I really feel like they should’ve given you some sort of “treasure tone” indicator for the rainbow conches. That would’ve made that whole struggle so much easier LOL
Like the indicator in Eastward. The sound it makes gets faster and louder the closer you get to a chest. Then slower and quieter as you get further away.
Such a cozy and comforting game. I found the characters wholesome and genuine while the exploration, puzzles and the accompanying soundtrack was top notch. I was blown away at how many environments and enemy variety was in the game definitely be paying attention to this studio as of now.
getting all the achievements and the secret ending was such a journey. I loved all of this, and the messenger before this. I can't wait to see what they do next with the series, and in which genre.
What impressed me the most graphically is the shadows. Everything cast shadows, and since your characters always cast light, objects can cast shadows in all directions. I'm not 100% sure, but I think everything has a 3d model for shadow purposes, then is rendered with sprites.
I'll say the only area i would have liked to see improve was the skill system . Should of been more skills and routes to earn towards and pick . Something light and maybe similar to Crono trigger where you level towards the next skills. I think it would of been the cherry on top . The game could have also used a steal system for rare items or something . Outside of that = Masterpiece
I'm torn on that. Chrono trigger had skills you almost never bother with. Most games with a ton of skills per character end up just making it more annoying to sort through because you hardly ever use them. Having a paralyze skill that is useful for one boss is just annoying lol.
@@JasonScalici yea its hard to make all the skills usefull thats a fact . 99% of rpgs dont apply status effects on enemies properly its usually broken for sure
I think they actually do a Thing lore-wise with the limited skill slots. There's a scene where Valere learns a new skill and Zale doesn't, and it's implied he should have… and then another NPC teaches him a move, and now all 3 of his skill slots are taken up… so you know he will never unlock whatever power he was supposed to.
i just bought this i am going to play it after work today on this rainy Saturday. my friend is hounding me to go to the strip club tonight but i am so drained from work and stress this week i just want to cozy up with my switch in bed and play this. im glad this game made the Game Collection makes me excited to start it tonight especially after I have been so stressed and miserable the last week or so. thanks for covering it and sharing your thoughts. This is a hidden gem channel I love that you love these types of games and are so informative/knowledgable about them.
Hey thanks Joe! I think this will be the perfect game for unwinding after a long week. Zone out, drink some tea or coffee, and enjoy the ride, and the tunes. Hope it leaves you feeling recharged! Bad weeks come and go, hoping your next week feels better, dude. :)
@@SuperDerek thanks man that means a lot.. and i appreciate everything that has helped me the last week or so and your video was one one of them that kept me going. I just got off work and am going to eat but then I'll start this game and I am super excited to. I have some cold brew coffee that I think I might have with it, I put almond milk in it too after my sister recommended it. i haven't slept much in 9 days but since im off for the next 3 days I think I can afford to have some coffee at this time of night.
Glad your still making videos Derek. I've been a fan of yours for years now. I'm finally jumping back into RPGs. It's been a few years since my last adventure haha. Anyways man have a good one!
This is the Golden Sun game we've all heen waiting for! It's the absolute nearest experience to an actual entry in the series that we could possibly get. Personally the game is a 10/10 for me, wothout a doubt. There wasnt a single moment the entire time playing that i felt bored or not engaged.
As someone who grew up on FF7 through X I completely understand your feelings. That being said, even though FF16 wasn’t the JRPG I was looking for, I still loved it. As much as it pains me most developers from back then have “moved on” from traditional JRPGs, as long as the games they make are fun I can’t be too mad at them. Like you said, plenty of room for Indie teams to come in and give us that JRPG fix!! 🤙🏻
For me, Monolith Soft and the Xenoblade games have taken over for me as the kings of the 'modern, ambitious JRPG classic' style of game. I've given up on Final Fantasy completely. That said, Square has done reasonably well with their non-AAA JRPGs lately. Octopath Traveler 2, Harvestella, and Triangle Strategy are all high quality games.
Great review, Derek! I too just wrapped up my playthru and platinum on PS5, and it was such a great experience from start to finish. SoS didn't diminish Chrono Trigger in any way and built on top of that. And yeah, the soundtrack is so good!
Since both you and DavidVinc pretty much have the same taste as I do, I can't wait for this. I'm not buying the digital right away as I want a physical copy but I can hold till then. This looks amazing.
Just had to mention that as for the battles taking place on the map seamlessly Chained Echoes and before it Cosmic Star Heroine are two that did that as well.
I'm about 7 hours into the game currently. My impression so far is the game is very good. It has an interesting, but not complicated twist on turn-based combat. The look, music and feel are wonderful. The story is serviceable. Very good, but not a life-changing experience or anything. Like I said, the story is serviceable, but hasn't done anything really memorable. I think I will probably remember the game the most for the aesthetics. I've yet to find one of these indie jrpgs that has a story that is nearly as good as the classics. But I would say the game is totally worth your time and money.
The story and characters didn't hook me at first. The two protagonists are rather bland and don't have a lot of personality to them. They could be merged into one, and nothing would really change. To me it seemed like Garl was much more of a protagonist. I kept playing because the pixel art and music were amazing and I like the battle system. Somewhere halfway through the story, it got a lot more interesting for me. So I'm glad I kept playing. It's an amazing game, but the story and character writing felt off to me. It's still amazing that an indie studio managed to create such a great game, even though it has its flaws.
Such a fun game! I didn't go in with high expectations because I typically don't like games that are popular. (Because so many people like things I don't care for) However this one was really good. We don't need Final Fantasy tactics or NieR Automata quality stories in every game. This one was good enough. I hope more game companies are taking notes. P.S. The only thing I didn't like in this game was the "wheels" mini game. I tried it a few times, but its wasn't worth the headache.
I'm glad you enjoyed the game, too. The discourse about this game has been kind of interesting. Huge praise from critics, and a lot of people love it. But I've seen a lot of people who were down on the game as well. I mostly really liked it. The art and animations are top-notch. The soundtrack is good. I think the story is what keeps it from being a classic for me. It's still one of my favorites I've played this year and the best indie JRPG-style game I've personally played. A great first RPG from the studio. Their previous game, The Messenger, was really good as well. So I'm excited to see what their third game will be like.
