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OPUS: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition

Developed & Published by SIGONO

Release Date 2021

Tested on Xbox Series X

MSRP 24,99 USD

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I always do wonder what is the core factor when a game, a book or a movie really captivates me. Is it the story, characters or the presentation or something else out of my reach and understanding? OPUS: Echo of Starsong mixes and blends factors that may be deceptively seem simple to eyes artistically and cleverly that you feel you’re part of this story and the games makes you feel wanted in this plot.

OPUS does not invent the story-driven narrative game genre, it simply…works in the best way possible. It has a great set of mechanics: an excellent space setting, Japanese voiceover, Japanese culture inspirations, game mechanics which are not tiresome, wonderful narrative pacing with marvellous world-creation.

During my playtime, I could not stop myself comparing a game like OPUS to AAA open-world games which boast “massive world that you can travel across the map with hundreds of landmarks.” I do admire and appreciate story-heavy and linear games like OPUS just for the chance to experience to a story-rich game with none-to-zero bloated mechanics. OPUS is the game where the game flows and runs with you alongside, you are not left behind, ever. You are right there with the game, and the game opens itself to you with almost zero tutorial needed. Frankly, after spending two hours I realized there was not any tutorial regarding mechanics or controls. The menu, screen, windows and layout are so well-designed and -thought that you won’t face any difficulty navigating in the menus.

You’re going to ask me, what is this game about that you worshipped so far? Well, OPUS: Echo of Starsong is basically a flashback of the protagonist Jun, a story made of his memories, remembrances and his past. You start as Old Jun, casually (yet meaningfully) wandering in a forest-like overgrown building, and you start remembering what you’ve lived so far, then the flashback takes place, and now you are Jun, as young as day in his full bloom (pun intended, sorry.). Jun is a teenage prince of Lee clan, who is kind of (self)-exiled from his hometown planet after the gigantic Lumen War and what took place in his clan. Jun is on the run to find a lumen-rich un-discovered planet and mine so he can create a name for himself after being ostracised from Lee clan and he can return to his hometown planet head held high. Then there’s Kay, who is Jun’s right-hand, a sturdy man and Lumen War veteran. In flashbacks we learn that Kay backs up Jun when he is thrown out of Lee clan and shamed. Right there and then Kay becomes young prince’s guide in his mission.

Shortly after setting out our mission, we bump into Eda, a witch, and Remie, her younger companion who’s a pilot at a bazaar. They become Jun and Kay’s companions soon after second encounter. You may ask “a witch? Wait what?”. The meaning of “witch” is pretty different from what you may prejudge, a witch is a person who can sense lumen in a proximity through waves of recorded special witch songs in the galaxy. Jun is a “runner” who can carry a stick ,which is loaded with special songs, and play it in front of particular gateways on planets that may open doors to yet to be explored lumen caves. From that moment on, Jun and Kay’s story gets intertwined with Eda and Remie’s.

Let me break down easy-to-understand mechanics of the game briefly, when you are in a location there are three sub-menus you can interact with besides location-specific options:

Memories: this menu includes all the collectibles, items, encountered objects, and major events, entries and lore-based codex.

Upgrade: improvements for the spaceship with the material you find or purchase.

Navigator:the main menu for travelling with the spaceship that opens a map.

There is Fuel, Armor Plates, Exploration Kit and Currency as well.

You spend fuel when you are travelling and you need to re-fuel from time to time otherwise you will be stranded in the galaxy and will meet some assistance crew that will tow your spaceship to the previous main location. Armor Plates are crucial in early-game when you are fighting with space pirates, when you upgrade your spaceship you can pretty much ignore it. Exploration Kits are consumed when you are on a non-major planet and you attempt to scavenge items, scraps as such. With Currency you can purchase fuel, plates, exploration kits, upgrade parts for your spaceship. You can earn money selling scraps and plants that you come across on planets.

You can watch the clip below to see how you can purchase parts and upgrade your ship:

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At first glance at the map, you may be overwhelmed judging that it is an open-world game, but it isn’t actually. The game has a remarkable way of guiding you from one destination to another without making the game feel linear. There are main missions directly related to the main story and there are “abnormal signal” side quests, honestly they aren’t quests, more like side-story elements that are supplemental to the lore. For example, I did gamble on a small planet and did help send signals throughout the galaxy for a TV broadcast on another planet. These may seem forgettable in theory but I can assure you will appreciate them in first-hand experience, these are not “filler” side quests in massive open-world games, these are well-crafted short and lore-loaded experiences that stick with you personally.

When you land on a planet, a menu like in the clip below welcomes you, interactions with green flag next to them are side-interactions, such as just having a talk with a random person on the planet, such as an old grumpy man, a worker, a doctor, a homeless person. These side-interactions make the planet feel alive and pushes the narrative further succesfully, when your whole interaction takes place in text, some kind of magic has to give to attract you and drive the story to the next level, you bump into an old woman, she talks about good old days long before the Lumen War, the dialogue lasts around a minute, you walk away and move on, yet this entire conversation is only a small part of elements that build the entire game, the game would not be able to catch the player’s attention without these dialogues.

The three-pillar icon points the main interaction at that location.

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Having completed a main mission, you receive coordinates for your next location, which is marked on the map and it tells you beforehand how much fuel it will require to reach the destination, for example in the clip below it looks like I did not upgrade my fuel-tank that much therefore I cannot travel to the given planet in one go, what I did was that I visited small planets which are marked as “abnormal signal” and I did scavenged items with exploration kits and found some some fuel, and I did fill up my tank and got closer to the main location by scavenging minor planets.

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OPUS might the first game I’ve ever played that lays out everything takes place moment to moment, items, codex entries etc in one single menu that is not too crowded to figure out, Memories menu shows you everything you’ve experienced and collected so far. One more thing: codex entries are an afterthought in this games, not one bit, you get to read each entry with an item you come across while you are exploring or having a dialogue with a character, it can be a monument, a gateway, a plant, a tale an elderly person tells, coins etc.

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Having played 3 out of 6 chapters so far, OPUS is such a silent-hitter in the genre and it deserves even more recognition, I cannot stress enough how well-built this game is with almost-perfect lore supported by non-cluttered smooth narration.

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