Sea of Stars (2023) [Switch] review

In August of 2018, a previously unknown team by the name of Sabotage Studios released a small game titled The Messenger, taking the industry by surprise with its clever 8-bit and 16-bit elements. This entry draws clear inspiration from games like Ninja Gaiden and Monkey Island, but little did we know at the time, they also had their sights set on creating a spiritual successor to the highly-regarded Chrono Trigger.

Our retro-inspired journey, Sea of Stars, begins within a hallowed chamber inhabited by a shrouded archivist. Our mystery librarian explains that he has a tale to tell which unfolds within the same realm as The Messenger, eons prior to its recorded history. It’s at this time that we learn about two Solstice Warriors, Zale and Valere, who are tasked with the singular purpose of annihilating giant beings known as Dwellers. These grotesque entities were created by this story’s antagonist, The Fleshmancer, and carry the ability to further develop into devastating, apocalyptic creatures known as World Eaters. Our warriors are the last line of defense as they are the only ones who can damage these beings by using magic during celestial eclipses.

The first hour begins at a very slow crawl in order to set up the initial stages of the journey. We witness the origin story of Zale and Valere during their solstice training. The slower start here didn’t feel like much of a concern, even though I was anticipating jumping into battle as soon as possible. This is largely due to my immediate realization that the OST and pixel-art graphics could have elevated even the worst of games. It soon picks up as we are sent off to defeat what we are told is the last known Dweller in existence. Our childhood friend and pseudo-main character, Garl, also accompanies us on our journey despite not being a child marked by the Solstice.

Combat in Sea of Stars is engaging, robust and challenging. Every attack, skill, block, and even support ability such as healing or defensive shields offer a very short window where a perfectly-timed button press will amplify its impact (or lessen it if you successfully guard). It is in these combat sequences where Sea of Stars most obviously elevates itself above other retro-inspired turn-based RPGs in recent years. Battles are further enhanced by the inclusion of combo attacks, and there are a decent number of these to discover along the way through exploration, challenges, and main story events.

Everything about Sea of Stars is meticulously designed. Your party levels up together, and each character is offered the option to select specific stat bonuses for each character during each level up. Swapping between each party member during combat is a seamless process, and you don’t pay any sort of turn penalty or significant downside for switching when necessary. Additionally, Sea of Stars ditches random encounters entirely and instead places combat within fixed, specific locations on each section of the map. This works wonders towards eliminating the need for repetitive grinding. Players can also acquire artifacts known as “Relics” that can be adjusted at any point within the options menu. These modifiers affect aspects of the game such as difficulty, visual indication for perfectly timed button commands, and boosting movement speed among a couple dozen other options, catering to a range of player preferences and needs.

All of these deliberate design choices exemplify thoughtfulness and demonstrate the game’s respect for the player’s time. At the end of the day, I would have been happy playing through Sea of Stars just for the OST and art direction alone. I’m happy to report that all other aspects of this game delivered in a way that you only experience once in a great while. While the story wasn’t the strongest part of the experience, it still proved to be memorable and maintained a strong pace from start to finish. There wasn’t a forgettable area throughout my entire 47-hour adventure to reach 100% completion, achieving the true ending.

I had a gut feeling from day one of the Kickstarter’s launch that we had something special here. Sea of Stars exceeded every expectation I had, and I can promise you that my expectations were VERY lofty.

Please consider giving this retro-inspired JRPG a chance if you haven’t yet, and look forward to hearing it mentioned during many upcoming GOTY discussions for 2023.

PIXEL PERFECT

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Hailing from the mitten state, Alex is a physical collector and gamer of all genres for over two decades. He has established himself in wedding videography and finance which he uses to help encourage others in forging their own path in remote work and full control over how far they can take their passions to support themselves and their families.