LP Post-Mortem - In Stars and Time

The In Stars and Time Let's Play wrapped up a few weeks ago, so I think it's time for a (short) post-mortem on the project! SPOILERS FOR IN STARS AND TIME BELOW

Overall, I am exceedingly happy with how it came out. I started it almost the moment I finished my first playthrough of the game. And then I recorded so many videos that I was about 3 months ahead for most of the project. Usually I cannot maintain that much energy for a project and I do have to do it a few episodes a week, even if it's something I really enjoy. In Stars and Time just grabbed me.

I'm mostly happy with my voice acting. I think I was able to get a pretty good set of voices for each of the characters, though Bonnie kept drifting into Odile and I struggled to remember Euphrasie's voice. Still, I think I was able to capture their personalities pretty well in how I voiced them which makes me really happy. I've never been a professional voice actor but I think the practice I've been getting in with some of these LPs has been paying off significantly.

There were two major interruptions in the LP that ended up slowing things down. The first was moving. I moved from my home state in the U.S. to another state, and even another time zone. Obviously, huge change for me. Never lived outside of my home state or home time zone in my life. I've visited other time zones! But never lived, not for more than a week! And as you may guess, adjusting to the move ate nearly the entirety of my massive video buffer I made for ISAT.

The other interruption was... as we hit act 3 and act 4, the game gets very noticeably more emotionally draining. This is a huge positive of the game, it does a really good job of wearing you down just like Siffrin while making that exhaustion compelling. But it also gave me an increasing sense of dread and hesitation to record more. Of course this happened to hit right as I was recovering from the move, so the back half of the LP was on a very thin buffer all the way to the end. I don't know if there's really much I could've done to address this. It's just the nature of this specific game.

The finale of the game (act 5 and 6) was recorded all over two days. While this did drive me to exhaustion and really wore down my voice, I don't regret it! That finale really should be experienced in a single sitting.

A very pleasant coincidence is the air date of the final boss fight against Siffrin. It happened to release on of all days the one year anniversary of In Stars and Time! I did not plan this! I was extremely happy when I realized that was going to happen!

There are a few things I did not end up doing in the LP. The only thing I didn't really do that I kinda wish I did was get everyone to max level. I functionally did it, but I basically stopped right at the finish line. Oh well. I was playing on Switch so I wasn't getting achievements. If I was on a system that did have achievements, I may have gone for it. Other than that, I do believe I got 100% completion.

The other thing I kinda regret is I do rather wish I hadn't begun skipping dialogue near the end. Especially the King's dialogue in the act 2-4 King fight. I only realized in hindsight, but reading his dialogue each loop would have added a little bit more to the parallels between him and Siffrin.

Overall, I am very happy with the Let's Play. A few things I wish I had done differently, but that's basically always how it is. The main thing is I really, truly hope I was able to convey just why this game is so special to me and why it gripped me so thoroughly.

The game is available on Steam, Switch, PS4, and PS5! Go support the creator! She's wonderful!