Sea of Stars: Why the Hype? - Switchdrunk

[@cilonrs]

Also, dont sleep on "The Messenger", made from the same guys. Most people look and just dismiss as a ninja-gaiden-nostalgia-cashgrab, but it is way more than that, it is really great

[@cameronketch2363]

I only enjoyed the first half. Unfortunately when the game shifts I feel like it missed the mark. It's an A+ platfromer and a D+ metroidvania imo. I wish I loved the second half more! But it wasn't for me. What about you?

[@TheMaddenGuy1]

@@cameronketch2363according to the masses, it wasn’t good to them either. Sold less than 25,000 copies lol

[@jawadqaisrani3244]

@@cameronketch2363 I really enjoyed the first half as well but afterwards when the boss fights become very challenging, I kind of got frustrated and lost interest. I understand the bosses do get difficult with a game's progression but I started finding them way too annoying so I left it.

[@TheSadJamaicanDude]

One of the best twists in gaming that I've seen last decade

[@OSW]

What i love about SNESdrunk is you get such a good feel about what it's like to play the game, rather than outlets that just explain each facet in isolation

[@mjdf122]

OSW and SNES drunk two of the best on KZbin

[@mad0gre]

I like your reviews of retro-inspired new games, and the Switch is full of those. I hope the SwithDrunk thing becomes more frequent. Very good review.

[@CSHummer]

I'll never argue with anyone if they say Sea of Stars is not as good as Chrono Trigger. But I have to say, after CT being my favourite game of all time ever since it's release, nothing has ever come close to topping it. Then SoS came out, and it managed to recapture the feeling I had as a child playing it. I savoured every moment of the experience and didn't want it to end. At some point, I had to ask myself "Is SoS my favourite game of all time now?" and the answer was yes. Chrono Trigger is a masterpiece through and through, and being my favourite for over 30 years is a huge testament to it's quality. I doubt SoS will hold that title for as long, but nonetheless, it is a game that captured my heart. It's rare that a studio properly pays homage to that era of SNES JRPG. So many claim too, and miss the point. SoS doesn't. It really does do so many things right and improves on so many others. Is it flawed in some ways? Yes. But it's worth a playthrough. I love this game, and Teaks is everything.

[@bigduke5902]

Lufia II is a game every RPG should've learned from. Too many of these games have absolutely nothing to offer in their level design.

[@livinlicious]

Lufia 2 Dungeon Puzzles basically peaked this gameelement back in the 90s. Havent seen it done that well ever again.

[@bigduke5902]

Not in the traditional turn based RPG at least, but plenty of action RPGs did something similar.

[@blufudgecrispyrice8528]

@@livinlicious Seriously? Not even one? Got to play Lufia 2 as soon as I can I guess.

[@warpseer]

its easily the most underrated rpg of all time @@blufudgecrispyrice8528

[@iskallos7593]

​@@blufudgecrispyrice8528Yep, I first played it about twelve years ago. Highly recommend it, old but good.

[@BHDHScareQuotes]

I have been watching your content for 10+ years. And my favorite part of your content is your consistency specifically your ending at every video. "I hope you have a great rest of your day." Makes me happy every time.

[@None17555]

He skipped it for a few videos and I was one of the people who harassed him on social media for doing that.

[@piercegardner3207]

Excellent review, thanks! This is my first Switchdrunk, and thought your intro Switch "click" sound was gonna be a beer can getting cracked open, in time with the Switch controller movement.

[@PS1Fan1991]

I spent 45 hours on Sea of Stars and I must say that this is one of the most amazing games that I have played. I didn't play the demo because I wanted to be surprised and it was worth it. The music alone makes this game amazing, but then you add in the visuals, the characters, the gameplay and the simple but charming story and it is one heck of an experience. I know that I talked about the music already, but seriously it legit made me emotional. Garl is a delightful character and his relationship with Valere and Zale is so wholesome. Sabotage Studio are champions and I think that people comparing it to Chrono Trigger need to stop. Why does a game need to be talked about like that? Let's just play games and if they are great games, then we just call it for what it is. If we play games expecting something else, then we unnecessarily leave ourselves open to disappointment.

[@Poooof]

I played about 16-18 hours and I can say - this game is shit. And comparing it to CT? It is an insult

[@N7Prime]

i am not a Chrono Trigger fan but the JRPG i personally compared it to was Star Ocean 2nd Story and its not quite up there with 2nd Story, however SoS is one of my favorites of 2023

[@enigmaarcs8559]

I agree with you except for the story. The story is so weak. It doesn't need to be CT story level of peak, just decent. It's not players fault for the comparison, as the studio itself said "Sea of Stars is inspired by Chrono Trigger". Most people when they look at that expect great story, not ONLY intuitive gameplay (which is perfect in Sea of Stars). The dialogue is cringe, and whole plot doesn't have one big cohesive theme that it can latch to.

