Already, the first half of 2025 is looking bright for indie releases, and a new impressive contender has entered the ring. The anime-inspired co-op action game Starlight Re:Volver was revealed this week with a trailer that impresses in both aesthetic and gameplay. Already, the Steam Page is up for players to add it to their wishlist for Early Access testing, though there’s no date yet.
The game itself is a bright, colorful action co-op game for up to four players, who can choose one of four “Divers” with a number of weapons to “challenge the unforgiving dreamscapes of So Mi.” Between matches, players can also roam around a social hub called NIM, a multiplayer space described as “a bustling social hub supporting dozens of concurrent players, home to stargazing, fishing, crafting, and more.”
Re:Volver’s combat gameplay looks well-paced and exciting so far, supporting different playstyles with attacks that look and feel weighty, dynamic, and literally explosive, including “Magic Combos” to enable massive team play attacks. Plus, there seem to be “Twilight Crystals” that “dramatically alter terrain, garnering advantages in combat and uncovering hidden treasures,” and “Charms” that’ll supposedly modify available abilities.
Most impressively, the trailer has an impressive execution that ties animation, credited to Studio Yotta, and in-world aesthetic near-perfectly. A few times, transitions from one to the other were so perfect that I had to rewind, watch it again, and be sure that the in-game alpha footage shown was actually, well, alpha footage, and not more 2D animation.
This speaks not only to the coordination between the editor, devs, and animation team, but also the stylization of the game, which delivers on a bright and colorful aesthetic. Both 2D and 3D aspects in the trailer feel inspired by bold, distinct studios such as Studio Trigger, known for Kill La Kill, Dungeon Meshi, and Panty & Stocking, and Orange, with its 3D anime portfolio ranging from Land of the Lustrous to Beastars and recently Trigun: Stampede.
And if that’s not enough for weebs (and fellow weebs in recovery), the Steam Page also promises a “signature electro citypop OST.”
According to the Steam page, Re:Volver will start an Early Access stage, with likely 1-2 years in this phase; at this first launch, there’ll be one neighborhood, four playable characters, and three “threads” of combat areas. More of each of these, including more player “Diver” characters, will be added down the road.
Starlight Re:Volver is by the new North American studio Pahdo Labs, which touts venture capital and a mission to “cultivate a fantastical anime world that offers players a sense of belonging, a path to mastery, and the ability to transform their imagination into tangible impact on a shared world.”
