Have you played...? Sea of Stars

Feb 1, 2025

Sea of Stars title screen — Title screen

After getting this as a gift from a cousin on Christmas of 2023 (so more than a year ago 😬), I’ve finally decided to play it. There was a lot of buzz and hype for this game, so I was excited to try it.

In a nutshell, Sea of Stars is a traditional turn-based JRPG with heavy inspiration from the SNES classics, especially Chrono Trigger (I’ll probably cite CT many more times throughout this post 😬). It’s a love letter to these timeless classics, with modern mechanics and sensibilities.

Screenshot showing both protagonists gazing at a beautiful town scenery over a rock cliff — The scenery is breathtaking

The first thing you’ll notice is that this game is gorgeous! The art in this game, for sprites and especially for scenarios and environments, is fabulous. It uses high resolution 2D pixel art with a cartoonish style. It also mixes in a lot of lighting effects (like day and night cycles, light sources such as fireplaces, etc.) for atmosphere and gameplay purposes, and everything looks amazing overall.

In Sea of Stars, you take the role of Valere and Zale, two Children of the Solstice, born on the summer and winter solstices. They are bestowed with the powers of the sun and the moon and are raised and trained to be Solstice Warriors. Because of their powers, Solstice Warriors are the only ones that can fight against Dwellers, powerful monsters scattered around the world by the Fleshmancer, an ancient evil and powerful being.

Screenshot showing Valere and Zale walking on precarious ledges at the brink of a precipice — Valere and Zale walking on some dicey ledges

The story is not terribly new, but it’s told in an engaging way. There are some interesting plot twists and some high notes, and I even cried at some point. The two main characters are likable, but like many RPG main characters, they don’t have that much personality since they’re written so most people can relate to them. At least they’re not silent protagonists 😄 The other characters that join the party and NPCs around the world are more colorful and interesting. I like how the plot moves at a brisk pace and you never feel like the it’s dragging.

Screenshot showing a battle against common enemies — Battle against common enemies

Besides the story, battles are actually the main ingredient of any JRPG, and battles in Sea of Stars are really great. Just like in Chrono Trigger, there are no random encounters: all enemies are loitering around, minding their own business, and you only engage in battle if you bump into them. Battles are traditional turn based and not active time based like Chrono Trigger, but when attacking or using abilities there are timed inputs for additional effects, like in Mario RPG.

One interesting aspect is when enemies start casting spells or preparing abilities, you can “break” their preparation by attacking them with the right combination of weapons or elements. All these aspects make battles more engaging and fun than the regular menu-clicking of similar games. Boss battles deserve a special mention as they’re all very cool and climatic, some with huge sprites and interesting attacks.

Screenshot showing the party talking with the Elder Mist in full armor clothing, one of the first bosses — One of the first boss battles

There’s also a good focus on exploration. Differently from traditional RPGs like CT or Final Fantasy and more like action RPGs like Zelda, Valere and Zale are very nimble and can jump through small gaps and climb ledges. It’s a joy to move them around environments and to find new places and hidden things.

Screenshot showing the party in a mountain range behind waterfalls — This game is too beautiful

There are also many puzzles in the dungeons, but they never feel tedious or overwhelming - I really appreciated this modern approach and sensibility to game design. For example, there’s a water dungeon with changing water levels, but it isn’t nearly as convoluted as a certain water temple from Zelda Ocarina of Time. Speaking of modern sensibilities, I really liked how this game has some self awareness and at times pokes fun at itself and the RPG clichés that itself tries to avoid.

Screenshot showing the pirate Yolande talking about you usually buy linear equipment upgrades and how blacksmiths get more capable the farther north they live — I've always wondered about that too, Yolande

The game isn’t particularly hard - seasoned RPG players will have no problems finishing it - though I played using the standard difficulty setting. There a difficulty selection right at the beginning, and you can change it via “relics” in the main menu at any time. This is another modern touch and I really like when developers put these accessibility customizations so different kind of players can enjoy the game as they prefer or are able to.

Music is nice, very atmospheric, and very pleasant, but I didn’t find it too memorable. For instance, I have a lot of music from Chrono Trigger ingrained in my mind (that might be nostalgia too for sure), but I can’t remember tunes from Sea of Stars right now, and it’s been less than a week since I finished it. It might not be a fair comparison since I’ve probably played much more CT in the past than I played this 🙂 One cool point is that Yasunori Mitsuda, the legendary main composer for Chrono Trigger, made some of the tracks, which is amazing.

Screenshot showing the world map in Sleeper Island — The world map is just as gorgeous as cities and dungeons

As for negative points, I already mentioned the main characters are kind of bland. The story has some ups and downs, and there were some loose ends that I had to use suspension of disbelief to ignore. I also found the ending kind of anti-climatic. Then I played some more and found the true ending, and I was a little more satisfied, although I think it could still have been more climatic and grandiose.

I played Sea of Stars with an open mind and heart, trying to not let my nostalgic feelings cloud my judgement, and just dove into the adventure. I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it did spark, in a small scale, the same sense of wonderment that my young self enjoyed when I played games like Chrono Trigger and Phantasy Star during my early days.

In conclusion, Sea of Stars is definitely a labor of love and a homage to the great RPGs of the 16 bit era, but it doesn’t simply run on nostalgia. It adds it’s own flavor and personality to the formula, and it’s definitely worth playing. I give it a 8.5/10: it’s a fun and beautiful game with competent storytelling.

I want more!

A free DLC, Throes of the Watchmaker ⤴ should be released on the first half of this year, so it was timely that I played Sea of Stars now. I’m also very curious to play The Messenger (Steam link) ⤴, Sabotage studio’s first big hit from 2018 which actually happens chronologically after Sea of Stars.