The discourse around certain corners of the Internet has been fascinating, and honestly, really weird to me. I have a theory about this, (centered around tribalism, and heel-digging,) but don't want to get into it for now. I think history will be kinder to this game than some people have been lately.
I dunno if I'll fit into a theory, but it's basically the opposite of Chrono Trigger for me. Chrono Trigger's ambience was mystical, wistful, ethereal. Sea of Stars to me is very noisy. The music is very crisp and harsh. The music for that side game is so crazily cluttered it gives me anxiety! Also while the pixel art and animations are great, everything is kinda too clean and shiny. I prefer deeper tones, or a nice contrast. The shiny image and the high pitched music give it a superficial feel to me. Some might say I'm being picky but hey, its a computer game. These days I can, and sort of have to be picky. Billions of games and tons of other games begging to be played. Im sure people who's gaming is still their main hobby, or younger people with more time on their hands will beore forgiving (just like i was back then too😅)
Great review, Derek. I've not had time to play much lately and so I'm still only around 10 hours in on this and around the same time in Reverie. Also trying to play a horror game called Lamentum for Oct. I can't wait until I have time to finish this and dig deeper into Trails into Reverie, which I probably won't finish until next year at this rate. But anyway, this review has hyped me up (responsibly) to get back into it.
Not to be dramatic but this game genuinely helped me a lot while on a journey to reconnect with myself after a horrendous break up. Just reminded me of my love for jrpg or my hobbies in general, and relearning that I have always had my own interests, and I can thoroughly enjoy it by myself. I love this game to bits! 💜 also i personally loved that one of the longer contents was at wraith island 🧟🧟♀️
Great Review. I remember Derek recommended me the game when I write in the comment of HitPoint episode. Like it a lot. More so on the side quest and treasure chest. The side quest have meaning, not just chores and the inside of treasure chest not just crafting material, if you know what I mean. My only disappoint part is the skill is to little, I just wish they have more. Also, the combo bar is reset every time, because of that I rarely used combo outside of boss battle.
Yeah, wish the combo meter didn't reset every time so I could play around with more ultimate moves, but in a way I suppose it's kinda neat that they're reserved for big drawn out boss battles. Helps a lot that I figured out you can really boost up how quickly the combo meter increases by doing some group-healing moves. :)
That last bit of dialogue is how I felt for a long time. Indie games will take on the mantle for new retro style RPGs, and I'm okay with that especially if they keep bring it out quality.
Thank you for this video. It was the reason I downloaded the game (free for psplus users right now) and I am in love. About 8 hours in. It's exactly what I needed in gaming right now.
Just finished playing this after going through Chained Echoes with my game pass sub. 7/10. I loved the music, dungeon design and the story moments when they took time to really focus on the characters like in the beginning. I found the lack of change in combat to become very tedious by the end of the game and the pacing of combat dragged long before the ending credits. Really easy game to recommend even if I didn't love it as much as most and never see myself wanting to go back to it.
As much as I like Sea of Stars, and it achieves all what it set out to do, Octopath Traveler II is a masterpiece. As much as people long for the genre to have remained basically the same over the last few decades, I think the genre would be obsolete now if that had been the case. No, I don't like some of the more modern JRPG's (I lost interest in Final Fantasy after XII), I understand that we need variety in the genre and it's good that we have such variation.
Derek i joined the backer fund for sea of stars I paid for the collectors edition on ps4 a day before the game came out sabatoge send me the digital code for ps4 and ps5 version but I can't find any information on when or how to get my collectors edition I paid for do you have any ideals to help me out
The physical editions of the game aren't releasing until 2024, so I would sit tight and wait for news to come through your kickstarter. Otherwise, you could follow-up in their Discord server for more info I'm sure. :)
dunno man, i am still at the opening flashback when they were children, and I struggle to open my eyes looking for nearby save point to save and drink coffee/wash my face, this happened three times already. And it getting worse by the fact that they are solstice warrior since child, feels like they born special/destined to save the word cliche, unlike Crono from chrono trigger who is normal person caught in the middle of time travel mess
I snagged an Xbox hard drive on clearance a few weeks ago and it came with a voucher for a month of Game Pass that was still good! (Yes, I play mostly Japanese RPGs on my Xbox. Mostly because I am unhinged) this game has been on the service since day one and, while I enjoyed the demo of Sea of Stars, it absolutely does not do the game justice. I can't wait for that physical next year
Aloof but can't help but care, love that... Greatly appreciate your insight as to the game making you use every character, every character being critical...
New to your channel and you seem pretty super to me derek! To me the game isn't about super heros rising up to defeat evil. NOPE! That would be too basic of a story for the pros at sabotage. It's about a young man who's just like you and me doing what he can to help his friends. To show that even great powerful evils have weaknesses that even the average joe like Garl can exploit. He blows up the roof to help the heros fight a magical enemy that he can't hurt on his own otherwise. He is the first to fight the cave dweller to help buy the assassin time to make her huge portal. He takes a bullet for his friends later on from the evil flesh mancer. How can you not love him???? And that true ending... Garl is the best! It's beautiful! Sea of Garl is the true name of the game! Great video Derek! Brought a tear to my eye but not as much as the game itself did.
I just finished the true ending and extra side content in Sea of Stars and loved it. My only nit-pick is for about the first 10ish hours of the game I simply liked it; the game puts its weakest foot forward before gaining momentum in the mid-to-late acts in my opinion. Once it picks up though, it really starts to come together into something special. The graphics, art design and music are all *chef's kiss*, and the combat really becomes a lot of fun as the story progresses. Some of the bosses are no joke, although there were no controller-smashing enemies with awful rng akin to the final boss of say, Persona 3.
I beat this game twice yesterday. The only thing I didn't get was level 30 or defeating 10 bosses with artful gambit. I was burned out on the game at that point. I did think it ridiculous that the end boss was a shooter game. I enjoyed the escape from the castle in a plane in Devil May Cry, but not this. I just started Chained Echoes yesterday and must say its refreshing not to have to do timed hits. Still, Sea of Stars was a good game overall and I enjoyed my time with it.