[@eduardogaxiola3907]

45 hours? I played it to 100% (conchs and all) and it took me like 35 hours. I’m genuinely curious as to what took your session to 45 hours

[@lswhere40]

Getting something like a 99% run took me 54-58 hours. I had Dubious Dare relic on to slow the game down. The relic that makes it so your guys get hurt for 40% more damage, that slows the game down. Plus my penchant to always run back to the campfire and top my HP off each time. On top of that I never sold any equipment so money was very hard to come by and I had to spend tons of time just fishing to sell fish ingredients for money. By the time I got to the final feat/accomplishment of having the hardest relic and redoing the game to defeat 10bosses with it equipped I tapped out in order to start Chained Echoes.

[@nostalgiacollector4716]

I really enjoyed Sea of Stars but gotta say I liked Chained Echoes a lot more and don’t feel that game gets enough hype!

[@Kefka.]

I just put 40 hours in Chained Echoes I felt the game started to wear out its welcome, I did not like the addition of the Sky Armor combat after a while, and it got so tedious for me getting new equipment. Every time I had to remove prior crystals and then reset them up on the new equipment. I got bored by the constant turns and twists and backstabs in the story (I started skipping the story scenes toward the end). And all the characters, sky armors, crystals, etc just got overly complicated/tedious for me after a while. I loved the game for a time but as I got closer to the end it started to fall apart for me. I think I am in the last area (let's just say underground...) but doubting I will even complete the game.

[@mahagnosis]

yeah, same for me. I like Chained Echoes alot more, from music, story and gameplay. And It feels like it is unhyped. SoS is pretty, but the gameolay becomes boring in later part, and story is fine, but CE's is absolutely more dramatic and that's a win for me

[@ZootedBeaver]

I wanted to like Chained Echoes but the combat meter was throwing me off

[@Pepocho]

I just finished Chained Echoes last week and I agree that the game deserves more attention but at the same time I understand why it does not get more hype . The story is VERY GOOD, but the art style doesn’t do justice to the story. The sky armors are cool at first but then it feels like is something that doesn’t belong to the game as a whole. The weapon/crystal upgrade is very tedious at the end of the game. Finally, the reward board, at first I welcome it as a breath of fresh air to incentivize exploration, but then it felt like a checklist to take more hours of you as a player. The QOL in the battle, healing and level up systems are a good step forward too. Despite the flaws I recommend the game.

[@nostalgiacollector4716]

Yeah the game is not perfect by any means and I do wish the art work was a little better but the game was a good surprise because I did not have great expectations going in and was very pleased with it and with SOS I think my expectations were really high because I knew about it for years and it had a lot of hype and I enjoyed the game a lot I just think Chained Echoes impressed me more maybe because it came out of know where and I had no clue what I was in for going in.

[@TimedRevolver]

The devs also specifically mention Illusion of Gaia as an influence. And it's pretty obvious. That game had some of, if not the best, sprites on the SNES. It also had a lot of puzzles in the dungeons.

[@jeffersonderrickson5371]

I think there are a LOT of Lunar: Silver Star Story in this game too. Garl is 100% Ramus from that game.

[@Viceroy_Sundercles_III]

I agree this gives a lot of the Lunar “feelz” but Ramus is a damn wiener kid compared to the much better Garl.

[@omensoffate]

Huh ramus is why Alex and co are able to prevail 😂

[@duseylicious]

Potential hot take here, but I actually enjoy playing Sea of Stars more than Chrono Trigger. Modern conveniences like being able granularity tweak the difficultly, the parrot that tells you I’ve you’ve 100%’d an area or not, & auto save help. And game design choices like free swapping characters mid battle, never having a question as to “what to do next”, and gear choices being very straight forward, make it exactly my speed. Add the best pixel art in a game I’ve seen, and slightly more “cozy” story that focuses heavily on their friendship, and this now my top rpg. I used to think I didn’t want a CT remaster, but after seeing the FF Pixel Remasters and this game, getting Chrono Trigger updated to HD with some optional modern enhancements ala this game would be terrific.

[@duseylicious]

Oh, and group party do is the best!

[@treadmillgaming5963]

Aside from the visuals in the music honestly the mechanics and tone of the game felt a lot closer to the paper Mario series, pretty light-hearted with occasional dips into terror and epic storytelling

[@GameTimeWhy]

Yes. I don't know how people weren't talking about the paper Mario connection.

[@williamraboine]

Yeah, especially when one of the highlights of the gameplay is the vast amount of “perfectly-timed” attacks/defenses you get to learn.

[@None17555]

@@GameTimeWhy The game was pitched as bringing back Chrono Trigger's style of encounter/battles, music, cut scenes, etc. The fact that it shares ONE thing in common with a bunch of other games is neat, yeah... but there's no reason to prattle on about the Mario RPG connection than any other. The break system is very close to Octopath Traveler. The council cameos are an homage to Megaman X2. You even get a wink to Darkwing Duck.

