Starbites Hands-Off Preview: An RPG That Won’t Leave you Feeling Deserted 

Starbites is a science fiction game influenced by JRPGs of the past, and I’ve been eager to see more of it since it was announced for a Western release in August. Now I’ve done exactly that, thanks to an invitation from publisher NIS America and developers Ikina Games. In a fascinating sit-down with studio founder Junho Bae, they treated me to an in-depth look at what could be a special title for fans of the genre, especially those with a fondness for oft-neglected futuristic settings.

Starbites takes place on the desert planet Bitter, once a desirable destination, now a ruined junkyard. Our protagonist, a young woman named Lukida, desperately seeks to escape the confines of her desolate home. You join her as she tries everything she can to achieve her goal, accompanied by her friends, who form the core of the adventuring party.

Bae states that he has been a fan of JRPGs since childhood, with one of his strongest ambitions being to create a title in that lineage. I also see a strong influence from Star Wars, as Bitter reminds me of the wasteland of Tatooine, but perhaps even more strongly of Jakku from The Force Awakens. That planet is also strewn with the detritus of someone else’s conflict, and Lukida has more than a little of that film’s protagonist, Rey, about her.

However, where those settings and the JRPGs that inspired Starbites can often feel bleak, Starbites‘ anime aesthetic comes across as joyful. Bright, attractive designs for characters and landscapes are complemented by light-hearted dialogue that emphasises the bond between Lukida and her friends. I already sense that I’m going to like this group. Lukida looks like she has escaped from an adventure story, with her goggles firmly strapped to her head like Tita from Trails in the Sky. Gwendoll, a scantily clad sniper, brings the fun factor as the traditional JRPG booze fiend, and muscle-bound Badger auditions to be the taciturn backbone of the team. There are at least three more playable characters, although I didn’t get to see them in the preview.

Like its spiritual predecessors, Starbites features turn-based combat, but you won’t be fighting on foot here. Lukida and her crew rock massive motorbots (in other words, mechs) that they use to take down their opponents. Each character sports a unique design for their robotic ride. I love the way that Lukida hangs out of the back of her curvy orange monstrosity, but I especially enjoyed Gwendoll’s motorbike-like machine that she sits on precariously, occasionally bouncing off of it to take potshots at her foes; it’s traditional yet captivating stuff. Each team member has a distinct role to play; Lukida provides support, Gwendoll dishes out the pain, whilst Badger sucks up the damage as the group’s tank. Bae says that other characters will be much more customisable, and I appreciate the indication that the game’s mechanics will grow with you as you progress.

At one point during the preview, Lukida got knocked out in a fight against a colossal machine, which our hosts confirmed was an unwinnable battle —a typical JRPG trope. It’s not a beat that I’m overly fond of, but it can sometimes support the narrative well, and here it heralds the introduction of the Phoenix Service, a rescue team that brings you back from the brink, for a cost. Lukida wakes in the city of Delight and meets its icy ruler, Fennec, who informs her that the price of the rescue has been added to her bill. Bae mentions the influence of Battle Angel Alita in Starbites, and Lukida’s downward spiral into debt, together with the society this hints at, forms the clearest sign of this. The city also features important locations, such as the Motorbot Repair Shop where you can soup up your devices of destruction, and the Bittersweet Bar, a piece of wordplay that I immediately fell in love with.

Ikina then showed me the overworld, and as expected from the setting, I saw a barren, dusty place, but only as much as any of the Borderlands locales. The environments still entice, an achievement in itself, but Ikina Games quickly reassured me that we can expect much more variety in the complete game. You won’t just be travelling through deserts, but even when you are, the team states they have endeavored to give each a different flavour. On top of this, the small-scale nature of Starbite’s scope will increase, and by the end, the story will expand to “cosmic proportions.” JRPGs offer the ideal medium for tales that start personal but end with you punching a metaphorical deity in the unmentionables, so this too appeals to me.

Starbites Q&A

Following the game presentation, I had the opportunity to ask Ikina founder Junho Bae some follow-up questions through a translator. My first inquiry concerned the voice acting, which I noticed is extensive and of a very high quality, with the party’s personalities really coming through. Bae assures me that the voice acting continues throughout the game, and also adds that the finished release will have an English dub, an excellent choice for accessibility. Sadly, I like the Japanese actors so much that this might create a dilemma for me!

I then referred back to my interest in the division seemingly at the heart of the game, with its colourful graphics yet gloomy premise, and asked about the thought process behind these choices. Bae advised that the world of Starbites is harsh, having recently endured widespread war, but the overall theme is one of hope found in the darkness. This theme is emphasised by Lukida herself, who has the most debt of anyone on the planet, but whose design and attributes make her the bright spark in the shadows that surround her.

I asked if Bae could offer a few comments on Starbites’ music. Bae said that they initially thought to base the soundtrack around the jazz stylings of the anime movie Metropolis, but had to shift direction away from jazz due to the relative unpopularity of jazz in Korea, where Ikina Games is based. What I hear of the music certainly supports this, but I hope to experience more soon.

In discussing how they went about creating the turn-based systems, Bae said that they thought long and hard about this, with particular reference to the Final Fantasy series and to Octopath Traveler. He emphasised that Starbites encourages you to target your foes’ weaknesses, and use the “Driver’s High” system to steal turns. Support characters will also offer varied advantages during battle. Since I had not seen much evidence of it during play, I asked about sidequests, and Bae reassured me that in addition to several minigames, we should expect lots of typical, JRPG-style off-the-path fun.

With that, our ride through the world of Starbites concludes. I’ve seen enough to know that I’m looking forward to strapping myself into a motorbot when the game releases next year.

Starbites launches in early 2026 and is coming to PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2. Learn more on the game’s official website.