Stellar Mess: The Princess Conundrum (Chapter 1)

Whilst I appreciate the game featuring the colony of Welsh Patagonia, or Y Wladfa, as the more erudite ken it as, I disprove over the paucity of dwarves, Saesneg craniums impaled on pikes, Cymraeg flags and a stark and inexplicable refusal to depict Lord Quercus, seneschal of Cymru, esteemed medical practitioner and sentinel of Rivellion in this game. Affixing Quercus to this game would have elevated its value tenfold, and been espied as a worthy endeavour in the eyes of the valiant men and women of Cymru.

This is another game made in the excellent Adventure Game Studio engine (or AGS for short). It's been around for almost 30 years now, but even so, many people have no idea it exists. A lot of great titles, free and commercial alike, were made using it. It's free and open source to boot.

Now, why is this important?
As with any game engine, it's about how you use it. Take Unreal Engine 4/5, for example. We've all seen or played games made with it. From an asset flip to a more competent game, there's a certain core "template" and "feel" that you can't mistake for anything else. You can never mistake a Source engine game or mod either.

AGS is no exception. There are phenomenal titles that change the core template beyond recognition. You can go to the AGS website and find the awards section. Listed there are some of the best (point-and-click) adventure titles you will ever play. They rival the classic titles and sometimes even surpass them. Some remained free, while others went commercial and are now on Steam. Titles like the Blackwell series, "Unavowed", "Resonance", "If On A Winter's Night, Four Travelers" and "Heroine's Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok"—which blends adventure with RPG—and many, many more!

There are also titles that do not impress graphically but have a gripping story. A personal favorite of mine is "5 Days a Stranger" or "Ben Jordan," which features some terrible voiceovers (in a so-bad-it's-good way).

In summary
Having played a lot of AGS games, one can instantly spot the "template" and how much it has been changed. In "Stellar Mess", things are kept pretty basic, and some default annoyances remain. This stuff is technical and may not make or break a game, but it's good to have a few QOL features, like moving your mouse to the top to get to the menu and settings instead of clicking escape.

Another little annoyance is the default AGS behavior set for left and right click. For the most part, it's "use" and "look at." But on doors at the edges of the screen, you need to manually click "open" and then click the door instead of just doing a right-click, for example. The same applies for characters; I want to "look at" someone or something, and while right-click was "look at" a few seconds earlier, it now launches a dialogue. This might seem terribly nitpicky, but it does take away from the flow of the game, at least for me.


More thoughts on this game
It's definitely a labor of love. If a 90s setting mixed with heavy Star Wars inspiration sounds like a fun time to you, then you will enjoy it. Despite the devs being Argentinian, the English version is very well translated. For comparison, another recent AGS game, "The Adventures of The Black Hawk," drains your soul and joy with its poor translation.

If I have to be terribly nitpicky, there are leftover words in Spanish on some items in the inventory and dialogue, like a certain repaired item. Even in the game description on Steam, you have "¿plumbing?" and "Ejem" (which might be a stylistic choice for all I know). Sometimes in dialogues, a sentence would suddenly end with a dot, only to continue in a new one. I like attention to detail, so these things make an impression on me.

Making the game in EGA/Maniac Mansion style is a clever way to hide any programming shortcomings the devs might have. The AGS template carries the technical burden while they focus on the story and graphics. I liked the environments and the map. The characters all use the default body/animations with custom heads, again something you notice once you've played a lot of these AGS creations.

Music is hit or miss. Some locations use nice tunes that blend and improve the atmosphere, but others are borderline grating and might force you to look for the volume slider. Thankfully, I can only think of two (the Children's store being one of them).

The story is not something terribly original. The humor is pretty uninspired as well, especially when it relies on adventure games' meta. However, there is a certain charm that keeps you interested enough to keep playing. I don't really care for puzzles being too hard or too easy, as long as they make sense and give you satisfaction for figuring them out. This applies here and helps the overall score.

Finally, I'd recommend giving this a try!
It has heart and the potential to be a fun experience in the long run. I'd encourage you to give the devs constructive feedback. I hope they can give the game more polish and attention before releasing the paid episodes.

Good luck I'll be keeping an eye on this one!

I can't lie it started off good, but this game absolutely lost me when the puzzle elements started getting ridiculous, like mixing baby shampoo with a coffee cup to make black dye to fake a black rose... yeah I mean it was alright when I was following a steam guide, but I really don't like following guides to beat puzzle games