Sea of Stars exceeds expectations
An engaging, vibrant RPG inspired by genre-defining titles
One of the few flaws I’m willing to admit about myself is my reluctance to indulge in indie games. Throughout my life as a gamer, I have had few run-ins with games made by small and independent developers. Games like The Binding of Isaac, Fez and Stardew Valley were some of the only indie experiences I had growing up, as I was always afraid to take a risk on a game I wasn’t completely comfortable with.
That mentality has grown on me since transitioning back from PC gaming to the Nintendo Switch in 2019, yet I’ve never really had the time to appreciate the amount of indie games available on the platform. I’ve dabbled with smaller titles, but never devoted a significant amount of time to them. That is, until Sabotage Studios’ Sea of Stars came along.
The first encounter I had with Sea of Stars came on December 15, 2021. The headlining title during Nintendo’s final Indie World presentation of the year, the game looked to cater to those craving an RPG experience straight out of the days of the Super Nintendo. With its vibrant visuals and dynamic gameplay, It was enough of a sell for me to break out of my shell to try it when it finally released on August 29, 2023.
Sea of Stars is a tale of perseverance through constant hardship, while finding one’s purpose along the way. Two young children of the solstice, Valere and Zale, are destined to become strong-willed Solstice Warriors, beings capable of casting solar and lunar magic.
Solstice Warriors bear the responsibility of protecting the world from The Fleshmancer, an evil alchemist whose creations are capable of wrecking havoc across multiple timelines. Dwellers, one of such creations, are impervious to the magic wielded by Solstice Warriors.
Forgoing a pleasant, peaceful childhood, Valere and Zale spend years enduring harsh physical and mental training within the confines of Zenith Academy in their hometown of Mooncradle, including sewing their own garments as a test of patience and perfection. Under the guidance of the academy’s various mentors, the two set off to destroy the Dweller of Woe, along with their childhood friend Garl.
The game often interjects with brief segments of exposition given by The Archivist, who acts as the game’s narrator early on. While the game’s initial premise isn’t anything to write home about, the interactions between the party and the various problems they deal with in their quest more than make up for the game’s slow progression. Plenty of other characters will join you, each with their own admirations and misfortunes, as well as their own unique style of fighting. Seraï, a portal assassin, watches over the party early before joining them later in the adventure.
Combat is turn-based, with nearly all skirmishes happening directly in the field. You’ll have a few options on how you want to tackle opponents. Standard attacks have different properties to them, initially visualized as either a sword for sword attacks, or a hammer for blunt attacks. You’ll find more of these as your party grows. Borrowing a feature from previous RPGs such as Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, timing precise inputs before attacking can strengthen your actions. The same goes for blocking enemy attacks, as you can dampen their effectiveness. Standard attacks will also generate live mana that enhance your actions by using a portion of your magic attack stat.
Enemies display a stopwatch above their models in battle, indicating the number of actions that can pass before they act. Occasionally, a set of locks will accompany this, indicating different properties that corresponds to your own moves. Destroying the locks will weaken an opponent’s move, or even cancel their action altogether.
Some of these locks require certain properties not related to sword or blunt attacks, and can be found through various skills your party members possess. As a Lunar Monk, Valere can use Moonerang, a skill that deflects crescent-shaped boomerangs at opponents. You can extend this move further by timing your button presses as it exponentially speeds up. In contrast, Zale can use Sunball, which requires you to press and hold the button to increase power before unleashing a devastating solar projectile. These skills require mana points (MP) to use, and you’ll be able to replenish MP by using standard attacks.
As you battle, you may earn Combo points that can be used to initiate unique dual attacks between party members, making it more efficient for breaking enemy locks. They don’t require MP, but they will be lost after battle, so you shouldn’t hesitate to use them.
