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One of the most hotly-anticipated role-playing titles, retro or not, is finally making its way to full release. The gorgeous Sea of Stars arrives this August.
Not quite 16bit
No Sea of Stars doesn’t look like it could run on an SNES. Described as being “inspired by” the classic role-playing titles of the 90s, Sabotage Studios’ baby is looking flat-out beautiful. It definitely comes off as being more of a modern title with retro sensibilities, than something strictly ‘retro’ in theme.
And that extends to more than just the looks and sound departments. The gameplay looks as vintage as it can be at first blush, stacking the player’s party up against foes in turn-based battles. But there are some big differences from this and a title from 1995.
Probably at the top, is that players can go anywhere (characters aren’t bound to tile sets) and there are seemingly no random battles. Along with that though, there’s a full day/night cycle in Sea of Stars, plus a myriad of side-activities that you can engage in that don’t involve the main quest at all. Oh, and no grinding.
Here it is in action on the Nintendo Switch:
Sea of Stars tells the story of two Children of the Solstice, following youths Valere and Zale as they face their fated duty to become Solstice Warriors. They wield the lone force capable of defeating the monstrous creations of an evil alchemist known as The Fleshmancer. Valere and Zale’s grand journey follows their mastery of Sun and Moon powers as they learn to combine their strengths to cast powerful Eclipse Magic. Legendary composer Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger) also joins Sabotage Studio’s composer Eric W. Brown on Sea of Stars’ rousing original soundtrack, delivering an incredible sonic experience for one of this year’s most eagerly awaited games.
Sabotage Studios press release
While all of that’s pretty great sounding, today’s news is actually about the game’s launch. Players will finally be able to get their hands on Sea of Stars this August the 29th, for Xbox and PlayStation consoles, as well as the Switch and PC. But wait there’s more, as the game is now scheduled to be a part of Game Pass on both Xbox and PC. So if you’re a subscriber, then you’re good to go on day 1.
