Review: Sea of Stars believes in the power of friendship and Super Nintendo

Image: Sea of Stars / Sabotage Studio

There’s a weird vibe with games like Sea of Stars. It’s a subtle sense of arrogance I don’t think is warranted or earned.

While games like this are often loud homages to classic RPGs like Chrono Trigger, there’s an implication that games of that ilk aren’t around anymore, and these projects are here to fill the void.

It’s not really true, and that rubs me the wrong way. It’s mostly a marketing thing though, and a lot of modern, old-school-inspired RPGs are quite good!

There’s a lot to be said about consequences and personal responsibility when it comes to defying social order, and those are some of Sea of Stars’ most compelling and emotionally strong moments.

Sea of Stars, from Sabotage Studio, takes its breakout hit The Messenger, and molds that world to fit a dramatic genre shift. The connections between the two games are novel and interesting, but you don’t need to play The Messenger at all from a narrative standpoint.

Taking inspiration from all-timers such as Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG, Sea of Stars uses its nods as a springboard into doing its own thing. It’s a little on the shallow side but has a lot of heart and a central cast of characters whose relationship is strong enough to hold the rest up pretty high.

Image: Sea of Stars / Sabotage Studio

The premise is fairly simple. There’s a world-threatening evil that’s been around for generations, and there's only one way to fight it off.

Solstice Warriors, people who are born with the powers of the sun and moon, have little choice but to give their lives up to intense training and constant mortal danger. The Fleshmancer and their creations can only be harmed by these powers, and even then it’s not an easy fight.

Sea of Stars begins with the few remaining members of the order, and a couple of new trainees who may be the world’s last chance.

There are a few themes at play here. Obviously, we’re looking at questions of duty and free will.

But, we also see the other side of that, which is people on the margins, unable to fight the big fight, figuring out what they can do with their own power.

These ideas intersect in compelling ways, often driven by the friendship between protagonists Valere and Zale (the Solstice Warriors), and their pal Garl (a normal human).

Image: Sea of Stars / Sabotage Studio

Early on we see how harsh the difference is, and the friends are separated for a decade of training. But when it’s time to start doing the work, Garl finds his way back to the group.

There’s a lot to be said about consequences and personal responsibility when it comes to defying social order, and those are some of Sea of Stars’ most compelling and emotionally strong moments. The “A Plot” is often far less interesting, with a lot of leaning on colorful mythology that doesn’t do a lot to add depth to the broader conflict.

The game goes hard on my least favorite RPG trope, feuding godlike beings I’m supposed to care about for no reason. I’m sorry, but you have to give me a great reason to feel bad for sad aristocrats.

There are plenty of great reasons to play Sea of Stars, though! Not only are the primary characters given time to grow and bond with each other organically, but the bright and colorful visuals paired with a truly impressive emphasis on lighting make the world burst with life from the screen.

Combat, which is quite blatantly inspired by Super Mario RPG, is also a lot of fun to engage with. For the most part.

Image: Sea of Stars / Sabotage Studio

One problem I have with Sea of Stars is the “lock” system. In theory, it’s a cool gimmick.

When an enemy is preparing a special attack, you’ll see a bunch of locks appear above them, with different elemental symbols. If you break all the symbols before the turn timer runs out, you prevent that enemy from acting entirely.

Or, if you only break a few, there’s a damage reduction. This can be really satisfying when it works, but I feel like there’s something off with the way the locks are rolled.

It can be fun to plan out the order of attacks based on how these smaller systems crash into each other.

There are a ton of different configurations possible, with several types of damage across multiple party members. And to the game’s credit, when you have more characters than the three-party slots you have, you can freely swap without penalty.

And between a combo system feeding off a building meter and a boost system that lets you add magic properties to normal attacks, there are a lot of ways to access these properties. It can be fun to plan out the order of attacks based on how these smaller systems crash into each other.

Image: Sea of Stars / Sabotage Studio

However, there were many times throughout the game in which locks popped up that were impossible to break. I don’t mean hard to set up for; I mean straight-up impossible.

Sometimes the locks would ask for more hits than possible on the first turn, or a combination of types that’s unreachable without a built-up combo meter, or sometimes asking for type combos you simply don’t have available. It’s like the RNG is so “R” that sometimes the dice just decide you’re gonna eat damage.

But when you’re given a tool, and that tool can often drop in a way that’s functionally unusable, it’s frustrating and awkward.

Now, Sea of Stars is not a difficult game, and there are many ways (such as “Relics” you can purchase and toggle on/off) to sand down any roadblocks you run into. Even the timed hits that give you extra damage or defense are presented as bonuses, with the game going out of its way to insist you can get by without them. But when you’re given a tool, and that tool can often drop in a way that’s functionally unusable, it’s frustrating and awkward.

Luckily, there’s also zero expectation to grind. You can get through the game with no problem as long as you reasonably engage in combat as it comes.

And there’s a smartly designed EXP curve that sees you leveling up pretty regularly despite the escalating numbers. Much like many Uncharted-style navigation gimmicks that aren’t really puzzles, there’s a lot to the RPG systems in Sea of Stars that are present as fun elements to play with rather than obstacles.

Image: Sea of Stars / Sabotage Studio

Puzzles are present too of course, but they’re often simple and not meant to twist your brain into knots. Sometimes there’s a puzzle that poorly communicates itself which can be annoying, but there’s a real lack of friction in general.

Sea of Stars wants to take elements from beloved, classic RPGs and use them to stimulate vibes more than antagonize the player. I get the intent, but I think it contributes to that feeling of shallowness I mentioned at the top.

Much like many Uncharted-style navigation gimmicks that aren’t really puzzles, there’s a lot to the RPG systems in Sea of Stars that are present as fun elements to play with rather than obstacles.

Sea of Stars hits a lot of notes with ease, not only wearing its inspirations on its sleeve (and hiring them; they got Mitsuda on the score!) but leveraging them to try new things. For the most part, this game is a standout indie RPG with a level of style, polish, and storytelling that makes it stand out in the crowd.

Much like Chained Echoes last year, Sea of Stars shows that Kickstarter is still a platform that can produce bangers in niche spaces. We can go ahead and stop doing the metahumor thing though, please and thank you.

Sea of Stars Score: 8

Pros:

• Lots of heart and earnest character relationships that easily push the story forward

• Top-shelf visuals, music composition, and level design make the world a joy to experience

Cons:

• The “bigger picture” story is more style than substance

• Limited fast travel makes backtracking a slog

• Lock system can be aggravating

Sea of Stars is available on August 29, 2023, for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. A review copy for PS4/5 was provided by the publisher for this review.