[@user-oy7gz5bf2h]

The timing during combat, the isometric view with its 3D ish presentation and navigation, the way the characters spin when they dive in water. I could see lots of little things that reminded me of Mario RPG. Chrono Trigger and Mario RPG are amoung my favorites of the era and I haven't played all that's been made since, though. But that's what I thought. @@None17555

[@corwinchapman8270]

light hearted until you reach the other world with body horror and the Meat Castle (tm)

[@jealousagain783]

Such an amazing game, that offers even more than its face value if you've already played The Messenger. I agree with the point that the combat doesn't add much mechanical complexity after the first few hours, but honestly it's not something I noticed while playing. Being able to swap to different characters mid-battle with no penalty in order to hit different elemental weaknesses turns every fight into an engaging puzzle to solve. Not to compare them, but Chained Echoes is another amazing indie JRPG that came out recently and blew me away. Crosscode is another indie that doesn't get nearly enough love, for fans of old school action RPGs with deep exploration and puzzles.

[@kevinburke1325]

Crosscode is pure garbage.

[@radicalstanza3614]

​@@kevinburke1325dont put crosscode in the same low tier that Sea of Stars belongs in lol

[@kevinburke1325]

@radicalstanza3614 sea of stars is way better than crosscode. Sea of stars is the true game like golden sun and actually has a story. In crosscode, the majority of time, it's shooting balls and hi! Lea! Bye!

[@Chronokatan]

Really loved the game and the Real ending approach. It gave me Chrono Trigger, Golden Sun and even Illusion of Time vibes when you reach the 2nd area and that soundtrack. It's really a great loveletter to the golden age of Jrpgs.

[@michaelp4122]

I really love how this is being compared to Golden Sun, Chrono Trigger and Lufia 2. Some of the best JRPG's right there. Bumped up on my list.

[@themichaels]

I LOVED Golden Sun!!

[@lordmattington1654]

I've been a gamer since 1985. Sea of Stars is the best damn thing I've ever played. Played it a 2nd time immediately to get the good ending. It made me cry.

[@MentalLiberation]

Once somebody told me that this game is heavily influenced by Chrono trigger, I knew it was an instant buy. However, once I got to see just a little more, I saw it was more than that. I'm very happy that this game and chained echoes exist. They're the perfect blend of old school flavor with new school feel. I'm so glad I got into independent games. 😁 EDIT: I actually also Chained Echoes. I can't wait to dive into both, but I have to wait.... There's a mountain of the great games in front of me... LoL

[@shoa4566]

Yeah there finally seems to be a set of new decent RPGs. I recently played through 8 bit adventures 2 and was pleasantly surprised. I am looking forward to Chained Echoes next.

[@SolracZapzap]

These 2 games absolutly suck lol

[@shoa4566]

No problem.@@SolracZapzap

[@bigduke5902]

Play Cross Code and rejoice

[@jackp.3605]

Chained echoes was horrible. Decent story but the ending was garbage and the combat system forced you to use buffs/debuffs, which I rarely use in any game

[@ryuhoshu3303]

Very cool seeing you jump into the Switch, there are so many great indie games nowadays inspired by the 16 bit era and the SNES that I feel would be a great fit for your videos

[@Toudou1620]

Here's my simple review: + Gorgeous visuals + The shopkeeper is back - Repetitive fights - Lack of strategy in combat - Weak writing - Pointless puzzles -> About 50% of them consist of pressing a switch, crossing the new path it triggered, pressing the next switch and so on... You can tell a lot of effort was put into the presentation but the rest of the game really suffers. It's sorta like how the second half of The Messenger is just backtracking and barely any new level design ideas show up anymore. Looking forward to the next game of the studio though.

[@sparkydeltorro]

I enjoyed every minute of Sea of Stars. One of my favourites of the year.

[@funghiiii]

It's a great game for having a nostalgia trip. Thought if I'm being honest, once the hype and the rose colored lenses of the people have faded people will see this game as what it really is. A mediocre JRPG with a lot of elements from older games.

[@sexyolga479]

@@funghiiii which games would you recommend instead?

[@funghiiii]

@@sexyolga479 From this year? I can recommend Octopath Traveler 2. It's a grand JRPG with deep combat mechanics and just a beautiful world.

[@sparkydeltorro]

I mean I still have criticisms of it - I wasn't big into story and new game+ is underwhelming. But, for me at least the good far outweighs any bad.

[@CandyManSC]

I thought the game and story was pretty great, but the ending(s) were pretty bad. It sucks that the true ending boss was probably the easiest in a while, especially after all that buildup.

[@Wolfburns]

I enjoyed Sea of Stars quite a lot. I played it right after Chained Echoes though and couldn't help but feel like SoS was like a Young Adult book trying so hard to be grown up, but still stuck with a YA target audience. Chained Echoes hit me much harder and made me want to replay it immediately. With SoS I was happy and felt good but the story was a 1 and done for me. Ultimately I am super happy to have both. SoS and CE are both amazing. If you like one definitely try the other.

