Good Game Design - Sea of Stars

[@g.rathbone764]

“They did a study on it at the university of my eyeballs” had me cackling

[@SabotageQc]

Thank you! ❤

[@Cyclone3603]

No way it's the guys! Holy smokes I'm such a big fan! Can't wait to play Dawn of Equinox!

[@b2air1921]

I went into Sea of Stars completely blind, not realising it was made by the same people that made The Messenger. When I heard the Autumn Hills Theme playing I jumped out of my seat! I love this game so much

[@kuchenjaeger2164]

I knew they were the same devs, but I still assumed that "the island" was just supposed to be a reference. Then all the other stuff happened.

[@gavinmack7076]

did u notice the glacier mountain soundtrack to the messenger one? it was the spot where i just went "NO WAY"

[@b2air1921]

@@gavinmack7076 How could I not? The glacier mountain track is a certified BANGER!

[@VileLasagna]

Pretty interesting to hear such a thoroughly positive review when my other contact with Sea of Stars was someone that is of the opinion that while the game does look and sound absolutely breathtaking, the characters and narrative are half-baked at best and the whole thing to them felt tremendously disappointing (and y'know, they do back their opinions pretty well, at least from the perspective of someone who hasn't played it)

[@wizawhat]

This game sent me down the Sabotage Studios rabbit hole last year and I could not have been more happy about it. These games are special and I will always admire how ambitious AND polished they treat their work. I've had some time to think about why their approach to world building has been met with a lot of criticism, but I can't think of anyone else doing things quite like they are and I can't wait to see where things go in the future. Also gimme Wheels on my phone it's the only game I'd ever want to play on a mobile device

[@Terranigma23]

Play Chained Echoes ahah 😁

[@wizawhat]

@@Terranigma23 I'll be completely honest. Any time someone sees me talking about Sea of Stars and tries to get me to play Chained Echoes instead with this clearly smug tone pushes me further and further away from ever trying it. I'm sure the Chained Echoes dev really appreciates the constant comparison!

[@Terranigma23]

@@wizawhat I can understand.

[@Tronk_]

You know, I always was a little "eh" on wheels as a minigame, but if they fleshed it out into a more complex mobile game, that could honestly be great!

[@wizawhat]

@@Tronk_ I actually loved how simple it was. Generally I don't ever find myself drawn to the "game within a game" type of side mode that is common in RPGs, like blitzball, triple triad, etc. I actually only gave Wheels a chance when I realized it was needed for 100% completion, but then I fell in love with it. To me it's just the right amount of simple and that's why I feel like it would be a perfect mobile game - something to pick up in short bursts while I'm waiting for something else.

[@MarioGMan25]

I just love that speech in The Messenger from the Solstice Warriors finally giving the context to what they meant by love. Their love of humanity.

[@keen96]

I was somewhat let down by the characters and narrative but man, the whole package was just so amazingly put together. The puzzles had perfect pacing, navigation felt almost like a platformer (unsurprising), and the boss themes were all insane bangers. I wish it also had excelled in the story department considering that's the strongest point of the genre it pays service to but I had a great time with it.

[@egg_l0rd13]

Agreed! I absolutely loved the experience of playing this game but was left a little empty after finishing it. I think the story and characters lacking substance compared to everything else is what led to that feeling. I almost felt tricked for getting invested in the story if that makes sense.

[@thenonexistinghero]

What puzzles? There's quite literally no puzzles until a few optional postgame ones. And no navigation doesn't feel like a platformer at all. You just run and then sometimes press a button to progress or do something. It's very automated.

[@armogohma2]

​@@thenonexistingheroNot literally at all. Several levels are all about the puzzles, like Resh'an's Tower or Glacial Peak, and most levels have at least one or two.

[@thenonexistinghero]

@@armogohma2 Those are so bad and simple that it's an insult to intelligence to call them puzzles.

[@wangledteb5671]

@@egg_l0rd13 hey not trying to spoil anything but just to make sure- after you beat the last boss initially did you go back and try to complete all the sidequests and stuff? Cuz I also felt rly left down the first time I beat it but there is more stuff you can get afterwards that (at least for me) felt way more satisfying and emotionally resonant. (I haven't actually gotten 100% though, I still have one achievement left to do. I will do it someday lol)

[@Breezeezee]

I totally agree with everything you said in the video, sea of stars comes so close to perfection in so many areas! What really lets me down about the game is not just "the story", because I think the game has a lot of interesting plot beats. The issue is the characters themselves. The main characters don't really have any flaws and very rarely make mistakes, they barely have any agency and their dialogue is almost always uninteresting This means when they have moments of "growth" like Valere learning to create paths on water, there's nothing that prompts the ability, she just kinda does it because that's what's needed right now It just leaves the characters feeling... Two dimensional 😂

[@egg_l0rd13]

I absolutely agree! I love this game but the characters really felt like a letdown (except Garl I like Garl). There’s just such a lack of real interest in how the characters feel and develop that feels so unnatural to me. Like, the game hardly ever interrogates who Zale and Valere as people and it frustrates me. Same with Resh’an, Seraï, and B’st. They all have the outlines of characters, but we never really know the full extent of their personalities and how they feel about the situations they’re in.

