Star Renegades

I was barely even past the tutorial but i already know i'm not gonna like this game. The combat has some really cool concepts in it and the spritework is honestly insane, but the writing is so obscenely bad I can't see myself liking a single one of the characters no matter much time I could've spent. The whole first section of the game just jumps around randomly and doesn't bother fleshing out any of the characters, even after introducing a friendship system that honestly seems like it could've been insanely fun to interact with. Then your first party is introduced, neither of them getting any explanation as to who they are or why they're where they are, just throwing out one-liners and showing no signs of actual personality or a single bit of dialogue that isn't trying to be funny for the sake of it. Very few times will I not even give a game a chance, especially since I only spent 5 bucks for this, but there's no way to skirt around it if you care at all about reading dialogue/being invested in the characters.

Very Nice

Very fun and challenging combat system. It's a fun interplay between deciding whether to push damage through on enemies or stun them until the next turn where they are likely to go before you unless you plan accordingly. The metaprogression is more about unlocking play patterns and minor stat improvements than steadily advancing towards an inevitable win.

The balance needs work—most of the armory becomes useless at higher difficulties. The UI and information presentation also lack polish, making it difficult to understand what’s happening. Players are often left to rely on Google searches, Reddit, or Discord just to grasp the mechanics.

Do I like the game? Absolutely. Could it be better? Without a doubt. Honestly, Steam could use a *"maybe"* option because while I enjoy the game, I wouldn’t give it a full thumbs-up unless the UI were improved.

Higher difficulty tiers (called Entropy) can only be beaten with specific team setups and item combinations, which limits replayability. I get that it’s an indie game and time constraints may have played a role, so I’m willing to give them some leeway. Still, this had the potential to be great, but as it stands, it’s just *okay* to *good*.

Rating: AA

The story is constantly getting in the way of game play. The map exploration just makes linear encounters take longer. The combat is interesting, but it just all types of armor and damage at you instead of giving you time to learn all your units attack types. I want to like the combat, but I feel it is so clunky to try and optimize your plays.

It's fun. A Turn-based party RPG, where you defeat your enemies by stealing their turns by causing break procs. It's quite sci-fi looking too. As a roguelike, it's not that special, the amount of procedual generation here is mostly static, and it comes and goes in the format of your party members you recruit to your party, or how a final boss of a stage is selected.

I'd Say the coolest part of this game is the team-up abilities, where as if you bond enough certain characters with others during the campfire rest phase, you can get team-up abilities, which are massive game changers.
The pixel art is gorgeous,the soundtrack is pleasing, but nothing to write home about.

The game is a bit slow to get your runs going, and most of your progress will be rogue-liteish.

i give this game a solid 6/10 Sci-fi not cyberpunk, if you like turn-based RPG's this one will scratch that itch.(hey that rhymed!)

I've got 100% achievements in this game and i can say that this is a WONDERFUL piece of art.

Visuals and Sounds aside.... The gamepley is extremelly well made. Game can be ruthless and you can't comit any mistakes when playing in the final difficulties and to me, that's what made the game SO good.
Every battle is pretty much like a chess game and you REALLY need to think, rethink, think again. The strategy factor is VERY SMART and you need to UNDERSTAND how the game REALLY works to be good at it.

Choosing the better route, knowing when to take risks and LEARNING how to properly build your team is CRUCIAL to success. If you enjoy HARD ROGUELIKES with SCI-FI atmosphere. Pick this.

10/10 game.

Great RPG

awsome

I'll preface this by saying I haven't finished Star Renegades on higher difficulties, so balance might be hugely off on Entropy+. However...

