Had a few hours with the game and here are my thoughts:
I found Sea of Stars and Chained Echoes pretty much at the same time, excited about their graphics and music, the charm of old roleplaying games with a fresh coat of paint, count me in, I said. Both indie and both brave enough to venture avenues that the industry is afraid of.
I tried Chained Echoes first. It had so much promise but the lack of character variety was first thing to poke my eye, slow and uninteresting combat system the second. It also fealt very much like an indie game with huge labyrinthian maps that the big rpg boys ditched a long time ago. This is not the review for CE though but these two games share similar problems, thus the quick summary.
Next I tried Sea of Stars, loving he graphics even more, great sounds, felt snappy to play but the story struggles to get going, struggles to feel interesting and the gameplay of the first 5ish hours have been of a corridor runner with turn-based combat. Just like in the case CE, Sea of Stars ddidn't manage to hook me up, it gave me two generic heroes in-training, throws in one more 'cos even heroes need a friend, and sets you off. Game sure is pretty to look at but the dialogue just doesn't flow. "Whoa, there's a door! Where might it take us? Let's find out." And then you find out.
As I'm more of a gameplay first guy the combat could've saved a lot but unfortunately it didn't. You choose attack, skill, combo or item, all pretty self-explanatory. Skills have some sort of prompt to juggle a projectile or time a fireball but nothing very surprising. You can add to damage by pressing X during a basic attack or defend against an attack with the same logic. Combat was no pushover but not very interesting either. Leveling and upgrading and gearing characters felt tied to the exploration and story, which made it feel a tad hollow.
My issue is that while Sea of Stars does nothing poorly it does nothing interesting either. If you're into stories then this might be somewhat generic and shallow ride. If instead it's meaty combat and character building that you're after then you might also be let down.
I would suggest both of these games for someone who playes rpgs inclusively and enjoys them so much that even a mediocre title deserves to played through at least once. For others I would suggest you to try Chrono Trigger instead, that's the title which inspired both of these.