I was really looking forward to this game but the soundtrack's heavy attack on synth instruments and common use of high frequencies gives me a headache due to my audiosensitive autism 💔 I may see if i can implement an EQ but last time i tried on windows it was way more difficult than kt should be 😢
@@SuperDerekno it's really quite a rare occurrence! Don't feel bad man haha but thanks! Luckily games tend to have good balances or let you balance different aspects of the soundscape to bring the harshness down. The only thing I can think of most recently was some songs in Street Fighter 5 but they had an option to turn specific songs off so I could play that just fine! Mr Drippy's footsteps in Ni No Kuni almost got me but I managed to filter it out after a while. PS thanks for the vids over the years! Loved going through some memories with you!
Loved the game, if anything I enjoyed it so much that it feels like a short experience. Agree that backtracking can be cumbersome while looking for conchs. Also, there are a couple of storylines that felt like there were left for an expansion (brugaves and Romaya in particular) but maybe im mistaken or missed a cutscene. In any case, 5 stars for me
Great review. As much as I’ve been enjoying my playthrough, especially the pixel art and music, the combat has yet to really impress me as much as everything else. Which I’ll admit isn’t a fair comparison, at least individually, but as part of an overall package, it’s been the weakest link. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely been fun, and I need to just appreciate it for what it is instead of what I would like it to be, but the last indie RPG I played-Chained Echoes-so thoroughly blew me out of the water that it’s hard not to make the comparison. Definitely seeing this one through to the end though. It’s endlessly charming.
It's really hard not to draw commissions between the two because they're both so S-tier, IMO. But comparison is the thief of happiness, as they say. I'm just glad we're eating so well this year!
Great game, but I haven't played Chained Echoes to compare. The real big flaw the game has IMO is its economy. Money is just ridiculously hard to come by if you want to buy everything, to the point where I basically had spend a few hours farming ingredients, cooking, and selling the food to do it. Experience is ridiculously hard to come by late game, as after level 21 or so you have to do a fight that respawns in the final dungeon about 35 times, and I just decided I couldn't be bothered grinding to 30 like I usually would. It was also annoying that to get all achievements you had to do a NG+ playthrough where you beat the first 10 bosses with a handicap relic on (doing the handicap relic was actually kind of fun, but having to do NG+ wasn't). If you haven't played The Messenger, you absolutely should! Sea of Stars takes place in the same world, and has loads of references to The Messenger, plus a massive easter egg in the crypt that's definitely worth checking out.
I still need to get through Chained Echoes, but honestly I don't think these games need to be compared. (Although they invariably do get compared a lot, so I get what you mean.) The two are vastly different takes on a retro-inspired RPG, embracing different aspects of the genre. I think Sea of Stars embraces the "Grandia" side of things, whereas CE, so far, seems to have embraced the Xenogears side of things.
Sea of Stars was a good game. However, I think it is overrated. I enjoyed the beginning of the game more than the later parts. The lack of fast travel sucked (and isn't fully alleviated later in the game). I also thought they tried to fit too many mini plots with lota of lore in, so I had trouble feeling much for them (later in the game, in particular). Another issue is, as someone else mentioned, not enough skills. The battke became repetitive where I kept using the moon boomerang skill over and over. The game is worth playing. I don't agree with people who said it was too short. We need less long games.
When games like this come out and all the professional reviews say the exact same thing I start feeling like I'm in a weird conspiracy. It's an OK game that aspires to homage Chrono Trigger. CT's combat is nothing amazing, and I've not played enough of sea of stars to know if kts truly better. But man Chrono Trigger's story and feeling is unbelievable.
This is such a beautiful game but it has terrible dialogue, character development and story. Also, I think it would have benefited of having less combats or introducing new combat mechanics. Hope they improve this aspects in their next game, the world of sea of stars is quite interesting
I liked the game alot, even if I didn't have the love affair the internet seemed to have~ I enjoyed the puzzle aspect of combat, could do without timed hits. especially since it didn't seem consistent on the timing to me. The Chrono Trigger style of combat transition doesn't really add much for me. I'm ok with battle transitions. The game does look absolutely stellar. The music is also good. I just wish the characters, story and writing lived up to that level of presentation. Also, dancing around spoilers. they locked too much behind finding all the conches. that should not have been a requirement for one thing in particular. This actually made me a bit angry with the game.
@@SuperDerek yea his character was patched out and replaced with a generic bearded character named Bob lol. I just played thru Sea of Stars and i was waiting to get to that part only to be met with Bob. So I had to look it up, and Kowloon patched out his character! Wild !
Oh there are some really stellar ones out there vying for that title, and than goodness for that. We are _spoiled_ for choice! Personally, I can't wait to see Eiyuden Chronicle when it comes out! :D
@@SuperDerek i cant think of a one vying. I can think of many that wishing they were. Dont misunderstand i love the indy rpg scene. Rise of the Third Power is a top 10 game of the last 5 years to my taste, and thats at any level in the industry. But there isnt a single indy the stratosphere of this as far as ive had the pleasure of playing. The sound design and the level design out pace triple a titles, never mind indies. Final Fantasy 16 could learn a lot from the attention to not just detail but excellence that this achieved in those regards. The writing in both major story beats and small character moments is well beyond anything in the indy space. Take chained echos for example. Much lauded title this year but its writing isnt half as good. Id go as far as to say its writing was a bit sloppy and the dialog was even a bit poor but thats another topic. Combat is certainly polished, i love how theyve made combat more of an active puzzle in lieu of a more traditional stat game, but there are definitely games out there that are as engaging. Not saying combat is mid or anything but lots of games have good combat systems and its the one area thats probably the most replaceable. There's a broader conversation about how thats because games are crafts and the other aspects are artistic endeavors but thats a huge convo completely off topic. But games that are this well polished across all metrics? Sure. Point me to it. I clearly need to play it cause holy hell this was great and if there's something that worse but only by a little bit its still going to be great. I certainly agree with space has some exciting titles on the horizon and i truly hope i look back in the not so distant future and remember a time where there wasnt anything this good out there. But right this second? Gotta disagree, respectfully.
