Sea of Stars Review

I had to return and play a bit of of Chrono Set off simply to ensure my eyes weren’t deceiving me concerning the apparent similarities between that basic RPG and Sea of Stars. This brand-new but old-school sport doesn’t current almost as a lot time-hopping or world-traveling as its clearest inspiration, however its seafaring journey nonetheless has loads of twists and turns that replenish a stable 30 hours of linear spelunking. Wealthy and infrequently humorous character-driven tales wrap up with shocking twists that give weight to the story and supply a motive for its visually wild and mechanically fascinating boss fights. On the similar time, there’s simply not that a lot depth to its fight choices, and its 16-bit graphics usually fulfill nostalgic cravings moderately than inspiring shock and awe over again.

By its identify alone, Sea of Stars might instantly sound like a generic knockoff of its forebears. The opening scenes current a narrative about two decently written albeit often overly talkative teenage protagonists who set off to avoid wasting the world by skipping over to a neighboring island to kill off the massive unhealthy as soon as and for all. Luckily, saving the world isn’t so easy, and the story’s true kind begins to take form earlier than too lengthy. The brilliance of that is what number of instances it twists and turns in a very sudden course earlier than the true ending, and I’m happy by the way it unfolds right into a story concerning the significance of every particular person.

It conveys the story competently, with out frontloading an excessive amount of exposition after letting you unfastened inside its first hour or so. I’m impressed by the way it introduces its villains, magic, and the stakes of its world organically, and if you wish to know extra you possibly can merely return to camp and communicate to the touring bard to listen to them recount the tales concerning the world and its denizens that befell there.

Communicate to the touring bard to listen to them recount the tales that befell there.

Talking of development, Sea of Stars excels in its degree design. This map is break up up into islands which can be navigated in an overworld that connects completely different zones with no fight between them, very like within the basic Chrono Set off. However when you get right into a zone, there are sometimes tons of fight encounters and puzzles that replenish the area between bigger story moments and boss battles. You get to combat a large world-eating kraken, and a robotic queen that transforms into a large handgun! And most of them really feel like a well-balanced problem moderately than one thing you must grind to beat.

There’s an admirable quantity of selection as effectively. One significantly cool zone had me tumbling down a collection of cascading waterfalls adorned by beautiful crops and flowers, whereas one other had me exploring a clockwork citadel and teaming up with its immortal residents to face an enormous boss. All of it did a improbable job of sucking me in and never letting go, very like the RPGs that impressed it.

The puzzles are easy however typically require an honest quantity of thought. There are some difficult block-pushing puzzles and a few that require you to recollect a sure sequence of triggers to erect platforms in a sure order so you possibly can climb as much as the subsequent doorway. Sea of Stars additionally makes nice use of day and evening mechanics, typically requiring you to shift the time of day with the shoulder buttons to shine daylight or moonlight on particular nodes that unlock components of the map.

It’s cool that this world’s NPCs reply to your actions and your rising energy as literal superheroes, and it’s nifty to ultimately acquire the power to fly – that allows you to transfer across the overworld and end up quests with out the hindrance of returning to your ship. Sure, Sea of Stars has a ship, however you gained’t spend an excessive amount of time crusing round because it largely simply serves to attach main factors of curiosity between story occasions. The world’s most fascinating facet areas, resembling the various Solstice Shrines dotting the map, solely turn out to be obtainable to go to when you unlock flight.

I am particularly impressed by how the protagonists’ solstice warrior powers are represented in fight.

However I’m particularly impressed by how the protagonists’ solstice warrior powers are represented in fight. Zale is a blade dancer attuned to the fireplace magic of the solar, whereas Valere is a lunar monk attuned to the ice magic of the moon. Whereas going through a number of of the marketing campaign’s greatest bosses and their minions, they’re typically the one two occasion members able to dealing harm with their fundamental assaults and spells. This annoyed me at first, however because the marketing campaign went on I started to grasp its pivotal lock-pattern mechanic. Battles are absolutely turn-based, however enemies liven issues up by telegraphing their upcoming assaults in patterns that may be damaged with assaults of particular sorts. For example, you possibly can interrupt an enemy powering up a spell by hitting them thrice with hearth assaults, breaking their focus, and staggering them till their subsequent transfer.

