Steven Universe: Save the Light

Grumpyface's second RPG based on Steven Universe is made of love, but it's the bugs that are stronger than you.

Steven Universe: Save the Light feels like watching an episode of the show mixed with some sweet old-school RPG nostalgia. It's got the pure heart that makes Steven Universe so special, which makes it all the more tragic that it's just so riddled with stability issues. I hope that future patches will alleviate these problems, but this is a game that could have been perfect. Instead, it's just a colorful shell of its potential — beautiful on the outside and a complete wreck on the inside.

Save the Light is an especially good extension of the show, but it also functions as a decent, standalone RPG. Bugs and technical issues do hold the experience back significantly, unfortunately

To be honest, each time I reset and lost my progress I had to sit and wonder whether or not I wanted to go through those certain areas again. In the end, I only continued because of professional courtesy but I'm sure only the truly dedicated will put up with this in normal circumstances.

Despite a frustrating camera system and some minor technical issues, Steven Universe: Save the Light is still a highly enjoyable role-playing game that will appeal to both fans of the TV series, as well as fans of the genre. Thanks to some assistance from Rebecca Sugar, the show's creator, it perfectly captures the television show's colorful tone and optimistic spirit. Steven Universe and South Park are both examples of licensed games adding their own unique spins on the Paper Mario RPG formula – and succeeding admirably.

Overall if you’re a massive Steven Universe fan this should be a pretty easy call, the bugs aside it’s a pretty well-made game that takes you on an adventure with pretty well the entire cast. If you’re less familiar with the license not everything may make a lot of sense but the mechanics of the core gameplay, combat, and leveling system are good enough to warrant a look. Just be warned in any case that you’ll likely hit some bumps along the way with glitches so be sure to save periodically to minimize the impact when they hit.

Steven Universe: Save the Light has a fairly standard RPG format, infused with all the music, light and love that has garnered the franchise such a huge cult following.

If you're a fan of Steven Universe, and you own a Switch, this is a no-brainer. It's an excellent take on the Paper Mario RPG formula with a few tricks of its own up its sleeve to boot. Given that the PS4 and XB1 version's tech issues are solved here, it's well worth the price of entry on Switch.