Let’s discover together, in this dedicated review, what are the strengths and weaknesses of Sea of Stars, the latest effort by Sabotage Studio created to demonstrate how those who claim that turn-based JRPGs are dead are wrong: if Chained Echoes hadn’t been enough…
We at Sea of Stars had already completely fallen in love when, after a Nintendo Direct, Sabotage Studio published a demo (here you can find our first impressions that emerged from it). We at Sea of Stars had already completely fallen in love when, in playing the handful of hours made available, we were faced with a colourful, varied and multifaceted world, but which at the same time implied much more: much more that we absolutely wanted you to know. We at Sea of Stars continually fell in love with playing it for all the thirty hours it took us to complete it, not 100%, and to finally be able to bring you this review.
The Great Archives | Review Sea of Stars
Sea of Stars was born to demonstrate that all those who think that “Final Fantasy is over, JRPGs are over” are very wrong. Together with Chained Echoes, the Sabotage Studios title, recently arrived on PC, PS5 and Nintendo Switch, good-naturedly demonstrates that genres evolve, overturn and are reborn in ways that we couldn’t even imagine just a few years ago. These rebirths are not always successful, this is true, and we often fall into the derivative, the already seen and, unfortunately, the recycled. Well, know right away (if you hadn’t already understood from our initial enthusiasm) that Sea of Stars does not fall into these last examples, on the contrary.
Zale and Valere are two children of the solstice, he in summer, she in winter, as well as our protagonists in the long adventure that awaits us once Sea of Stars has started. The game will allow you at the beginning to choose to play one of the two, but little will vary in terms of naked narration. He is Sun, she is Moon: the two warriors were born to carry out the Magic of the Eclipse, the only force that, in the history of the game world, is capable of definitively defeating the evil that threatens their peaceful life.
Those Fish Are Bitin’ | Review Sea of Stars
Accompanying them on this long journey (just enough, then we’ll delve deeper into this aspect) is their lifelong friend Garl, an expert cook and a great tank, able to withstand the most ferocious attacks thanks to his faithful shield. The narrative of Sea of Stars proceeds without major twists (or at least nothing too sensational), in a light way, but never banal or stereotyped. The characters all work, from the protagonists to the supporting characters, passing through to the merely secondary ones who perhaps have three lines of dialogue in thirty hours.
What we have noticed is, paradoxically, a greater attention to the characterization of the supporting characters, who appear to be almost more multifaceted and complex than the protagonists, placed there as simple spotless and fearless heroes typical of JRPGs. At the end of the day, however, Sea of Stars remains a narratively enjoyable title to follow, with some touching moments and many other fun and sagacious ones. A campaign that perhaps lasts a little short, given the standards of the genre, and which you will be able to complete in just under thirty hours, without skipping even many optional tasks. However, we find it to be in line with the standard of the game, which undoubtedly remains an independent production.
The Frozen Peak | Review Sea of Stars
The beating heart of Sabotage Studio’s entire production is, definitely, the gameplay. We find ourselves faced, for the sake of all those who loudly requested it (and who then perhaps, magically, don’t even try Sea of Stars even though it’s free via PlayStation Plus) with a turn-based combat system. With a party made up of three characters, interchangeable even during battle, we will be able to bring about the death of our enemies through the use of magical and physical attacks, and a mixture of the two.
Specifically, to recover MP and unleash our best skills on our opponents, we will have to use support objects (which can be created through Garl’s kitchen and can be equipped for a maximum of ten units) or, simply, hit enemies with physical attacks. The same physical attacks that will generate Mana spheres, which you can recall using the appropriate button to channel magic into your next physical attack, or enhance the magical one. Everything is seasoned with spectacular Combo attacks that the characters can learn through collectibles during the adventure and which can inflict huge damage on the opponent or help the party recover their strength.