[@Nuisance_Bear]

So far CE is boring man. Everything is just drab looking and doesn’t have character compared to SoS. Please tell me it gets better.

[@Kefka.]

I think it gets worse played for 40 hours near the end and I am running out of steam. Overly complex plot with constant silly backstabs, and "oh I had planned it this way along kind of stuff" and tedious managing of equipment with no easy way to transfer cystals to new armor,etc@@Nuisance_Bear

[@Jack-nj9pi]

That game still has game breaking bugs. Worst buy ever

[@aahpandasrun]

If you play Sea of Stars for less than 6 or 7 hours, you'll be wondering "why is this game so hyped" too. It's a game that starts off good enough, but gets better and better throughout the game. It's almost as if they developed it sequentially. It's very, very solid and creative.

[@Oscargoo]

I agree but also think if you play more than 25 hours you'll go back to wondering "why is this game so hyped?". I was obsessed with the game during the 7 - 25 hour mark but personally I feel everything comes crashing down in the final quarter especially the story

[@Flood520]

So true. A few hours in, I was wondering if everyone was taking crazy pills except for me. It's... fine... but not the second coming of Christ the entire internet makes it out to be. Once you get a few tools and the boat, it picks up a lot and becomes much more enjoyable.

[@TheMaddenGuy1]

@@Oscargoothe game flopped It’s boring in every single aspect of an RPG

[@timmyman9677]

nah I dropped that this crap after Yolande was introduced. The gameplay has less depth than Paper Mario. Zale and Valere are actual non-characters with no agency who get constantly cucked by other characters. Garl is some steven universe twat that EVERYONE revolves around. The true ending is absolute dog shit and not worth it for that massive plot hole it makes in the story.

[@cmedtheuniverseofcmed8775]

Thank you for bringing this game up, SNESdrunk. They have this available on PC as well on Steam. :)

[@Metallizombie]

And Xbox

[@DonaldWyman]

I really love this game. I like that they took bits and pieces of different RPGs like Mario RPG and Chrono trigger and put them all together.

[@alexandrebrochu4265]

Aside from the combos I don't see much resemblance from Chrono Trigger TBH. The first comparison I made was with Super Mario RPG because of the timed attack, skills and defense.

[@protodad1]

Haven’t played it yet. All I’ve heard is the CT references but your clips really show that it’s just similar in graphical style. The music and tools feels way more like Lufia 2. Timing is more like Mother 3 /SMRPG. Additionally, I greatly appreciate the lighter graphics and cheerful characters. Lots of stuff lately is just dark and the graphics can’t really be appreciated. Edit: apparently I wrote my comment too soon, you mentioned Lufia 2 as well.

[@kputschko1848]

Great review, love when you branch out beyond SNES. The music rocks, Encounter Elite (and it's v2 remix) are incredible!

[@armnhc84]

Sea of Stars is absolutely incredible! Sabotage put their heart and souls into this game, and it shows 🧡

[@omensoffate]

Too bad the writing is bad

[@armnhc84]

@@omensoffate for a JRPG paying homage to games from the SNES era, it’s really not though

[@tribaltroll]

​@@omensoffateshut up you spoony bard!

[@ronnienaldo7101]

@@omensoffateno it’s solid

[@TMV420]

​@@omensoffatethe writing seems bad if you don't know where the influences come from and what the end product is trying to be. it's an homage, a love letter, a tribute. it's not supposed to be bleeding edge and something you've never experienced before. it's supposed to be familiar, comfortable and nostalgic.

[@keen96]

I finished it up through the true ending and overall, I loved it. I was a bit disappointed by the story and characters but I really liked the combat. Even though it never evolved through mechanics, I think the locks that the enemies put up in the later stages or the game were an evolution enough. I don't know what it was but the game felt frantic to play while being turn based, that's definitely something worth my praise. I wasn't a fan of the music to be honest. I didn't hate it, I just thought it didn't feel like JRPG music (except for the Mitsuda tracks of course). The puzzles were a freaking joy to solve as was movement and traversal. The thing almost felt like a platformer which I guess shouldn't be surprising given how good The Messenger was. So yeah, whoever reads this that hasn't played it, definitely play it, it's amazing. Just set your expectations low for the story. It's not bad by any means, just slow and with fewer ups than downs.

[@njsteere]

If you haven’t listened yet Sea of Stars director was on the Friends Per Second podcast. What a passionate and committed team this is, the love of gaming shows thru in every aspect.

[@Desincarnage]

I always love a good, level-headed review amidst all the hype. Thank you.

[@WhispyWoods.]

Golden Sun!!! Man I wish they would rerelease or remake or reboot this series. I loved it so much on GBA. You’re my go to nostalgia guy but you’re really good at reviews of modern games. Give us more videos like this!

[@Xenaximus]

I actually like Garl a lot. He really holds the game together early on considering Zale and Valere are both, unfortunately, kind of dull. I'm only about halfway through the game, though, so I'm hoping they eventually improve. But besides that and some of their early dialog, I'm really enjoying every other aspect of the game. Pretty great so far.

