Sea of Stars

Genre: Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

Sea of Stars, released in 2023 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, is a Turn-Based JRPG that evokes the classics of the genre, particularly Super Mario RPG, Illusion of Gaia, and Chrono Trigger, with Trigger in particular being an especially prominent source of inspiration in everything from its art style and world map to the fact that Chrono series composer Yasunori Mitsuda even worked on this game’s soundtrack as a guest composer along with developer Sabotage Studios’ own in-house developer Eric W. Brown AKA Rainbowdragoneyes, who in this game effects a style that meshes well with Mitsuda’s own works

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”It’s Full of Stars…”

This game’s entire presentation here is gorgeous, but since I already started talking about the soundtrack, let’s lead with that. Sea of Stars has a synthesized soundtrack designed to be similar to the sort of music found in Super Nintendo JRPGs, and it is absolutely lovely, echoing some of Mitsuda’s best works, though not quite topping them. Still, what’s here is absolutely wonderful, with some of the standouts in my opinion being Coral Cascades, the standard Battle Theme (as well as its delightful Bardcore version, which I cannot find a link to as of this writing), the Boss Theme. As a result of themes like these, this is definitely one of the most delightful game soundtracks this year.

However, as great as the soundtrack is, the graphics may be even better. At first glance, this game uses detailed pixel art graphics with amazing, flued animation and and absolutely gorgeous, colorful visual style that jumps off the screen. However, I say “at first glance” because what’s going on here is even more impressive than that – Sea of Stars uses some impressive real-time lighting and shadows, with objects and characters in the environment both illuminating the area around them and casting shadows based on their shape and on the area those shadows fall on, something that becomes apparent when you reach points where you can literally move the sun and moon to control the time of day, causing the shadows on the entire screen shift to match.

Maybe this makes me a dork, but I audibly gasped when my characters started swimming in the water and I saw their shadows following beneath them, matching their movements and body shapes, warped by the distortion of the water’s surface, and flowing along the bumps and curves of the ocean floor under the water… all while remaining in the pixel art style. I’m still not entirely sure how they did all of this, but I suspect it took a lot of work behind the scenes that many players may not even notice.

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Aim for the Stars. If You Fail, You Land on the Moon

Sea of Stars is technically set in the same universe as Sabotage Studios’ prior game, The Messenger, though it takes place long before the prior title, and the connections are faint enough that those who weren’t aware of this could easily miss it. In short, don’t think there is going to be any need to have played The Messenger to understand the plot of this game.

Sea of Stars follows the story of Zale and Valere, a pair raised from a young age to be solstice warriors, monks and guardians of the realm, and trained in the use of sun- and moon-themed magic, respectively. They are joined shortly in their quest by their childhood friend and self-proclaimed warrior cook Garl, whose boisterous enthusiasm and desire to be helpful despite having no magic of his own makes him an unexpected asset to the team.

During their adventures, these three will occasionally work alongside other solstice warriors, as well as other helpful characters with their own stake in matters. Of particular note is a delightfully silly group of pirates that assist your team through much of the game, each with their own odd mannerisms that make them wonderfully endearing.

I’m spending a lot of time here talking about this game’s characters both because they’re all so immensely likable, but also because I find the rest of this game’s story to be kinda’… just okay at best. Zale and Valere are tasked with assisting in destroying the Dweller of Woe, what is believed to be the last major threat to the realm, apparently the last remnant of a the threat posed by greater evil called The Fleshmancer.

Of course, there’s multiple standard hallmarks of the genre – the secretive organization plotting something sinister behind the scenes, a sudden betrayal (this isn’t a spoiler – you’re told as much by the game’s narrator early on), legends you’re told in passing that are later important to the plot… all well and good.

The thing is, despite this game presenting a gorgeous world, I never felt especially invested in it. In part this is because the first half of the game is extremely linear, making players feel led by the nose rather than exploring it in their own right. But another problem here is that despite this game presenting us with plenty of great characters, the central two protagonists are probably the least interesting of the lot, and apart from Valere being more relaxed than Zale, there’s little else to really distinguish the two from one another, at least in terms of personality. Visually, they are a delight to watch with their sun and moon powers, but it’s kinda’ funny that in his lack of any sort of special powers, Garl ends up stealing the show by filling in that gap with the sheer force of personality that the other two of the main trifecta sadly lack.

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Starstruck

Of course, beyond the presentation and story, one of the other major elements of any RPG is the combat, and here, Sea of Stars is absolutely bursting with innovation. First, all attacks can be further empowered with Super Mario RPG-style timed button presses, with special attacks requiring special button presses to use them to their fullest effect. Players can recharge their magic by attacking with regular attacks, meaning that battle will frequently have you going back and forth between normal attacks and special attacks.