Heard they dropped the ball for the story and especially the ending which is a shame because the game is gorgous you can see the effort given to the visuals.
I think it depends on your expectations. The story is fine if you're looking for a casual JRPG story, something like Lunar or Grandia. If you're hoping for Xenogears, you'll be disappointed, but that doesn't mean what we got was bad. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish, but these kinds of stories are my jam! :)
It's easy to put your finger on what makes games like this and other indies feel so much better than modern triple A games most of the time. Its love! Plain and simple! They don't have a giant board of people with a checklist that the game needs to follow to appeal to as many people as possible. These people just made something they love and appeals because people see that love, how can the bigger companies not realize this? With the modern triple A games, you can just feel the heavy-handed choices they make to try and make as much money as possible. Like this game isn't long enough to validate a 70 dollar price tag, so let's put in a bunch of crap quests or something else to bloat it. Or something that's even worse that a certain company does where they bring back a beloved IP and then underfund it because they aren't sure if it can make the money that a more beloved IP can. Plus so much more where you can just see these games stealing from other popular games without putting in the effort that those games did just to try and steal some of that success, Ugh. But let's just hope indie teams keep making games that they love and don't become big successful corporations, haha.
@@SuperDerek Yep, you can see it in every nook and cranny. One of the big things is that the game never feels stale at any given point and has you experiencing new things all the way to the very end. So many games start out fun but lose that fun in the same old formula throughout the whole game.
The demo gave me some real grindy puzzle slog feelings. You had to do all possible permutations of gems to collect all the treasures, or else you have to cope with FOMO. It is probably a fine enough game but I don't have the kind of time this is going to demand and I don't want it bad enough if I did. I also wasn't really loving the twitchy timing mini games. The tips are like "haha don't worry it doesn't really matter" except it does or else they wouldn't include it. With every attack in the game being a unique snowflake, you just get to go in blind and screw it up and not know whether you were late or early, all the while there is no strategy to it, it's just timing and memorization divorced from the overall strategy amd tactics. I still could see someone really liking this game based on what I saw in the demo. I just don't have the will to make that kind of down payment of time and effort on elements I don't enjoy much.
Things like "doing every permutation of the crystal" puzzle was definitely by design, and the players who do those are _rewarded_ for it later in the game. I think it's when those things are _not_ rewarded that it's super annoying, personally.
@@SuperDerek "Rewarded for doing it" and "punished for not doing it" are just two sides of the same thing. Unless you're speedrunning, it feels like skipping isn't a real option in situations like this, especially if you play without wiki or Google and presumably anything missable might be the big cool thing.
I’m not sure how to interpret your ending statement, you called it a masterpiece but your tone lacked any enthusiasm for the game. Maybe your just coming to terms that the RPGs we grew up with are long gone and we will never get that experience. I have already excepted that has come and Indy developers are the ok it way we will get games close to that and Sea of Stars is the first one that looks promising (I never played Undertale). But those RPG experiences are still out and come every so often; Dragon Quest 11 & NiNoKuni Wrath of White Witch both ‘modern RPGs’ gave me the feeling I had when playing RPGs of old.
Don't get me wrong, I loved my time with Sea of Stars, but it's sobered me up to the fact that the Old Guard are not going to give me _these kinds_ of experiences ever again.
I think I'm going to have to come to terms that the "Golden Era" RPGs just aren't for me, much less the modern day WJRPGs that try to replicate their feel and style. I didn't grow up playing them, outside of a hand-few I didn't really start getting into RPGs until the 6th Console Generation which definitely feel more up my alley, so I guess I just don't have the nostalgia or appreciation for them and their imitators. Oh well, not everything is going to be for everyone. All you folks love it so that's good enough I suppose.
Celebrate 10 years of "The Game Collection" with me with one of the awesome anniversary tees! Pre-sale ends on Sunday! shop.superderekrpgs.com
Just placed my order! Love the design! Not hyping responsibly this time ;-)
I really feel like they should’ve given you some sort of “treasure tone” indicator for the rainbow conches. That would’ve made that whole struggle so much easier LOL
That would be really neat! Or at least maybe gain access to the parrot a bit sooner.
Your channel rules!!
@@grahfkarate1799awww thank you so much baby doll!! 🎉🎉🎉
Like the indicator in Eastward. The sound it makes gets faster and louder the closer you get to a chest. Then slower and quieter as you get further away.
There is an accessory that tell you if you missed stuff in a zone
The vibes bring me right back to the golden era of retro RPGs. Thanks for the great video, Derek!
I loved playing this game and was surprised how much parkour platforming there was in this game.
Such a cozy and comforting game. I found the characters wholesome and genuine while the exploration, puzzles and the accompanying soundtrack was top notch. I was blown away at how many environments and enemy variety was in the game definitely be paying attention to this studio as of now.
Between Chained Echoes and Sea of Stars, were eating good in 2023.
Got the platinum trophy recently. Loved every minute of it.
getting all the achievements and the secret ending was such a journey. I loved all of this, and the messenger before this. I can't wait to see what they do next with the series, and in which genre.
What impressed me the most graphically is the shadows. Everything cast shadows, and since your characters always cast light, objects can cast shadows in all directions. I'm not 100% sure, but I think everything has a 3d model for shadow purposes, then is rendered with sprites.
I'll say the only area i would have liked to see improve was the skill system . Should of been more skills and routes to earn towards and pick . Something light and maybe similar to Crono trigger where you level towards the next skills. I think it would of been the cherry on top . The game could have also used a steal system for rare items or something . Outside of that = Masterpiece
I'm torn on that. Chrono trigger had skills you almost never bother with. Most games with a ton of skills per character end up just making it more annoying to sort through because you hardly ever use them. Having a paralyze skill that is useful for one boss is just annoying lol.
@@JasonScalici yea its hard to make all the skills usefull thats a fact . 99% of rpgs dont apply status effects on enemies properly its usually broken for sure
I think they actually do a Thing lore-wise with the limited skill slots. There's a scene where Valere learns a new skill and Zale doesn't, and it's implied he should have… and then another NPC teaches him a move, and now all 3 of his skill slots are taken up… so you know he will never unlock whatever power he was supposed to.
i just bought this i am going to play it after work today on this rainy Saturday. my friend is hounding me to go to the strip club tonight but i am so drained from work and stress this week i just want to cozy up with my switch in bed and play this. im glad this game made the Game Collection makes me excited to start it tonight especially after I have been so stressed and miserable the last week or so. thanks for covering it and sharing your thoughts. This is a hidden gem channel I love that you love these types of games and are so informative/knowledgable about them.
