Right out the gate: my boy Garl packs snacks and cracks backs. Respect on his name.

Here's the thing: we've all made Sea of Stars. We were younger, we loved something, we wanted to make something like it. The something we made was more derivative than not, less complete, less polished. But it was a labor of love, and there's a simple joy in stories that want to tell other stories.

Sea of Stars doesn't even attempt to hide its influences. It's a love letter to Chrono Trigger, filtered through modern game design that skews away from the ever increasing systems fetishism that currently haunts the JRPG space. It promises not to waste your time, to be streamlined, to not bloat stats or bog you down with endless random battles and to make those basic battles rise above the usual strategy of hitting the red thing with the blue spell and then following a formula to clear out the rest.

And for the most part? It succeeds. The game is brisk, breezy. Traversal areas, once cleared, have fewer encounters and plentiful shortcuts. Gear is fairly linear, almost always findable, buyable otherwise. Stats are kept well under control, the skills few but meaningful with none being strictly better. The world map is constrained, destinations easy to find. Traversal itself is fun, three-dimensional. Not revolutionary, but the verticality and the way it's used to hide secrets is a constant delight.

But this streamlined design isn't always for the best. The space provided by exploration and scale gives the narrative time to breathe, makes the world feel more alive. The swift pace makes active gameplay a nearly relentless onslaught. The story simply doesn't have the time it needs to rest, to give moments their due time.

Nonetheless: it has its moments, but those moments are fewer than they should be and tend to highlight the problem more than resolve it. But when things do slow down - the lovingly crafted town of Brisk, the emotional crux at the midpoint, Zale and Valere sitting on a bed and talking about their childhood - they tend to hit just right.

Speaking of the core duo: let's talk about those characters. They're a mixed bag, for sure. Pure high adventure, one being a tribute to the inspiring game, the main two being a bit too one note. One character, however, is the obvious emotional core, the true protagonist, and believe me when I say that they are pitch perfect. To talk about them is to spoil them, and getting to know them throughout the game was a highlight, so I'll leave it there. Beyond that: one character is essentially an internet meme. They go on to have a twist that makes them even more of one, and yet said twist is one of the best reveals in the game. Meanwhile, the tribute character became a quick personal favorite.

So what tips the scales? Art direction, for one. The music is stellar, the art direction irreproachable. Areas are lush, vibrant, engaging. Details are tucked into every corner, new environments are a delight. Virtually every song has multiple versions, and all are an absolute treat to listen to. The rapidfire progress is easier to take when it keeps serving up inventive enemies, varied biomes and new art.

And the combat. Remember that promise of basic combat that engages? Here the game truly shines. You have two gauges that feed into each other, timed hits that help but are far from necessary and a mana system that is split into short and long-term, with both encouraging you to balance your use of regular attacks and skills. There's no hoarding of resources between battles, no stockpiling items, and yet this is accomplished without the use of the usual full reset between fights (consider Chained Echoes or Final Fantasy XIII). The lock system forces tricky choices, rewarding careful players who think ahead, all while feeding back into those gauges.

So. A game with flaws. Too referential, too meta, too streamlined and far too reliant on its true ending, but with obvious love and the ability to hit the important notes just right. In the end your expectations will temper the experience. If you expect it to be your childhood classic or the second coming of JRPGs? You're going to walk away less than satisfied. But if you just want a bit of high adventure with lovely art direction, gorgeous music and consistently engaging gameplay? Then you're likely sitting on my side of the fence.