[@AudibleShrug]

I'm literally playing this right now, absolutely phenomenal game so far

[@williamhebert8862]

The fact Sabotage studio made an ENTIRE Quebec French version is amazing to me. It's quite literally the first time I get to enjoy a game in a way that is uniquely familiar to me. They deserve their success.

[@number1granolahfan889]

Probably one my favorite parts of the game was how it set up so many of the elements of The Messenger, without bringing a major focus to it. Ex: the hints to the origins of the demon king, the preparing for a "great flood", and the creation of one of the members of the blue robes.

[@Prakuza]

100% agree with that opening. Sea of Stars felt like it was crafted for me specifically. It's the first game to scratch the itch from the Lunar series in like 20 years. Phenomenal experience I would suggest to any RPG fan, not just Retro and Retro-like fans.

[@BBSplat]

I wanted to love Sea of Stars. The art and music is just 11/10. The gameplay just didn't satisfy me though... the lock system seems neat at first, but about halfway through the game I realized it's just a sign telling you what to do every single turn. It was just: break the locks, or delay the lock timer until you could break them later. For every single battle. Some of the best encounters were actually the enemies, since when it wasn't just one enemy it actually wasn't possible to permanently lock them down. The one boss fight featuring 4 characters was actually probably my favorite in the game... since while using some of the difficulty modifiers, I actually had to strategize. But most of the bosses were just one huge enemy which you could prevent from doing any of it's actually harmful attacks by just breaking all the locks.

[@GoeTeeks]

I usually saw the locks as a method of hindering me from using the same simple strategy of use the best characters with their best techniques. I loved the way it works, and most of the time it's hard or even impossible to break all of the locks AND unleash powerful attacks at the right time. I thought it was a well designed system.

[@BBSplat]

@@GoeTeeks The issue only cropped up with the ability to delay lock timers. When I beat the final boss of the game I prevented it from using all but one lock attack the entire battle.

[@egg_l0rd13]

@@BBSplat This. I found the final boss pretty disappointing because you would consistently break the locks for most if not all of the battle. The most interesting fights were the ones where you had to strategize around breaking the locks of multiple enemies, choosing which ones to prioritize to avoid attacks you know will hurt a lot or ones you haven’t perfected the timing for yet. Some of my favorites in this category include [spoilers for anyone in this thread that cares] The Boss Slug and its Re-Fight Romaya The Four Acolytes Meduso The Triumvirate The Catalyst

[@TigeriPlaysGames]

this game drove me insane. in a good way, bad way, and every way in between.the combat system is peak, but the writing is just so AGONIZINGLY close to being good that it baffles me at how short it manages to fall and how little closure there manages to be.

[@GoeTeeks]

Well it is intended to be a part of a series of games, so the closure aspect may get resolved eventually.

[@egg_l0rd13]

@@GoeTeeks Tbh I understand that, but for me I just don’t care. I played Sea of Stars because I was interested in Sea of Stars, not the shared universe Sabotage Studios is setting up. That’s why me (and probably the commenter who originated this thread) are left unsatisfied by the game. I just wish Sea of Stars’ story felt more like a complete package on its own. (Saying this as someone who absolutely loved this game, I just wish it was a bit better in certain aspects, the story being one of the biggest ones for me)

[@GoeTeeks]

@@egg_l0rd13 I absolutely agree. I did mean to say that I lament it relies a little too much on its larger universe.

[@thenonexistinghero]

The writing's just awful. Outside of a strong start, just about all parts of the writing are just terrible and awful. And no the combat system isn't peak at all. Very repetitive battles, very inconsistent mechanics regarding 'correct' button presses often with awful placement. Such as your character going mostly off-screen during moves and the only way to time it is to correctly guess it. Or like those moves that go around all enemies, but the timing varies simple because your character decides in terrible places and it's random so they may stand in a different place as well. And once you get a few moves the combat never changes. You may swap out a member or use a new move every now and then, but for most part you'll still be using the exact same things endgame as you do like 20% through. Easily one of the worst turn-based JRPG's I've finished in recent years. This and also Chained Echoes I ended up hating quite a bit. I love turn-based JRPG's, but these were just something else. Well, at least Chained Echoes was somewhat good around the middle. Started off okayish, got good and then just couldn't keep it up in the final 1/3rd or so and just completely fell apart on all fronts. Sea of Stars though only had a strong start. Rest of the game was just meh. Nice visuals especially that one scene that basically sums up the title, but there was just so much bad. Only reason I finished it was because I hoped it would get better, but it never did. And the 'best friend' dude is one of my most hated videogame characters of all time (as bad as Gladiolus from FFXV).

[@Finnigan28]

Your comment felt like, "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve"

[@enr1ss14ngurl]

I love how everyone agrees that Garl is Bestest Boy of all! And the music! It sets the stage for everything, and even listening to certain tracks will bring me to tears! Sea of Stars hit every beat that I loved from the classic JRPGs of the SNes/PS eras. The fact that the story line has room to breathe with all the unanswered questions and the "cliffhanger" makes it even better, imo. Honestly, some of best ways to interact w/ a story like this is when fans make theories and speculative worldbuilding to explain it all (and even if you end up being proved *wrong* with the next game, wasn't it fun to come up with stuff in the meantime?) What do I want to see...? Anything that explains Resh'an and Aephorul's relationship more. I would *kill* for a visual novel (dare I say, dating sim?) of their past! The ARG (on Discord) is interesting, but isn't everyone's cup o' tea, and some of the things they hint at there would make for good games.