Hey thanks Joe! I think this will be the perfect game for unwinding after a long week. Zone out, drink some tea or coffee, and enjoy the ride, and the tunes. Hope it leaves you feeling recharged! Bad weeks come and go, hoping your next week feels better, dude. :)
@@SuperDerek thanks man that means a lot.. and i appreciate everything that has helped me the last week or so and your video was one one of them that kept me going. I just got off work and am going to eat but then I'll start this game and I am super excited to. I have some cold brew coffee that I think I might have with it, I put almond milk in it too after my sister recommended it. i haven't slept much in 9 days but since im off for the next 3 days I think I can afford to have some coffee at this time of night.
Glad your still making videos Derek. I've been a fan of yours for years now. I'm finally jumping back into RPGs. It's been a few years since my last adventure haha. Anyways man have a good one!
My only gripe was that it was a tad to linear. Gave me great Chrono Trigger and BoF vibes. I hope they continue with more games
I bought it on my Switch and mostly played it docked just so I could hear the bassline in the Level Up music through my subwoofer. Such a great game.
This is the Golden Sun game we've all heen waiting for! It's the absolute nearest experience to an actual entry in the series that we could possibly get. Personally the game is a 10/10 for me, wothout a doubt. There wasnt a single moment the entire time playing that i felt bored or not engaged.
Haven't watched your vid yet, but Sea of Stars is one of the greatest jrpgs ever! Sooo goood!
Can't wait for the DLC!
As someone who grew up on FF7 through X I completely understand your feelings. That being said, even though FF16 wasn’t the JRPG I was looking for, I still loved it. As much as it pains me most developers from back then have “moved on” from traditional JRPGs, as long as the games they make are fun I can’t be too mad at them. Like you said, plenty of room for Indie teams to come in and give us that JRPG fix!! 🤙🏻
For me, Monolith Soft and the Xenoblade games have taken over for me as the kings of the 'modern, ambitious JRPG classic' style of game. I've given up on Final Fantasy completely. That said, Square has done reasonably well with their non-AAA JRPGs lately. Octopath Traveler 2, Harvestella, and Triangle Strategy are all high quality games.
Great review, Derek! I too just wrapped up my playthru and platinum on PS5, and it was such a great experience from start to finish. SoS didn't diminish Chrono Trigger in any way and built on top of that. And yeah, the soundtrack is so good!
I'm on New Game + right now to see what's different. I just as excited to play it again. Great lil game and worthy of GOTY.
Did NG+ change much? I'm kind of curious too but got other games in my backlog T_T
@SuperDerek I'm not very far in it but you get a mega boost from gear starting off.
Since both you and DavidVinc pretty much have the same taste as I do, I can't wait for this. I'm not buying the digital right away as I want a physical copy but I can hold till then. This looks amazing.
Just had to mention that as for the battles taking place on the map seamlessly Chained Echoes and before it Cosmic Star Heroine are two that did that as well.
This game looks amazing, and I can’t wait to dive in! Retro Indy RPG’s are crushing it right now!
They absolutely are! We eating good!
Waited for it! ❤
I'm about 7 hours into the game currently. My impression so far is the game is very good. It has an interesting, but not complicated twist on turn-based combat. The look, music and feel are wonderful. The story is serviceable.
Very good, but not a life-changing experience or anything. Like I said, the story is serviceable, but hasn't done anything really memorable. I think I will probably remember the game the most for the aesthetics. I've yet to find one of these indie jrpgs that has a story that is nearly as good as the classics. But I would say the game is totally worth your time and money.
The story and characters didn't hook me at first. The two protagonists are rather bland and don't have a lot of personality to them. They could be merged into one, and nothing would really change. To me it seemed like Garl was much more of a protagonist. I kept playing because the pixel art and music were amazing and I like the battle system.
Somewhere halfway through the story, it got a lot more interesting for me. So I'm glad I kept playing. It's an amazing game, but the story and character writing felt off to me. It's still amazing that an indie studio managed to create such a great game, even though it has its flaws.
Holy shit that was an amazing review. Subbed 😊
Such a fun game! I didn't go in with high expectations because I typically don't like games that are popular. (Because so many people like things I don't care for) However this one was really good.
We don't need Final Fantasy tactics or NieR Automata quality stories in every game. This one was good enough.
I hope more game companies are taking notes.
P.S. The only thing I didn't like in this game was the "wheels" mini game. I tried it a few times, but its wasn't worth the headache.
Best review of this game hands down! 😃
I'm glad you enjoyed the game, too. The discourse about this game has been kind of interesting. Huge praise from critics, and a lot of people love it. But I've seen a lot of people who were down on the game as well. I mostly really liked it.
The art and animations are top-notch. The soundtrack is good. I think the story is what keeps it from being a classic for me. It's still one of my favorites I've played this year and the best indie JRPG-style game I've personally played. A great first RPG from the studio. Their previous game, The Messenger, was really good as well. So I'm excited to see what their third game will be like.
The discourse around certain corners of the Internet has been fascinating, and honestly, really weird to me. I have a theory about this, (centered around tribalism, and heel-digging,) but don't want to get into it for now. I think history will be kinder to this game than some people have been lately.
I dunno if I'll fit into a theory, but it's basically the opposite of Chrono Trigger for me.
Chrono Trigger's ambience was mystical, wistful, ethereal.
Sea of Stars to me is very noisy. The music is very crisp and harsh. The music for that side game is so crazily cluttered it gives me anxiety!
Also while the pixel art and animations are great, everything is kinda too clean and shiny. I prefer deeper tones, or a nice contrast. The shiny image and the high pitched music give it a superficial feel to me.
Some might say I'm being picky but hey, its a computer game. These days I can, and sort of have to be picky. Billions of games and tons of other games begging to be played.
