Probably one of the best Touhou fangame I've played, so good I would recommend it to anyone, even people unfamiliar with the series.

Overall great gameplay with very few flaws, great artstyle, an interesting story that allowed the developers to make Touhou characters with a completely different personality while still making sense, which was very weird at the beginning but I ended up quite enjoying it by the end.

I also enjoyed how there's multiple ways to play the game, from all the gear we get through this adventure (even if most of these need a rebalance) and 3 different difficulties challenges for people wanting more.

I, myself most of the time play through the end then move on, in this game I had lot of fun going for the 100% and beating every bosses no-hit, which is quite doable for anyone who want to put a bit of effort.

I'd also add that for a fangame, or even a Touhou game in general, this one definitely put a lot of effort in its presentation with very nice cutscenes and deserve praise for it.

Even if the game as of April 2024 can be considered completed, there are still additional updates planned and I'll be sure to play it again.

Probably my biggest disappointment of 2023

While Sea of Stars looks great and walking around the levels was fun due to its excellent soundtrack which accompany us across this adventure, that's all there is to it. It felt like one of the most hollow game I've ever played and that's such a shame because on the other hand it's also of the most spectacular pixel art out there.

There's just nothing interesting to find in Sea of Stars in my opinion, the story and characters never clicked at any point with me. The gameplay is empty and tries to keep you engaged with timed inputs during attack and defense but it felt more like something they added to hide the boring combat while it should have been here to add complexity to an already interesting one.

Talking about complexity, if it isn't present during combat maybe atleast we can customize our characters to a certain degree and have fun with it ? Well, not either, you get 2 accessory which adds almost nothing and that's it. Going off the beaten path if there is one (which rarely occurs) will almost never rewards you anything to be happy about and the overall difficulty of the game won't make it necessary to find such items anyway. I played Final Fantasy V a few months before and it's surprisingly sad how that game felt more recent than Sea of Stars on all points. The game was full of hidden items, there are dozens of hours to spend in customizing your characters and the game's difficulty ask you to think about it, if not you'll not be able to progress. I understand that not every game needs to be deep for players to enjoy it but I think they still need to have some spice to stand out among others.

I think that's the actual problem with Sea of Stars, that it tried to emulate the magic of old JRPGs but ultimately failed and more than that, it forsook all the cool things JRPGs has added to spice up the genre.

That's a damn shame because what could have been a great game and homage ended up being a very hollow experience.

I love Thief and what it did considering how old it is, its level design, the way it uses verticality, offers multiple ways to enter and exit the places you're supposed to steal from, all of this was so ingenious for a game this old, truly ahead of its time.

On the other hand, I find myself not being able to recommend it due to how poorly its controls aged and this is truly a shame.

If you want a stealth game with an amazing atmosphere and don't mind old fps jank, I definitely recommend it but otherwise you should play something else.