Stay A Stay Overview (PS5)

Final 12 months noticed the remake of Stay A Stay launch on Nintendo Change, some 27 years after its unique 1994 launch on the Tremendous Famicom. This marks the primary time the title has been made obtainable outdoors of Japan, and now that it is coming to PS5 and PS4, we’re joyful to report that Stay A Stay continues to be a singular and ground-breaking expertise.

Straightaway, the sport presents you with a selection of seven characters to play as, every spanning a unique time interval. There’s Pogo of the prehistoric period, Masaru Takahara of the current day, Dice of the distant future, and others in between. Selecting certainly one of these characters gained’t lock you into taking part in the entire sport as them, as an alternative merely providing a place to begin. Every of those seven characters has a small chapter, simply accomplished in a most of three hours, which kinds the broader sport — and there’s no set order you’ll want to play them in.

You may count on every of those chapters to be the identical factor, repackaged to suit a brand new time interval — however that isn’t the case in any respect. Every of the characters has their very own particular person personalities and oftentimes talents. Prehistoric Pogo has no verbal expertise, speaking along with his friends in a sequence of grunts, however he has an impeccable sense of odor which can be utilized to trace enemies. Akira of the close to future can learn minds, and Oboromaru of Edo Japan can flip invisible utilizing his Shroud of Shadows. Every chapter has a unique storyline, with a touch of a connection that may make itself obvious within the ultimate chapter of Stay A Stay. Some chapters really feel like a totally completely different style, most notably Current Day the place your entire factor is ready up as a Avenue Fighter-esque preventing sport. It makes for a extremely attention-grabbing expertise, permitting every chapter to be memorable.

Stay A Stay additionally has the good thing about with the ability to dip out and in of chapters in the event you really feel you’re not gelling with one thing. Whereas all chapters should be accomplished with a purpose to unlock the endgame paths, simply since you begin a chapter it doesn’t imply you’re locked into it till you end. You’re in a position to exit to the menu and begin or resume a unique chapter, and the sport will keep in mind your progress within the timeline you’re leaving. An incredible contact for once you really feel like one thing completely different.

It’s the eighth chapter the place all the pieces comes collectively, and the unfastened narrative thread that is been woven all through the opposite chapters lastly turns into obvious.

Plenty of the chapters are extra simple than others, with some feeling significantly puzzling and imprecise. Edo Japan has its foremost character Oboromaru traversing what looks like an unlimited maze of a palace, with many puzzles and traps to determine. Conversely, the Prehistoric chapter is extraordinarily linear in its development with no room for doubt about the place you’ll want to go.

It’s small issues like this that basically make Stay A Stay stand out. Sure, it is a sport separated into cohesive chunks, but it surely additionally looks like a sequence of smaller video games that are half of a bigger entire. There’s a sure allure to this that feels such as you’re in for a very distinctive expertise — even right here in 2023. Our favorite chapter, The Wild West, has its protagonist gathering gadgets, and the inhabitants of a city setting traps for the outlaws who’re about to assault. Relying on what number of traps you efficiently set inside a sure time restrict, this has a knock-on impact with what number of enemies you’ll face within the ultimate battle. It’s a extremely enjoyable mechanic that we’ve not often skilled earlier than, and actually makes that exact story stand out.

With up to date HD-2D graphics, Stay A Stay includes a recreated soundtrack from its unique composer, Yoko Shimamura. Breaching a number of time durations, the soundtrack manages to brilliantly evoke the period you’re taking part in in, whereas additionally managing to sound cohesive when taken as an entire throughout the timeline. It’s a beautiful enhancement to the expertise.

Fight-wise, Stay A Stay looks like acquainted floor. Going down on a grid, every character has a gauge which have to be stuffed up earlier than an assault might be unleashed. Shifting across the grid fills up your enemy’s gauge, getting ready their assaults, however a few of your personal methods could delay or interrupt their plans. Every assault has a unique space of impact, which means you’ll must place your self excellent with a purpose to maximise injury throughout a number of enemies, or to make sure you’re hitting anybody within the first place. Enemies have completely different weaknesses and resistances that are simply seen by focusing on them, so you possibly can plan assaults accordingly through the use of completely different strikes with completely different attributes. It’s all pretty enjoyable, however the battle system does not stand out or really feel distinctive — particularly when in comparison with how participating the remainder of the sport’s design is.

Conclusion

Stay A Stay is an extremely attention-grabbing and distinctive JRPG expertise. With pretty HD-2D graphics and quite a few foremost characters, it’s onerous to not evaluate it to the likes of Octopath Traveler, but it surely actually is a totally completely different kettle of fish. Stay A Stay is a diversified thrill trip that also impresses all these years later, and whereas the fight does wrestle to stay as much as the remainder of the journey, the sport does a improbable job of tying all of its intriguing, particular person tales collectively. It is a history-hopping journey we’ll be interested by for fairly a while.