[@kevynhansyn2902]

Thank goodness for the Relics! They made my playthrough a lot more fun and allot less death

[@lswhere40]

Same! In my case I made the game harder immediately with Dubious Dare for 40% more damage to my characters as the game was too easy. With that, it slowed a 30 hour game down to a 60 hour game. Yay!

[@kevynhansyn2902]

@@lswhere40 *cheers with my pom poms* Go Death GO!!!! I took a break from the game for a bit and went back to my pizza delivery service in MW5. Switching back and forth at the moment.

[@williamraboine]

@@lswhere40whattt? Where did you get that charm? Definitely would’ve made the game more enjoyable lol… difficulty relics should always be an option right from the get go in games like these. Take bug fables, you can equip a “hard mode” badge from the very start. Paper Mario TTYD has a “double pain” badge, but I believe it isn’t available until after the first world!

[@kevynhansyn2902]

@@williamraboine there's a couple vendors around where you can buy them. There's one in that Semi pirate town. It's under the pier with lanterns. Your have to swim in the water to get to it. It shouldn't be hard to miss really.

[@johnnybrasil1572]

Hyped with the new SwitchDrunk intro. Hoping that you put more time into it!

[@thenostalgiafactor5023]

Total length of video: 510 secs. Total length of "Switch Drunk": 2.5 secs. .49% of the video was spent listening to "Switch Drunk".

[@JohnOethGuitar]

Lol Switch Drunk. I absolutely love the retro vibe of Sea of Star's gameplay and music. Thanks for the video!

[@ganymede4030]

I just started this game a few hours ago and I'm loving it. Really scratching my 'old school/snes era' rpg itch. Lots of nods to games like Chrono Trigger, SMRPG etc. and I'm absolutely addicted. Good shit~

[@caramuyo]

For your review. We need more switch drunk videos.

[@Mordaedil]

I just really want another game with double tech or triple techs. That was what made Chrono Trigger really special imo.

[@shelbyherring92]

Welp, you get the dual techs, just not the triple ones (unless I missed something)... And they are pretty cool, especially when your two poison characters have a combo together - it's so dumb, but it's good.

[@U_SpoonyBard]

The fact that you compared it more to Lufia 2, one of my favorites from that Era AND chose to showcase the theme from the croustalion fight that is slept on by fans of this game reinforces why I think you're awesome, bud. Keep on.

[@mac6860]

One of the biggest surprises of the year for me. I'm taking a breather before going back for that alternative ending. Your description as a modern GBA RPG is perfect. I can't recommend it enough.

[@steveroberts7080]

I backed this game on Kickstarter for obvious reasons as Chrono Trigger (tied with FF VI) is my favorite game of ever. I played all the way through, did everything in the game and was just really satisfied with it all. Like many people, I have a large gaming backlog but while I was playing Sea of Stars, I wanted nothing else but it until it was done. I am very proud of what the developers were able to achieve and I am pretty excited about what they do next since this and The Messenger are absolutely modern classics.

[@mattb6522]

Good review! I've never heard of this game, but it looks fantastic! It definitely gives off that Squaresoft PS1 RPG feel! The pixel art is quite eye-catching! it is a shame it is a slow-starter, but I'm willing to check it out as it sounds like quite a fun ride.

[@Jordan3DS]

You definitely gotta check out Octopath Traveler II

[@mattb6522]

@@Jordan3DS Nice! Thanks! Yeah, I actually still need to check out the first Octopath Traveler. The amount of RPGs available now is insane! 😅

[@sawdust8691]

I'm a little farther into the game now. Honestly, it's just fantastic. The story starts off a bit slow, but was never boring. And later in I'm glad it started off a little more slow paced. It really picks up later, and I'm loving it. It turned into my favorite kind of fantasy.

[@tarcmaylor]

I agree with you that people tying this game to CT is kind of a stretch. Yes, there are definitely CT influences in the game, but I found between the dialogue and the reliance on timed hits that the game was really much more like a Super Mario RPG successor than anything. Don't get me wrong, I loved it regardless, I just also was confused at how much CT seemed to be the only SNES RPG being mentioned in the marketing material.

[@Xygor]

Nice! So glad you covered this one.

[@DontKnowDontCare6.9]

No doubt no game dev can ever recreate Chrono Trigger. Not even Square, who seems content on making linear action games with some RPG magic elements these days. I'm just glad they haven't messed up Draqon Quest thanks to the ownership structure of DQ.

[@ArkThePieKing]

You know I was wondering why Dragon Quest seemed largely untouched by Squeenix rot.

[@Zero_Tester]

​@@ArkThePieKingthey can't really messed with DQ,since both Yuji Horie and Akira Toriyama had final "say" on that franchises

[@DontKnowDontCare6.9]

Three entities mainly owned DQ: Armor Project (Yuji Horii), Bird Studio (Akira Toriyama), and Sugiyama Kobo (Koichi Sugiyama)

[@youremakingprogress144]

This is an excellent review, touching on all the important information that would help someone decide whether or not to play it. Great work! This game looks like a lot of fun, too.

