I want to preface this review by saying that RPGs are not my first choice when choosing a genre of game to play. To be honest, Sea of Stars only caught my attention because I heard that the game world and story was within the same universe as Sabotage Studio’s first title, The Messenger. Prior to my Sea of Stars playthrough, my last experience with completing a JRPG (if you would even count it) were back to back playthroughs of Pokemon Emerald and HeartGold back in 2009. I don't have an issue with JRPGs, but I tend to stay away because the JRPG niche tends to favor gameplay and story tropes that rely on nostalgia on a bygone era of gaming; one that I was not old enough to participate in. If you have a similar experience with this genre of game, I highly recommend that you give Sea of Stars a try. Sabotage Studio has crafted an homage to the JRPGs of old, but the self aware story and a more involved turn based combat system make it an excellent entry point to a genre that may have previously felt like it required gaming prerequisites to fully appreciate.
I’ll start with the positives. Sea of Stars story is a goofy adventurer’s tale loaded with small bits centered around RPG tropes. Though certain portions of the story (specifically moments that were meant to invoke a sense of sympathy for the main characters) fell flat, this was excusable because the rest of the story revolved around fourth wall breaks and parodying the done to death destroyer of worlds trope seen all too often in RPGs. The game got some genuine laughs out of me and I was left smiling after reading almost all of the supporting character’s dialogue. The game is visually beautiful. I can’t stress that point enough. The game has an old school overworld map, and linear mini levels, both of which I spent way longer than needed just admiring the stunning pixel art. The visuals alone kept me drawn to the game even at its low points.
I did enjoy the combat and its attempt to modernize turn based combat. Sea of Stars opts for a combo meter that the player strategically builds through chaining attacks with their party of characters, timing interactive attacks that help build meter, and using a rock, paper, scissors approach to spells that if are managed correctly, can lead to really fun boss encounters that require you to pick and choose when it’s advantageous to cancel out an enemy attack through spell combinations. I am not doing this system enough justice, but I’m not here to meta-game. Watch a spoiler free video on it if you’re on the fence. Just know that it's a really fun system that doesn’t overcomplicate for the sake of creating an unnecessarily difficult skill floor. I also appreciate that the game pacing, XP gain, and character leveling seems to be paced by the developers so that the playthrough of the entire story does not require any enemy grinding. Your mileage may vary, I have seen some online reviews that mentioned that the game was difficult and led them to level padding and grinding enemies. I personally never felt that. I would even argue that the game would benefit from a more refined New Game Plus mode.
Now for the downsides. Remember how I mentioned that certain parts of the story fell flat? The blame should be targeted at the main characters Zale and Valere, who failed to make me feel a sense of urgency for anything and everything that they personally gave priority to. Their dialogue could be boiled down to a general sense of apathy towards a world ending event. The side characters and their development were the only reason why I was invested in seeing the story to the end. The side characters are memorable, have cool and unique personalities that help progress the story and add stakes and depth to their specific goals. For Zale and Valere, the audience is supposed to care because “they're the chosen ones I guess”
As for the combat, once you reach a certain point of the main story, the combat system becomes the enjoyable and varied system that I mentioned before. My issue with it, is that it takes a WHILE for the game to give you access to all the tools that give the combat system variety. The first 15 hours of the game feels like a slow, feature barren tutorial. Enemies, while stylistically different, share copy pasted special attacks. Groups of mobs in the early game require specific spell weaknesses that your party just doesn't have access to until mid/late game. And again, the MAIN characters have a limited arsenal of moves compared to the other party members that you collect along the way, which makes the main draw to a combat focused RPG a tough sell for both veterans and fence sitters of the genre. I endured the first part of the game because I love the artstyle, but I can acknowledge that isn't going to be the case for a majority of players.
As for pacing, I hope that Sabotage Studio does away with the alternate endings if a sequel is in the works. I don't have a problem with adding extra end game content for fans, but these alternate story paths are locked behind a collect-a-thon of 60 rainbow conches, which become tedious and unfun once the first playthrough is done. Endgame feels like a chore and the reward,to me, is not worth burning myself out and ruining a really positive experience with the game.
