BURIED STARS Review Summary

Well-developed characters, excellent voice acting, and appealing art are undermined by forced multiple playthroughs, an inconvenient save system, and a skip function that skips all text.

Characters are well-developed: Reviewers appreciate the distinct personalities, complexity, and depth of the characters. Each character is memorable and multi-faceted, with unique traits and backgrounds that enrich the narrative.

Voice acting is excellent: Players consistently praise the voice acting, noting its high quality, emotional richness, and immersive nature. The abundance of voiced dialogue enhances character liveliness and overall presentation.

Art style is appealing: The art style is frequently highlighted as a major strength, described as beautiful, gorgeous, and pleasing to the eye. It is considered a selling point and contributes significantly to the game's visual appeal.

Story is engaging: The story is described as interesting, engaging, and addictive, with a compelling narrative that keeps players invested. The plot is well-written and offers a satisfying experience.

Gameplay is unique: The gameplay stands out as unique and intriguing, differentiating the game from typical visual novels. The inclusion of reasoning elements and new mechanics adds to its appeal.

Forced multiple playthroughs required: The game mandates multiple playthroughs to see all endings, but lacks convenience features like skipping read text, making the process tedious and exhausting. Players find the first playthrough meaningless since it always leads to a fixed ending.

Inconvenient save system: The save system is highly inconvenient, with saving only possible during dialogue scenes and limited save points. Players find this restrictive and anti-human, as it prevents saving at critical moments.

Skip function skips all text: The skip function defaults to skipping all text rather than only already-read text, preventing players from efficiently navigating new content during repeat playthroughs. This issue is repeatedly highlighted as a major frustration.

Excessive dialogue volume: The game contains an overwhelming amount of dialogue, which even players who enjoy dialogue find tedious and bloated. The sheer volume of text makes reading feel like a chore rather than an engaging experience.

Repetitive dialogue across playthroughs: Dialogue is repeated identically across multiple playthroughs, and the keyword system forces players to revisit the same topics, inflating playtime and causing boredom. This repetition is a key contributor to the game's tediousness.

Multiple playthroughs required: The game is designed for multiple playthroughs to see different routes, endings, and fully understand the story. Players must replay the game to unlock all content and reach the true ending.

Dialogue-driven clue gathering: The core gameplay revolves around talking to characters, presenting keywords, and collecting clues to progress the story. Players must pay attention to each character's responses and use dialogue to assemble facts and reason through the mystery.

Visual novel with mechanics: The game is primarily a visual novel, but it incorporates additional mechanics like clue-finding, affinity-building, and investigation sections. This blend makes it more interactive than a standard visual novel.

Affection and relationship management: The game includes an affection system where dialogue choices and keywords affect character relationships and the protagonist's mental state. Managing these stats is essential for progressing through the story and unlocking different outcomes.

Deduction and mystery core: The game is a mystery deduction game where players solve puzzles, explore theories, and identify the culprit. The deduction elements are central to the gameplay, though some players find the reasoning relatively simple.

Save data lost on reinstall: Users have experienced loss of save data when reinstalling the game, which can be a significant setback for progress. This is a critical data integrity issue.

Xbox controller input unreliable: Players report that the Xbox controller input is unreliable, causing frustration during gameplay. This issue likely affects game control and overall experience.

Dialogue clicking stutters with portraits: Clicking through dialogue is stuttery due to portrait changes, disrupting the narrative flow. This is a UI/UX issue that affects immersion.

Game runs fine on default settings: One player reported that the game ran without incident on default settings, indicating that the game is stable under standard configurations. This is a positive note amidst other issues.

Buy on sale: A significant number of reviewers advise purchasing the game at a discount rather than at full price. They suggest waiting for sales or buying at a reduced price to get the best value.

Recommended for visual novel fans: Multiple reviewers highly recommend this game to fans of visual novels, especially those who enjoy psychological storytelling and interactive gameplay. The game is praised for its narrative depth and is considered a must-play for the genre's enthusiasts.

Not worth full price: Several reviewers explicitly state that the game is not worth its full price, recommending it only when discounted. This sentiment is consistent across multiple clusters, indicating a common concern about the game's value proposition.

Not recommended for some: Some reviewers cannot recommend the game, citing various reasons such as dislike for forced multiple playthroughs or lack of interest in character shipping. This indicates the game may not appeal to all players.

Not for reasoning expectations: Several reviewers caution that the game should not be approached as a pure reasoning or deduction game. They advise against expecting orthodox mystery-solving mechanics, as the game may not meet those expectations.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00.

Game completion: 40.0h.

Story completion: 24.3h.

Session length: 3.0h.

The game opens with a slow, repetitive stretch that delays enjoyment, but a specific plot beat and deeper characterization eventually make it pick up. Player reports conflict, with some finding it tedious throughout and others hooked immediately.

Friction: Slow start with odd pacing in the first 3-4 chapters; Repetitive dialogue in communication sections; Tedious and long communication sequences; Boring beginning with repeated discussion topics; Repetitive gameplay mechanics.

Unlock drivers: The specific plot beat hitting; Deeper characterization kicking in; Reaching the crux/climax of character arcs; The story picking up.

BL/CP Enthusiast: Focuses on character interactions and CP dynamics, often skipping or tolerating gameplay flaws. Motivation: To experience and enjoy the gay romance and character relationships. Stance: buy.

Mystery/Reasoning Purist: Attempts to deduce the culprit and plot, but finds the clues too obvious and the reasoning shallow. Motivation: To solve challenging mysteries and engage in deductive reasoning. Stance: deep sale.

Visual Novel Newcomer: Plays through the story linearly, often following guides to avoid frustration, and appreciates the narrative. Motivation: To experience an engaging story and immersive visuals in a new genre. Stance: buy.

External guides: The dominant user complaint is that the game's complex branching narrative, hidden endings, and opaque choice consequences make external walkthroughs or guides almost mandatory for a satisfying experience. Players frequently mention needing to consult wikis or guides to avoid wasting time and to discover all content, which detracts from the immersive quality of the visual novel. This dependency on instructional data is the core issue.

Comparisons to Danganronpa and Ace Attorney: Many reviewers compare the game to Danganronpa, Ace Attorney, and Zero Escape, noting similar mystery elements and gameplay. Some mention it scratches the same itch, while others warn it is a true visual novel without executions.

Korean-developed visual novel: The game is a Korean visual novel with Korean voice acting and culture, and the English translation is noted as not flawless. Some reviewers mention the localization is machine-translated or poor.

Korean and Japanese voice options: The game offers both Korean and Japanese voice acting, with the ability to switch between them in-game. Some reviewers recommend the Korean voice acting over the Japanese.

Translation quality criticized: Several reviewers criticize the translation quality, particularly the English and Simplified Chinese versions, citing grammar errors and machine-translation issues. This is a significant drawback for non-Korean players.

Set in Korean entertainment industry: The game is set in a fictional Korean survival show or entertainment audition, with a strong K-pop vibe. Reviewers note the portrayal of the Korean entertainment industry.