Valerius’ Videogame Review: Sea of Stars

Sea of Stars: starting out with a bang!

This old monkey has always had a soft spot for classic JRPGs, with Chrono Trigger and the Suikoden series being at the top of the list as all-time favourites. Imagine then my delight when I was able to try the demo of Sea of Stars, an indie project on Kickstarter that managed to raise over 1,6 million dollars over the 130,000 dollar goal. The project was indeed much loved by fans, and the game creators at Sabotage Studio responded to that love by thanking every single one of the 25,589 backers with a dedicated plaque or statue in the game, which everyone can visit. As I was saying, I played the demo and was very positively impressed, the game played nicely and had that intangible feeling of nostalgia and adventure associated with the old games I remembered so fondly. Somehow I felt I was home again. I decided then and there that I would play the game the very moment it would be released!

Play as the Children of Solstice and save the world!

The world that this story is set in is threatened by very powerful creatures called Dwellers. The only power in the world capable of destroying a Dweller is embodied by the Solstice Warriors, special people born on a solstice and gifted with the power of either the Sun or the Moon. The heroes of the story are the lunar Warrior Valere and the solar Warrior Zale, who we follow from their early days in training with their closest and faithful friend Garl (who is, incidentally, probably the most endearing character since Samwise Gamgee). The story progresses with some predictable turns and some unexpected twists, and more than a few nods to the classics. Sea of Stars is not very long (I managed to complete it in less than a week) but is quite intense, and not overly drawn out like some other games.

Everyone can play Sea of Stars (and they should)

Sea of Stars was released in August 2023 on almost any gaming system: PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Series X|S. Additionally, it was included in both the PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue and the Xbox Game Pass on Day One, allowing thousands of players to experience the whole adventure at no extra cost. Yet, despite it being basically free for so many people, it still sold over 250,000 copies in the first week and has now been played by more than 5 million people. At the time of writing, Sea of Stars is still present in both libraries, so if you haven’t played it yet… what are you waiting for?

Retro feeling, modern features

Sea of Stars manages to be a modern game and convey an old-style feeling at the same time. The graphics are a gorgeous pixel art, but the movement is mapped in 3D, allowing characters to climb to higher places, swim, jump down and perform many actions not usually associated with classic JRPGs.
Combat is strictly turn-based, with the ability to switch active members with no penalty, but a rhythm mechanic is included which allows players to increase their damage output and reduce damage received. In addition, enemies often prepare powerful attacks that can be cancelled by hitting them with specific attacks before the time runs out, providing a certain level of strategy to even the most basic fights. It takes some skill to progress, but overall this is not a difficult game and I mostly enjoyed the story. But you can tweak the difficulty by activating relics that provide all sorts of effects, so every kind of player can enjoy Sea of Stars according to their taste.
Old gamers like me will feel right at home with the music score, too, thanks to several tracks written by legendary composer Yasunori Mitsuda, of Chrono Trigger and Xenosaga fame!

Sometimes simplicity is best

While Sea of Stars received very favourable reviews overall, there has also been some criticism regarding the lack of innovation and shallow character development. This old monkey believes that such criticism is not really appropriate for a game like Sea of Stars, with its focus on the homage of classics. It reminds me of a time when things were simpler, the bad guys were bad and the good guys were good, friendship and love were the most powerful forces in existence, and not every character had deep childhood trauma and internal conflicts. Sometimes a simple, straightforward story is the best we can hope for.

Accolades and awards

Sea of Stars won several videogame awards, like Best Independent Game at the Game Awards 2023, and was nominated as Best Role-Playing Game and Ultimate Game of the Year. Me, I award it 9 bananas out of 10, just because there is ALWAYS room for improvement!