Sci-fi mech RPG STARBITES just launched in the West

South Korean developer Ikinagames and publisher NIS America have released STARBITES today for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The turn-based sci-fi RPG is now available in Western territories following its initial Japanese launch in October 2025.

The game takes place on Bitter, a desert planet littered with the wreckage of an old interstellar war. Players follow Lukida, a young salvager burdened by inherited generational debt who is desperate to escape her current life. She survives by collecting parts and relics left behind in the sand. Her plans are derailed when her ticket off the planet is stolen. This theft forces her and her crew into a larger conflict involving aggressive AI, rogue machines, and buried planetary secrets.

Lukida does not fight alone. The narrative leans heavily on her interactions with her party members. These include a stoic engineer named Badger and an alcoholic bounty hunter named Gwendoll. The story balances heavier themes of indentured servitude and the aftermath of war with a colorful, anime-inspired art style and lighthearted character banter.

Customizing the Motorbots

Combat relies on traditional turn-based mechanics with a heavy emphasis on machinery. Each character pilots a personal mech called a Motorbot. You can swap out weapons, armor, engines, and cores using scrap gathered from exploring the desert and winning battles. This setup allows players to shape each machine's specific role in the party.

The battle system revolves around exploiting enemy weaknesses and breaking their guard. Turn order is strictly defined on a visual timeline. Ikinagames also included a "Driver's High" gauge that charges during combat. Once filled, it lets players interrupt the normal timeline order to take extra actions or unleash ultimate attacks.

Outside of combat, the main hub is Delight City. This tower-shaped settlement is slowly sinking into the sand. It serves as the base for picking up side quests, upgrading gear, and interacting with the local population of scavengers. Leaving the city walls means navigating the open desert, where enemies roam freely and initiate combat upon contact. The side content feeds directly into the world-building. Even basic fetch quests provide context about the non-player characters and the harsh realities of living on Bitter.

The Switch 2 delay

Players hoping to pick this up for Nintendo's newest hardware will have to wait. A Nintendo Switch 2 version was originally scheduled to launch alongside the other platforms this week. NIS America announced a last-minute delay for that specific version just eight days before launch, pushing it to an unannounced future date. The publisher did not provide a reason for the delay. The original Switch version is unaffected and available now.

Early impressions of the console ports point out that the original Switch version struggles with texture resolution and frame rate drops in handheld mode. The art design holds up better on PC and current-generation consoles, where the bright particle effects from special attacks have room to breathe.

This release is a massive jump in scope for Ikinagames. The studio is mostly known for smaller projects like the visual novel All of Us Are Dead and the puzzle-platformer Telebbit. Transitioning to a full 3D role-playing game is an ambitious attempt to capture the feel of early 2000s console RPGs without relying on standard fantasy tropes. You can find more details about the different editions on the official NIS America website.