[@willie_the_monkey_king]

this game while not my cup of tea looks beautiful. Also glad you're branching out.

[@emmw7794]

Yasunori Mitsuda also did Xenogears

[@quincyn2369]

I appreciate you saying that the slow start isn’t justified in the combat because I’ve been on a jrpg shopping spree and would’ve been very upset if I bought it before beating anything else I bought .

[@liminalspace107]

Definitely enjoyed this game right to the end. What a great indie RPG.

[@razmatazz9310]

I'm at the Clockwork Mansion (castle? I forgot) right now. Can you estimate whereabouts I am overall in the game? I'm not super keen on finishing just for the sake of it, but if I'm close to the end I might as well push through to see how it ends.

[@IzZyRaWr]

Holy shit, dude. You hit 10 years earlier this year! Well done and thanks very much! 👋🏻😁💜

[@SageofStars]

It's a fine adventure, with a good plot, and fun characters, that subverts the expectations of veterans in a good way, by NOT doing some of the things you expect of the genre that are either kind of goofy, or just not as fun to deal with for the characters in universe, allowing their upbeat attitude about everything to make sense. I will admit, Chained Echoes was more my thing, as I love a good political thriller plot, and that was a fantastic one, but the gameplay here keeps you engaged throughout, and while I wish they were more frequently acquired, the relic system is an interesting way to do difficulty.

[@djbawb]

duuuude I love Garl! glad I wasn't alone on that one. Great review!

[@nanoglitch6693]

Great review! Really wish other channels would stop endlessly comparing indie retro style games as "the next" Earthbound/Chrono Trigger/whatever.. 🙄

[@duseylicious]

I loved the prologue! I thought it was so charming, I wasn’t bored for a second! Yes, it’s not action heavy, but I was engrossed by the story. The ratio of dialogue to everything else feels perfect to me. Yea it’s more than many old school RPGs, but feels like it’s exactly as much as they can squeeze in without getting tedius. Obviously YMMV.

[@beowulf848]

It's also is set in the same world as the Messenger, so that's another interesting thing about the game

[@SK-my6gh]

The debut of switchdrunk! Appreciate the new game review!

[@JohnZyski]

It would be really funny if at some point, the heros are tired, need to recover, and say, hey, lets knock down some pins. There could be a goblin who you have to beat his 7-10 split, a guy who won't roll on sunday... That could be fun.

[@ninjason57]

As a gamer who plays Chrono Trigger yearly, sea of stars really amazed me. It’s light hearted while at the same time heavy and plays casual if you want. It sucked me in more than any other pixel art jrpg style game in years, and yes I did play Chained Echoes.

[@HybridAngelZero]

Oooo, I love the Switch Drunk into and logo! I have played a whole lot of Sea of Stars yet, I got a free month of Game Pass on Xbox and decided to give it a try, but it feels less like Chrono, to me, and more like a lost Game Arts title, which is flipping awesome. I'll definitely be picking up a physical when it drops next year

[@deividilavitz6645]

Garl gave me a Lunar Silver Star Story Ramus vibes, I liked the guy.

[@CarletonTorpin]

5:06 Looks like you're "just leveling up on Gato" there. ;)

[@Metallizombie]

I loved this one. It’s also a bonus that the composer is in Nekrogoblikon. I have the vinyl on order.

[@Guurensama]

Garl ended up as one of my favourite JRPG characters in years, he's awesome

[@progrockngamer1761]

Could you please, pretty please do a video on The Messenger? It's like Ninja Gaiden and Castlevania, Symphony of the Night had a baby. Plus the switching back and forth between 8-bit and 16-bit styles is freaking cool.

[@Bsdel]

Do we really need to keep comparing games to Chrono Trigger? Like, don’t get me wrong, Chrono Trigger is GREAT, but it’s also approaching 30 years old and has a lot less content than newer games. Plus any games that draw inspiration from older games have the added pressure of not copying their predecessor so closely that they approach plagiarism. I haven’t played Sea of Stars, but it looks fun, and I’m probably going to look into it since I love me those pixel art games; but I feel like it had to work a lot harder in 2023 to be “better” than Chrono Trigger than if Chrono Trigger were to come out today-if that makes sense. That said, it really says something about how good of a game Chrono Trigger is that we are even able to have this kind of a discussion 28 years later.