You’ll want to be mindful of when you make use of these attacks, as enemies will occasionally prepare special attacks of their own that can be interrupted by hitting them with a specific combination of attack and magic types. To assist players in doing this, normal attacks also release bits of magic that characters can opt to absorb into their normal attacks, empowering them and imbuing them with that character’s specific type of magic.

All of this may sound like a lot, but the game does a good job of gradually introducing these elements and ensuring that players become properly acquainted with them. There are other elements as well, such as being able to sneak up on enemies prior to battle to get in an early hit and set up the battlefield with magic bits already available for use.

At its best, this combat system can make for some wonderful strategy that will really have you thinking through how to tackle a tough battle. At worst, it can get a bit tedious, not only having to use specific characters so their specific weapon type or magic type can interrupt an enemy special attack, but then having to repeatedly time button presses to ensure that the special attacks you use work properly.

Another issue here is one of slow progression – your characters take a considerable amount of time to level up, and new equipment is staggered pretty far apart. This is true even if you make use of an optional ability you can purchase early on to accelerate your party’s experience point gain. To give you an idea, at 13 hours into the game, my characters were only at level 10, meaning on average I was leveling up less than once per hour playing this game. While this did mean that battles remained consistently challenging, it felt like this was only the case because the game was deliberately holding me back, and even taking on every optional battle I encountered, I was still only just keeping up with the game’s difficulty curve.

Finally, there’s one more issue I should address, and this is an issue of missed opportunity. In the game’s dungeons, players will occasionally encounter large chests containing a key piece of equipment that is needed to progress, that can be used at any time, such as wind gusts to push crates or a grappling hook. Unfortunately, the use of these items often seems highly situational – the only time you will ever use those wind gusts is when you have a box to push, even in situations where a wind gust seems like it would cause something to happen. While not a major complaint, this definitely seems like a part of the game that could have been put to much greater effect.

Also, because I feel like I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it somewhere, Sea of Stars also includes a fun little minigame you encounter repeatedly throughout the game, Wheels. This is a clockwork contraption that acts as a cross between a simple board game and a slot machine, which you’ll play against AI opponents. It’s a fun distraction, though I feel like if there is any deeper strategy here, it’s lost on me. Still, it’s a fun little extra, at least.

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Have the Stars Aligned in This Game?

Ultimately, I don’t think Sea of Stars quite reaches the greatness of the classic games that inspired it, thanks to multiple issues throughout the game that hold it back, including slow progression, a lacking plot, and combat mechanics that can be tedious just as often as they are ingenious. However, despite my complaints, it’s hard not to love this game all the same. Between the delightful characters and the absolutely gorgeous soundtrack and visual presentation, as well as the sheer creativity on display throughout this game, it absolutely stands out as a must-play game for anyone who loves JRPGs, especially the aforementioned greats of the genre’s golden age. Even if it doesn’t reach those same heights, it’s still a superb JRPG that is a true delight to play.

tl;dr – Sea of Stars is a Turn-Based JRPG inspired by classics of the genre like Chrono Trigger, featuring a beautiful soundtrack, gorgeous pixel art graphics, and endearing and wonderful characters. It’s not without its problems – the overall plot is nothing special, the combat is clever but also frequently tedious, and the progression is slow as molasses. However, while it’s not quite on par with the greats of the genre it’s designed to imitate, Sea of Stars is nevertheless an excellent JRPG that fans of the genre should consider a must-play game.

Grade: A-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2023 Game Awards:

Winner:

Best RPG – Pairing old-school sensibilities with modern elements makes Sea of Stars a loving tribute to the great RPGs of the past while being a truly excellent RPG in its own right. Few RPGs in 2023 demanded attention the way Sea of Stars did, and it absolutely deserves that attention.

Best New Character (Garl) – Sea of Stars has a major problem with its story – its two central heroes are forgettable, interchangeable blank slates. They’re not devoid of a personality, but there’s just not much reason to care about either of them… which is why Garl is so very important, because all of the personality they lack, he got in spades (or perhaps more fittingly, in ladles?). Even lacking the magic or ninja skills of his comrades, Garl makes up for it with sheer positivity and determination, putting a brave face on things even when others dismiss him as unimportant. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the real hero of the story – this game’s version of a Samwise Gamgee.

Runner-Up: Best Song (Battle On! (Day)) by Eric W. Brown, Encounter Elite! by Eric W. Brown), Best Graphical Style

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