This game totally rocks! I've long searched for a strategy game based on deterministic predictions and Star Renegades doesn't disappoint in that regard! Every action is based on time units. When you're quicker than the opponent you'll do critical damage and extra attack proporties. When you're slower you'll just do regular damage and still some attack proporties (though diminished). So the game quickly turns into who's hitting who at what moment of time in the timebar. It's possible to stagger opponents and even "break" them by pushing them completely off the timebar. Oponents loosing their turn are extremely susceptible to your heaviest attacks, even when these take a lot of time to execute. Sounds easy on paper, but in practice opponents will try to do the same thing to you and stagger/breaking them only works a few times, whereafter opponents will be immune to stagger for at least one round. It's quite an unique system and marvelous in its setup,

There's a bit of roguelite going on between runs, but the unlocks don't neccessary make your characters a lot more powerful. The unlocks just present more choice in your party composition, so they're not much of a crutch in getting further in the game. You'll have to get better at Star Renegades yourself.

Auidio and visuals are top notch. Visually I especially like the lighting, which seems quite advanced. The cyber techno music hits all the right notes too.

The overarching plot is quite simple, perfectly fine for this type of game. The party banter however it totally nonsensical. Funny in some cases (the party must be sniffing those magic mushrooms all the time), but also extremely repetitive. It's best ignored after a while.

What takes Star Renegades down a notch are the lingering bugs and these bugs all have to do something with the combat (damage) calculations. Very rarely the game predicts a "kill shot", but when the round plays out the target survives by a sliver of health. Not sure what's going on in those cases. More commonly the game predicts all the armor being stripped from certain opponents, but that's just a faulty prediction. It seems to happen more often with certain characters, like Empath and her mind knife ability. Lastly things get downright fuzzy when the game tries to correctly calculate reflect damage. Again too much inconsistencies. The calculations in these situations aren't competely undependable, but it happens a little bit too often the outcome deviates slightly from prediction. On medium difficulty this isn't much of a problem, but on higher difficulties this might spell trouble for your run.

Besides these bugs however the game is great. And besides the above cases the deterministic predictions seem to work as intended. There's a lot to love in Star Renegades and I wholeheartedly recommend this game when you're looking for something new and different in the strategy genre.

Rating: 8,5/10

Im very good at dying in this game. I will be sure I will never buy a roguelite again, such a time waster. The variety of the heroes are ok at least.

This game has been a blast for to play the last few months. The roguelike formula mixed with the turn based RPG mechanics comes together well, and utilizing delays to control the flow of combat and get your team an advantage rewards foresight and planning.

Great little turn based game, eats time like crazy. Fun, challenging a little frustrating but often rewarding.

Overall, I feel Star Renegades is a brilliant tactical gem with amazing pixel art, good music/sound, and satisfying progression. I have stayed up late many times on a "just one more turn" journey that i didn't regret. (Just Ignore the writing) I can't play it as much as i've played FTL, but i love it for some of the same reasons.

Here's my overall take on the game:

The Story
Visually there's storytelling, and there are cool world building elements. The story elements and overall big ideas are very cool as far as science fiction. But all you get is visual world building as you observe the beautiful pixel graphics, and there is a very cool intro movie that makes you want to play.
Now to get my main complaint out of the way:
Once you're playing, the attempt at humor in the writing is unbearable. The dialogue which reveals more about the world makes deeper elements of the story difficult to consume. I actually REALLY hate the writing... a lot. Annoying, unfunny nerd humor that over-saturates has turned me away from games as good as Divinity Original Sin I and II. I can't do them. And the writing here is executed more poorly compared to those.
Luckily, it’s not chock full of insipid JRPG style story tropes either... Cut-scenes are not forced on you every five minutes. You can safely mash through dialogue and still enjoy yourself. That's a good thing. I wouldn't want to wait for cut scenes between playing in a game like this or FTL. Though FTL is an example of well-written story elements that didn't feel tacked-on.

Tactical Brilliance
The strategic elements are so good. I feel like my efforts of thinking my way through a battle pay off. The time system featuring turn order and “stagger” mechanics add a whole extra layer of strategy, letting you plan out exactly how to delay or interrupt enemies. Even if the odds seem stacked against you, smart use of timing can cut enemy actions off before they happen, leading to miraculous turnarounds.
There are interrupts, buffs, debuffs—and Star Renegades amplifies them with a reactive timeline that rewards forward-thinking. You really feel like you’re outsmarting the opposition.