Afterward, these patterns develop extra advanced and require a mixture of assaults out of your teammates, and it’s fascinating how the opposite obtainable occasion members contribute to those fights even with out the identical harm output. This typically lends their distinctive combating types to group combos that may inflict a number of varieties of harm and break sure locks after the combo bar is powered up via common assaults. This momentum is helped alongside by fundamental assaults that restore MP and might doubtlessly launch bubbles of stay mana that your lively occasion member can soak up so as to add efficiency to the subsequent transfer.

Every occasion member additionally will get their very own distinctive final transfer which capabilities equally to summons in a Remaining Fantasy sport; exhibiting a cool cinematic earlier than dealing an enormous quantity of injury. They’re not as exploitable, although, since they depend on their very own gauge that builds up over the course of battles.

Sea of Stars’ fight system would not get a lot deeper than that.

It’s nice you could have an effect on the circulation of fight by urgent a button to crucial hit, crucial heal, or block an incoming assault because it lands. I discovered it satisfying that the majority later battles required me to hit these boosts persistently with a view to really feel truthful. Nevertheless it took some time to get the dangle of as a result of their response window is frustratingly brief, and with out utilizing a particular relic that shoots a flare every time you land a lift, it’s not at all times clear precisely if you’re supposed to reply. That’s particularly onerous to pin down when every animation has a unique level of impression. For example, one character jumps round earlier than touchdown their strike on an enemy, and it’s straightforward to faucet too quickly or too late until you memorize this complete factor. Even so, it’s nonetheless extraordinarily satisfying to drag off sure strikes that require you to react to those finicky home windows.

Total although, I’m disenchanted Sea of Stars’ fight system doesn’t get a lot deeper than that. With solely six potential teammates to play with – and just a few expertise and combos whole – I discovered myself operating via the identical methods again and again by the top. Usually, probably the most enjoyable a part of development was getting higher at exact timing. The marketing campaign wraps up simply earlier than the restricted fight choices overstay their welcome, however I’d have favored a number of extra spells or combos per character to grasp.

In its favor, there’s loads of robust nostalgia vibes right here. I grew up taking part in the 16-bit SNES, GBA, and PS1 classics – primarily, the great previous days of RPGs –  and Sea of Stars hits all the suitable notes to make me lengthy for these good previous instances. Its zones are various and colourful, that includes emotive soundtracks composed by none apart from Yasunori Mitsuda and Rainbowdragoneyes. The previous produced the soundtracks for Chrono Set off and Xenogears – to call a number of – and his distinctive model brings again recollections of these previous video games. Every space exudes a singular character, due to catchy tunes that masterfully seize their essence.

Every part about Sea of Stars’ feel and look is clear and approachable, and every of its menus is straightforward to navigate. Even its facet quests are straightforward to complete when you method the endgame, due to a handy map that tells you which of them areas nonetheless have extra issues to do and discover. Save factors and campfires are scattered liberally, and it was nice to by no means have to fret about autosaves – they’re positioned precisely the place you want them: earlier than robust fights.

It’s neat you could simply return to your camp from the overworld or from any campfire, the place you possibly can communicate to key characters and craft meals for the subsequent journey. I additionally favored the truth that therapeutic gadgets take the type of meals moderately than generic potions. Cooking elements are straightforward to search out, and there’s an actual profit to discovering new recipes and taking the time to mess around with Sea of Stars’ competent fishing system with a view to maintain your pantry stocked – significantly as a result of every merchandise has a unique impact, resembling therapeutic the entire occasion’s mana or reviving a single teammate. Since you possibly can solely carry 10 meals gadgets directly, it does add an additional layer of consideration when selecting which gadgets to hold in your loadout, but it surely by no means feels unbalanced.

I solely want there have been extra methods to customise my occasion’s playstyle, given that every character solely has a number of items of kit obtainable to them. Distinctive equipment are sparse, and people we now have lack a lot oomph. This implies there’s even much less customization than there’s in Remaining Fantasy 16, and that may make the RPG components of Sea of Stars really feel weaker for anyone who doesn’t discover themselves invested within the story.