Sea of Stars: Sunset Edition

This game is like Chrono Trigger was combined with the Mario & Luigi games. For most of the time playing I felt rather conflicted as I enjoyed the visuals and the world that was built up around it. But the parts that I disliked grew more prominent with each passing hour. - One of the worst stories I have seen in a game, bad enough to make me angry with how the ending was handled. - Plot twists occur with zero foreshadowing only to then immediately move on - Subpar characters that try to seem deeper than they actually are. - There is a certain character the game glazes and treats like a saint, they are never in the wrong and everything goes right for them. The biggest contrivences in the plot are because of them. - Almost zero variety in the combat system as every character only gets 3 skills, you will be using skills most since they don't take an eternity to charge. - Ok at best music - You move like a snail on the overworld - There is no way to escape battles - The wheels minigame is entirely RNG, sometimes you will instantly lose because the game says so. There are also 10 of them, get used to losing for no reason. By halfway I was mixed on the game, by the end I was angry. Avoid the headaches and do not get this, no pretty graphics make up for the downsides.

I can't. I tried. You can't have an RPG with such appalling writing. It really sucks because you can see that a lot of work was put in other areas of this game. The pixel work is phenomenal, probably one of the best I've seen. The music is fantastic, too. Did you know that they got Yasunori Mitsuda of Chrono Trigger fame to compose some ditties for this game? Wow! You know who else they should've hired? A semi-decent writer. Not even necessarily one with a resume like Yasunori's, no. Just someone who understands dialogue and is fluent enough in English. That would really tie the whole package together. As it stands, this game is like a brick wall where they used peanut butter instead of mortar.

How does a game nail the visuals but completely miss on the combat and story? It's a 40 hour game with literally the same combat from the tutorial until the end. Also whoever wrote Garl as a character should never work as a writer again.

This game is as shallow and lacking in characterization as it is beautiful. Like a siren calling to you from a rock in the sea it promises to give you the same depth in gameplay as Golden Sun and same quality of story as Chrono Tigger of old. When you take a closer look you instead find an incredibly mediocre and cookie-cutter story with flat characters that could only hold up in a tv show for children aged 4-6 and gameplay that will make you bored enough to tear your hair out. I really wish it was different because the visuals are stunning, but looks are not everything...

