Sea of Stars Review

If you have a heart that has a fond attachment to the days of 16 bit graphics, turn based RPG games and fun, original stories, you need to have played Sea of Stars yesterday. Even though the game has been out for over a year now, I recently concluded my first playthrough and I'm kicking myself for not diving into this world earlier than I did. Now while it might seem that I have nothing but nostalgic wonderful things to say about Sea of Stars, the game isn't picture perfect. Before we breakdown the good, the bad and the ugly, let me introduce you to the world of Sea of Stars. (Spoiler free of course!)

Synopsis

Sea of Stars throws you into the roles of two characters named Zale and Valere who are training to become the next members of the coveted Solstice Warriors. As the player, you are given the choice to primarily play as either character but no matter who you choose, I can confirm this does not change any gameplay or exclude you from any content whatsoever. Zale and Valere use their powers (sun and moon respectively) to battle a wide variety of monsters, animals, bad guys and of course, larger than life boss battles that will have you praying you have enough health points and items to survive another couple rounds. Their journey revolves around multiple islands with many different settings to explore. These include the likes of underwater ruins, lava filled volcanos, haunted mansions and even floating cities hiding in the clouds. Let's not forget the other characters we meet along the way! Garl is simply one of the most likeable characters to ever exist in video games and the mysterious Seraï will constantly have you wondering what other secrets she has up her sleeve. There are certainly more members that eventually join alongside the adventures but like I said before, I want to keep this as spoiler free as possible!

The main objective Zale and Valere are tasked with is cleansing the world of the horrible Dwellers, beings of pure evil that can only be defeated by the likes of Solstice Warriors. While their adventures have them face off against the Dwellers, they find there are much worse things in store as the story progresses.

Gameplay

If you have played the likes of Super Mario RPG, Pokemon or any of the older final fantasy games, you will feel right at home when you first begin Sea of Stars. Specifically Super Mario RPG because while the game is turn based, it's active turn based. What I mean by that is when you attack with your character, if you time your button press correctly, you can deal more damage, block incoming damage or prolong special magic or combo attacks. I found this to be, at times, a great mechanic because it forced me to learn each attack from both my party members and the different enemy types I faced. Other times, I found myself wishing I could just attack and let my character do his/her thing while I just sat back to enjoy the show. Other components in battle include using items that can heal your party, revive party members or refill your magic points. (Or mana? I honestly don't recall what the game specified that bar to be while playing but you get the idea) Combo's are another part of battles that spice things up, especially after adding more members to your party. Seeing what each character can do when paired with another was always fun to experiment with but also became a huge strategy piece when facing some of the harder enemies in the late game.

When not in battle, the characters are typically running around whichever setting they find themselves in at that current moment. You'll get lost exploring certain towns or cities trying to find every last treasure box that's tucked away but explore enough and you can find lots of goodies. When running up mountains or through jungles, you can find yourself climbing up cliff walls or using water pads to launch to other areas. Exploration isn't anything groundbreaking in this game but like I mentioned before, Sea of Stars does a good job of rewarding you for taking a look in every nook and cranny. In the later stages of the game, you'll find a few different modes of transportation that make exploring old locations a breeze. So don't stress if you don't collect every single thing your first time around.

Other than battles and running around, you'll find yourself in conversations with many different NPC's that are either optional for you to interact with or integral to the storyline progressing. I found most dialogue to be charming or decent enough but there were a few times where specific characters could drone on a little too much for my liking. Obviously where the story plays such a large role in this game, I think the developers did a great job to get you invested in what was happening or character development for the most part.

If you're looking for graphics that will strain the newest and greatest graphics card on the market, I have bad news for you when it comes to this game. However, if you find the old graphical style from SNES days as charming as I do, you'll fall in love with the presentation of Sea of Stars right from the beginning. The developers lean heavily into the old tropes of characters using funny emotes during conversations or popping around the screen when they get excited. (When you meet Teaks, you'll understand fully) One aspect from the game that I would have loved to have seen more of was the absolutely fantastic animated scenes that played for very specific parts of the story. Every time the game shifted to one of these scenes, I was so excited to see how the characters looked outside of their pixelated form I had grown so accustomed to seeing on screen. Honestly, I would love to see a movie adaptation from the animators because I appreciated them that much.

On the same side of that coin, the music and sound are great as well. I don't want to overuse the word charming in this review but there's really no other way to describe it! The music is just charming! Each location has its specific tune that you'll discover when you first stumble upon it and honestly, it might get old if you spend an over abundant amount of time there but for the most part, I didn't find myself stuck in one spot for extended periods of time. The battle sounds might get repetitive but that's to be expected with the sheer number of battles you fight in this game.

One specific scene takes place roughly halfway through the game that blew me away from a graphical standpoint. I wish more than anything that I could discuss it here and now but again, I refuse to spoil anything and I know that you will absolutely know exactly what scene it is when observing it for the first time. (It's sooooo GOOD)

Presentation

Pros/Cons & Rating

Sea of Stars really doesn't do anything new from a gameplay, storyline or graphical/sound standpoint and that's okay! Well, it was for me at least! I find myself going back and playing older games that I know I'll enjoy and will fill that nostalgic need that I require from time to time. Even though I had never played Sea of Stars before, it had that feeling that I was playing an old game that my younger self would have woken up early on Saturday mornings to put hours and hours into. I think I pretty much hit on everything that I really enjoyed from my playthrough from some of the notes above but with any review out there, I feel I need to do my due diligence and talk about something I would have liked to see changed.

The first thought that comes to mind for an immediate correction would be the length of the story. This might be a nitpick from me specifically but I find that games really stretch out the time required to beat them these days and Sea of Stars leans more towards the longer-than-it-needs-to-be side. That being said, I did achieve the "true" ending by finding all of one specific collectable and completing extra side quests that significantly extended my play time. However, even without the added time I just mentioned, I still found the story just a bit long. (The "true" ending was totally worth it though! No regrets!)

One major positive component that I want to bring up is the relic system the game uses. Essentially the game adds things to make the game easier or more difficult to play and for someone who doesn't have 8 to 10 hours a day to play video games, I found this to be a lifesaver when I found myself getting frustrated with certain parts of the game that I was struggling with. Was there a boss I found myself dying from over and over again? Double my health points. Or decrease the damage I received. Or earn extra experience points to level faster. This is something that I would LOVE to see other games take inspiration from because we all play video games for the enjoyment and entertainment. At least that's what I try to do and it would be great to have games use these sliders so I can finally clear that boss or not walk away from a game completely that frustrates me over and over. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the Dark Souls and Elden Rings of the world need hand holding features. (They certainly wouldn't be Souls games if they did) However, as an older gamer who doesn't have all the time in the world, I really appreciated Sea of Stars giving me the option to make the game better for myself when I found myself getting frustrated.

Overall Rating: 8

Score is based off of 10 being perfect

Sea of Stars is a game that I can recommend to anyone that is a fan of the old school, RPG genre. It might not be everyone's style or game but that doesn't take away from any of the charm that Sea of Stars presented to me throughout my playthrough. Get out there and explore away!

• Title: Sea of Stars

• Developer: Sabotage Studio

• Release Date: August 29, 2023

• Platforms: Switch, Playstation, Xbox, PC

• Genre: RPG, Adventure, Indie