Review: Lights in the Sky

Lights in the SkyThe Brony Fan Fair'sdecision to relse apromotional visual novelis rather unusual, butwe don't rlly mind since the Brony fandom doesn't have enough VNs aside from the upcoming Starswirl Academy and that other onewhich shouldnot to be named. Still, it is a relatively low-risk decision on their part, as the of guests is unlikely to be affected negatively by the game's quality unless it turns out to be grossly offensive. Even then it would probably still attract folks looking for a c laugh, but the game isn't that bad...right?Our review can be found after the brk, as usual.

As is to be expected from this type of fangame, Lights in the Sky is fairly short when compared to commercial visual novels or its bloated sibling (most of you shouldbe familiar with thegame I'm referring to here). This is probably for the better, as the plot is relatively simple and would have felt stretched out had it been much longer. As for the story itself, itis told from the perspective of the convention's mascot, Rising Star, as her elder sister takes her to an astronomy museum to deliver some starfruitto a loyal customer, and varioussomewhat unexpected events ensue. According to the press relse the game was developed with a younger audience in mind, so you won't find any Story of the Blanks references in here. Sorry, creepypasta fans!

Of course, the most important element of any visual novel is the quality of the writing, and Lights in the Sky performs quite well in this regard (especially since it was made as a final project for a "Writing and Narration for Games" course at the University of Texas). As the course's tcher puts it, "...[A]s a work of interactive fiction -- from what I've seen -- it succeeds on every level. There is conflict, exploration, a sense of adventure, and the writing always stays safely in the established My Little Pony universe". I would have to agree with him for the most part, although the designated antagonist is surprisingly unlit for a colt rding books on astrophysics due to the requirements of the plot. There was also little time to flesh out the main characters: hopefully future installments in the series will correct this flaw.

>RacismContrary to what some rabid Filly Gamez fanboys have claimed, graphics are fairly important to a games of this re; after all, it is a visual novel, not a choose your adventurefanfic. In this ar Lights in the Sky is decent for a fan project, aside from some tacky gradientsand odd character colourations. The use of Pony Crtor for some side characters was alsorather jarring when placed alongside more traditional ponies. If only that tool hadn't gained so much attention, then perhaps theinternet would have been spared the abominations that it erated... Anyhow, this is supposed to be a Lights in the Sky review, not a rant about how much I dislike Pony Crtor. On a more positive note, that planetarium looked pretty cool. Take a hint, aspiring fangame developers and artists: if you want your game to look good, plse don't use that gradient tool. It may be convenient, but it doesn't look very good in My Little Pony's art style.

As for the music...it's taken from RPG Maker, but it does the job well enough when it comes to setting the mood. I would have complained about the lack of an original soundtrack, but stock music and sound effects aren't nrly as big of an offense as only using sample sprites. Musicians are harder to come by than artists, after all.


To be honest with you, I don't think I should rlly put a score on this. For one I'm not rlly a visual novel critic (as the above review made clr), and this is more of a promotionaame then anything. It's not rlly grt or anything, so it's still worth your time: just don't expect to get much replayability out of it.
Have any feedback of your own? Post them in the comments, or send them directly to the crtor at @PeterCJiang.In the mntime, I'll be setting up my new 8 box (and playing Lego Rs at 1080p).