All in all this game was a disappointment. First lets start with the good things. [list] [*]The fighting mechanics, the combos and such are really fun and deserve lots of praise. [*]Graphic/World design is, even though 2.5D games are getting somewhat boring, very nice and pretty. [*]Sound design and music are also top tier [*]The bonus missions or storys for the playable characters were short and fun. [/list] However the bad aspects of this game... [list] [*]The story might be one of the worst I have ever seen in a serious JRPG. It wasn't just one thing but a combination of the further points that made it boring, cringe and often just plain up bad. [*]I really disliked the characters, both the main protagonists as well as the NPCs [list] [*]Valere and Zale are boring 2 dimensional characters whos personality doesn't matter and could easily be replaced [*]Garl was nothing but annoying and the biggest downside of the game. Without him I maybe could have lived with the bad conversations and storytelling but with him it downgraded everything. [spoiler] The time during which he died was honestly the best in the game as he didn't annoy you while playing [/spoiler] [*] [spoiler] Serai was a decent character but nothing special. The hidden identity thing with her as a pirate would have been cool if it wasn't made so cringe the entire game with permanent walking off screen and switching, as well as the moment when it was revealed and they made made it anti climactic with a "hehe yeah we kinda knew all along lol". Also her background story would have been actually cool if it didn't feel so much like a Chrono Trigger ripoff [/spoiler] [*] [spoiler] Resh'an would have been an insanely cool character if the game actualy did something with him. Mysterious librarian from an ancient time with an arch enemy? Cool! Let's just condense the backstory to a boring cutscene and make him act like an above smart person most of the game that randomly leaves. [/spoiler] [*] [spoiler] I honestly almost forgot B'st existed. He is the most unnecessary character in the game. Comes super late, his backstory was kinda cool but short, basically no impact and like Serai, too much Chrono Trigger ripoff [/spoiler] [/list] The issues continue with the NPCs, who are just not that interesting. [list] [*]The pirate crew was boring and unfunny [*]The antagonists were lack luster. Just underlings you had to fight without much story and they messed up not adding a good story to their leader. Still, he might be one of the best written characters in the game, but still lack luster. [*][spoiler] The other Solstice warriors were also replaceable. Headmaster got betrayed and now works as your mayor. The guy betrays you and then just vanishes (good story telling). Maybe they will do smth with him in a dlc? Erlina was decent but still, pre evil she was uninteresting and even after the game did nothing but add her for "shock value" that your guardian became corrupted, evil and now wants to end you [/spoiler] [*]All other NPCs are again just not memorable. They have their small moments but all in all if you replaced them with something different the game would loose nothing. I like Teaks tho. Even tho shes kinda useless and only there as a story teller, shes cute and nice. [/list] [*]Characters permanently unnecessarily break the 4th wall to a level that ruins the immersion. [*]The humor felt very off and safe, or in other words boring and annoying. Like they were trying really hard to be funny but also to not offend anyone. Think millennial white Office/HR lady humor. [*]Most of the time I felt like I was comparing the game to other JRPGs, which is natural. However, this game copied so many things from other games that it became annoying. Especially Chrono Trigger, I felt like I was playing a worse fan version of the game. There are many other "references" to other games too though. [*]The backtracking to collect all the chests and sea shells for the "True ending" was just a annoying hassle and almost made me not do it. [*]One of the most annoying things was at the end though. The Dragon and bread. Whoever thought of this idea should have been fired and I'm not exaggerating. I have never seen something so bad or unnecessary in a game. Sure it's the "Look everyone is getting together and helping each other how cute" part at the end of a game but there were so many other options that would have been better... [/list] There are more smaller things that bothered me but all in all, I cannot recommend the game for anyone who wants well written characters and a fun, engaging and entertaining story. Which is sad since performance and gameplay wise, the game is genuinely great and fun. If it weren't for that, I would have quit the game early around the spooky island arc. TLDR: Gameplay, mechanics and design are great. Everything related to story and characters, which is more important in a JRPG-like game, is bad. I wouldn't buy it again

[h1]A Few Combos Short of Greatness[/h1] First of all, I'll just say it straight out: I enjoyed it, a lot. That includes the DLC, which definitely ups the combat challenge by a decent amount. In hindsight, though, the game really took me for a ride. My enjoyment started out neutral, climbed during the early game, then dropped hard around the midpoint as I grew increasingly frustrated with the timing mechanics. Once I finally mastered it - or at least became as accustomed to the combat as I could, my enjoyment shot back up and stayed there until the end. The presentation certainly helped. The pixel art is great, the OST is decent, there's no need for grinding, and the various QoL features, especially those related to difficulty adjustment, were much appreciated. There are also quite a few references to classic JRPGs that I appreciated. That doesn't mean I don't have issues with the game, however. Some are relatively minor, such as multi-fire locks having no real counter outside of Soonrang, which is unfortunately a Combo move that consumes two bars every time it's used. Another annoyance is the inability to run from encounters. By the endgame, when you're mostly cleaning up remaining content, some item or relic that allowed escaping from fights would have gone a long way toward reducing frustration. My biggest complaint, however, is the story. Sea of Stars suffers a ton from being a prequel to an existing narrative. Almost none of the sentient antagonists ever truly face consequences for their actions. The heroes defeat them, sure, but as most of them suffer from a severe case of "you-can't-kill-me-I'm-in-the-sequel" syndrome, never permanently. Their inevitable escapes felt extremely uncathartic, especially since I never finished The Messenger. In the end, I'd call Sea of Stars a very good game, just not a great one. Though I'll admit many of my criticisms, particularly those regarding the story, are highly subjective. Nonetheless, despite my misgivings, I still ended up enjoying it quite a bit. And it gets an easy recommendation if you enjoy JRPGs.

