games, Planetarium, which is held up to be one of the classics of the medium. This is not a one for one recreation of that emotional title, but Stella Of The End tries to leverage its concepts and character direction for similar ends through a longer and more action packed narrative structure. Does Stella Of The End live up to its predecessors legacy or is it an echo of the past like the ruined cities its characters explore? Let’s journey alongside a cute android girl and find out.

Journey To The End Of The Earth – Narrative And Themes

For Stella Of The End, the journey is far more important than the destination. This is a tale of two individuals' travels and it plays out in a series of episodes each detached from the others in a new area. Together they showcase the extremes of this world for the darker parts of humanity to the good in people’s hearts to the beauty of the abandoned ruins. Having a flexible framework where no consequence matters for more than that chapter gives the game room to place the duo of Stella and Jude into situations where they are forced to reveal more about themselves and grow without worrying about how the greater plot will be effected. These come in many different forms from dangerous encounters with hostile humans to the robotic remnants of a golden age, but they all provide opportunities for Jude to pass on his worldly wisdom to Philia and receive some of his lost innocence in return. Their relationship is the core of the narrative as the only continual element in the chaos. However, on top of this is an ever present sense of wonder at the world, a feeling that no matter how ruined or terrifying it might be there is always somewhere you can just stop and admire. It does an excellent job of counterbalancing the serious sections of the narrative in order to keep the game from becoming too brooding or oppressive. This sense of beauty also has a downside in the form of a poor understanding of just how fragile human creations are and how they do not survive long without constant maintenance. For some locations such as the mega city the pair pass through, this is acceptable since there are clearly robots keeping it in some functioning state, but there are many other areas which have clearly been abandoned for some time with nobody taking care of them and yet are still in near pristine condition. This ends up being distracting when the characters treat this as normal and makes it feel as if the developers have a poor understanding of the subject matter their work is centred around.

Singularity Machines are wonderful and strange titans

AI and Androids as a stand-in for humanity and innocence is an immediately obvious thematic element from the moment Philia opens her mouth. She behaves like a new born child to whom the world is magical and people are all inherently good and over the course of the game this view point is challenged. This is the big common theme Stella Of The End shares with the other Key titles featuring robots, but unlike them it also has more unknowable and alien AIs in the form of the Singularity Machines. These behemoths operate on an axis of logic a human mind cannot fathom and their destructive wake is done from reasons known to only them. As such they are the objects of fear throughout the game forming a duality with the decidedly easy to understand Philia making the player question exactly what it means to be a machine and the extent to which Philia’s intentions are truly known to them. In many ways the robotic entities form another duality with the chaotic but understandable humans the pair meet along the way. Although they might be dangerous and violent, there is an easy to comprehend reason for their actions which the player can empathise with or at least find parallels to it in the world around us. By showing the two extremes of creator and created it can use them both to help Philia and Jude develop as characters while giving the player some meat to chew on when the consider what this post-apocalypse says about their own lives and the march of the technology.

For the most part this world is well thought through

Developers form a brand image through the kind of games they create and Key is no exception with them choosing making people cry as their core identity. This emotional gut punch is a double edged sword since it can provides a much need catharsis to their narratives, but at the same time it makes the fate of its characters extremely predictable. It is this issue of foreknowledge that proves to be the thorn in the side of Stella Of The End. Philia and Jude are the only two characters of note in the story and as such it is obvious from prior Key titles something bad will happen to one of them. There is not even much of an attempt to hide this within the context of the game itself with it layering the foreshadowing of the tragedy on thick. Here in lies the problem, this lack of subtly and blatant pandering to expectations clashes against the emotive beauty and strong thematic elements. It is as if a person is talking quietly in one ear and then suddenly switches to shouting when they get too excited. Due to the game’s shorter length, this noise is intently focused rather than being spread out over a multiple routes and it does a good deal of damage to a player suspension of disbelief when the game itself cannot do the same.