Rogue-Lite Progression Done Right
It does take a few runs to unlock better characters and weapons, but the game doesn’t force a grindfest on you. Each run teaches you more about the combat system and drops interesting rewards that expand your options.
As you gain new heroes and gear, you’ll feel your party’s power growing organically. It’s nowhere near the slog you might find in some other games (cough Banners of Ruin cough). Instead, these unlocks offer fresh strategies and keep the game engaging across multiple runs. And elements are procedural, so what map layouts, and rewards are different every time you play through.

Visuals & Style
The game is absolutely stunning in motion. Characters and enemies pop off the screen with vibrant animations that make every battle feel epic.
The interface has a cool neon-futuristic vibe, though it can be a bit cluttered at first. Still, if you’re used to dissecting complex JRPG menus, you’ll adapt quickly.

Music & Sound
The synth-heavy score perfectly matches the game’s neon-soaked aesthetic, amplifying tension in battles and making exploration feel futuristic and grand. Each track seamlessly blends pulsing electronic beats with atmospheric melodies that ramp up at just the right moments. It’s the kind of soundtrack you’ll find yourself humming to yourself.
Meanwhile, the sound effects pack a satisfying punch. Skills and abilities all have distinct audio cues, letting you know exactly what’s happening in the heat of combat—even before you see the results. From the crackle of an Archon’s lightning blast to the metallic clang of a Paragon’s sword swing, every effect feels meticulously crafted to heighten immersion. Fans of synthwave vibes and energetic battle themes will absolutely love what Star Renegades brings to the table.

Character Building & Loadouts
Building a squad feels incredibly rewarding. Each class has unique strengths—tanks, healers, DPS, support—and you can combine them for potent combos.
If you like managing gear, fiddling with stats, and optimizing your party’s loadouts, there’s plenty to dig into here. Gearing up is half the fun.

The Interface Hiccups
Some parts of the interface aren’t intuitive. Expect a few runs to learn which menus hide certain details or how to read the timeline effectively. Sometimes i can't read important parts of the timeline because little pop-ups cover them, which is a fail, but there is only one spot on the screen where this happens repeatedly.
Once you get used to the interface, you will be in for lots of satisfying replays. If you enjoy a bit of complexity, you’ll find it satisfying to master. I actually really like to pore through the details of what makes my team build strong.

Final Thoughts
I’m in the camp of gamers who do care about story, and for game types where the story is featured front and center, my standards are quite high. For the type of game it is, it's good that the existing story elements are snappy and can be skipped. . Star Renegades delivers well in turn-based tactics, progression, and replayability.

If you:

Appreciate well-crafted JRPG-style combat without the usual bloated narrative,
Enjoy rogue-lite progression systems like in FTL or Slay the Spire,
Love leveling characters and tweaking gear for maximum efficiency,
Then you’ll have a blast mastering the timing system, planning each encounter, unlocking new heroes, and watching your squad evolve into a formidable fighting force. I know I did.

I love this game. Great challenge. Great music. Great visuals.

I do wish they had been willing to go more serious with it. The intro video and other things set a far more serious tone than the game ever ends up having. Also, you can hurt your odds by unlocking the wrong stuff, though there are systems to cut down on the negative consequences of having a larger item pull, the fewer things you can unlock in the realm of equipment, the more predictable your pool of options will be.

Cant skip dialogue, fast forward is annoying to look at with crappy vhs effect. Gives me a headache.

pog

This game is an excellently constructed roguelike, with complex combat and a solid unlocking system. It's also hard. Well worth it if you dig these kinds of games.

I watched the trailer and thought “Wow, it looks promising” as I liked the visual style and gameplay looked intriguing. In reality, it’s complicated.

interesting graphics, but rogue-like system, you get bored pretty quickly as the locations don’t change much.
As it has limited amount of locations, you’ll get the same enemies again and again. Low variety of enemies.
“But, there a lot of different characters and you can build relationships within a group!” - Yes, it can add to the variety as you can build different groups, but with deterministic system it just doesn’t fit the pace of the game. Feedback loop is quite long if you assembled your group wrongly and it quickly gets boring.

