The rare homage that’s about as good as the classics that inspired it.
Some will insist that the classics have some je ne sais quoi in the writing or the atmosphere or the worldbuilding that elevates them above this. I’m not entirely sure about that—the reactionaries may be right in some way. But I would bet that, for most people, this game will be significantly more enjoyable to pick up and play at this moment in time.
Combat is snappy, engaging, and just a bit puzzle-like. The combat and related systems such as progression are not as deep as some of the most complex JRPGs. However, there is quite a bit more going on here moment to moment in a battle than many SNES classics (and especially in one certain SNES classic which really inspired this one.) For one, you cannot simply select the strongest attack repeatedly. You have to strike a balance of physical attacks and magic attacks to create sparks of “live mana”which lie around on the ground and can be used as a resource to charge up your most effective attacks. In addition, a break system is in place. As enemies prepare an attack, a “lock” appears above their head indicating a string of elements they are currently weak to. The lock might be (fire, moon, moon) and then it will have a cast time number indicating how many turns it will take the enemy to cast. To break the lock and interrupt the incoming attack, you must hit the enemy with all those elements before the timer is out. This type of system has become popular in modern turn-based JRPGs and it adds something to the combat to be sure. One neat twist here: if you have no magic points left to spend on abilities that will break a lock, you can use the live mana laying around to enchant your physical attack on the fly. And there are tag team-style attacks called ‘combos’ (like tech attacks in that one game) and special moves (like limit breaks). These are tied to different meters. Attacks come in a kind of charging hierarchy— physical attacks make live mana which can power up magic attacks which builds the meter for combo attacks which can help build the meter for limit breaks. Then there are the dexterity and timing elements to the combat—you can guard against enemy attacks and power up your own by performing different dexterity based mini-games. And it all works pretty well and feels pretty smooth. This is not a grinders’ game though. The combat is engaging, but not designed to provide endless complexity and possibilities. The action is a very in the gameworld type of action with an overlay of some light puzzle solving.
When a game like this aims for depth that tends to lead deep into the menus. And then menus wind up being where the real action happens. I like making numbers go up through elaborate menu mastery as much as the next person, but that was clearly not the aim here. Builds are pretty simple with limited customization options. This minimizes the amount of menu diving required to do well. Overall, it’s all handled in a way that allows combat to be engaging enough to old hands of the genre while being accessible and intuitive for newcomers. Several of the mob enemy designs are so charming they could be turned into collectible plushies—which is clearly the true test of quality. And bosses have imposing and impressively drawn sprites and mechanically these fights put enough twists on the basic combat to make them feel like unique encounters.
Likewise, basic traversal is breezy yet beautiful. Typically playable characters in games like this are firmly planted on the ground. The simple addition of a few movement abilities makes the design of the areas a bit more vertical and opens up some possibilities. Your character can jump or climb up onto reachable edges and jump down from rooftops and other high places without fall damage. This makes for some entertaining(if pretty simple) path finding and exploration in the towns and dungeons. The towns have hidden(but not too hidden) paths that cross-cross all over them and lead to treasure chests and some peculiar npcs. The dungeons further complicate the basic traversal in a good way by introducing some novel mechanics. Again, there is a puzzle-like quality to the dungeons, but they are never punishing like you might imagine something called a dungeon would be. These are more like fungeons (forgive me) filled with plenty of funishment (that’s a technical term.)
The minigames, another staple of the genre, range from semi-amusing to truly regal.
Visually, it’s just a beautiful game. The art is consistently charming, sometimes striking. What I loved the most were the varied sprite animations for the different types of character movements. These make sheer traversal around the world surprisingly satisfying to watch. Basic movement animations are full of the little details that manage to help humanize the characters. This reminds me of how I felt about movement animations in games like the Prince of Persia and Ico. Individual enemies have a variety of different looks too. They have their casual unaggressive stroll, take up battle stance once encountered, then they’ll go wild when they charge up a special attack and look visibly fatigued when they are about to perish. All this is just a testament to how much effort the art team put into making the sprites in this world come alive.
The visuals surpass what was possible on during the golden age of JRPGs. The sound is, in my opinion, on par with the classics. The soundtrack is fitting and helps create the nostalgic atmosphere. But some of the sounds accompanying menu actions and the level up screen etc are as good as it gets. And we all know satisfying enchanting UI sounds are the true path into our hearts.
