Fillip J Phry
Well-Known Member
I warned ya'll last week - here comes the big one for Sea of Stars. I completed the game Saturday night, and was floored. This game is my GOTY 2023 hands down. I still haven't finished TotK or played Pikmin 4, but I don't think either of them is going to make me feel the way this one did. More on that in the spoiler section, but I will say this game has a TON of heart and pulled at mine multiple times.
First off, the non-spoiler stuff. If you haven't seen it, this game is a top down RPG akin to the SNES era classics, particularly Chrono Trigger. Combat has some modern takes on it, and kept me on my toes throughout. On top of that, the balance to the combat deserves awards in and of itself. I went through the game only doing the battles that I came across, no grinding whatsoever. The boss encounters always felt challenging but fair. I don't know how they did it, but there were plenty of times where I was just barely scraping by, but was able to pull through and claim victory. I think the only negative here was in some of the regular enemy encounters. Had a couple of fights where bad luck caused an unwinnable situation. No big deal though, reload to a nearby autosave and the encounter luck would shift to something beatable.
The character design was great, and I fell in love with everyone. The two main characters are a bit cardboard, but everyone else adds the depth. Music was top notch, as is expected from Rainbowdragoneyes considering how good The Messenger's was. Yasunori Mitsuda also lends his talents on a few tracks. Visually everything is stunning as well, feels like a modern throwback to the games I loved as a kid. The map is fairly small, but feels so much bigger than it is. There is some backtracking if you want to fully complete it, but didn't feel like a chore to me.
I recommend playing The Messenger before this one. Minor spoiler but both game worlds are tied together, and there are a bunch of references to that game in this one.
Also, this wouldn't be a true RPG if there wasn't a game within a game. In this case it's Wheels, a clockwork themed game in which you and an opponent have two characters from 6 different classes, and you roll 5 wheels. These wheels can add to your defense, add points to your characters attack, and power up your characters. You get three rolls per turn, and can hold wheels similar to how you would hold cards in poker. The sound design is very pleasing and it's pretty easy to play and understand. By the end I found that the Priest and Mage combo was the most effective. The Priest heals and adds to your other character's attack counter, and the mage has two attacks, the second of which avoids all but the highest defensive walls. I recommend looking it up just to watch, it's very aesthetically pleasing in every aspect.
MAJOR SPOILER WARNINGS below for both Sea of Stars and The Messenger. You've been warned!
Thank you for coming to my rant. There's so much more to talk about but I'm bad at putting all my thoughts into words.
First off, the non-spoiler stuff. If you haven't seen it, this game is a top down RPG akin to the SNES era classics, particularly Chrono Trigger. Combat has some modern takes on it, and kept me on my toes throughout. On top of that, the balance to the combat deserves awards in and of itself. I went through the game only doing the battles that I came across, no grinding whatsoever. The boss encounters always felt challenging but fair. I don't know how they did it, but there were plenty of times where I was just barely scraping by, but was able to pull through and claim victory. I think the only negative here was in some of the regular enemy encounters. Had a couple of fights where bad luck caused an unwinnable situation. No big deal though, reload to a nearby autosave and the encounter luck would shift to something beatable.
The character design was great, and I fell in love with everyone. The two main characters are a bit cardboard, but everyone else adds the depth. Music was top notch, as is expected from Rainbowdragoneyes considering how good The Messenger's was. Yasunori Mitsuda also lends his talents on a few tracks. Visually everything is stunning as well, feels like a modern throwback to the games I loved as a kid. The map is fairly small, but feels so much bigger than it is. There is some backtracking if you want to fully complete it, but didn't feel like a chore to me.
I recommend playing The Messenger before this one. Minor spoiler but both game worlds are tied together, and there are a bunch of references to that game in this one.
Also, this wouldn't be a true RPG if there wasn't a game within a game. In this case it's Wheels, a clockwork themed game in which you and an opponent have two characters from 6 different classes, and you roll 5 wheels. These wheels can add to your defense, add points to your characters attack, and power up your characters. You get three rolls per turn, and can hold wheels similar to how you would hold cards in poker. The sound design is very pleasing and it's pretty easy to play and understand. By the end I found that the Priest and Mage combo was the most effective. The Priest heals and adds to your other character's attack counter, and the mage has two attacks, the second of which avoids all but the highest defensive walls. I recommend looking it up just to watch, it's very aesthetically pleasing in every aspect.
MAJOR SPOILER WARNINGS below for both Sea of Stars and The Messenger. You've been warned!
OK, let's talk story. Big Chrono vibes here. Basic story is big baddie keeps forming dwellers, massive beasts that can only be stopped by the Solstice Warriors, who are children born on, you guessed it, the Solstice. The dwellers are fought during an eclipse, which amplifies the powers of the warriors. Things basically stuck in a loop - dweller rises, warriors defeat it, next generation trains to take down the next one. Obviously Valerie and Zale, the two newest warriors, are the ones to break the cycle. That being said, it can't be done without some help. Enter Resh'an, an immortal alchemist who can manipulate time. Your characters were doomed to fail like the rest until he steps in and shifts the tide. He starts as the narrator of the hero's tale, until they knock at his door mid story and he joins in to help out. Loved this little twist, and I was hooked at this point.
Now, lets talk Garl. The warrior cook and best friend of Valerie and Zale, he's the glue that holds everything together. Nicest person in the whole game. Helps found an entire village after a cataclysmic event by one of the dwellers. Friend to all, and always willing to help where needed. He's the best boy and must be protected... Except Valerie and Zale FAIL him! In a desperate attempt to save his friends, he jumps in front of a spell that kills him, not knowing that those he was trying to save probably would have survived. This entire scene crushed me, the game has a big funeral for him and everything. First time I cried in this game. Scene is incredibly powerful.
You later travel to another world with Seraii, who was originally a pirate leader, and then a ninja, and then a cyborg ninja from another world as you discover her story. You eventually use the Sea of Stars to travel to her world, which has been oppressed by Resh'ans old friend turned evil.
The rest of the party continues on, leading up to the final confrontation with the evil immortal alchemist, who sends his lackey after you, which was another Solstice Warrior who betrayed the cause for more power. You win, and Valerie and Zale ascend to be the guardians of the cosmos, defeating a World Eater in an out of nowhere bullet hell shooter. Another unexpected twist that was pretty fun. They end up travelling to all worlds on constant watch for any dwellers or other world eaters.
The end, right? This is where things get interesting. After credits roll, what looks like a ritual site that you see very early on activates. There's a bunch of pillars around it, and if you did some of the side stuff before the boss a few will light up. If not, you get vague visions of what is needed for each one to light. This is how you get the True Ending of the game, and involves finding all the rainbow conches, doing the major side quests (which give the best weapons), and fighting some secret bosses. Had a blast exploring and seeing what I missed. As far as the conches go, I was surprised to find I only missed one that didn't require backtracking, and one in a secret area. The rest were tied to post game stuff, so I had a pretty keen eye. Also got the achievement for finding all the treasure. There's 168 chests in the game, and again, I only missed a small handful throughout. Fortunately here, there's a parrot on the ship that when you are near an area he will tell you if you missed anything, and give the general area of where it is. Doesn't outright tell you, but also keeps the search pretty narrow as each area is pretty quick to search through. Neat little QOL feature for those looking to get 100%.
OK, so once you get all the pillars lit up, you go there and get the best twist. Near the end of the game you meet a character whose soul is basically trapped in one area due to a curse. With Resh'ans help you manage to give him a body using what they call living glass, allowing him to change shape as needed. Until this point you think this is just a good deed for this character. HOWEVER, activating the shrine does the best thing that could happen, you get a chance to change the event that kills Garl. It allows the group a brief period where time stops, allowing you to pull Garl to safety. Can't mess up the timeline though, so B'st, the living glass character, takes Garls form and place. When you return to the present, you dig him up from Garls grave, which feels reminiscent to the Futurama episode where that happens with Bender. Bringing Garl back was the second time I cried in this game, though the tears were happy ones.
With the gang back together, it's time to confront the final boss again. He tries to send his lackey again, but this time, Garl jumps in and call him a coward. He fights for real this time, and you switch between a typical boss fight, and bullet hell top down shooter like the world eater the during the first ending. After several phases he is defeated, and Resh'an takes him away to dimensions unknown. Valerie and Zale still become the guardians of the cosmos, except this time they promise to stop by each year for Garls birthday. The game ends on them meeting Garl, now an old man, in their childhood hiding spot. This was the final time I cried playing this game. Fantasic ending, freeze framing on the three of them sharing a hug.
Like The Messenger, this isn't actually the end though, there's one more brilliant secret. Doing certain things in the game granted you 3 flimsy hammers, and finishing the true ending gives you a fourth. I had to look it up, but theres a secret area where you can use these hammers to break through 4 walls. This leads to a room with a closet, and out pops... The Shopkeeper from the Messenger! He tells you the closet is yours to use. Going in takes you to a secret dev room, where all the devs have character models and messages that you can read. Once you leave, you can talk to the Shopkeeper again, and like in The Messenger, he will give you three different long winded speeches. The third one is especially touching, finishing a story from the first game that is clearly about one of the lead devs or writers of the games. It's a touching story about how they went through some serious depression during the development of this game but were able to pull through. Couldn't have asked for a better ending.