[@Daniel_Rodrigues_89]

100% agree with everything you said. If anything, people saying this game is on the same level of Chrono Trigger and FF6 (simply the best 16-bit RPGs ever) made me NOT want to play it now. Aside from the obvious nostalgic bias, I would be more interested in how this game DIFFERS from CT, not how similar they are. I love Trigger and played that game hundreds of times over the years. I don't wanna see it being replicated, I wanna see whatelse my beloved genre can offer in terms of creative game design. It's been 30 years already, the fact that "Chrono Trigger-like" is almost becoming a subgenre in the indie community is not that interesting to me. Also, yeah, time is a relentless judge. Chrono Trigger being influential to this day is the unquestionable mark of a classic. And I wonder if people will talk about Sea of Stars 5 years from now, being the "masterpiece" all the nostalgic reviewers claim it to be (even if all that hype is not the game's fault). Time will tell.

[@RovingSentinel]

I'm a proud Kickstarter backer for Sea of Stars. Thanks for covering this! 😁

[@GroovusGoonicus-nb5op]

I personally loved the early pacing, the world was awesome and i could tell it was gonna get darker so i savored the happy adventure vibes. Hard to think of a turn based jrpg where combat doesnt feel slow at the start. It wasnt until the last boss where i was finding myself wishing there was a bit more mechanically

[@NewYears1978]

I dunno why everyone doesn't love this game. It's gorgeous to look at. The mechanics are simple but a fun mix of Chrono Trigger and Mario RPG. The world and story are loads of fun. It's easily one of my favorite RPGs ever created, rivaling even games like Chrono Trigger, FF3 and such. I am at the very end before fighting the end boss, and have loved every minute.

[@GWFanSoftcoreBrony]

Absolutely loved this game. Been a long time since the last time I bought a game on launch day, but I did with this and was not disappointed.

[@freddymaite]

I recently started this and have been enjoying it. I'm glad you touched on the few tough enemies early on which you figure out pretty quick. The game is very polished, pretty and fun, an action RPG that I've been sorely missing over the years. I need to play Lufia II again now that you mentioned it. Cheeeeeers Drunk!

[@darktetsuya]

my wife just finished this one and yeah, she said there's definitely a lot of chrono trigger's influence in this one. (I did find one NPC that was absolutely lifted from CT, you even get an item the exact same way by interacting enough) I'm only about 10 hours in but I'm enjoying it a lot so far. and yeah a lot of the music is really good!

[@kobarsos82]

Thanks for the honest review !

[@jasonm7298]

Garl is basically Snesdrunk *gets poked in the eye* "I wanna thank you for watching (cause I'll never be able to again) and i hope you have a great rest of your day"

[@gregalongi6743]

I’ve read some critiques of the combat being too simple but I actually felt it was much more engaging than many of the games that inspired it. Chrono Trigger battles can typically be won but mashing the attacks but Sea of Stars made me strategize every battle.

[@epicpandemic916]

Loved this game, haven't beaten an rpg in like ten years and the ending made me cry

[@brisingr14]

I just saw a fun and pretty RPG. Got the demo. I recently played Chrono Trigger for the first time and didn't even think of it like that 😅

[@Liquidcadmus]

This game looks gorgeous

[@AnotherCraig]

"Like Golden Sun--" Me: So there's a shit-ton of dialogue? "--EVERYone has a lot to say" Me: 🤣

[@Phil_597]

Nice review! Someone needs to pull off a miracle in then next 2 months for this to not be my GOTY. While I have some complaints about the storytelling, I thought everything else was stellar and redeeming. The combat was too easy on default difficulty, but the Artful Gambit challenge mode (assuming it's not being cheesed with NG+ or Reaper's Mercy and other OP trinkets) fixed that and this is now the most fun I ever had in any JRPG's combat. Turning stale old JRPG combat into a Dark Souls death fest. Genius. Finally there's a skill element in this genre, and decisions are more meaningful because every resource and opportunity is very limited.

[@ogto]

hot take, i enjoyed Chained Echoes way more

[@plaidflannelgeek]

I would totally play a Bowling Mini game in rpgs.

[@mr.j3rs3y]

My main criticisms with the game are: 1. I wish puzzles got harder and little more creative. 2. I personally would like an increase in the difficulty a bit more. The game feels too easy and I’m saying this as someone who played without the easy mode item. 3. It desperately needs some more redrafts to: Flesh out characters Give more exposition and character background Explain story concepts that the game refuses to go into. Other than all of this the game is great and I like it a lot!

[@kevster6452]

Put on the Artful Gambit relic then dude

[@mr.j3rs3y]

@@kevster6452 I’ve heard it doesn’t make the game too much harder, but I’ll try to use that along with using worse equipment for a challenge run.

[@deathsnitemaresinfullust2269]

It's kinda neat hearing about some of the newer games coming out, especially when they kinda fit with the other things already covered on this channel. 😄👍

[@sozellicus]

Easily the best RPG to come out this year, by miles. But hey, that’s my opinion. My daughter and I played through this and adored it all the way through. She now wants to play both Chrono Trigger and The Messenger :)

[@TheJillers]

In this house we stan Garl. I've enjoyed the heck out of this game. Currently i have my game paused while fighting the final boss for the true ending because I was literally falling asleep while playing it because I didn't want to put it down. I loved all the little Chrono Trigger design elements that made me go "Oh! That's like [boss]"! And the music is beautiful and the battles are tough and also kind of like a puzzle with the lock sequences, trying to figure out how to knock out each element with which characters in [x] amount of turns.