[@pedroscoponi4905]

I felt the same way, thank god I'm not the only one. Despite it's flaws, I loved the whole thing, top to bottom. It's exactly like you said, it felt as if it was made for me. And this is Sabotage's _second game,_ right!? I shudder to think what they'll cook if they get the chance to make their Hades. I hope these folks can stay afloat for the long run.

[@egg_l0rd13]

Absolutely! I think this game is very flawed, but I still loved it as a whole. I’ve definitely got my eye on Sabotage Studios now!

[@LamaQDOS]

I played two indie RPGs last year: Sea of Stars and Chained Echoes. Both were phenomenal; and even though I ultimately prefered Chained Echoes, I still love Sea of Stars and whet it did. Its graphics and music were amazing, but its characters were too flat and its combat system was based on reaction and not much on optimization, theorycrafting and planification. It is an exceptional homage to the likes of Chrono Trigger and the Mario RPGs, and I agree that it's a great indie game! I'll be looking forward to the future games of the studio.

[@jonaspledge]

I love that you covered this game, and loved it as much as I did! I just finished it about a month ago, and enjoyed every bit of this experience. I had heard some reviews about it, that were not so glowing, but I did not feel any of that. I would die for Garl too, as I am sure he would die for either of us in a heartbeat.

[@ripstick45]

Didn't actually know this game was a prequel to another! Had been recommended it by a sibling, and gifted it by a friend. Absolutely had a blast with my time and appreciated a lot of the small details they added! One mechanic I was personally a massive fan of was the relic system, since I love the freedom it gives the player to experiment with how they want to play.

[@TheKryce]

A simple thing that went a long way for me in Sea of Stars was the ability to switch characters in a fight with no downside at all. Felt like everyone was equally involved, no one just waiting on the sidelines!

[@KaiSchSp]

The Forbidden Cave is one of my favourite videogame tracks of the past few years. Ethereal, magical, powerful, just oozes with adventure.

[@andrewschirtzinger8019]

This game was such a well-rounded experience for me. While many people nitpick certain aspects of the game, the overall product was one so deeply enjoyable for me that I didn’t want game to end! I even completed all of the post game content and unlocked the true ending, something I’ve never done with a game before.

[@KyuubiNoKami]

The visual aspect of the game is breathtaking, literally 10/10. But unfortunately the characters, story and world just feel hollow. So much work and details just wasted on a mediocre story. I hope they learn from it and hire an amazing writer to match their visuals and music.

[@guilhermecardoso2365]

better combat too

[@legendaccount3247]

It's unfortunate too because The Messenger was brimming with personality and had great writing and yet for some reason Sea of Stars, which is in a genre that's *much* more story-focused, completely loses that

[@NA-jd6wy]

Agreed.

[@CitrusArchitect]

I don't think the story was that bad, I enjoyed the small twists throughout the game, and particularly Garl's story. I feel like if anything the least strong aspect of it was the main characters. If they had a little more personality and individuality I think people Wouldn'tbe as down on it. But we all have our own opinions, and the story certainly wasn't as impressive as the gameplay and art itself. Maybe the DLC will change your mind!

[@Zeragamba]

​@@CitrusArchitect DLC? Wait... what?

[@CupOhJoe]

Sea of Stars was such an absolute banger, and it's awesome to see you covering it! I loved The Messenger & Sea of Stars just absolutely knocked it out of the park. 2023 had a lot of great games, but this one absolutely took the cake for me! Heck I'd say the whole bakery! Also you mentioned you've started dabbling in pixelart! Do you plan on posting them up anywhere? Fellow pixel pusher here, so I'd love to see your journey! Either way, great work and thank you for covering one of my favorite games!

[@AtomToast]

I normally don't care for rpg's but after such a review and having loved the messenger I may actually pick this one up

[@maynardburger]

Certainly a lot of passion went into making this game, and it really does check a lot of boxes for what makes a good classic JRPG, but I cant say I wasn't somewhat disappointed by how basic much of the systems stuff was, and the lack of feeling of progression. Players really had very little choice in terms of how we played or built our characters or anything, and things like weapons/armor and whatnot were super limited. I also have some other niggles like the main characters being very generic and indistinct from each other personality-wise, and I actually thought the instrumentation for the music was a little too brash, even if the melodies and whatnot were nice. A very solid 8/10, but I was definitely hoping for more. It's a very traditional JRPG, but almost too much so in many ways.

[@schnader]

Absolutely adores everything this game had to offer. The story, combat, characters, music, level design, enemy design.. everything just felt right. Not a single thing felt annoying, out of place or whatsoever. This is simply such a well crafted game all-round, it's incredibly easy to recommend the game to anyone who's into turn-based RPGs. Can't wait to see what they're cookin' up for the DLC for this masterpiece.

[@Vulcanfaux]

I think my favorite thing was how easy it is was to traverse the environment. Once we got the rope dart moving around was just alot of fun. Combat is also pretty dang fun, one of my favorite game series is the mario and luigi games so having a small bit of that was nice. I can't wait to see what they do with that dlc they said they were making. Throes of the clock maker I think it was called.

[@FlowersOfMoss]

Word. This game was such a joy to play and it was clearly made with such love!

