Sea of Stars Review: A Loving Tribute (Switch)

Sea of Stars has modernized what the magic of old school JRPGs were able to capture. To this day, fans speak of Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, and Final Fantasy VI as some of the greatest JRPGs ever. And yet, no game has been able to recapture those games’ in terms of story, music, and gameplay for the modern day. That is, until Sea of Stars. An indie game from the creators of The Messenger that raised over $1.2 million on Kickstarter, shocking developers by the amount of support. But the support came because fans knew that this game was special. And special it is.

Sea of Stars is available now on PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One & Series, Steam, and Nintendo Switch for $34.99 USD, with a demo as well on all platforms.

Story – The Moon and Sun

Starting Sea of Stars for the first time introduces the main characters, Zale and Valere, who are Solstice Warriors trainees undergoing the final trial of their long training to be fully fledged. We then go back in time to introduce them as children with their best friend, Garl, who they are separated from in order to focus on their lessons to become Solstice Warriors. After watching them unfold from small kids to powerful warriors, they set off on an adventure to save the world. It sounds fairly basic and very similar to the usual JRPG story tropes. But, as the story unfolds more along with meeting new characters, the amount of twists and turns makes this story extremely unique.

Exploring Sea of Stars’ world never brings away from the game. Every location feels amazing to traverse.

Every character you meet is made memorable by witty dialogue and banter between the cast. Each side quest offered was engaging, even if it was a simple fetch quest. Navigating the world and speaking to every character never feels like a drag, as every location stands out from the others. Along with this, speaking with characters rewards the player with hints about treasure and valuable items. Also, nothing feels urgent, which allows for quests to be completed at your leisure. Sea of Stars is asking for you to complete it, as every quest you feel obligated to complete because of the characters behind them. And with games that nowadays are throwing side quests left and right to the point of overwhelming, it is a welcome feeling.

Gameplay – A Chrono Crossover

If one part of Sea of Stars had to feel exactly like Chrono Trigger, it is the gameplay. Traversal around the world and combat both draw heavy inspiration from it, along with other similar games like Final Fantasy. This does not mean that it is a knockoff of the original, just a modern take on the classic games, which gamers have been thirsty for. Traveling around and exploring dungeons is fairly straightforward, with Zelda-like puzzles that get more complicated over time. These puzzles are all great, with some really working the brain. 

The visuals and music are what keep you moving through the world. This comes along with a good run speed to quickly traverse around and find secrets. And there are plenty of secrets and collectibles to be found, with many well-hidden that require items found later on. This makes the player want to revisit previous areas, and in the endgame when you are flying on your airship like Cid in Final Fantasy VII, that becomes an easy task. You unlock plenty of abilities and items to traverse faster, including a grappling hook, which opens up the world even more. And if you ever need a break from it all, there is a whole separate board game, similar to Gwent’s implementation in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Also, there is plenty of fishing.

Combat takes the best parts of classic JRPG titles and puts them together in a modernized system.

Combat – The Best of the Best

The combat of Sea of Stars draws plenty of inspiration from many classic titles. The defense system of Super Mario RPG of blocking at the right time at the press of a button. Or the combo system between party members from Chrono Trigger. And the “lock” system that is extremely similar to Octopath Traveler. There are, of course, unique parts of the combat as well. Every basic attack restores MP, along with dropping power balls on the floor. Any character on their turn can absorb up to three of these to unleash a powerful attack or cast stronger spells. 

The lock system of Sea of Stars makes every combat encounter a puzzle to figure out the best strategy.

The lock system in Sea of Stars makes every fight feel like a puzzle. Each enemy will sometimes hold a weakness above their head, and you must attack with that element to make the enemy miss their turn. For example, an enemy might have a sun and sword weakness for two turns. Attacking with Zale while powered up will trigger both weaknesses at once, making the enemy miss their turn for that round. This system gets more complicated over time, making every fight more difficult but entertaining. And with turn-based combat, you can take your time to figure out the best strategy to each encounter.

The issue is that after a while, most fights feel the exact same. Once you master the combat early on, it doesn’t change too much over time. This can turn some combat encounters into a mash fest, but the boss fights and puzzling combat encounters make up for those.

The level up system pays tribute to the classic Paper Mario titles, allowing a choice of bonus stats in a specific category.

Audio and Visuals – A Musical Masterpiece

Just listen to the battle music. The soundtrack by Eric W. Brown brings every zone in Sea of Stars to life, if the beautiful graphics don’t already do that. Whether you’re falling down waterfalls or exploring dark caves, each location’s music adds to the atmosphere that speaks to where you are. Exploring the port town of Brisk with the cheerful soundscape, or traveling through the mines of the Stonemasons with the eerie music, every location is more unique because of the music.

The lighting is specifically beautiful and makes the game feel like a modernized SNES title.

The visuals are a beautiful homage to the game’s inspiration of classic SNES titles such as Chrono Trigger. It lands in a sweet spot between modern HD-2D graphics like Octopath Traveler and the old-school 16-bit. There are also beautiful animated cutscenes that make the game feel modern and are always a welcome moment. And every destination in Sea of Stars stands out by itself, with no same location feeling the same. The world is extremely vast, with many islands to travel to and explore, leaving plenty to do. Also, the UI is very straightforward, with equipping new items made simple so as to not take away from the experience. The customization does become lackluster because of this, however.

Sea of Stars was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch.