Let me tell you about the day I discovered just how deep the rabbit hole goes with Jili's Gems. I'd been playing for about three weeks, thinking I had a decent handle on the mechanics, when I stumbled upon my first hidden Starry in the Crystal Caverns stage. It wasn't just lying around in plain sight—no, the developers had tucked it behind a waterfall that only appears when you solve a particular environmental puzzle involving light refraction. That moment changed everything for me, transforming what I thought was a casual gaming experience into an obsessive treasure hunt that would consume my evenings for months to come.
The brilliance of Jili's Gems lies in its layered approach to player engagement. On the surface, you get the straightforward satisfaction of completing stages and collecting the guaranteed Starries that come with finishing each level. But the real magic happens when you start noticing the subtle environmental clues that hint at something more. I remember spending nearly two hours in the Whispering Woods stage alone, convinced there had to be more than the three obvious Starries the game hands you. Turns out I was right—there were seven total, including one that required me to backtrack through three different sections after activating a mechanism that only appears during the stage's "golden hour" lighting condition. This isn't just padding; it's thoughtful design that respects players' intelligence while encouraging thorough exploration.
What truly sets this system apart from other collectathons is how progression intertwines with your Starry count. Nintendo has indeed returned to its classic formula of gating content behind collection thresholds, but they've implemented it with more flexibility than we've seen in years. I hit my first real wall around the 80-Starrie mark, needing just five more to unlock the Sky Palace world. Rather than grinding mindlessly, I returned to stages I'd previously rushed through and discovered entirely new dimensions to levels I thought I'd mastered. The Floating Market stage, which I'd completed in about fifteen minutes initially, revealed three hidden Starries and two secret objectives that took me another forty-five minutes to uncover. This design philosophy transforms what could be tedious repetition into meaningful rediscovery.
The Waddle-Dee characters serve as the game's gentle guides, though I'll admit I have mixed feelings about their implementation. The tip-giving Waddle-Dee at your home base is genuinely helpful when you're stuck—I consulted him about six times throughout my playthrough, and each time his hints pointed me in the right direction without completely spoiling the discovery. However, the gacha mechanic Waddle-Dee feels like a slight misstep. While I appreciate having something to spend my excess Starry coins on, the randomization of environment trophies and crystallized enemies can become frustrating. I spent approximately 15,000 coins—that's about 300 Starries' worth—trying to get the crystalline version of the Forest Guardian boss, only to receive multiple duplicates of common enemies. The system could benefit from a pity timer or duplicate protection, though I understand the compulsion loop they're trying to create.
From a strategic standpoint, I've developed what I call the "three-pass approach" to maximize Starrie collection while maintaining enjoyment. On my first run through any stage, I focus primarily on completion while keeping mental notes of suspicious areas that might hide secrets. The second pass happens after I've unlocked new abilities or items that might reveal previously inaccessible areas. The final pass occurs when I'm specifically hunting for missing Starries to progress, often with help from the Waddle-Dee hints. This method allowed me to maintain a 92% collection rate through the main story and reach the true ending with around 420 Starries before diving into post-game content.
The psychological cleverness of this system shouldn't be underestimated. By scattering Starries across multiple acquisition methods—stage completion, hidden locations, and secret objectives—the game creates what behavioral psychologists call variable ratio reinforcement. You never know where the next discovery might come from, which makes every corner worth investigating. I found myself constantly saying "just one more stage" well past midnight, caught in that delicious loop of anticipation and reward. The hidden objectives particularly delighted me—things like defeating a boss without taking damage or finding a sequence of hidden switches created moments of genuine pride beyond simply checking items off a list.
If I have one significant criticism, it's that the game occasionally crosses the line from challenging to obscure. The Starrie in the Sunken Temple that requires standing on seven nearly invisible pressure plates in a specific order within thirty seconds comes to mind—I only discovered it through online guides after three days of frustration. These moments are fortunately rare, but when they occur, they disrupt the otherwise impeccable flow of discovery. I'd estimate about 5% of the hidden Starries suffer from this level of obscurity, which might push some players toward walkthroughs rather than organic discovery.
Looking at the bigger picture, Jili's Gems represents a refinement of collection-based progression that we've seen evolving throughout Nintendo's history. It takes the compulsive satisfaction of something like Korok seeds from Breath of the Wild but ties it more directly to meaningful progression. The balance between required Starries for story advancement and optional ones for completionists feels carefully calibrated—I never felt I needed to collect everything to see the game's conclusion, but the extra Starries provided tangible rewards through the gacha system and achievement unlocks. After putting roughly 85 hours into the game and collecting 487 of the estimated 500 Starries, I can confidently say this system kept me engaged far longer than I initially expected. The journey to uncover these glittering treasures became as memorable as the destination itself, creating moments of discovery I'll remember long after the credits rolled.