[@OliyTC]

ah a perfectly timed video for my current messenger/sea of stars brainrot session where I'm reading every fandom page for the games and replaying them speedrun style

[@AugustusFGraham]

Snoman, you should play Beeny. It’s a spiritual successor to Donkey Kong Country that only costs 99 cents. It only takes about a half hour to complete, but the music and atmosphere is really memorable.

[@Zero_de_Nova]

I agree!

[@MaxG628]

I really enjoyed this game until the final battle with the true ending. I just couldn’t get past the bullet hell segment, and I thought it was unfair since we hadn’t seen that gameplay anywhere before.

[@NotaWalrus1]

I've been critical of some aspects of SoS in the past, but any complaints I havrme are definitely not born from the absense of good shit, because the good shit abounds.

[@DarkenedAuras7653]

To bat for the writing, The conversation between Resh'An and Aephorul gave me STRONG Magneto talking to Professor X vibes. The two who are very, very old friends but diametrically opposed on something deeply foundational, but they still have immeasurable respect for each other. Somehow they got ALL of that in that together. And it's insane.

[@GoeTeeks]

The writing absolutely had a lot of hits. I would argue the plot is what felt a little flat. And Zale and Valere's characters are pretty flat when standing next to everyone else.

[@DarkenedAuras7653]

@@GoeTeeks That's true. It absolutely hit the vibes of a SNES JRPG but yeah, the main duo definitely suffered compared to Garl and the Cyborg ninja pirate

[@joeyjose727]

I think you’ve just sold me on this one! I wasn’t sure if I’d like it, and lol well maybe I won’t. But it looks pretty cool and I’m impressed with the level of detail here, and the music 👀

[@josuemerigo4506]

Very good art . met the main character artist at comic con that said they liked everything he kept putting out and he had a lot of artistic control . bought a dope Zelda print he had.

[@OwenOrNewo]

I loved the graphics, the combat and Garl but the story and the rest of the characters felt weak. The true ending in particular was sloppy and didn't really make sense imo. I wanted it to be over close to the end because the combat which I enjoyed before became dull because stall moves are overpowered (especially Reshan's super) and trivialised it. I think the game is fine but not derserving of the hype it recieved. To me 2023's goty rpg would be In Stars and Time. Kind of the opposite to SoS in that the graphics are fine (although the character pics are fantastic) and the gameplay is straightforward and repetitive but the writing and characters is phenomenal.

[@jurtheorc8117]

If Clash: Artifacts of Chaos counts as an action RPG i would nominate that one too as a really good 2023 RPG. It's a prequel to the Zeno Clash games, which already means the entire setting is something fairly colorful and special. Clash is a bit more popping with the colors and uses a unique crosshatching style shader. Anyway: Zenozoik is a gnarly place with monsters, mutants, freaks and aberrations-- for me, someone who loves monsters over more conventional pretty character designs (like in Oddworld), it really hits. And so does the writing for the characters, the atmosphere and the *music*. Can recommend looking up the second or third songs from the OST to get a feeling for it: The Boy Calls and Pseudo's Theme. Every sapient inhabitant is so unique from one another that the world never even speaks of real species or subspecies. Zenozoik has inspirations from animals, both normal ones and prehistoric, and medieval monster paintings such as the Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel and works of Hieronymus Bosch. Writing all around is simply... good. Well-written, well-performed. To give some examples: "I miss grandpa sometimes." "You shouldn't. The dead are gone. They don't matter." "If they don't matter, why do they make us sad?" "*sighs*... I don't know." (about ten or fifteen minutes later) "Pseudo... what happens when we die? Do we go somewhere?" "Where should we go? Zenozoik is all there is. Flesh to Dust, Breath to Wind. That's it." "Is that why the wind... sings?" "I... don't know." It doesn't carry over as well in text form, but part of the reason of why this sticks with me is A: The voices of the characters in question. B: In the second part, when Pseudo says "I... don't know" he says it in a more wondering and curious tone. Pseudo himself is an awesome character. Profoundly uncanny and ugly, an older guy, looks like an elongated hairy nipple or nail-less thumb using a carrot in a humanoid shape for a body. Dude has some sour parts to his personality, but doesn't hesitate to get out of there to get stuff done. He's not without his kindness and wisdom, nor without his sassy or even mean moments. Fighting is more like a 3D fighter/brawler/beat-em-up. You can find different martial arts styles and special attacks to assign to Pseudo, as well as figurines to upgrade individual styles and special attacks with. All of these styles have their own full unique moveset. Crab Stance, Slash Stance, Spear Stance, Boxing Stance, Crab Stance, etc. It's got its own bits of spice and there's not really anything like it out there. Closest thing i can think of would be God Hand, but Clash feels a bit more grounded. Thematically there's an interesting thing going on: The One Law. The only law in the land, which states that you can challenge an opponent to a short dice game before a physical altercation. You choose a titular artifact to "Bet", take turns rolling dice and placing value modifiers, and the winner gets to enforce the rule of their Artifact. Can be stuff like the opponent having to drink a poison that staggers them at random intervals, placing bait that attracts a wild predator into the fight, placing an arena of sticks and the first to get knocked out has to take a free hit with a club, turning the enemy into a Summon for a future fight, and some more. Bar three instances, you don't have to bother with this mechanic at all if you don't want to. A fun thing with the enemies: Hardly anybody really dies in the game. Which means that all the sapient characters you fight are the same ones from before, not just reskins or a character that looks the same. The Mercenaries specifically return all throughout the game, and at set points you can overhear them monologuing about why they do what they do, which gives more memorability to these determined schmucks. Hope this got you interested!

[@SilverChase_LoL]

This game looks and sounds stunning, the presentation is just masterful. I really appreciate the level design in the fields and dungeons, and just how great it feels to move around/explore in general. Secrets galore as well, and everything you find feels rewarding. I feel like the design doesn't get enough praise! Combat is also fantastic, I love me some action commands(wish more games did this). The soundtrack is phenomenal, cant praise it enough. I was also had the biggest giddy smile on my face through the entire middle section of the game(if you know you know). The only thing keeping it from being a true masterpiece for me is that I wish the 2 main characters got a little more attention/development, and that I felt like the last 3rd of the game could've been trimmed down significantly. It lost steam and dragged a bit toward the end for me, and I think being 25-30~ hours would've been perfect. I still love this game to death though, cant recommend it enough!

[@Geno746]

Im actually currently playing through the game right now. I dont really play many rpgs but ive been really enjoying it.

[@Fireboy8841]

I play turn based rpgs, but this is in my top 5 games of all time

[@DavidMalcolm]

Absolutely loved the game. There's some things that I would change were I to be the one designing the game. But overall there aren't a lot of turn based RPGs that capture the SNES days like this one does. I need to actually get around to playing the Messenger. I played the heck out of this game though.

[@wangledteb5671]

I loved this game so much!! Definitely my favourite game of last year (even more than TOTK which I also loved). I would die for Garl in a heartbeat lol also... "It reminded me a lot of the endgame quests for each character in Chrono Trigger" I'm pretty sure that was intentional bc the chapter when these become available actually has the same name as the chapter in Chrono Trigger where those become available xD I loved that reference tbh

[@Soncikuro]

My favorite aspect was the combat. It was just fun. Though I wish there were more multi-hit skills for the Sun element. Oh also, I really liked the Relics. Modifiers to the gameplay that can make it harder or easier or slightly different. I really liked how as the game progresses you can make the game even harder as you master it more. For me, thanks to it, I got a perfectly difficult challenge. I wish more games had the Relic system. My most disliked aspect though, was how abrupt the endings are. Also, it wasn't a problem for me, because I was a completionist about it with a little guide for them, but locking the true ending behind 60 relatively difficult to find collectibles was a bad move.

[@Tronk_]

I'm a simple man. I see a video on Sea of Stars, I watch it... Excellent video on an excellent game! I truly have no idea even the genre Sabotage would go with next time, and that's such a refreshing feeling. They could make an MMO and I'd be like, "Sure, why not?"

[@CreativeSteve69]

I always wondered when you would get time to cover this hidden gem of a game Snowman. Once one of my online friends told me about this gem. jrpgs is a hard genre for me to get into, so i thought i'd give it a shot. I am glad i did, I absolutely loved it's story and well placed rythmatic storytelling and the fun characters. this is one of the rare occurrence of a game. I have timed to perfection on completing it on my birthday back in April right at the strike of midnight. I would never get that lucky again on any other game on a completion. I'm so tempted to go back now n do new game +. I absolutely loved the mini-game of wheels once I found out about it half-ways through. I didn't want the journey to end. I probably spent more on wheels then the finale combined. lol Also Garl is best boy no doubt. I usually sleep to the soundtrack at night ever since i played it.

[@duseylicious]

I’d love to see them take on a top town Zelda-like or Secret of Mana inspired game! The graplou just felt so good, I’m sure they’d knock it out of the park.

[@ChrisLT]

My game of the year last year.

[@colin8802]

I absolutely love this game. I did everything except for the Wheels minigame which I hardly even touched (I just couldn't get into it). My only real complaint is that it felt like I was using Moonerang for the majority of battles. I could self-impose a "no Moonerang" rule but I wonder if the game would be way too difficult without it, especially when going for 100% completion. I might try that though on my next playthrough.

[@youtubewatcherforfun]

This game has been on my radar and I had no idea it took place in the messenger universe. Instant bump up to next up game

[@xxbot]

This game has great music, however, the Autumn Hill music kept me looking at my phone as I thought it was vibrating.

[@chrisman2100]

Great video man! And I love that you appreciate the exact same things I did!

[@ObsidianTK]

Is there anything I'd like Sabotage to do next? Literally don't care, whatever it is, I'll be buying it the moment it's announced. A good game makes you happy you purchased it, but a truly great game sells the next one, and that's what Sea of Stars did for me.

[@tyresr]

I’m not the biggest fan of RPGs but I absolutely loved The Messenger so I’ll probably give this a shot in the future

[@jumbalaya6531]

Really loved the gameplay and the presentation. Had a lot of fun with the game. I wasn’t a fan of Garl tbh and thought he took over the narrative way too much but otherwise I really enjoyed myself

[@tommycwills]

Probably my favorite indie turn based RPG that I’ve ever played

[@Videogamenerd30]

yess the content I needed ❤️

[@diegoperea2115]

Loved this game but I feel one big fail is that you can't escape from battles. That alone made the post game tedious because you looking for rainbow conches on the early dungeon isn't as fun.

