Game Review: Steven Universe: Save the Light

What’s with the sudden surge in Steven Universe games?

I know, technically only two adaptations of Cartoon Network’s beloved series have launched since the end of October, but Dreamland Arcade is like nine games in one, so the sheer amount of content currently on offer should easily keep fans busy into the new year.

While it takes place in the same universe as the 2015 mobile game Attack the Light, Save the Light features a mostly standalone story about the relationship between the Light Prism and new villain Hessonite, voiced by Christine Baranski (holy shit, right?). The plot is just one way in which the game tries to expand upon its predecessor, and the inclusion of a more fully realised antagonist is a great touch. The sass that Baranski brings to the role is fun enough for most of the game, but the deeper pathos of her character revealed after the final boss battle is even more intriguing. I’m not sure how it would work, but if Steven Universe were to bring Hessonite into the actual series, I’d be watching very closely. Overall, the plot didn’t feel grander than Attack the Light, and largely followed similar beats in a different set of locations. However, it did successfully capture the feeling of playing an episode of the show, which is likely due to the contributions Rebecca Sugar herself made to the story.

The most immediately obvious effect of the move from mobile to home consoles is Save the Light’s visuals; the backgrounds are deeper, the colours are brighter, and the figures are crisper. The stylised character models from the previous game also return here, and while my personal preference is the classic show style as seen in Dreamland Arcade, it’s undeniable that they look gorgeous. Speaking of that game, while I was impressed by the attention paid to its soundtrack, Save the Light somehow manages to outshine it. Here, each song hints at the charm and sense of adventure that are core components of Steven Universe itself.

Meanwhile, there are several notable gameplay changes that serve to decrease the repetition often seen in RPGs. Firstly, bigger locations mean more room for platforming and puzzles, and as a self-proclaimed lover of the game’s design, I appreciated the opportunity to do as much exploring as possible. These features aren’t meant to be the game’s primary selling point and won’t take up too much of your time, but are fun and help affirm the idea of expanding upon Attack the Light. Similarly, the character roster has been expanded to include non-Gem characters, which is not only great news for Greg Universe fans (guilty), but allows for a greater level of customisation. This is reflected in the adjusted combat system: strengthening your team members’ relationships with ‘Kudos’ will have positive impacts like team attacks and fusions, adding a level of sophistication and thought to battles as well as reflecting the bond between the characters in the show. However, the feeling of repetition that plagues RPGs hasn’t totally vanished, and the battles can feel too much like grinding by the time you’ve traveled to several locations.

I also need to acknowledge that I played the game on Xbox One, and encountered an issue with loading the Hidden Grove secret level, which apparently has been a common experience for Xbox players. Basically, it just doesn’t work. Unfortunately, anyone who downloaded the game at launch had to deal with even more issues, although, to their credit, the developers at Grumpyface have been regularly active on Tumblr responding to questions and providing news on updates. I guess I’m lucky that I wasn’t in the position of waiting for such an extensive patch, but the error was still disappointing to see; Dreamland Arcade is certainly a smaller and less technically demanding game, but at least it always run smoothly for me. Supposedly the Hidden Grove error will be patched sometime in December, and once everything appears to have been sorted out I’m sure I’ll revisit Save the Light. I’m not expecting to make any updates to this review, but anyone considering the game for Xbox might benefit from visiting the Grumpyface Tumblr to check the status of known errors.

In its current form, Steven Universe: Save the Light features a story and gameplay that are delightfully faithful to its source material. If there had been a little more polish, its score would have been even higher.

Steven Universe: Save the Light is now available to download on PS4 and Xbox One.