Golden Elegance | Review Sea of Stars
In all of this, Sea of Stars certainly doesn’t leave you idle during a fight. In fact, if you press the action button at the right time, you can enhance the physical attack of your active character or, if you are on defense, reduce the damage inflicted by the enemy for that specific attack. The gamer’s need to act during combat does not stop here: for example, one of the skills we used the most with Valere is the Moonerang, an attack that allows the protagonist’s weapon to be thrown numerous times against the enemies, many times as many as we will be able to correctly pace with the animation frames of the weapon itself.
Another great component of Sabotage Studio’s production is exploration. We’ll tell you without mincing words: exploring in Sea of Stars is damn fun and a good backtracking component that leads you to rediscover the areas from other points of view. You will be able to acquire numerous skills, during the game, which you can reuse in already explored maps to find hidden treasures and new paths, such as the grappling hook or the possibility of move boulders with the wind. This, together with the ability for our protagonists to jump, climb and scale walls, as well as make great leaps into the void and swim, makes the exploration of Sea of Stars damn fun, satisfying and, nevertheless, primary.
Detritus Born | Review Sea of Stars
In Sea of Stars you won’t need to grind to level up your characters or upgrade yourself, considering that the difficulty level is below average even in the toughest battles. All you need to do is pay attention during the battles and you will be able to complete them without any kind of problem. In case you are not accustomed to JRPGs or have problems understanding the timing of the battles, which as we have said are of fundamental importance for doing more damage or receiving less damage, you can always activate the various options that reduce the difficulty in the appropriate menu .
Also present two minigames that significantly increase the hours spent playing Sea of Stars. The first is the fishing, which is inextricably linked to a basic mechanic of the game, namely cooking. As mentioned, Garl is an expert chef and at every bonfire he will be able to cook delicious dishes for us, if we have the correct ingredients available. Ingredients that we can find around the world or, precisely, by fishing them. The second minigame is Wheelswhich we can access in every Sea of Stars inn and whose mechanics, perhaps, we will explain in more detail in a specific article.
Hills of Determination | Review Sea of Stars
We had the opportunity to try Sea of Stars on both PS5 and Nintendo Switch and we must say that we did not notice any major differences between the two builds. Needless to say, however, the rocky frame rate on the Sony host console set at 60fps in any contingency it is very useful during battles, in which pressing the action button in rhythm with what is happening on the screen (to chain together attacks or defend oneself) is extremely useful. This does not mean that the Switch version is any less valid, however, and indeed boasts a portability which in a title like this is truly a source of pride.
Aesthetically speaking, Sabotage Studio’s title is delightful, with a finely crafted pixel art and a truly sensational game world. In particular we appreciated the character models, detailed to the point of exhaustion, so much so that we were able to capture fine expressions and animations. An aesthetic rendering that we have hardly seen in titles of this kind (and with budgets of this kind…) in recent years. The rendering given by the color palette is also excellent, different for each setting and for each emotional “moment” of the plot.
The audio sector is also excellent, with tracks that are spot on in each situation. It’s a shame that the title doesn’t have any Italian adaptationnot even in the texts, but we assure you that the average level required to fully enjoy the narrative tends towards the low.
Stars align on the Assembly Line
We conclude this review of Sea of Stars with the desire for more titles like these. Although it is true that on the narrative front we were not faced with anything particularly new and compelling, what Sea of Stars does damn well is entertain the player and involve him in every process, decision-making and merely combative one. Leave aside the knowledge that the turn-based JRPG genre is over: it’s not. You just need to know how to look, even in other places other than Japan.
Sea of Stars is currently available on PC, PS5 and Nintendo Switch. Let us know what you think of the title below in the comments, we will continue to keep you updated with all the news, guides and reviews on gaming and tech themes! And if you want to buy Sea of Stars at a decidedly advantageous price, we recommend you take a look at the offer available on InstantGaming!
Points in favor
- Functional narrative…
- Fun and engaging gameplay, in every sense
- Functional exploration with Metroidvania elements
- Wonderful aesthetics
Points against
- …but pretty basic
- The protagonists could have been explored more