Opus: Echo of Starsong-Full bloom edition is a beautiful adventure game set in space and involves a complicated relationship between Jun and Eda as he recalls their adventures and what transpired over the years. Since the narrative is told from an elderly Jun, the game plays as one major flash back. There is a major focus on the music in the game and solving minor musical puzzles to advance the plot. Being the third title in the series, Opus: Echo of Starsong Full bloom edition is easy to pick up without having to play any of the previous games.
Story
Opus: Echo of Starsong-Full bloom edition an adventure game that focus on the relationship between Jun and Eda, as stated before. Jun is an exiled noble who is accompanied by his guardian and friend Kay. They embark on an adventure to make up for a mistake Jun made during a trial which brought dishonor on his clan. Along the way, they encounter Eda and her co-pilot in a busy market while trying to purchase information regarding a potential mining spot. Eda states that she is a witch, and the information would be more useful in her hands since Jun lacks a witch of his own. After the initial run in with each other, Eda takes off for a mining facility located in an asteroid only for it to be a pirate base hidden away so that they can capture unsuspecting adventurers. As Jun and Kay make a rescue attempt, the relationship between the three characters goes from one of annoyance and irritation to an attempt to trust one another to escape the asteroid.
Opus: Echo of Starsong-Full bloom edition has a lot of dialog and information to drop on players within the first few hours, so it is important to pay attention to everything being said. For example, if players are not aware of what is going on, they may miss what a witch is and why they are so important. Opus: Echo of Starsong-Full bloom edition is a short game, with players able to see the credits after around 12 hours so even if they miss any information, it won’t take long to see the story through one more time. This leads us to our next talking point which is the gameplay.
Gameplay
Opus: Echo of Starsong-Full bloom edition plays out with different modes going on. Space navigation will see players moving their ship from one location to another while using and gaining resources. While they travel through space, they may run across different asteroids and caverns to adventure into which moves players into the exploration stage. Here players will move characters around in a 2.5D view as they move throughout the location, picking up different memos that give more information on the story and world around them. There will occasionally be puzzles that require players to utilize the Star song’s they have picked up along the way to harmonize with the Machinery to progress.
There are points in the story which players will be able to make decisions and this can impact how the story plays out. If players make the wrong choice however, the screen will shift to the elderly Jun as he states that what happened isn’t correct. This will give players a chance to redo the encounter and make the correct decision to move on.
Final Thoughts
Opus: Echo of Starsong-Full bloom edition gives players a heartfelt adventure without asking for 40+ hours of their time. Since there is a heavy focus on music, players can expect to hear a beautiful soundtrack accompanied by Voice acting which was added to the Full bloom edition. The game runs well on the switch and is perfect for the on the go play but since players cannot save manually, it is important to dedicate time to playing the game.