[@BirdWithNoWord]

10 songs were also composed by Yasunori Mitsuda who wrote the music for Chrono Trigger or Xenoblade Chronicles

[@FLXEP]

Yeah, this game is truly beautiful and plays very well. Everything is really smooth af like you said. But somehow the narrative/story doesn't engage me much, for me, the story feels like it just exists and doesn't leave any impression at all

[@jurtheorc8117]

Would you mind if i mentioned some games from 2023 and 2022 with stronger stories? The gameplay's good too, though they're not RPGs specifically.

[@dragonmaster1500]

I think that Sea of Stars did achieve what it set out to do. I don't think it's a perfect game, but it's definitely got a lot going for it. I can't say that it's game of the year material, in my opinion, but that might be partially colored by the fact that I'd just caught up with the Legend of Heroes: Trails series before playing Sea of stars. The Good: - Sea of Stars has a beautiful pixel art and animations, clearly this was a focus of the devs because every frame of animation just oozes charm. - The Story, honestly, I found the main plot of Sea of Stars to be pretty decent overall, and compelling enough that I wanted to see it through to the end. It's a pity that the true ending of the game was a bit anticlimactic my opinion. - Garl, the best character in the game, and one of the the only main characters I actually found compelling. He also happens to have the only satisfying part of the true ending. - The World's lore, I found the world itself to be very interesting and it's definitely been set up for future games in the same universe. - Lack of random encounters, seriously, why were/are JRPG's so obsessed with random encounters anyway? The Mediocre: - Combat is serviceable throughout. It's not going to blow your mind with any huge complexity, but it does have some really good moments towards the end of the game. - Side Quests, These were mostly all right, but aside from the clockmaker's wheel game I can't actually remember any of them, but I do remember that I actually had to look up a guide for a few of them, either because I just wanted them to be done so I could move on with the main story, or because the information needed to complete them wasn't communicated properly to the player. - Music, I'm of mixed opinions on this one. There are a few good songs, but there are also a few that didn't jive with me. There were also emothional moments where I think that the game would have been better served by not always recycling the same battle theme over and over. I did like all the night themes and the Pirate versions though. The Bad: - The characters. Full stop, the main characters were so bland that the only ones I found even mildly interesting were Garl, and the Alchemist. In fact, while the story is nominally about the Solar and Lunar warriors, Garl is the true main character of the game. The NPC's in towns are even worse, literal carboard cutouts, no personality at all in the vast, **vast** majority of them, which is a huge downside in my opinion. - Movement, I especially found the act of trying to move from one area to the next in the pre-endgame stage to be very slow and kind of boring. The ability you get at the very end doe help mitigate this a bit, but when you're trying to search for all the stuff in a level, the movement just feels sluggish. My Final Rating: 6.5-7/10 The lack of compelling characters and the serviceable, but rather Samey combat combined with the anticlimactic true ending really drag the score down for me. All in all, Sea of Stars is a decent enough game that did fulfill it's goal of modernizing the old JRPG format. Unfortunately, I can't really see it as anything other than middle of the road.

[@patrickwunsch]

I have to say I quite enjoyed Wheels! :) It might actually be my favourite mini game of this type. I would play an expanded stand-alone version of it.

[@Leikjarinn]

The music in this game is on another level!

[@ilavain]

It has been genuinely upsetting seeing how negative Sea of Stars' reception has been. It's such a great experience and the only thing you ever hear about it is how boring it is to play and how bad the writing is, something that I couldn't disagree with more. I am very excited to see what Sabotage has in store for us next!

[@guilhermecardoso2365]

The writing sucks lol you really need to experience better media, not garbage written by morons who like Jordan Peterson

[@joshuadenaux3620]

Garl brought the game way down for me personally. I enjoyed playing the game. The world design was fantastic, and I enjoyed the arcs for Serai and B'st more than any other characters, but the story really hampered my overall enjoyment. I also felt like the lock system didn't always work , most of the time, it was impossible for me to get the correct combinations.

[@Howitchewstofeel5gum]

Nah, don't be fooled, that's just a very vocal and small minority (as is often the case), the general reception has actually been great.

[@guilhermecardoso2365]

Nah, the writing sucks ass, you should experience better stories, not trash written by morons who simp over jordan Peterson.

[@shigerumiyamoto9612]

Nah the writing is very bad, but it doesnt make the gameplay bad

[@candicebrickhouse2008]

The gun goddess was cool AF.

[@HaydenTheEeeeeeeeevilEukaryote]

you can get a first strike without the graplou by running into an enemy from behind

[@maxisenberg9093]

without spoilers, how much connectivity is there actually to the messenger

[@VCosmoz]

Sea of Stars is probably my favorite RPG now, it's awesome. The moment where the crew travel the titular Sea of Stars blew my mind, I never expected the game to pull that trick just for this sequence and it just felt amazing, like they were properly using the conventions of their medium to create a properly memorable sequence. Aside from that, I adored the concept if relics, which allow you to modify the difficulty among other things. The game can get crazy challenging... or a walk in the park, if that's what you want! Really catering to absolutely everyone.

[@QBG]

Not sure if they're your type of games, but definitely check out these gems from the last four years: Streets of Rage 4, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, and Penny's Big Breakaway. These games all represent the revitalizing of two classic genres, namely beat-em-ups and 3D platformers, and they're all better than the games that inspired them.