The story is YA genre fiction that tends towards the cheerful, enthusiastic, and inspirational. Some (realists, pessimists, and nihilists) might find the dialogue and party camaraderie cringeworthy—but, in my view, that’s historically on point for this type of game. One difference was that in the classic titles there was simply less dialogue. They probably had some sharp memory constraints to worry about. (The resulting brevity might be a virtue.) All the same, classic SNES RPGs from Square and Enix and so on were not particularly ‘adult’ or grimdark or elaborate. They were not afraid to be straightforward entertainments— whether the overall tone was melodramatic or silly or cute or quietly charming. Sometimes things took a darker turn, but, just as often, they wound up with an MGM ending. Rag-tag crews were assembled, bonds were built, numbers went up, and worlds were saved.
And doing it all again is a pretty good time.
This game is a tribute to what came before. It’s also one more testament that independent entries in this genre can still stand a chance.
Addendum:
Since release it seems like a select group of critics who are typically fans of the genre have been hellbent on demonstrating that Sea of Stars is a no good, terrible, very bad game. They focus on different perceived flaws. The pace of the opening and the quality of the narrative come up frequently. Valid to some extent, but depends on your taste. Commas and grammar have also been a highlighted for scrutiny. In the 90’s, JRPG fans often liked a game despite awkward writing. Things have changed since then I guess. I just personally don’t care too much about commas. The charming atmosphere makes up for some poor comma placement. When I think about it, I have never played a game because the text boxes display exceptionally correct comma placement—not even once. (And, by the way, all forms of prescriptive grammar are illegitimate. Any legitimacy they appear to have is an illusion.)
Some hate the music. De gustibus. Some find the combat “boring” and “shallow”. I suggest that those people go play one or two of the SNES RPGs that serve as key inspirations here. Then honestly compare the systems at work and the moment to moment decisions the player has to make.
Critics and JRPG connoisseurs are entitled to hate what they genuinely hate of course. But just try to have good time first—see how it goes. As a side note, I’m not too fond of the tendency to chalk others’ appreciation of this game up to naivety or because they are “not true fans of the genre” or because it was probably “baby’s first JRPG”. It’s a very convenient way to criticize something and it’s pretty alienating. Don’t we want people to like this sort of thing that we like? And if this is where people come in— why ridicule them for that?
I still largely stand by this review. Having finished the game now, I am not entirely sure how I feel about one pretty significant thing that happens towards the end—but that’s also like a thing that happens in some SNES games
Some will insist that the classics have some je ne sais quoi in the writing or the atmosphere or the worldbuilding that elevates them above this. I’m not entirely sure about that—the reactionaries may be right in some way. But I would bet that, for most people, this game will be significantly more enjoyable to pick up and play at this moment in time.
Combat is snappy, engaging, and just a bit puzzle-like. The combat and related systems such as progression are not as deep as some of the most complex JRPGs. However, there is quite a bit more going on here moment to moment in a battle than many SNES classics (and especially in one certain SNES classic which really inspired this one.) For one, you cannot simply select the strongest attack repeatedly. You have to strike a balance of physical attacks and magic attacks to create sparks of “live mana”which lie around on the ground and can be used as a resource to charge up your most effective attacks. In addition, a break system is in place. As enemies prepare an attack, a “lock” appears above their head indicating a string of elements they are currently weak to. The lock might be (fire, moon, moon) and then it will have a cast time number indicating how many turns it will take the enemy to cast. To break the lock and interrupt the incoming attack, you must hit the enemy with all those elements before the timer is out. This type of system has become popular in modern turn-based JRPGs and it adds something to the combat to be sure. One neat twist here: if you have no magic points left to spend on abilities that will break a lock, you can use the live mana laying around to enchant your physical attack on the fly. And there are tag team-style attacks called ‘combos’ (like tech attacks in that one game) and special moves (like limit breaks). These are tied to different meters. Attacks come in a kind of charging hierarchy— physical attacks make live mana which can power up magic attacks which builds the meter for combo attacks which can help build the meter for limit breaks. Then there are the dexterity and timing elements to the combat—you can guard against enemy attacks and power up your own by performing different dexterity based mini-games. And it all works pretty well and feels pretty smooth. This is not a grinders’ game though. The combat is engaging, but not designed to provide endless complexity and possibilities. The action is a very in the gameworld type of action with an overlay of some light puzzle solving.
When a game like this aims for depth that tends to lead deep into the menus. And then menus wind up being where the real action happens. I like making numbers go up through elaborate menu mastery as much as the next person, but that was clearly not the aim here. Builds are pretty simple with limited customization options. This minimizes the amount of menu diving required to do well. Overall, it’s all handled in a way that allows combat to be engaging enough to old hands of the genre while being accessible and intuitive for newcomers. Several of the mob enemy designs are so charming they could be turned into collectible plushies—which is clearly the true test of quality. And bosses have imposing and impressively drawn sprites and mechanically these fights put enough twists on the basic combat to make them feel like unique encounters.