So, the game tried to mix different mechanics, but it just doesn’t work well together.

Logged 300+ hours into this game on Xbox, absolutely fantastic game! Decided to buy on PC for the bit of DLC that isn't available on xbox.

Artwork and soundtrack are very engaging and create an epic experience. Not many roguelikes keep me entertained for more than 20 hours so this game is truly solid!

Character dialogues and banter have a cynical humor to them, which fits the theme of a never-ending quest to stop the interdimensional swarm.

Only three things I wish were different:
1. that the progeny were a bit more unique compared to there progenitors in stats and abilities
2. the planets and their respective behemoths could be fought in varying order rather than only fighting specific enemies/behemoths at planets 1, 2, and 3.
3. more things to spend meta-currency on!

Entropy IV and V were the real challenge and found I could only beat them with specific team setups.

Overall great game with massive replayability. The devs truly made this game with passion!

Highly recommend!!!!

Okay... im not sure how to feel about this game. To get this out of the way:

This is the type of game where you should have a podcast/youtube video/movie going on in the background. This game is systems-heavy JRPG gameplay with a lot of strategic choices in between fights. You have RPG elements with a ton of upgrades between runs. This game throws a ton of random encounters at you, so, so much. The combat is time consuming and heavy.

But I found it FANTASTIC. The decision making is extremely deep, and I find optimizing fun. Probably one of the best JRPG combat systems out right now. It also has something similar to the shadow of mordor nemesis system for some reason?? IDK but it's a good addition.

The story was alright, but the actual gameplay was so dense I wasn't all that invested moment-to-moment.

If you want a game you can chill out to, this is a good choice. Keep in mind, you'll be going through a lot of menus, and there's a pretty big mental stack.

Yea i guess you could say i like it.

Here I go, thumbing down yet another highly praised game.

Ok, so, quick synopsis from the 90 seconds, er, minutes I played. It's a story-driven action game with turn based battles. From what I gather, a bunch of bad guys are up to no good, starting lots of trouble in the neighborhood.

Now, I like games with a story. The best recent game I must recommend for story is Outer Wilds. DO NOT watch videos. It will ruin the experience. Here, you have a typical conflict where you are fighting against a stronger force with encounters as you travel around a quiant map. I say 'quiant' because I would have really loved this game as a kid back in the early 90s. If this had been released back then for the SNES, I wouldn't have left my room all weekend. But here we are.

And I mean that by the entire build of the game. The story is great so far...I think...but kinda seems like I was supposed to have read a comic book to get to know everyone first before playing. Then comes the actual gameplay and....ehhhh....it's...nice? I guess....? Remember: early 90s SNES, THAT'S where this game should be.

The encounters have you mix and match abilities and teammates. Now, that seems interesting but for me it didn't seem to matter what I did as I would always win the battle with little effort. If I tried really hard to come up with amazing attacks they were REALLY REALLY not much more effective than when I just spammed the attack.

So, is it good? Not for me. Hopefully you'll like it. I wish it well as it's not bad, it's just....ehhh...

Really fun

I really wanted to like Star Renegades. I finally bought it. And, well, it's ... fine? But just fine. If I pick up a new rogue game the bar that I set whether to recommend it or not is: "Do I immediately want to play again?"... And I don't. In fact, I've beaten the game the first go around. Yeah, did some save-scumming, but I was at the final boss already, and had him almost down, so I figured, I'd just try again. So, once you've beaten the game you unlock new characters, you can invest in some upgrades, but they are mutually exclusive, which is a DAMN shame. You also unlock new equipment ... and I'm sorry to say, but the equipment in this game is atrociously boring for the most part. It's mostly debuffs and buffs sort of stuff.

