To Safer Stars

Games that tried blending in two or more gaming genres that have absolutely nothing to do one with the other have always attracted crowds merely out of curiosity. That would be the case with To Safer Stars, a neat blend of 80s and 90s arcade-style space shooters and modern visual novels, where your relationship with the ship's crew is essential.

The first part of the game is the retro-looking space shooter aspect, where you command a ship and you have to avoid getting hit by asteroids and enemy ships by the time you reach your destination.  Of course, all of this is way easier to be said than done, since the ship's controls and handling are quite clunky, and you'll most definitely need to use your guns to blow obstacles out of the way. Your ship have two main durability bars, one being the shield and the other being the ship's actual HP bar, and when both of them reach zero, it is game over for you and your crew.

In between space shooter levels, you'll have the chance to interact with the ship's crew from various section's of the ship. Keep note that some sections often house two characters that not always get along with each-other, and sometimes gaining one's favor will make you lose reputation with the other. Having a close overall relationship level with the crew of a certain section will make that section more responsive during the space shooter phase of the game, thus helping in the long run.

Being in space hundreds of light-years away from civilization can be daunting, so having a close relationship with the crew of your ship is important, and that's a lesson you'll most definitely learn while playing To Safer Stars.