Im sure people who's gaming is still their main hobby, or younger people with more time on their hands will beore forgiving (just like i was back then too😅)
Great review, Derek. I've not had time to play much lately and so I'm still only around 10 hours in on this and around the same time in Reverie. Also trying to play a horror game called Lamentum for Oct. I can't wait until I have time to finish this and dig deeper into Trails into Reverie, which I probably won't finish until next year at this rate. But anyway, this review has hyped me up (responsibly) to get back into it.
Not to be dramatic but this game genuinely helped me a lot while on a journey to reconnect with myself after a horrendous break up. Just reminded me of my love for jrpg or my hobbies in general, and relearning that I have always had my own interests, and I can thoroughly enjoy it by myself. I love this game to bits! 💜 also i personally loved that one of the longer contents was at wraith island 🧟🧟♀️
Good review love this game
Great Review. I remember Derek recommended me the game when I write in the comment of HitPoint episode. Like it a lot. More so on the side quest and treasure chest. The side quest have meaning, not just chores and the inside of treasure chest not just crafting material, if you know what I mean. My only disappoint part is the skill is to little, I just wish they have more. Also, the combo bar is reset every time, because of that I rarely used combo outside of boss battle.
Yeah, wish the combo meter didn't reset every time so I could play around with more ultimate moves, but in a way I suppose it's kinda neat that they're reserved for big drawn out boss battles. Helps a lot that I figured out you can really boost up how quickly the combo meter increases by doing some group-healing moves. :)
That last bit of dialogue is how I felt for a long time. Indie games will take on the mantle for new retro style RPGs, and I'm okay with that especially if they keep bring it out quality.
Thank you for this video. It was the reason I downloaded the game (free for psplus users right now) and I am in love. About 8 hours in. It's exactly what I needed in gaming right now.
Really glad you're enjoying it as much as I did, John! :)
i loved this game, and i still love watching what other people enjoyed about it too!
So far, this is the best game I've ever backed on Kickstarter. After hearing the soundtrack, I regret not adding the vinyl to my rewards, though.
As soon as im done with BG3 (and played through mario wonder next week) I will play this game!
Seriously love this game, takes me right back to the SNES days. I would be happy if turn based stayed in this style format forever!
Well said as always Derek. Sure developers aren't what they used to be, but these new studios and others, are really paving a new yellow brick road.
Just finished playing this after going through Chained Echoes with my game pass sub. 7/10.
I loved the music, dungeon design and the story moments when they took time to really focus on the characters like in the beginning. I found the lack of change in combat to become very tedious by the end of the game and the pacing of combat dragged long before the ending credits. Really easy game to recommend even if I didn't love it as much as most and never see myself wanting to go back to it.
I just finished Octopath traveler II couple days ago . What a fucking masterpiece. Have you played it Derek ?
As much as I like Sea of Stars, and it achieves all what it set out to do, Octopath Traveler II is a masterpiece. As much as people long for the genre to have remained basically the same over the last few decades, I think the genre would be obsolete now if that had been the case. No, I don't like some of the more modern JRPG's (I lost interest in Final Fantasy after XII), I understand that we need variety in the genre and it's good that we have such variation.
Tried the demo and loved what I saw so far, but haven't dug any deeper in yet!
@@SuperDerekits worth it . Play octopath II . You will thank me later
Bautiful ending phrase 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Derek i joined the backer fund for sea of stars I paid for the collectors edition on ps4 a day before the game came out sabatoge send me the digital code for ps4 and ps5 version but I can't find any information on when or how to get my collectors edition I paid for do you have any ideals to help me out
The physical editions of the game aren't releasing until 2024, so I would sit tight and wait for news to come through your kickstarter. Otherwise, you could follow-up in their Discord server for more info I'm sure. :)
completed it earlier this week, it's very good :D definitly will get the physical (played it on ps plus extra)
dunno man, i am still at the opening flashback when they were children, and I struggle to open my eyes looking for nearby save point to save and drink coffee/wash my face, this happened three times already. And it getting worse by the fact that they are solstice warrior since child, feels like they born special/destined to save the word cliche, unlike Crono from chrono trigger who is normal person caught in the middle of time travel mess
And the constantly moving textbox over the person's head. Like watching a movie with always-changing-position subtitle. It made me nausea
I snagged an Xbox hard drive on clearance a few weeks ago and it came with a voucher for a month of Game Pass that was still good! (Yes, I play mostly Japanese RPGs on my Xbox. Mostly because I am unhinged) this game has been on the service since day one and, while I enjoyed the demo of Sea of Stars, it absolutely does not do the game justice. I can't wait for that physical next year
Aloof but can't help but care, love that...
Greatly appreciate your insight as to the game making you use every character, every character being critical...
I love this art style. Way better than polygons. And was that a DJ Rock Golem I saw??
I believe it may have been! :D
I have to buy the game now!
20 hours in and LOVE it. Characters and story isn’t as charming as Chrono trigger or anything but still a blast.
New to your channel and you seem pretty super to me derek!
To me the game isn't about super heros rising up to defeat evil. NOPE! That would be too basic of a story for the pros at sabotage.
It's about a young man who's just like you and me doing what he can to help his friends. To show that even great powerful evils have weaknesses that even the average joe like Garl can exploit. He blows up the roof to help the heros fight a magical enemy that he can't hurt on his own otherwise. He is the first to fight the cave dweller to help buy the assassin time to make her huge portal. He takes a bullet for his friends later on from the evil flesh mancer. How can you not love him???? And that true ending... Garl is the best!
It's beautiful! Sea of Garl is the true name of the game!
Great video Derek! Brought a tear to my eye but not as much as the game itself did.
I beat The Messenger before starting this, highly recommend doing so (but not necessary to)
I just finished the true ending and extra side content in Sea of Stars and loved it. My only nit-pick is for about the first 10ish hours of the game I simply liked it; the game puts its weakest foot forward before gaining momentum in the mid-to-late acts in my opinion.
Once it picks up though, it really starts to come together into something special. The graphics, art design and music are all *chef's kiss*, and the combat really becomes a lot of fun as the story progresses. Some of the bosses are no joke, although there were no controller-smashing enemies with awful rng akin to the final boss of say, Persona 3.
