Stella Sora, a top-down action adventure game from Yostar, is review-bombed over stingy monetization practices. Read on to find out more about the reception and what fans are saying about it.
Stella Sora Launches To Low Ratings
Under 3 Stars
Stella Sora, Yostar’s top-down light-action bullet heaven game, is under fire and review bombed on Google Play and the Apple App Store over criticism for its greedy monetization system and expensive gacha mechanics. The game was released on October 19th, 2025, and within its first week of launch, it now holds dismal ratings of 1.8 stars out of 5 for Google Play and 2.3 out of 5 on the App Store.
While most of the reviews praised its gameplay and character design, many of them expressed disappointment over the "horrendous" gacha system, terrible pull rates, and expensive premium packs. "The rates are worse than genshin, and it feels like the game punishes both f2p and whale players alike. No matter how much you grind or spend, getting the characters or items you want is nearly impossible unless you get lucky or spent like 400$ to guarantee the characters without their singature [sic]. It really kills the motivation to keep playing it long term," said a user on the App Store.
Players have also taken to social media sites like X (Twitter) and Reddit to share their frustrations, some of them even explaining and comparing in detail its monetization practices with other popular gacha games like HoYoverse’s Genshin Impact and Kuro Games’ Wuthering Waves.
Stella Sora’s single pull is double that of the standard 150 to 160 seen in other games, costing at a whopping 300 Stellanite Dust (the premium currency used to recruit characters and purchase special items). However, in the game’s Closed Beta Test in May 2025, the cost of a single pull was only 150. "This is a slap in the face after showing in the beta that pulls were 150 each," shared a Reddit user on the r/gachagaming subreddit, with others agreeing that there was no communication from Yostar at all that the pricing and gacha rates would change.
Despite the 100% increase in pull cost, the paid packs and the $5 USD monthly pack were not amended to cater to the price change. In particular, the monthly pack will still only give 90 Stellanite Dust per day, totalling to 2700 Stellanite Dust at the end of the monthly pass, which is not even enough for the 10-pull cost of 3000. Some players have done the calculations, and it has been revealed that a single pull is priced at $4 USD, with $100 USD not even giving 30 pulls, whereas it would easily equal 40-50 pulls in other games, and it would cost as much as $400 USD or more to get a character guaranteed at 160 pulls.
All of this is on top of the already stingy daily resource economy, where daily missions will only net the player a maximum of 100 Stellanite Dust per day. Fans have pointed out that even with the monthly pass for spending players, the daily turnout for the premium currency is not even enough for a single pull.
$15 Battle Pass For An Animated 2D Background
Another issue players have found with the game is that its premium packs are priced too highly for what they offer, such as the special outfit for 5-Star character Minova found in the game’s Battle Pass. Called a Grant in-game, the only way to get Minova’s Tipsy Daydream outfit is through the more expensive Royal Grant tier, which can be purchased for $15 USD.
However, what players are most frustrated about is that the outfit lacks a 3D form and cannot even be worn by Minova in the game proper. It is only available to view as an animated 2D background that can be set on the Home Screen, which players find atrocious for its price.
Outraged players have also replied directly to the official Stella Sora X (Twitter) and aired out their criticisms over the gacha, hoping that the developers would reconsider their practices. However, Yostar themselves have yet to officially respond to the negative reception.
Here at Game8, we gave Stella Sora a 76 for its fun overall gameplay, but bogged down by its atrocious gacha practices and rates. Check out our review below!
Source:
Stella Sora Official Twitter
