Sea of Stars Review

There exists a world where an evil being known as The Fleshmancer rules with the help of his monstrous abominations known as Dwellers. Thankfully The Fleshmancer seems to have vanished from your world, but there are still Dwellers that torment the populace. It is up to Children of the Solstice, beings blessed with Eclipse Magic, to conquer the remaining Dweller and free the world of the last remnants of the Fleshmancer in Sea of Stars. You will control two of those children, one blessed by the moon, the other blessed by the sun.

This game takes me back to the days of the SNES (Super Nintendo) in terms of the look and feel. That’s not to say that this game felt dated, I just greatly enjoyed the nostalgia that came with getting to play with this game. I also enjoyed the timing mechanics employed that allowed for you to increase your damage, or decrease your enemies attacks by pressing A at just the right time. I also liked the fact that when you used normal attacks you would cause power spheres to drop that you could then absorb to cause your next attack to have added effects. There was also the chance to cancel out powerful enemy attacks by causing damage types that matched with what was over their head (for example there could be a blunt and a moon type above the enemy’s head and if you did those types of attack before the counter ended you would stop their powerful attack, as well as their attack for that round).

There is more to the game than just combat, so let’s talk a little bit about the skills/items you unlock throughout the game. The first is a gust ability which allows you to move enemies and certain objects around in the environment. The next is a grapple shot that allows you to pull enemies into combat (this also allows you to start combat with power spheres already on the ground). At one point in the game you’re going to gain access to a boat that will allow you to explore more of the world. There’s also a late ability that allows you to fly (man do I wish I had that ability earlier on, would have really helped when there was backtracking to do).

This is a solid game from start to finish, I do wish that there was a little more to the game after you get to fully use your ship’s ability, but in the end the game sets itself up for a sequel, so I can’t complain too much, although if there isn’t a sequel perhaps I’ll come back to this review and complain (just a bit). Seriously though this game is a must for gamers who like JRPGs, and it fits perfectly on the Nintendo Switch.