I beat this game twice yesterday. The only thing I didn't get was level 30 or defeating 10 bosses with artful gambit. I was burned out on the game at that point. I did think it ridiculous that the end boss was a shooter game. I enjoyed the escape from the castle in a plane in Devil May Cry, but not this. I just started Chained Echoes yesterday and must say its refreshing not to have to do timed hits. Still, Sea of Stars was a good game overall and I enjoyed my time with it.
I loved Sea of Stars but had to put it on the shelf when Starfield came out, almost ready to jump back in!
Speaking on the "originators of the genre" thankfully DQ is still keeping it alive more THAN FF is
Waiting for a physical copy so maybe I can play it in a year
I hope it gets one.
There is one planned for next year. And one coming out in December from Play-Asia, from the looks of things. :)
@@SuperDerek Yeah...preorders open "early 2024" which means I won't get it until at least Summer next year.
@@kclink1579 There is one coming for sure
I was really looking forward to this game but the soundtrack's heavy attack on synth instruments and common use of high frequencies gives me a headache due to my audiosensitive autism 💔
I may see if i can implement an EQ but last time i tried on windows it was way more difficult than kt should be 😢
Oh no! That sounds really rough, does that happen often? 😞
@@SuperDerekno it's really quite a rare occurrence! Don't feel bad man haha but thanks! Luckily games tend to have good balances or let you balance different aspects of the soundscape to bring the harshness down. The only thing I can think of most recently was some songs in Street Fighter 5 but they had an option to turn specific songs off so I could play that just fine!
Mr Drippy's footsteps in Ni No Kuni almost got me but I managed to filter it out after a while.
PS thanks for the vids over the years! Loved going through some memories with you!
Loved the game, if anything I enjoyed it so much that it feels like a short experience. Agree that backtracking can be cumbersome while looking for conchs. Also, there are a couple of storylines that felt like there were left for an expansion (brugaves and Romaya in particular) but maybe im mistaken or missed a cutscene. In any case, 5 stars for me
I wonder if some of those were left open for the upcmoing DLC, or ties into "The Messenger" which seems to take place in the same.. er.. multiverse.
Haven't played it yet. Very interested but there are so many good games!
Great review.
As much as I’ve been enjoying my playthrough, especially the pixel art and music, the combat has yet to really impress me as much as everything else. Which I’ll admit isn’t a fair comparison, at least individually, but as part of an overall package, it’s been the weakest link. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely been fun, and I need to just appreciate it for what it is instead of what I would like it to be, but the last indie RPG I played-Chained Echoes-so thoroughly blew me out of the water that it’s hard not to make the comparison. Definitely seeing this one through to the end though. It’s endlessly charming.
It's really hard not to draw commissions between the two because they're both so S-tier, IMO. But comparison is the thief of happiness, as they say. I'm just glad we're eating so well this year!
hmmm just noticed, are you related to Don Henley? looks very similar :) have a great day and keep up the good work
Afraid the closest I am to Don Henley is that Life's Been Good to Me (So Far!) Thanks for watching! :)
heheh thanks for the reply@@SuperDerek love your work
Capcom did the seamless combat in breath of fire 3. Also a masterpiece
Definitely true! Solid point there! :)
I think i'll give this one a go at some point and i'd love to see another video with Johnny (the HappyConsoleGamer) at some point :)
So would I! Hopefully we can meet up again some day, shame I had to move 2000 miles away :-\
@@SuperDerek Maybe someday :)
Game is 🐐 🐐
I am setsuna already aped the field battle thing.
Great game, but I haven't played Chained Echoes to compare.
The real big flaw the game has IMO is its economy. Money is just ridiculously hard to come by if you want to buy everything, to the point where I basically had spend a few hours farming ingredients, cooking, and selling the food to do it. Experience is ridiculously hard to come by late game, as after level 21 or so you have to do a fight that respawns in the final dungeon about 35 times, and I just decided I couldn't be bothered grinding to 30 like I usually would.
It was also annoying that to get all achievements you had to do a NG+ playthrough where you beat the first 10 bosses with a handicap relic on (doing the handicap relic was actually kind of fun, but having to do NG+ wasn't).
If you haven't played The Messenger, you absolutely should! Sea of Stars takes place in the same world, and has loads of references to The Messenger, plus a massive easter egg in the crypt that's definitely worth checking out.
I still need to get through Chained Echoes, but honestly I don't think these games need to be compared. (Although they invariably do get compared a lot, so I get what you mean.) The two are vastly different takes on a retro-inspired RPG, embracing different aspects of the genre. I think Sea of Stars embraces the "Grandia" side of things, whereas CE, so far, seems to have embraced the Xenogears side of things.
Sea of Stars was a good game. However, I think it is overrated. I enjoyed the beginning of the game more than the later parts. The lack of fast travel sucked (and isn't fully alleviated later in the game). I also thought they tried to fit too many mini plots with lota of lore in, so I had trouble feeling much for them (later in the game, in particular). Another issue is, as someone else mentioned, not enough skills. The battke became repetitive where I kept using the moon boomerang skill over and over. The game is worth playing. I don't agree with people who said it was too short. We need less long games.
When games like this come out and all the professional reviews say the exact same thing I start feeling like I'm in a weird conspiracy. It's an OK game that aspires to homage Chrono Trigger. CT's combat is nothing amazing, and I've not played enough of sea of stars to know if kts truly better. But man Chrono Trigger's story and feeling is unbelievable.
big developers thing you need to be a high tech action rpg not old school.
This is such a beautiful game but it has terrible dialogue, character development and story. Also, I think it would have benefited of having less combats or introducing new combat mechanics. Hope they improve this aspects in their next game, the world of sea of stars is quite interesting
I liked the game alot, even if I didn't have the love affair the internet seemed to have~ I enjoyed the puzzle aspect of combat, could do without timed hits. especially since it didn't seem consistent on the timing to me. The Chrono Trigger style of combat transition doesn't really add much for me. I'm ok with battle transitions.
The game does look absolutely stellar. The music is also good. I just wish the characters, story and writing lived up to that level of presentation.