Usually I don’t really write reviews, but this game is special. As a full time working dad my time is very limited. However, this game reignited the love that I felt for games in a period where time was available in abundance, and your time was respected by developers. Furthermore, it reminds me of a time where the world seemed more simple, and devs still cared about their art before shareholders and marketeers dictated the course of development of a game. The game embraces old school jrpg vibes whilst it does not take itself too seriously. The characters are light hearted but serious when required during certain phases of story telling. I find them engaging and above all courageous. The overall story is quite simple but that is certainly not a bad thing, it’s well put together. The combat system is simple but in depth enough to keep me hooked. The lock system is a clever way to ensure each class has its role to play and the combo system is great too. Therefore, each class does feel impactful in its own way. The game is not difficult but it allows you to adjust the difficulty by enabling certain items with can enable or disable specific effects. Graphically the game is charming and playful. The world is wonderfully put together. Each zone is different with its own vibe. Especially the effects on certain spells or attacks during combat can look quite impressive. I did not finish the game yet but I can tell the devs put a lot of love and effort into this game. Especially the free DLC tells you that they care about their art and audience. If you have time in abundance, or like me where time suddenly becomes more valuable than gold, this game is certainly worth a try. Especially when Sea of Stars is on sale and these type of games are your cup of tea, don’t think twice and support these great devs and get ready to be sucked into some old school gaming vibes

Let me start with the good. The gameplay is different compared to most other turn-based JRPGs, the character designs are great, and the world is designed beautifully too. When I first started playing and was going through everything I was invested and the story seemed interesting and cool. About half-way through though that was when it started losing me. The story got a bit weird and the new location it takes you to was unexpected but it couldn't keep me hooked. I put the game off and didn't play it for months because it felt like a drag to try to play. I came back and finished it though so spoilers ahead as I go into the bad, before that though. I will say this, if you like JRPGs and want to give this a try when it's heavily on sale like it is at the time of writing this then try it. Waste the 20 something hours it will probably take to finish the game but the game is an ok game, it's nothing spectacular but after finishing it, it ain't worth it in my opinion. Now for the bad. The story is horrific, when you go into the later half of the story which I believe starts when you go to Seraii's world it becomes a jumbled mess in my opinion, yes there is still the main point of what you're trying to achieve but I don't really like the whole "there's other worlds other than ours and we must fight and liberate them" because that was the only reason of going to Seraii's world in my opinion. There was no reason for the Fleshmancer's palace to be there, it could've stayed in the first world. They could have kept it as yes this is a fantasy world but there is technology that shows up every now and then, kind of like in some of the old FF games. On top of that there is one character I despise for the fact that he just seemed annoying and that was Garl; at first he didn't seem like a horrible character but as the game went on it was like he just had the most random plot armor for no reason and I felt like half the dialogue that was in the game before he died was literally just all him, he talked to much. My final gripe with the game is the ending, the whole game is you trying to stop the Fleshmancer and his abomination that he's trying to bring to end the world. You would think that the final boss would be the Fleshmancer himself since you stop the abomination before you go to Saraii's world. In the normal ending you don't. You fight the lady that used to be a solstice warrior instead while the Fleshmancer just screws off to wherever and at the end of the fight he comes back and goes with the good alchemist through a portal. No dialogue to hint at why nothing. He just walks through a portal with the other dude with no context or clues as to why he went with him so willingly, nothing. I was so pissed off about that, as soon as credits were done I uninstalled the game. I'm not going to try to 100% it nor am I going to try the DLC. I looked it up and yes there is a "true" or "secret" ending you get by 100% the base game but the ending does not change, instead yes you do actually fight the Fleshmancer but what happens after stays the exact same. It's not worth it in my opinion and that is why this game will not be recommended by me.

Fantastic visuals and sounds. Combat stars out alright but gets monotonous after a while. There was actually a lot I liked about this game, and would recommend it if not for the writing. It is rare for me to play a game with characters that I really dislike. Usually if I think the writing is this bad, I just uninstall right away. However, the other parts of the game was clearly made with such love that I harboured a hope that I just needed to get to the next plot beat, and it would finally be good. Just move a little further, and the writers will lock in, give us some good scenes that actually makes me care even the slightest about these people, and then keep on trodding along at a mediocre pace, carried by all the other aspects of the game. And for all I know, that might still happened. Maybe 10 hours is the magic number, or 20. But I put 6 hours of my life into this game, and the characters were somehow getting even worse. I'm out.

I like this game but Garl is really pissing me off. He leaves no room for character development due to him constantly interfering in conversations. Otherwise, this game has a pretty artstyle and really good music. Combat gets a bit stale sometimes. Luckily new side characters bring new skills, damage types and combos to the table.