Seeing Stars
I have been following Sea of Stars since it was announced in 2020, the second game from Sabotage Studios set out to be more than their previous hit game The Messenger. The Messenger was a Metroidvania but the team went with a turn-based RPG for Sea of Stars with an emphasis on exploration and largely they have succeeded in their lofty goals to surpass the Messenger and create something truly wonderful.
In Sea of Stars players will follow the story of two young warriors who were born Children of the Solstice; Valere who uses blunt damage and wields the power of the lunar moons and Zale who fights with bladed weapons and wields the power of the sun. Once trained they will become full-fledged Solstice Warriors and be able to defend the land from an evil alchemist known as The Fleshmancer. But before all the glory and fame can come with saving this land, we are introduced to our heroes as kids. Val and Zale also have a best friend named Garl, and while Garl isn’t able to wield magic like his friends his big heart more than makes up for it.
MSRP: $34.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay:$34.99
We begin our story with our trio of heroes being kids and hoping to prove their bravery and show that they are ready to train to become full warriors. After almost losing Garl to a monster (luckily, he escapes with a kickass eye scar) the kids are saved and inducted into the academy and are told that it could take them years to become trained. Sadly, Garl cannot join and vows to work hard on the outside and meet up with his friends when there training is complete. Fast forward and a few years have gone by, Zale and Valere are given their first assignment and through some events I won’t spoil here end up reunited with their best friend Garl. After getting a prophecy the trio sets out on their adventure.
Sea of Stars feels so familiar when playing, taking the best of so many classic RPG’s like Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire and Illusion of Gaia just to name a few everything from the graphics to musical score shines throughout. Graphically speaking Sea of Stars using the same 2D pixel style of the RPG’s mentioned above just with some modern tools. For instance, the lighting in Sea of Stars is 100% dynamic, during the adventure players will use the power of the moon and sun to solve puzzles as well. Solstice warriors can control the time of day in certain areas and players will need to use these skills to open chests and doors that can only be done at certain times of day. Shadows cast realistically as the light source moves through the skies and every time I was in awe as this little 2D game is just simply beautiful. Each character is extremely detailed for such small sprites, hair and cloth move realistically as players navigate the world.
The world is so colorful and vibrant but when it needs to be; it can be dark and ominous as players will navigate the countryside, towns and even haunted mansions as they work their way thru the game. I was constantly in awe of the small things that I would notice throughout the levels. Each area is full of various things to do and find in Sea of Stars, if players are looking for a distraction from saving the world, they can find a few distractions. There is fishing that will help players keep their food stocks up, which is used for cooking meals that can heal or replenish magic power for players. Early on players will be able to sail around the world and explore even more AND there is even a board game called ‘Wheels’ that is actually pretty addicting to play with NPC’s around the world.
Speaking of going around the world, Sea of Stars has some of the best traversal I’ve seen in an old school RPG game. Sabotage really went and took some of the best things from the greatest RPG’s around to create this and damn it shows. Players will be able to pull themselves up on surfaces that are reachable, there is tightrope walking, shimmying against the ledge of a cliff, swimming and later you get a rope hook that allows players to swing on points to get across gaps and explore new areas. These tools and movements aren’t just used to getting around though, Sea of Stars also has puzzles in dungeons and throughout the world which will require players to use their wits to unravel them.
While I enjoyed moving around the world using these tools, I also encountered a few bugs using them. For instance, I jumped down off a ledge into some water only to pass through the water and end up inside the game map. I was unable to do anything but restart but luckily Sea of Stars has an autosave system which comes in clutch when things like this happen. I wish I could say this was an isolated incident but as I progressed through the game these types of bugs occurred more than a handful of times. It never really messed up my progress other than having to reload into the game, but it was still annoying. Another issue that popped up a lot happened during combat; when enemies use their big attacks a ‘lock’ will appear on screen with a combination of attack types. If players can hit the target with the corresponding attack before the timer is up, they will in effect ‘break the lock’ and cancel the attack.
The problems arise when players or enemies attack the move to an optimal position. Well sometimes they will move behind the ‘lock’ and make it impossible to see their movements. This is a problem because in Sea of Stars players can buff attacks by tapping the execute button right as the attack is about to land, so if the player is blocked by the lock, or a piece of environment you can’t see what they are doing and will probably botch getting the extra damage. This happened ALL THE TIME and I swear it annoyed me EVERY SINGLE TIME; especially since it seemed to happen the most during boss fights.
But despite those issues the combat system in Sea of Stars remains a robust affair of systems, abilities, and tactics. Players can use their magic powers for various abilities like Zale’s Sunspot, which launches a fiery sun and attacks all enemies, or Valere’s moonarang attack, which sees her toss out one of Moon Knight’s moonarangs at an enemy, it will bounce back to the player where they need to hit execute in time to send it hurtling toward another enemy before it comes back to the player to be sent out again. Attacks like this are common in Sea of Stars, each character including the 3 that players will meet along the journey has abilities that must be button pressed in time to take full advantage of the attack. I like this for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that this system manages to keep the players invested in the game, sometimes with turn-based games you hit the command and put the controller down because of a long ass attack sequence; but in Sea of Stars players will need to pay attention as they can mitigate damage from enemies by timing the execute command just as an attack land on them. As players level up, they will also unlock combos that can be done with various characters, these moves don’t carry over from battle to battle and are gained as players land attacks on enemies. All of them are flashy and filled with effects and cool sound effects, some of them can heal damage while others of course will deal damage.
I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the outstanding accessibility options that Sabotage have put into Sea of Stars. The game has items that players can find or buy in certain shops known as relics. These tools provide buffs for players but can be toggled off and on whenever the players want. Things like activating max HP and healing after enemy encounters, reducing damage by 30% for all attacks, and even one that will add an extra flourish when players correctly hit the button press during combat to really illustrate that they did it correctly. Again, all of these are completely optional, and you don’t need to use them, but they are there for people who just want an easier experience and don’t want to have to worry about Min/Maxing stats and abilities. I played with a mixture of these on and off during my time and the one I really used the most was the one that helps to display players correctly hit the execute command, while the musical cues are good having the visual representation really helped me.
I freaking loved Sea of Stars, from its adorable graphic style to its heartwarming story Sea of Stars is a sure-fire hit. Even the times I ran into glitches and bugs I still enjoyed my time within its world. Sabotage studios already proved the pedigree of their studio with The Messenger but I fully expect them to level up with the release of Sea of Stars. With its enjoyable story, utterly fantastic musical score, and beautiful pixel world if you are a fan of RPG’s this one is NOT to be missed!
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
