I haven't been here in quite some time. Between work, a child, and just overall life, I have wanted to keep gaming to myself for a while. But, I was recently persuaded, thank you YouTube channel The Completionist, to check out Sea of Stars. Sea of Stars is a retro turn based JRPG inspired by the classics like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 7-8. Inspired, in my opinion, is an understatement. Sea of Stars is the embodiment of classic games but absolutely has its own flavor. The art style is gorgeous and the story, although having some cringe dialogue from time to time, is fantastic. The setting is your typical fantasy setting with people who can do magic and people who cannot. These beings join together on a crazy adventure to defeat monsters within the world. Sound familiar? Of course it is, that's every single action adventure RPG in a nutshell. But I believe that is Sea of Stars strength. It takes it's typical elements and makes it their own. The pixel art is beautiful and in terms of movement, I don't think I've ever seen a game like this have the verticality Sea of Stars has. There are tons of places to explore in what appears to be a linear map. Do not be fooled. You can go up, down, and all around finding treasure and new NPCs to interact with. Each character is actually interesting to talk to and flow quite nicely into the overall plot of the story. Unlike some JRPGs the menu is not as intimidating. Octopath Traveler 2 is a phenomenal turn based JRPG. But the game is crazy long and has a very large equipment menu with tons of things to mix and match. For some this is no issue, for me it is the reason I'm still chipping away at it and have not finished it. Sea of Stars, however, only runs you about 25-30 hours and has a very user-friendly menu where you can give your character items and equip them with everything you find in the world. Combat is my absolute favorite of any JRPG. When running around the world, your enemies also display on the map. If you interact with them, the game seamlessly transitions into its turn based combat. No black screen or flashing lights surprising you into a fight you did not want to be in. You can avoid enemies altogether if you wish to proceed to your next location. You can even sneak up on enemies and get first strike. While in combat you have a mix of skills, combos, attacks, and special abilities. While in combat, the game keeps you engaged. Allowing you to block attacks for less HP damage, or add an additional strike when attacking all at a perfectly timed button press. Sea of Stars is a breath of fresh air, and the best feature of the ENTIRE game…..you can play it on all consoles and PC. I am currently running it on my Steam Deck and it feels as of it was made for this game. If you have a Nintendo Switch, I feel that is the perfect platform to enjoy this experience. Sea of Stars is a relaxing, yet, challenging experience that brings a new take on the JRPG genre while simultaneously feeling nostalgic to the old games of the '90s. This post is less a review of the entire game in detail and more of an up front description of why you should give this Indie game a look. Hell at $35.00 U.S. Dollars, you can't beat a solid 30 hours of solid gameplay. I highly recommend you try this game, and pass on the love of you enjoyed it. I would love to see this studio bring more games like this with new ideas to add to the genre. Til next time, cheers.
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