The moment to moment gameplay is interesting, buuuuut it's a grind fest. EVERY enemy in this game is a damage sponge. They just soak that shit up. So ... one playthrough takes around 6 to 7 hours. That's just not a good time for the gameplay on offer. The UI is ... not the most helpful, either. And while the whole game revolves around pushing enemy actions into the "next turn", the next turn isn't actually the next turn. You push someone OFF the track, you do NOT see when they will take their action next turn, which means that the entire enemy team could attack you and wipe you out in one go, because they start their actions immediately next turn. And that is information that you cannot see. Added to that is the issue that you will likely do the same string of actions in most combats, once you have a strategy down. Of course, you have no idea what your strategy is going to be, unless you already know what each character will do once upgraded to the max. And there's no overview once you have. So, if I started playing again 2 months later... I will have already forgotten everything.

The art style is great, gameplay is fine, music is cool, story is absolutely forgettable, but has ONE interesting twist at the end, at least. All in all I would not pay 25 bucks for it, sadly. While there is enough to unlock, technically ... in reality I just don't feel compelled to start another run, unlike with most rogue-lites. It's just too samey and tedious. And the meta progression is utterly boring.

The turn system turns every combat into a meaningful puzzle as you try and figure out how to break as many enemies as possible each round. All of the moves are impactful, including the basic defend move, which in a lot of games is usually simply not as effective as attacking more. I'm usually not a JRPG fan, but this game is good.

Lovely pixel art

Definitely a clever approach to roguelite-JRPGs. The full ending needs multiple playthroughs. It was a fun title. The learning curve was a bit hard, though...

super cute and fun game! I wish the developers made this a complete rpg game instead of rogue like. Also, not as hard as maybe say Hades with respect to rogue like aspects given the save system. I reloaded the game via the backup of my save file to try different strategies instead of re-starting everything from the beginning.

This game is worth it at full price to me. But the advice I will give you is to do one run getting to the "final area" and decide if you liked the gameplay to get there, because the game is doing that over and over again. If you enjoyed the journey, you'll find this game well worth it.

There's a good deal of depth to be able to say the dev's put some serious passion into this and cared about the experience. It's a decent gameplay loop with enough change and complexity each run to remain challenging. The extra content they've put out for the game has also been free. 3 of them make sense to be free, but two are adding in playable characters. The choice to make that dlc free is a huge plus to me and was part of what got me to pull the trigger.

The music is decent, but with long runs, starts to feel repetitive. But that really shouldn't take away from the music actually being decent. If it was possible to add more, long tracks, that would be phenomenal, because I like the vision of the person behind the soundtrack.

The combat is turn-based where the point is to use your abilities to stagger/stun/delay the opponents long enough (or enough times) to take them out trying to receive as little damage as possible. The "loop" is...quite long. I don't try to waste time and a run takes hours (2-6).

The maps of the base game are mostly the same, with the bosses also being the same, so this part can feel a little repetitive

My Only Real Con

What I'm about to complain about, is actually a rather minor part of the game, it's just where I'm nitpicking because this is - oddly enough - one of the top things I care about in games:
Unfortunately the weakest part of the game is the dialogue. The overarching story is somewhat interesting, playing on an aspect or two of a time travel paradox. However, the dialogue of all the companions is unfortunately almost all the same. Yes, they each have different backstories, but all of them have the same humor, same sarcasm for the situation they're in, the same front-line-space-marine-trope. The bit is actually well written...if they wrote it for a few characters....not almost all of them.
-------------------------------

In the end, I've already put over 30 hours into it, and haven't even done the "final" run yet. I'm having fun, excited to probably put in over 50 hours, which is saying that this game being priced at $25 is a steal.

I cannot like this game. The story is you are up against an enemy that is stronger than you and you have to bash your face against their fist to get stronger. Thats right you have to die to win. each run feels like "why bother if I cant win?"

no

Probably the best turn based combat out right now.

good

Fantastic game.. The vibe, the style, the Amiga music.. the systems. An absolute treat. Reminds me a little of Crosscode

Fun rogue-lite. Seems nicely balanced so far. At times buggy and not the smoothest, but fun to play all the same.