Sea of Stars, while flawed, is still a great entry point for those previously cautious of the JRPG genre. The setting, artstyle, and creative potential of the game mechanics can all be refined in a sequel or game-sized DLC. I hope the developers also see the potential in a refined Part 2 or prequel. I will be keeping an eye out for updates on this series, and will be jumping into other JRPGs now that Sea of Stars has shown me what I’ve been missing out on.
I’ll start with the positives. Sea of Stars story is a goofy adventurer’s tale loaded with small bits centered around RPG tropes. Though certain portions of the story (specifically moments that were meant to invoke a sense of sympathy for the main characters) fell flat, this was excusable because the rest of the story revolved around fourth wall breaks and parodying the done to death destroyer of worlds trope seen all too often in RPGs. The game got some genuine laughs out of me and I was left smiling after reading almost all of the supporting character’s dialogue. The game is visually beautiful. I can’t stress that point enough. The game has an old school overworld map, and linear mini levels, both of which I spent way longer than needed just admiring the stunning pixel art. The visuals alone kept me drawn to the game even at its low points.
I did enjoy the combat and its attempt to modernize turn based combat. Sea of Stars opts for a combo meter that the player strategically builds through chaining attacks with their party of characters, timing interactive attacks that help build meter, and using a rock, paper, scissors approach to spells that if are managed correctly, can lead to really fun boss encounters that require you to pick and choose when it’s advantageous to cancel out an enemy attack through spell combinations. I am not doing this system enough justice, but I’m not here to meta-game. Watch a spoiler free video on it if you’re on the fence. Just know that it's a really fun system that doesn’t overcomplicate for the sake of creating an unnecessarily difficult skill floor. I also appreciate that the game pacing, XP gain, and character leveling seems to be paced by the developers so that the playthrough of the entire story does not require any enemy grinding. Your mileage may vary, I have seen some online reviews that mentioned that the game was difficult and led them to level padding and grinding enemies. I personally never felt that. I would even argue that the game would benefit from a more refined New Game Plus mode.
Now for the downsides. Remember how I mentioned that certain parts of the story fell flat? The blame should be targeted at the main characters Zale and Valere, who failed to make me feel a sense of urgency for anything and everything that they personally gave priority to. Their dialogue could be boiled down to a general sense of apathy towards a world ending event. The side characters and their development were the only reason why I was invested in seeing the story to the end. The side characters are memorable, have cool and unique personalities that help progress the story and add stakes and depth to their specific goals. For Zale and Valere, the audience is supposed to care because “they're the chosen ones I guess”
As for the combat, once you reach a certain point of the main story, the combat system becomes the enjoyable and varied system that I mentioned before. My issue with it, is that it takes a WHILE for the game to give you access to all the tools that give the combat system variety. The first 15 hours of the game feels like a slow, feature barren tutorial. Enemies, while stylistically different, share copy pasted special attacks. Groups of mobs in the early game require specific spell weaknesses that your party just doesn't have access to until mid/late game. And again, the MAIN characters have a limited arsenal of moves compared to the other party members that you collect along the way, which makes the main draw to a combat focused RPG a tough sell for both veterans and fence sitters of the genre. I endured the first part of the game because I love the artstyle, but I can acknowledge that isn't going to be the case for a majority of players.
As for pacing, I hope that Sabotage Studio does away with the alternate endings if a sequel is in the works. I don't have a problem with adding extra end game content for fans, but these alternate story paths are locked behind a collect-a-thon of 60 rainbow conches, which become tedious and unfun once the first playthrough is done. Endgame feels like a chore and the reward,to me, is not worth burning myself out and ruining a really positive experience with the game.
Sea of Stars, while flawed, is still a great entry point for those previously cautious of the JRPG genre. The setting, artstyle, and creative potential of the game mechanics can all be refined in a sequel or game-sized DLC. I hope the developers also see the potential in a refined Part 2 or prequel. I will be keeping an eye out for updates on this series, and will be jumping into other JRPGs now that Sea of Stars has shown me what I’ve been missing out on.