Many of the game’s combat properties aren’t necessary to learn right away, but doing so gives you an edge in battle. It isn’t complicated to understand, but it can feel overwhelming at times, as you’ll have to concoct a strategy to make the most of your mana and actions. Thankfully, there are relics that enhance certain mechanics such as auto-healing after every battle or enacting perfectly-timed blocks and strikes. I purposely avoided many of these, finding the combat straightforward enough that I could adapt to its fluctuating difficulty. I opted to purchase a Tome of Knowledge relic that increases XP gain by 20% early however, as the game isn’t structured to encourage grinding. Some relics can make the game more difficult for those wanting a challenge. As a whole, these are a fair compromise for the game’s lack of traditional difficulty settings.
The battle system as a whole is unique in its ability to provide engaging combat while also granting players the opportunity to adjust it to their own preferences. You’ll naturally adjust to enemy attacks and perfect your own strategies as you navigate the game’s world. Though, the game’s difficulty rarely adapts to the player. It rarely integrates new combat features or unique battles outside of a few late-game instances, many of which are just longer skirmishes.
Sea of Stars utilizes a map that’s very reminiscent of Chrono Trigger and early Dragon Quest titles. You can fish at various lakes, as well as solving in-area puzzles that can lead to new combo techniques or treasures. You’re fairly limited when it comes to traversal early on, but the world opens up quite a bit as you progress. There’s several side quests along the way, usually rewarding the player with a Rainbow conch or weapon for their efforts. You can also find campfires around the world which can be used as rest areas for cooking, talking with party members, or exploring optional game lore with Teaks, a traveling historian. There’s even an optional minigame called Wheels that feels like it could be its own game if fleshed out more.
The game has a certain charm to it. It forgoes HD-2D visuals seen in titles like Octopath Traveler in favor of a more cartoonish design. It has a vibrant and stylish design that gives the game a more jovial tone than its plot calls for. From the clear waters of Coral Cascades, to the bustling port town of Brisk, and even to the skies above, the game covers just about every expected fantasy setting one could imagine. The music, composed by Eric W. Brown as well as Yasunori Mitsuda, really elevate the mood as you progress through the game. Character dialogue is colorful, especially across your own party. There’s no voice acting in the game, but it’s more than made up for with visual storytelling, even using animated cutscenes during important moments.
While the game is considerably well-balanced, it rarely challenges itself. Combat never really progresses beyond its distinct character and enemy abilities, and some of the game’s puzzles utilize the same methods over and over, whether it be controlling the time of day or pushing pillars to activate switches. What you’re getting here is an experience that doesn’t try to feel too easy or too difficult.
The story can be a bit uninspired at times, sometimes relying on tropes within the genre. There’s one point in the story where this is clearly used in a joking manner though, which I found quite amusing. While Valere and Zale maintain their intrepid, unwavering attitude through the game’s main story, they’re vulnerable to brief conflict and anxiety in their roles as Solstice Warriors, even experiencing unexpected moments of grief. Should they fail to stop the Dwellers, their world will cease to exist. The game does not shy away from uncomfortable feelings of self-reflection and acknowledging ones flaws, although it doesn’t overdo it either.
The game plays out in a way that subtly drops brief references to Sabotage Studio’s debut title, The Messenger, without wholly feeling like its set in the same universe. Its written in a way that doesn’t penalize the player for having not played The Messenger, rather rewarding those who have, and even making someone like me more invested in the universe as a whole. It’s a not a long game, so it has ample opportunity to build its world.
Sea of Stars is an amalgamation of various elements across its genre, and the result is an RPG that directly honors the legacy of those that preceded it. It’s probably the closest we’ll ever get to a quality RPG in the same reigns as Chrono Trigger without being a complete carbon copy of it. There could have been more done to differentiate itself from the games Sabotage took inspiration from, but regardless, I was satisfied with the experience as a whole. It’s clear that there was plenty of effort put into the game’s design, and it exudes a level of quality and character that exceeded my expectations.
Total Playtime: 45 hours
Total Completion: True Ending
Verdict: 8.5/10