Now, lets talk Garl. The warrior cook and best friend of Valerie and Zale, he's the glue that holds everything together. Nicest person in the whole game. Helps found an entire village after a cataclysmic event by one of the dwellers. Friend to all, and always willing to help where needed. He's the best boy and must be protected... Except Valerie and Zale FAIL him! In a desperate attempt to save his friends, he jumps in front of a spell that kills him, not knowing that those he was trying to save probably would have survived. This entire scene crushed me, the game has a big funeral for him and everything. First time I cried in this game. Scene is incredibly powerful.
You later travel to another world with Seraii, who was originally a pirate leader, and then a ninja, and then a cyborg ninja from another world as you discover her story. You eventually use the Sea of Stars to travel to her world, which has been oppressed by Resh'ans old friend turned evil.
The rest of the party continues on, leading up to the final confrontation with the evil immortal alchemist, who sends his lackey after you, which was another Solstice Warrior who betrayed the cause for more power. You win, and Valerie and Zale ascend to be the guardians of the cosmos, defeating a World Eater in an out of nowhere bullet hell shooter. Another unexpected twist that was pretty fun. They end up travelling to all worlds on constant watch for any dwellers or other world eaters.
The end, right? This is where things get interesting. After credits roll, what looks like a ritual site that you see very early on activates. There's a bunch of pillars around it, and if you did some of the side stuff before the boss a few will light up. If not, you get vague visions of what is needed for each one to light. This is how you get the True Ending of the game, and involves finding all the rainbow conches, doing the major side quests (which give the best weapons), and fighting some secret bosses. Had a blast exploring and seeing what I missed. As far as the conches go, I was surprised to find I only missed one that didn't require backtracking, and one in a secret area. The rest were tied to post game stuff, so I had a pretty keen eye. Also got the achievement for finding all the treasure. There's 168 chests in the game, and again, I only missed a small handful throughout. Fortunately here, there's a parrot on the ship that when you are near an area he will tell you if you missed anything, and give the general area of where it is. Doesn't outright tell you, but also keeps the search pretty narrow as each area is pretty quick to search through. Neat little QOL feature for those looking to get 100%.
OK, so once you get all the pillars lit up, you go there and get the best twist. Near the end of the game you meet a character whose soul is basically trapped in one area due to a curse. With Resh'ans help you manage to give him a body using what they call living glass, allowing him to change shape as needed. Until this point you think this is just a good deed for this character. HOWEVER, activating the shrine does the best thing that could happen, you get a chance to change the event that kills Garl. It allows the group a brief period where time stops, allowing you to pull Garl to safety. Can't mess up the timeline though, so B'st, the living glass character, takes Garls form and place. When you return to the present, you dig him up from Garls grave, which feels reminiscent to the Futurama episode where that happens with Bender. Bringing Garl back was the second time I cried in this game, though the tears were happy ones.
With the gang back together, it's time to confront the final boss again. He tries to send his lackey again, but this time, Garl jumps in and call him a coward. He fights for real this time, and you switch between a typical boss fight, and bullet hell top down shooter like the world eater the during the first ending. After several phases he is defeated, and Resh'an takes him away to dimensions unknown. Valerie and Zale still become the guardians of the cosmos, except this time they promise to stop by each year for Garls birthday. The game ends on them meeting Garl, now an old man, in their childhood hiding spot. This was the final time I cried playing this game. Fantasic ending, freeze framing on the three of them sharing a hug.
Like The Messenger, this isn't actually the end though, there's one more brilliant secret. Doing certain things in the game granted you 3 flimsy hammers, and finishing the true ending gives you a fourth. I had to look it up, but theres a secret area where you can use these hammers to break through 4 walls. This leads to a room with a closet, and out pops... The Shopkeeper from the Messenger! He tells you the closet is yours to use. Going in takes you to a secret dev room, where all the devs have character models and messages that you can read. Once you leave, you can talk to the Shopkeeper again, and like in The Messenger, he will give you three different long winded speeches. The third one is especially touching, finishing a story from the first game that is clearly about one of the lead devs or writers of the games. It's a touching story about how they went through some serious depression during the development of this game but were able to pull through. Couldn't have asked for a better ending.
Thank you for coming to my rant. There's so much more to talk about but I'm bad at putting all my thoughts into words.
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