[@jurtheorc8117]

For an interesting 3D beat-em-up type game, be sure to look into Clash: Artifacts of Chaos as well. The upcoming Immortal: And the Death that Follows is looking interesting too. Hindy mythology roguelike beat-em-up.

[@HDCE-nv1uy]

Just saw this go on sale on PSN 😮

[@LevelWithUs]

I. Can't. Stand. JRPGs.… But I love this game to death anyway. Completely blew me away with its sheer quality.

[@WadeAllen001]

I was actually pretty hyped for this game because I loved the Messenger, I love turn-based RPGs, and the art style was really cool. But then when I played it I was a bit disappointed. I enjoyed the game for a while, but was constantly hoping that the mechanics were suddenly about to get deeper, but it didn't happen. I felt the writing was close to being witty, charming, and interesting, but it's almost like they were trying too hard and didn't hit the mark. And the story and characters were generally not that engaging. I did like the music, but the combat music got stale after like 20 battles. I stopped playing after like 25 hours of playtime and didn't finish the game, so maybe the mechanics do get deeper and maybe they introduce more varied fight music and maybe the story really picks up. But honestly if it takes that long for the combat to become more interesting then I view that as a big negative. Still, I think I'll pick it back up at some point and try to finish it because I do think it's a good game, just not as good as it seemed like it should've been. Also, this video had a shit ton of spoilers in the visuals. I've gotten to the point in the game where I have the rogue girl who jumps through portals as a companion, but not Resh'an or that weird fleshy drill hand guy, and I didn't know they existed.

[@tinne26]

For a fantasy RPG, SoS just isn't inviting enough when it comes to fantasizing and exploring. Agency, challenge, wonder, rewarding rewards, magic at every corner... just aren't quite there. Art and music alone can only do so much.

[@Sekacnap_]

This game does not deserve the amount of hate it gets on the internet. I had an absolute blast binging through this entire game while I couldn't last more than a few sessions in the games people wrongfully compare it to (Chained Echoes, Octopath Traveler 2). It's just so well paced with puzzles, combat and exploration as well as it's systems feeding into each other. It's been a long time since I've played a game so perfectly paced to keep me interested the whole way through. It has some serious writing/plot issues, but generally I don't play games for plot, I care most about the actual gameplay, so I found it easy to look past.

[@orakaa]

Tried the demo on its release but it didn't click for me. Maybe I should try it again

[@pralenkaman8105]

I have to say, if anything, garl is not a side character, garl is the main character, the plot moves around him, he makes the actions to move the plot along, if there's an imovable object it's not zale or valere to move them, it's 9 times out of 10 garl who does And unfortunately, the character of garl, for me, wasn't built to be a main character, he knows what to do and how to do it in every situation, he is always happy go lucky, he never gets angry, there's no real noticeable character development for him And that also plays into the story that sea of stars is telling, the best way I can describe it is that everyone in this story is flat, nobody develops or regresses, everybody just stays the same until the very end of the story Some characters are really tropy, like every character in the pirate crew, down to captain cliché, who at least after her tropy moment (one of the best ways to handle tropes in the game because it was a one and done type of deal) is probably one of the best characters in the game Other than that the plot just wrestles with the idea of wanting to be a serious rpg story with the dwellers and cult of the fleshmancer and being a silly adventure story about garl and friends exploring the whole wide world, it's a tonal shift, you never really know how to feel, one moment a town might get destroyed and the very next scene the pirate crew is making very silly funny jokes that totally don't ruin the moment I like sea of stars, it's a very beautiful game with very good combat, but the story unfortunately was very underwhelming and just felt like it didn't know its identity as a serious rpg with moments of relaxation or a silly rpg with moments of seriousness, you just get a weird in between of an rpg that wants to be serious and silly at the same time

[@Fudjinn]

i'd buy whatever they make next

[@escapegoat573]

Skirmish for glory is the best song in the ost in my opinion... or baby gorrillas, idk they're all so good

[@armandostockvideos8386]

Damn, first your Pikmin video and then this one, two controversial takes in barely more than one month XDDD But keep going, I love your content.

[@SpiceAndFox]

The graphics are truly breathtaking and the music is very good, sadly the rest of the game fell a bit flat. The story isn't too bad, but the dialogue isn't quite engaging enough. The combat against normal enemys can be quite a slog though and the artful gambit achievement is a slap in the face for people who want to fully complete the game. Overall it's still a good game, but it could have been much more.

[@voltz8945]

Sea of stars had some okay writing. I loved the characters and the world but the main villains were just confusing. I don't know what Apherul or the other two (you know who I'm talking about) really wanted in the end.

[@Shizo_san]

Now its on my list

[@manamaster6]

It's been a while since KZbin recommended me one of your videos, good to see you again. I played a few hours from The Messenger, but I didn't like the death system, that made me drop the game.

[@crowravencorvenrow]

What's the track that plays at 1:12?

[@snomangaming]

"Path of Ascension"

[@Rayu25Demon]

I want to know more about this world, i didn't expect to fall in love with messenger game a random game i got it for free from epicgames.