Likewise, basic traversal is breezy yet beautiful. Typically playable characters in games like this are firmly planted on the ground. The simple addition of a few movement abilities makes the design of the areas a bit more vertical and opens up some possibilities. Your character can jump or climb up onto reachable edges and jump down from rooftops and other high places without fall damage. This makes for some entertaining(if pretty simple) path finding and exploration in the towns and dungeons. The towns have hidden(but not too hidden) paths that cross-cross all over them and lead to treasure chests and some peculiar npcs. The dungeons further complicate the basic traversal in a good way by introducing some novel mechanics. Again, there is a puzzle-like quality to the dungeons, but they are never punishing like you might imagine something called a dungeon would be. These are more like fungeons (forgive me) filled with plenty of funishment (that’s a technical term.)
The minigames, another staple of the genre, range from semi-amusing to truly regal.
Visually, it’s just a beautiful game. The art is consistently charming, sometimes striking. What I loved the most were the varied sprite animations for the different types of character movements. These make sheer traversal around the world surprisingly satisfying to watch. Basic movement animations are full of the little details that manage to help humanize the characters. This reminds me of how I felt about movement animations in games like the Prince of Persia and Ico. Individual enemies have a variety of different looks too. They have their casual unaggressive stroll, take up battle stance once encountered, then they’ll go wild when they charge up a special attack and look visibly fatigued when they are about to perish. All this is just a testament to how much effort the art team put into making the sprites in this world come alive.
The visuals surpass what was possible on during the golden age of JRPGs. The sound is, in my opinion, on par with the classics. The soundtrack is fitting and helps create the nostalgic atmosphere. But some of the sounds accompanying menu actions and the level up screen etc are as good as it gets. And we all know satisfying enchanting UI sounds are the true path into our hearts.
The story is YA genre fiction that tends towards the cheerful, enthusiastic, and inspirational. Some (realists, pessimists, and nihilists) might find the dialogue and party camaraderie cringeworthy—but, in my view, that’s historically on point for this type of game. One difference was that in the classic titles there was simply less dialogue. They probably had some sharp memory constraints to worry about. (The resulting brevity might be a virtue.) All the same, classic SNES RPGs from Square and Enix and so on were not particularly ‘adult’ or grimdark or elaborate. They were not afraid to be straightforward entertainments— whether the overall tone was melodramatic or silly or cute or quietly charming. Sometimes things took a darker turn, but, just as often, they wound up with an MGM ending. Rag-tag crews were assembled, bonds were built, numbers went up, and worlds were saved.
And doing it all again is a pretty good time.
This game is a tribute to what came before. It’s also one more testament that independent entries in this genre can still stand a chance.
Addendum:
Since release it seems like a select group of critics who are typically fans of the genre have been hellbent on demonstrating that Sea of Stars is a no good, terrible, very bad game. They focus on different perceived flaws. The pace of the opening and the quality of the narrative come up frequently. Valid to some extent, but depends on your taste. Commas and grammar have also been a highlighted for scrutiny. In the 90’s, JRPG fans often liked a game despite awkward writing. Things have changed since then I guess. I just personally don’t care too much about commas. The charming atmosphere makes up for some poor comma placement. When I think about it, I have never played a game because the text boxes display exceptionally correct comma placement—not even once. (And, by the way, all forms of prescriptive grammar are illegitimate. Any legitimacy they appear to have is an illusion.)
Some hate the music. De gustibus. Some find the combat “boring” and “shallow”. I suggest that those people go play one or two of the SNES RPGs that serve as key inspirations here. Then honestly compare the systems at work and the moment to moment decisions the player has to make.
Critics and JRPG connoisseurs are entitled to hate what they genuinely hate of course. But just try to have good time first—see how it goes. As a side note, I’m not too fond of the tendency to chalk others’ appreciation of this game up to naivety or because they are “not true fans of the genre” or because it was probably “baby’s first JRPG”. It’s a very convenient way to criticize something and it’s pretty alienating. Don’t we want people to like this sort of thing that we like? And if this is where people come in— why ridicule them for that?
I still largely stand by this review. Having finished the game now, I am not entirely sure how I feel about one pretty significant thing that happens towards the end—but that’s also like a thing that happens in some SNES games