Xbox One Critic Reviews

Stela is an epic poem of a game that plucks at the heart and makes you yearn for a world that you never knew existed. It’s what this wonderful medium of gaming should strive towards, and for me it’s very nearly the perfect experience.

You won’t be disappointed in any way shape or form with this as a complete product. Production values throughout the short journey are spectacular and you get a sense when it’s all done that this is either the beginning of something longrunning and with expansive potential, or a complete one-off experience for the ages. Again, you’ll be the judge of that when the credits roll, but such is the virtue of what SkyLabs has created and completed here.

SkyBox Labs has done a great job with Stela when you look at it as a piece of art rather than a video game. That said, they haven’t messed up with the gameplay either. The only thing that could affect the beautiful art, the incredible music and the simple gameplay of Stela is the fact that it ends much sooner than it should.

When it comes to indie horror games, very few illustrate a living nightmare as well as Stela does.

Stela is an ok game, a snack while you're waiting for more consistent meals. If you're a fan of the platforming & puzzle combo, you should give it a try.

Stela is a very pleasant experience from the first moment. Beautiful visuals and soundtrack for a platformer adventure maybe too short, flat and excessively simple in terms of difficulty.

Despite of Stela has a powerful audiovisual section, its gameplay and narrative are so far away from it.

SkyBox Labs' Stela is a good title that shows off the undoubted abilities of its development team. It's not a masterpiece but bodes well for the future of the company that, after years of working behind the scenes, is ready to play a leading role.

Stela is good but unspectacular. It grabs your attention from the outset and packs a lot of tense and testing scenarios into its short running time. But there’s nothing overly compelling about it; nothing that elevates it from being just an inoffensive way to waste a couple of hours. It’s enjoyable, sure, but its short length and lack of wow factor makes it hard to recommended at full price. Still, if you really loved Limbo and know what Planet Alpha is, you might want to give Stela a go.

Stela is similarly brief but also a fleeting experience that doesn’t make much of an impact while you’re playing or linger once you complete it mostly due to its hollow world. Even its strongest parts — like its deliberate platforming and dazzling visual flair — are diluted elements from Limbo and Inside, two games that it pulls from in nearly every aspect that make the parallels unavoidable.