Sea of Stars Review – JUST SHORT OF LEGENDARY

It’s finally here, folks. Those who’ve been longing for an amalgam of Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG and legacy Final Fantasy games certainly won’t want to miss out on Sea of Stars. Sabotage Studio’s previous work, The Messenger was a Ninja Gaiden-inspired title that was met with near-universal acclaim. But instead of going down the same 2D side-scroller route, Sea of Stars is positioning itself as a turn-based prequel to their debut offering—and it is stunning.

Betwixt and Between

Many JRPGs tend to swamp players with systems upon systems worth of mechanics that can often be overlooked by those who aren’t ultra-hardcore gamers. Whereas Sea of Stars keeps things simple by basing most of its actions on pressing A/X at just the right moment to mitigate/increase damage and make it feel like more of a real-time affair. It’s pretty hype once you start figuring out the exact enemy attack timings to barely survive an assault, or tap right when your weapon hits an opponent for a handy follow-up strike.

Those who have played any of the Octopath Traveler games will be quite familiar with the Break & Boost system, as Sea of Stars has opted for a very similar approach. Any time the player chooses a normal, unaltered attack, the enemy will drop magical orbs for anyone in the party to collect on the next turn. These orbs can then be drawn in and stacked up to 3 times in one turn, bolstering the next action significantly.

It’s wise to draw them in for a clutch heal or devastating combo attack, as they can mix different elements like poison or blunt damage that can possibly disable (break) an enemy’s incoming action. Since foes almost always have a visible turn countdown and elemental ‘lock’ to smash on their heads when channelling a strong attack or spell, this opens up a whole range of tactical opportunities to break and boost at vital moments.

Ironing Out the Edges

I’ve been playing JRPGs for the longest time now, and if there are two pet peeves that I’m sure many of us share, it would have to be intrusive random battles and a constant nose to the grindstone. Thankfully, Sea of Stars has completely kicked both of these redundant aspects to the curb.

Since players can see upcoming opponents in the distance (and creep up on them to grab extra magical orbs at the start of a fight) they can easily plan out their heals or whether they choose to partake in an upcoming bout. But what’s great about Sea of Stars is that it actively encourages battle participation but doesn’t outright demand engaging in repetitive, mindless encounters to keep up with a boss, for instance.

The difficulty of the game is balanced extremely well. However, if it’s becoming a tad too challenging at points, there are Relics players can switch on for extra health, automatic healing between encounters to help level the playing field and visual indicators that confirm whether a timed button press was successful.

Are You Not Entertained?

As players are traversing around Sea of Stars’ varied level designs; climbing, swimming and solving puzzles like an old-school Zelda game (Hookshot included) they’ll be treated to a gorgeous pixel-art style that retro fans will eat up like merch at an anime convention. There are just SO many awesome-looking locales the party will visit during the game’s 30-hour journey, and the game doesn’t cut or wipe away whenever the party approaches the start of a battle. It’s virtually seamless… except for when you’re moving between the level map and world map, as it takes about 10-15 seconds on Nintendo Switch to load, unfortunately.

On a more positive note, you can’t have a great JRPG without a fishing and card-based minigame. Am I right? Throw in some cooking to create nifty items that help in a pinch, and you’ve got the genuine JRPG trifecta right there. Industry legend, Yasunori Mitsuda has even jumped on to produce some truly mesmerising music for the game too, but the rest of the OST does feel a little hit-and-miss.

The same goes for the story. Lead protagonists, Zale and Valere’s story of taking down the enigmatic Fleshmancer doesn’t quite reach the same heights as other esteemed JRPGs. Some scenes feel very heavy, yet have this sweet balance of levity. Whereas another might focus too much on superfluous fluff that doesn’t really pay off in the end. Like Chekhov’s Gun states, every element of a story must be necessary, or at least pay off in some way. In Sea of Stars’ case though, it definitely fumbles on the trigger at times, pun intended.

Decision

Combining all the best parts of modern and classical turn-based elements like a break and boost system, timed hits for extra damage or defence and seamless battle transitions with no random encounters or grinding required, Sea of Stars knows exactly how to keep its audience engaged. While the story and music don’t quite match up in terms of quality, this epic journey is chock-full of memorable moments. From the cheerful cast of characters and stunning pixel-art, right down to its fishing and card-based minigames, this game demands your attention.

By Anthony Culinas – Reviewed on Nintendo Switch

Excellent

Sea of Stars is a powerhouse of a JRPG. Featuring a terrific turn-based battle system, eye-popping pixel-art, a colourful cast of characters and engaging exploration mechanics, this prequel to 2018’s The Messenger is more than worth the 30-hour time investment.

This game was reviewed using a download code provided by Sabotage Studio. The Beta Network uses affiliate partnerships, however, this does not influence reviews or any other content published. The Beta Network may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links that are on the website.