From the same studio that made The Messenger, Sea of Stars was one of my most anticipated games of the year, and while there is a lot to like, I think it ended up being a bit of a disappointment. Beginning with the positives, the game is absolutely gorgeous. This game might have the best pixel art I have ever seen. The environments are lush and vibrant, the animations are fluid and detailed, and it is by far the game's strongest area. The soundtrack quality matches its visuals, even featuring the composer from Chrono Trigger as a guest. The game takes inspiration from Chrono Trigger in other ways too -- such as the combat -- which despite my complaints later, I think is pretty well designed. It's a bit of a mix between Paper Mario and the Chrono games, with three party members, dual techs, and extra damage on timed moves. It's a solid system, and for the first few hours I was thoroughly enjoying myself. This brings me to my issues with the game, namely that it plateaus very early. With the exception of the prologue (where they give you backstory for an hour before letting you actually play the game), the game is well paced at the start, giving you new abilities and mechanics and giving the plot a strong sense of direction. After a while though, things begin to drag. Each character only has three special moves total, and once you learn those early on, the combat never evolves. Every battle ends up being very monotonous. Some of the more powerful techniques -- such as ultimate moves or dual techs -- take too long to charge up to be used in anything other than boss fights. Many of the moves are also tedious to use, such as the lunar boomerang move. It's a cool move, but takes concentration and a bit of time to use without a clear advantage. My biggest issue however has to be the plot. From moment to moment it's fine, but I never felt super engaged with the events, and often felt a bit aimless. For many plot-heavy games, I often stop and ask "Why are the characters here?". In some games (such as Chrono Trigger) the events that lead the heroes to each point are easy to follow and track, and the plot logically follows along. This game... not so much. It starts out well, but by the midpoint begins follow its own logic without many stakes. This culminates in what I must vaguely describe as a very lackluster ending. It's clear they really want me to go and work towards a better "true ending", but frankly I don't feel the engagement enough to continue. It's a shame, this game has a lot going for it. If you had asked me after 5 hours or so my feelings, I would've said it was a solid 4.5/5 game. I was waiting for a "wow" moment to really push it to the next level, but that moment never came. Instead, the game coasts along a bit, and while I do think it's one of the better indie RPGs in recent years, I find myself a bit let down.

O jogo veste uma capa BELÍSSIMA e VISLUMBRANTE. Mas...

Quando comecei a jogar ele, acabei por criar uma grande expectativa por o que estava por vir pela base que ele mostra ao jogador.

A gameplay é intuitiva e simples. A arte e músicas do jogo criam uma atmosfera muito legal, e é visivelmente notável o carinho que tiveram ao criar essa atmosfera. Tudo isso progressivamente se intensificando, e criando mais e mais um sentimento épico de uma história de aventura. As primeiras horas são muito legais.

Mas infelizmente, o jogo se desenvolve mal. Nessa LONGA trajetória, alguns dos pontos bons (ou que aparentavam) começam a definhar ao decorrer do caminho, como a gameplay simples acabar com a dificuldade e a diversão do jogo, utilizando desafios repetitivos ou muito fáceis (A parte da atmosfera bela que mencionei se mantém, no entanto).

E os pontos ruins vem a tona para tornar a experiência pior, onde, para mim, se destaca a narrativa, no mínimo, amadora que o jogo possui, que se torna ruim por ser um dos principais desenvolvimentos do jogo e por consumir boa parte da sua experiência com o jogo.

Olhando para esse jogo, o que eu sinto é pena, pois sinto que essa gloriosa capa que é vestida tinha um potencial enorme de revelar, um conteúdo magnifico por detrás dela, mas revela apenas um "mais do mesmo" (ou pelo menos trás esse sentimento).

Na verdade, não é apenas um mais do mesmo, é uma amarga mediocridade.

No fim, desejo o melhor para a desenvolvedora, eles tem um potencial enorme, e tiveram uma calorosa receptividade com o jogo, o que é justo ao trabalho que tiveram nesse jogo. Mas espero que eles não colham frutos ainda verdes, como foi, para mim, Sea of Stars.