Review: Starstruck: Hands of Time

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It’s difficult to really understand what Starstruck: The Hands of Time It’s based on trailers or screenshots. Half of it is rhythm. Half of it is adventure. Half of it is smashing things as a giant hand. After playing through it, I still don’t know what it’s about.

Screenshot by Destructoid

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Starstruck sends you from the future to try to prevent a somewhat unexplained apocalypse. Your robot companion focuses on a pair of humans, both aspiring musicians. One is Edwin, who lives in Dawn’s shadow. The other is Dawn, who lives in her brother’s shadow.

Finally, there is your hand, which you apply to disrupt the flow of time. Do you remember that The Simpsons A Halloween special where Homer goes back in time and, while initially trying not to affect the future, eventually gets frustrated and just starts smashing things? That’s what you do with your hand. At first, your computerized companion says something about not creating a paradox before realizing that, wait, he’s actually tiring create a paradox, so you might as well blow it all away.

It’s entertaining. It’s almost unnecessary in terms of the narrative, but the environmental destruction itself is entertaining in Catamari way. It even challenges you to destroy as much as possible and locate hidden things in the environment, which encourages you to replay these segments. The time stream fun could have been presented in many ways, and this is a great way to do it.

The most striking thing is Dazed is his artistic style. Most of the things are presented as a diorama that combines ordinary objects, various toys and plasticine figures. But it is even better because it also includes video elements, placing them behind the player-controlled models, which gives them a surreal effect.

The art style is a bit uneven, but it uses it well. I think at least once it uses the fact that you can’t really tell why something looks the way it does to later reveal what it represents.

When I played the demo Starstruck: The Hands of Time A few months ago I was packing for a move. Now that I have some space to breathe without inhaling cardboard, I pulled out Rock band 4 Fender Jaguar. Made me want to play Rock band 4 more than anything else, but it also improved the feel of the game. In a way.

There’s no strumming. You just press the fret buttons in time with the prompts. I’m not sure how much you know about playing guitar, but this isn’t it. You lift and press the strumming stick to go up and down. It’s a bit awkward, especially on the higher difficulty levels, when you’re pressing chords, er, multiple buttons at once. It’s still fun to play, whether you’re playing on a keyboard (that’s a computer keyboard, not a piano) or Rock Band/Guitar Hero guitar.

And speaking of which, it looks like Guitar Hero 2 (360 version) The Xplorer guitar is recognized by the game and automatically assigned. For my Fender Jaguar I had to assign buttons, but it wasn’t arduous and worked well.

StarStruck Smashing Things
Screenshot by Destructoid

I was really excited every time I got the chance to pull out my guitar, which thankfully is quite often. It’s an crucial part of the gameplay. I wrote in my demo review that I hated the music, but thankfully it turned out to be the only song I didn’t like. I mean, I still didn’t like the lyrics when they came out, but the soundtrack, overall, is really enjoyable. You can play the songs independently of the story, and I would do that.

Adventure Aspect Dazedon the other hand, it’s a tad tender. I wasn’t looking for things to apply in other things, but there’s not a whole lot to do in the world. There are guitars to find and equip for visual reasons, and there are optional songs to participate in (at least one, if I recall correctly), but not a whole lot. And I think it’s a bit of a wasted opportunity to get more into the game world.

Which really brings me to my main problem with Dazed: his story isn’t entirely well told. I really want to temper my words, because I want to make it clear that it’s not bad. It has a lot of value and inventiveness. It just seems unclear. So much so that when all is said and done, I’m not sure what the main message is supposed to be. Was there only one? If not, then the other themes get blurred and nothing gets fully wrapped up.

StarStruck Rhythm gameplay
Screenshot by Destructoid

There’s symbolism, like the ponderous presence of Ouroboros, the illusion of immortality through art, and being true to yourself. It evokes so much and explains so little. It spins the tires on plagiarism, and by the end I wasn’t sure if it was saying it was bad or inevitable. Or maybe I shouldn’t focus on it. Maybe it’s about you having to be yourself, because becoming celebrated by simply copying someone who’s already successful will make you feel empty. Or that all your heroes live in someone else’s shadow. Or maybe it’s both, and a kind of statement about the difference between fame and infamy.

The fact that the punctuation itself is not true may have a lot to do with the fact that the narrative can’t tell whether it’s more interested in the characters or the message. The characters themselves are unique, and their problems are clearly defined, but you don’t live with them. You don’t spend enough time with their problems to really understand them. I’m curious about Edwin’s parents being addicted to television. You see how Lucy’s problem is demonstrated, but the depth of her despair was a complete mystery to me. Similarly, I don’t understand the antagonist. I don’t understand their motivations or their, um, status.

The failure to understand or fully grasp the point may be my own fault. I find that I am usually receptive enough to recognize artistic intent, but I cannot say how others will connect or interpret it. Still, I think that more attention to character would have been greatly appreciated.

Still, the story is told with such visual and verbal artistry that it hardly matters. Dazed can effectively present a scene so that whether or not you fully understand the subtext, you can easily follow the larger plot and have fun listening to the story.

StarStruck Moon Surface
Screenshot by Destructoid

I’ve been playing and reviewing a lot of games this month, and there was a time when I felt breathless under the pile of games. But the one I wanted to play the most was the one I wanted to play once I started it, Starstruck: The Hands of Timebut it was also one that I had to put on the back burner because I had more pressing deadlines. I guess it says something that I had to hold myself back from playing it too early.

It ended up being about 4 hours for me, including some time I spent just playing songs, finding guitars, and repeating crushing sections. There are multiple endings, but they’re mostly based on decisions you make slow in the game rather than any kind of branching narrative.

It wasn’t until the final act of the game that the fire of my enthusiasm met the damp wood. It wasn’t enough to completely extinguish me, but it lowered the temperature. Dazed he sets up for a home run and ends up barely making it to fourth base. He filled out the paperwork correctly but forgot to sign and date the bottom. Ugh, what I’m saying is that if he spent a little more time telling the story, he could be the complete package. As it is, you might be impressed by his personality, but you won’t necessarily be blown away.


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