Also, dancing around spoilers. they locked too much behind finding all the conches. that should not have been a requirement for one thing in particular. This actually made me a bit angry with the game.
Jirard The Constructionist no mas !!!!
Yep. Pretty wild what can come to light in such a short time.
@@SuperDerek yea his character was patched out and replaced with a generic bearded character named Bob lol. I just played thru Sea of Stars and i was waiting to get to that part only to be met with Bob. So I had to look it up, and Kowloon patched out his character! Wild !
I really feel like this is uncontested as the best indy rpg
Oh there are some really stellar ones out there vying for that title, and than goodness for that. We are _spoiled_ for choice! Personally, I can't wait to see Eiyuden Chronicle when it comes out! :D
@@SuperDerek i cant think of a one vying. I can think of many that wishing they were.
Dont misunderstand i love the indy rpg scene. Rise of the Third Power is a top 10 game of the last 5 years to my taste, and thats at any level in the industry. But there isnt a single indy the stratosphere of this as far as ive had the pleasure of playing.
The sound design and the level design out pace triple a titles, never mind indies. Final Fantasy 16 could learn a lot from the attention to not just detail but excellence that this achieved in those regards.
The writing in both major story beats and small character moments is well beyond anything in the indy space. Take chained echos for example. Much lauded title this year but its writing isnt half as good. Id go as far as to say its writing was a bit sloppy and the dialog was even a bit poor but thats another topic.
Combat is certainly polished, i love how theyve made combat more of an active puzzle in lieu of a more traditional stat game, but there are definitely games out there that are as engaging. Not saying combat is mid or anything but lots of games have good combat systems and its the one area thats probably the most replaceable. There's a broader conversation about how thats because games are crafts and the other aspects are artistic endeavors but thats a huge convo completely off topic.
But games that are this well polished across all metrics? Sure. Point me to it. I clearly need to play it cause holy hell this was great and if there's something that worse but only by a little bit its still going to be great.
I certainly agree with space has some exciting titles on the horizon and i truly hope i look back in the not so distant future and remember a time where there wasnt anything this good out there. But right this second? Gotta disagree, respectfully.
Heard they dropped the ball for the story and especially the ending which is a shame because the game is gorgous you can see the effort given to the visuals.
I think it depends on your expectations. The story is fine if you're looking for a casual JRPG story, something like Lunar or Grandia. If you're hoping for Xenogears, you'll be disappointed, but that doesn't mean what we got was bad. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish, but these kinds of stories are my jam! :)
It's easy to put your finger on what makes games like this and other indies feel so much better than modern triple A games most of the time. Its love! Plain and simple! They don't have a giant board of people with a checklist that the game needs to follow to appeal to as many people as possible. These people just made something they love and appeals because people see that love, how can the bigger companies not realize this?
With the modern triple A games, you can just feel the heavy-handed choices they make to try and make as much money as possible. Like this game isn't long enough to validate a 70 dollar price tag, so let's put in a bunch of crap quests or something else to bloat it. Or something that's even worse that a certain company does where they bring back a beloved IP and then underfund it because they aren't sure if it can make the money that a more beloved IP can. Plus so much more where you can just see these games stealing from other popular games without putting in the effort that those games did just to try and steal some of that success, Ugh. But let's just hope indie teams keep making games that they love and don't become big successful corporations, haha.
There was certainly a lot of love sewn into the fabric of this game, and it shines through.
@@SuperDerek Yep, you can see it in every nook and cranny. One of the big things is that the game never feels stale at any given point and has you experiencing new things all the way to the very end. So many games start out fun but lose that fun in the same old formula throughout the whole game.
game 7/10 overall
The demo gave me some real grindy puzzle slog feelings. You had to do all possible permutations of gems to collect all the treasures, or else you have to cope with FOMO. It is probably a fine enough game but I don't have the kind of time this is going to demand and I don't want it bad enough if I did.
I also wasn't really loving the twitchy timing mini games. The tips are like "haha don't worry it doesn't really matter" except it does or else they wouldn't include it. With every attack in the game being a unique snowflake, you just get to go in blind and screw it up and not know whether you were late or early, all the while there is no strategy to it, it's just timing and memorization divorced from the overall strategy amd tactics.
I still could see someone really liking this game based on what I saw in the demo. I just don't have the will to make that kind of down payment of time and effort on elements I don't enjoy much.
Things like "doing every permutation of the crystal" puzzle was definitely by design, and the players who do those are _rewarded_ for it later in the game. I think it's when those things are _not_ rewarded that it's super annoying, personally.
@@SuperDerek "Rewarded for doing it" and "punished for not doing it" are just two sides of the same thing. Unless you're speedrunning, it feels like skipping isn't a real option in situations like this, especially if you play without wiki or Google and presumably anything missable might be the big cool thing.
I was SO let down by this game. You only have 4 moves in battle the WHOLE game... theres so much else i need to make my own video on it
I’m not sure how to interpret your ending statement, you called it a masterpiece but your tone lacked any enthusiasm for the game. Maybe your just coming to terms that the RPGs we grew up with are long gone and we will never get that experience. I have already excepted that has come and Indy developers are the ok it way we will get games close to that and Sea of Stars is the first one that looks promising (I never played Undertale). But those RPG experiences are still out and come every so often; Dragon Quest 11 & NiNoKuni Wrath of White Witch both ‘modern RPGs’ gave me the feeling I had when playing RPGs of old.
Don't get me wrong, I loved my time with Sea of Stars, but it's sobered me up to the fact that the Old Guard are not going to give me _these kinds_ of experiences ever again.
I think I'm going to have to come to terms that the "Golden Era" RPGs just aren't for me, much less the modern day WJRPGs that try to replicate their feel and style. I didn't grow up playing them, outside of a hand-few I didn't really start getting into RPGs until the 6th Console Generation which definitely feel more up my alley, so I guess I just don't have the nostalgia or appreciation for them and their imitators.
Oh well, not everything is going to be for everyone. All you folks love it so that's good enough I suppose.
EXCPET U CANT BEAT IT DUJE TO THE FLITCH IN FLESHM,ANCER CASTLE BS