[@GetYourBeaks]

The final boss went on way too long, I don't doubt you got sleepy.

[@thecunninlynguist]

SWITCH DRUNNNK! I've been meaning to get this game, especially since i loved the messenger.

[@cheepcheep2204]

I'm gonna be honest, this was a game I was hyped for a very long time and I played it on release. The game itself is gorgeous and the pixel art is amazing. But that's as much credit as I can give for this game. It just doesn't hold up with the great JRPGs like Chrono Trigger or Dragon Quest. This game has the most shallow characters I have seen in a JRPG, the 2 main protagonists are interchangeable. The game has a lot of whacky on the nose humor with 4th wall breaking and tries hard to be funny and quirky. The combat is very shallow as well, you get like 4 attacks for each character and some mildly useful combo attacks. It also doesn't help that they did not understand what made the level up stat mechanic from the paper mario games so fun. In Paper Mario selecting HP/FP/BP made a DIFFERENCE. In sea of stars it's a drop on the hot stone. For me personally this game is the biggest letdown this year. I dropped it around 15h because I was just not feeling it. This game is an example of taking a lot in inspirations from many older games and not using them right.

[@shelbyherring92]

Jesus, dude. Who hurt you? But to address your concerns: - Interchangeable protags? Literally the frigging mechanic. - 4th wall gags as humor? Do you have no soul? You don't to need to guffaw or cackle like you're Caine from Amazing Digital Circus, but if it doesn't illicit a smirk or giggle, you're an already humorless curmudgeon. - Stat bonuses? Okay, hear me out here - In SMRPG, no they didn't. The stat bonuses cycled through in order with one being better than the other two, ultimately resulting in that character's standard build. In Sea of Stars, it's more about utility, not builds necessarily. Basic af, sure, but basic ain't bad... Basic's only bad if you don't appreciate what basic does. -Also, 15 hours? You mean to tell me you were at the final boss and you just frigging QUIT!? Congrats on outing yourself as a rage quitter. The game is only like, 20 hours on first playthough at most, minus side content. Also, just wanna say that I am terribly sorry that your expectations were not based in reality or experience or anything really besides a gut feeling that "this'll be the one" like an addicted gambler trying to win back their life savings, except you're a middle aged failure trying to recapture the happiness of your childhood instead of moving on, growing up, and appreciating what you had like a healthy person. Touch grass, get help, and stop letting your personal issues get in the way of you enjoying life. Signed, -A fellow aspie PS - No seriously, the minorest of gripes in this game made you go from a 6 to a -10 out of 10 in 15 hours? How's your marriage/partnership? Ah wait, you don't have one because you can't manage expectations. PPS - Yeah, it's kinda mid. But it's mid like DnD Honor Among Thieves, where praising it means you just like to have fun and hating it proves you have no joy.

[@cheepcheep2204]

@@shelbyherring92 You might wanna see a psychologist man. I kinda feel bad for you having so much rage after reading my impression of the game. Take care

[@ArchGeek]

While not a JRPG, it’s still a fun Turn-based RPG. I backed it on Kickstarter years and years ago. I had a lot of fun with it.

[@sebastian_manuells]

I'm glad this has been released for PC, the system requirements are not at all demanding. I've never played a single turn based RPG but after listening to you, I have a feeling I'll enjoy this.

[@thepolacek]

Something that absolutely blows my mind is that Chrono Trigger or Secret of Mana (not the remake; the snes version) are not available on the PlayStation platform.

[@bitsandpiecesmusic]

I agree with it starting off pretty slow, but I LOVED this game. Also, it does take place in the same universe as their other game, The Messenger, which is really, really cool.

[@Random_Gibberish666]

Don't forget hugely takes from "chained echoes" lol

[@What_In_This_World]

Such a great game. And I hate the comments about shallow or simple combat, it is minimalist at worst, the combat is engaging and worthwhile. So much fun to figure out how to handle enemies. The constant changes to how you have to battle make each fight feel different. It’s not what you use, it’s why you are using it, refreshing and lots of fun.

[@bes03c]

It took a while to get attired but I loved Sea of Stars. The side content deepened the experience. I was sad even I finally beat it.

[@dsc5957]

That’s interesting that you say that the game has a very slow start. One of the biggest things that I liked about the game was how fast it felt like it got into the action. I just finished the game and had more problems with the end game personally. I enjoyed the game though

[@mattgrundy27]

Sea of Stars is fantastic.

[@TheTruePacmanMG]

I agree with most everything you have said here. Luckily things don't have to be objectively better than their inspirations. If I'm being honest I think I'd prefer to play SoS over CT personally, but that probably has something to do with the fact I've played through CT I don't even know how many times. I love SoS and Sabotage and I'm already hyped for whatever their next game is.