[@jsablixer6665]

This game, while flawed, has one of the best rpg combat systems I've seen in a game yet. Especially on harder difficulties, the way each little bit interacts with everything else is fantastic and feels like more like an open ended yet fair puzzle than anything else but you still have to engage with timed hits and figure them out and its just so much fun. Edit: ALSO WHATS WITH THE WHEELS SLANDER THATS THE MOST FUN MINIGAME IVE PLAYED IN YEARS

[@jackmaalouf2690]

Ooooooh it's on Game Pass!!

[@ChinoWantan]

9:22 if only they have a Completionist NPC :

[@dreamllusion8390]

of course there HAD to be a comment on that topic.

[@geoffreyperrin4347]

Loved that game. Hadn't played the messenger

[@TheGoblinoid]

Oh shit I want to play it now!

[@Terranigma23]

The game world and music are really well crafted, but the dialogue lack some punch. Quite weird, because the dialogue writting in their other game "The Messenger" was really good. Also I feel that the battle system stay always the same. There is no evolution. The characters don't have a lot of unique skill. You just have to use always Serai her delay attack skill. It's OP ahah. A little bit too much "baby jrpg". I don't know how to explain it in a better way, but it's a really great game to introduce someone into the jrpg world. Small nitpick: the menu was quite bland. SPOILER I was quite sad to not have Malkomud as party member. I would have like a lot more to have him than B'st. I was expecting a big twist in Sea of Stars, because they did it in the Messenger (8 bit to 16 bit) and the dev tease it, but nothing happen. At the scene when they ride the boat in the "Sea of Stars" and the whole thing turn into 3D I was like "omg this is the gameplay plot twist", but nope lol. In brief, it was a fine game, but I prefer a lot more the whole package of other JRPG like Chained Echoes. 😁

[@egg_l0rd13]

Dude I was so ready for Malkomud to be added to the party and he just wasn’t. They set up a pretty good backstory and motivation for him, and I thought his personality was a lot more charming than most of the main characters. Sad we didn’t get to take him on this journey.

[@Terranigma23]

@@egg_l0rd13 Same! Also he was on the beautiful box art of the physical asia version. 😅

[@DjimonMoz]

Sadly I couldn't get into this game, despite Chrono Trigger being my favorite game of all time. The story, characters and writing were just way too boring and uninteresting, and the combat system was a bit of a let down. I quickly began dreading each new encounter rather than looking forward to them. I dropped the game after a few hours. I don't mean to undermine Snoman's or anyone else's experience with this game, mind you. I'm happy to know other people managed to find value where I couldn't, and if nothing else, I still have a lot of respect for the studio for their efforts and look forward to their next project. I guess I'll just have to keep waiting for Chrono Trigger's true spiritual successor a little longer.

[@geraq0]

I knew that I had to give this game a chance after hearing it came from the devs behind The Messenger, even if I'm not a big fan of RPGs. I did play Chrono Trigger however and the inspiration here is very patent, much more than in The Messenger/Ninja Gaiden case. That being said I enjoyed Sea of Stars a lot for the same reasons listed in the video but I don't think it is a gem or anything, it is just a good game. The main characters are quite bland and forgettable and the story is too convoluted for its own good leaving a lot of things unexplained. I didn't care much for Garl either, he was just a walking cliché to me but to each their own. The presentation is top-notch, the soundtrack is fantastic and the gameplay is quite fun, that's all I need.

[@CmdrVoltaire]

I’ll freely admit that the two leads are kinda bland…but the art is beautiful, the gameplay is solid and the combat is both easy to learn and varied enough to allow for strategy. And the soundtrack is AMAZING. 8/10 for me.

[@churisu]

I agree the music, art and world design were pheomenal. but the characters story, and gameplay left a lot to be desired for me. still a good game but definitely would not call it game of the more like 7/10 maybe 7.5 in my opinion.

[@Lucirby93]

I can only agree with this being the best game of 2023. For me it was definitely the music that pulled me in the most just absolute bliss to the ears. Also using equipment to lower mana cost at the end and constantly delaying enemy attacks felt like you could break the game in an awesome way.

[@jurtheorc8117]

For me, the best music in a 2023 game came from Clash: Artifacts of Chaos. Look up only the second and third pieces of the soundtrack, The Boy Calls and Pseudo's Theme, and you'll be enchanted too.

[@Lucirby93]

@@jurtheorc8117 thanks for the info. I will check it out

[@camo4351]

If you like sea of stars you will love Crosscode!!! It has better graphics, story, combat and puzzles.

[@Howitchewstofeel5gum]

I'm not even that big on JRPGs and have never played Chrono Trigger, but I loooved this game and agree with everything you said: The music is amazing, the pixel art beautiful, the combat system engaging, the story and lore is captivating, the whole experience is really smooth from a QoL standpoint without any additional grinding, etc. It was one of those games where I just knew from the first hour or so that it was special. Only hiccup for me was the Conch hunt at the end, IMO that could've been handled better by communicating to the player early on that the conches might become very important and are not just some optional collectible you can trade in for bonus items.

[@WillyLee23]

good game design but has "the Garl problem"

[@jurtheorc8117]

What's that, if i may ask?

[@WillyLee23]

@@jurtheorc8117 kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHnXnpKircasncUsi=luQ6j1uv8yWxELme

[@Skimmer951]

youre not dead!!!

[@tr1co0]

My biggest critique of the game is just the repetitive fight music.