On Man And Machine – Characters

Having a narrative so focused around a journey means the pool of characters the player has to latch onto is small since most will disappear as fast as they pop up. This makes it important that the main cast is engaging and easy to feel for, which is something Stella Of The End does with flying colours through Philia and Jude. They are opposites to each other and often clash with Philia’s innocence and desire to help people rubbing up against Jude’s cynical and world-weary approach to the dangers they face. Neither is entirely right in their views on the world they inhabit, but at the same time they both make valid points which draw upon ideas and beliefs the player will be familiar with in their lives. Despite their conflicts they have an undeniable bond which can be tracked as it forms slowly over the course of the game creating something the player can see progressing and latch onto in order to care about their trails and triumphs. Further reinforcing this connecting is the banter the pair share over their journey, it starts out awkward with neither one being sure of the other's limits, but as they grow and become more comfortable in each other’s presence it is perfectly reflected in how their interactions evolve. The cherry on top is the way they represent the thematic ideas the title wants to present without compromising their identity or being too in the player’s face. Instead they carefully walk the line between their two roles by shifting in and out of presenting these themes as and when the plot demands it in order to retain the sense that they are people rather than narrative devices.

Don't listen to him, deers pack a nasty kick

When it comes to the rest of the cast it is much more of a mixed bag. Some fair reasonably well by being simple background characters who require no additional screen time or by having a complete and short character arc during their appearance. However, there are many who due to the lack of screen time they get from the episodic structure end up feeling half baked and provide the player little reason to care about them. Take Willem Grosvenor for example, he is the person who gives Jude the location of Philia and hires Jude to deliver her to him kickstarting the events of the game. He is crucial to the plot and makes appearances at the end of most episodes and yet he comes across as extremely flat, he is mysterious old man with an obsession with AI and androids and he never develops beyond this simple archetype. Given his importance this lack of interesting aspects puts him in direct contrast to the brilliance of the main pair and he ends up feeling like a stock cryptic character with nothing going on behind he vague words. Other characters follow this trend and lack anything to hold the player’s attention and feel like gaping voids in this otherwise thoughtful and emotive tale.

Oh so mysterious (Rolls Eyes)

After Humanity Is Gone – Visuals, Audio And Technical

In a visual novel so focused around a sense of place and characters, presentation is key to ensuring they can be properly expressed in a manner pleasing to the player. Here Key gets to flex its higher budget and years of experience to create a seamless and immersive world. The soundtrack aims for the atmospheric rather than the memorable with understated synth melodies shifting into heart pumping smooth actions tracks. Sound effects are similarity geared towards keeping the player firmly in the moment with the rustling of equipment or the subtle opening of a door which give the player an audio outlet to match what is going on in the story. Of course the visuals are excellent with a wide colour palette from the muted greys and browns of the surviving human settlement to the neon blue glow of the giant ruined technological metropolises. It is worth noting how the art style wears its influences on its sleeve such as with Jude’s outfit being similar to that of Sam from Death Stranding and there are many other small nods over its play time. This allows Stella Of The End to share a knowing look with the player without losing its sense of immersion since they all have in universe explanations as to why they look or act as they do. By far the design aspect which stands out the most is the Singularity Machines, each distinct from one another like they are individuals who are driven by an unknown purpose carved into their very existence. They leave a powerful impression and are used sparingly enough to maintain their mysterious appearance throughout the game. In their totality the presentational choices made by Key show why they have continued to draw in a passionate audience even after all these years.

Every inch of the art is a sight to behold

On the technical side, Stella Of The End contains some useful features, the most important of all being the ability to go to any chapter in the story from the main menu. Due to this being a linear visual novel with no choices these options effectively give the player easy access to the entire length of narrative. This is key to ensuring the game has some sense of replayability by allowing the player to dive into the individual episodes they want rather than having to play through content they have no interest in. It almost encourages a highlights reel style approach to subsequent playthroughs which the episodic nature of Stella Of The End helps along through each section existing within its own self contained narrative bubble meaning the player never feels lost or confused when jumping in. Beyond this the title contains the standard suit of expected functions and is surprisingly unremarkable when looking it in its entirety.

Verdict –

This emotional post-apocalypse presents an intriguing tale of AI and humanity and their ever changing relationship as each reflects back onto the other flaws. It is only held back by Key’s obsession with its brand identity and a few weaker characters.