The story, concept, and art style are good. However, Star Renegades fails where it counts - providing interesting gameplay. First, the tutorial does not explain enough. As you level up you get new abilities and gear, yet it's not well explained what they do. Sometimes all you have is an icon or symbol. For example, the red targeting icons for the slash and sunder ability are different, yet I have no idea what the difference is and can't tell how it matters. Second, even for the parts I understand the effects of attacks are often unclear and unpredictable. For example, if I delay an enemies attack to the next turn, how far into the next turn was it delayed? Lastly, for the amount I played I'm not seeing interesting synergies to exploit. Combat feels grindy, with wearing down hitpoints rather than using interesting or smart tactics.

the combat is confusing for me but other than that it's fun 👍

Well, it's not a bad game at all. It has a good style and interesting combat system, really appreciated it. However there are few moments worth mentioning.

First thing you need to know, it's a rogue stuff where you have to do the same things over and over, starting again once you've failed. But I'm not going to complain about that, there are masochists who really enjoys such genre. It just may not be suitable for some people as well.

The second but the main problem is the interface. Battles have a planning stage but despite the fact it's the planning stage. you can not undo once assigned actions. You misclicked — now pay for it. Besides some things just are not felt inuitive or obvious where it's better for them to be like that. All this is kinda annoying considering you have to restart the whole campaign if you're mistaken.

I'd mark this one as neutral if Steam had such kind of review but it hasn't. So...

Solid roguelike.
Combat is juicy: you need to time your attacks properly, think ahead, build your team correctly (bit of space with that one, but can't expect to have four dps and be grand), use advantages of your teammates. Lots of difficulty levels, decent replayability, with bunch of characters to unlock (although way to do it is bit annoying sometimes, as you might to have to roll with team comp that is not great), bunch of enemies and bosses and lots of abilities to chose from (be wary of both enemies and your skills - sometimes screen can be very dense with info and you might miss that one essential piece that will wipe out your team).
Graphics are not stellar, but stylish, both in terms of encounters and enviroment, and game itself is not too long, which I find great - not have to spend hours upon hours to get to the end, and right after I can go for another run, since I know, that I'll be done in 6-iish hours.
My biggest issue is false advertisement that comes with intro: you might be under impression that you will be dealing with gritty, serious characters on the path of vengeance. Nope - game tend to be goofy and wacky (in terms of the dialogues) and that tonal shift was bit baffling to mee at the beginning.
Still, good fun.

nice mechanics

What is it about myself which allures me towards games that are excruciatingly unwinnable? Is my intrinsic stubborn-ness so malignant that I must incessantly beset myself against ever-looping, self-defeating endeavors towards rewards that are only idealized? Is this game a punishing simile of the self-martyrdom I carry through the trials and tribulations of real life, always striving, but never obtaining some sort of meaning and conclusion to all this chaotic, gamified nonsense?
Or am I like the Hicks-proverbial moth joke, forever flying towards the sun, constantly self-affirming that it's gonna be worth it with fatalistic naivety?

Yes.

Sometimes I reload just to harass the dog.

Buy this game, you animaloid jerks.

10/10, you bastards.

This is one of my most played games on Steam. Each run is such great fun using different character setups and seeing what crazy combinations you can pull out. Turn based Roguelite that isn't a deckbuilder is fairly rare. Such a good game

most turn-based rpgs are way too easy and one-dimensional. in those games, the game loop: no defense. only attack. if ice monster? fire attack. if low hp? use potion. NOT this game. you have to prep properly and you have to fight properly. however, this makes the game way too unforgiving. you can lose half an hour to hours of progress because of a single mistake. there should be checkpoints every 30 minutes at the very least. because of that, it's not for me, but it's still a great game. i have yet to play a turn-based rpg like this, and i could see myself coming back for more.

the game is great all the way up to Entropy 3

5 stars

Fun, challenging and absolute exquisite design!

Not going to bother writing anything other than it sucks.

Good writing that roasts everyone.
Solid nostalgia and references.
That's it.

I love it.

It's a strange feeling when a niche game becomes one of your favorite games of all time.

I did lose a save to some buggy interactions... but overall, a great experience.