This will be the last time I entertain the comparison of these two games. But now that I've played them both, I wanted to offer MY answer once and for all.
Also enjoyed this. Very thorough, with a focus on some important points. You also mention good points (like the difficulty/accessibility stuff) we haven't seen elsewhere. Thank you!
I'm with you on this one. I also think chained echoes is a superior experience overall. Both great games but the story of chained echoes is on another level!
1. I played both of them. sea of stars combat lacks depth while chained echoes combat system just is much better and has more to offer. For example in Sea of stars you dont even have basic negative status effects like sleep, poison, blind etc. which is a musthave for every rpg. Also every character in sea of stars has only 3 basic skills minus ultimate and combo skills. And there are only 6 characters max. thats a joke. Meanwhile chained echoes has 12 characters (not considering kylian) and all of them have 16 skills. 2. Storywise both sea of stars and chained echoes are only mediocore. I dont like that chained echoes didint explain everything at the end like what happened with markas and the church etc. Also some plotpoints arent fully explained. Like for example the 7 kings are only mentioned like 2 games in the whole game. 3.The music of both games both toptier. 4. Sea of Stars only has much better graphics and overall maplayouts which is understandable since chained echoes didint had the same budget as sea of stars. 5. In summary I like both games and I consider both games to be very good pixel rpg games. However for me chained echoes has all the things that sea of stars lacks. a much better battle system, more possibilities, more challenging battles. Chained echoes felt more like a true rpg.
I think playing Sea of Stars just 2 days after I played Chained Echoes was big mistake, like Chained Echoes is sooooo good it made me enjoy less Sea of Stars because it has somethings i didnt like and Chained Echoes just made me be more critic with Sea of Stars
I preferred the art-style and characters in Sea of Stars. I don't expect a game to hold my hand, but there were aspects of Chained Echoes that was unclear to me. I felt they could have done a better job explaining certain mechanics/parts of the gameplay. I wasn't big on the crystal system and no leveling in Chained Echoes. Consequently I ended up spending more time than I would like in the menu screen. Although new to me with these jrpgs, I'm indifferent about the game's approach to resetting hp/sp after every battle. I prefered the soundtrack in Chained Echoes, and that especially matters in games where there's no voice acting. I also enjoyed the side content like the reward board. Bonus points because the game was apparantly mostly developed by one guy. Two good games. Both a touch overhyped though if the online commentary is anything to go by. Not looking to offend any Chained Echoes fans mind you, as they LOVVVVVE this game. Octopath Traveler 2 blows them both out the water for my money. 🤪
With the retro overload on some songs, I suspect these were the songs returning from the Messenger, which Sea of Stars is a prequel to. That game has a chiptune and genesis/megadrive inspired soundtrack, and some songs and locations are retooled in Sea of Stars. The stories of the two games are interconnected and it seems like Sabotage studio is going for an expanded universe where all their games are connected despite being different genres.
8:03 When I played Sea of Stars, I noticed Garl is the character everyone is suppose to like...and there are no exceptions to this. Be it man, beast, and even Gods. Not allowed to not like Garl. He is for all intensive purposes the main character of Sea of Stars, the solstice warriors? Nah they arent even characters, they function more like Garl's Jojo Stands. Yes Garl gets two stands cause hes Garl. Its Garl Universe.
Chained Echoes is quite an interesting game. Reminds me a lot of FF12's world building and terminology, the religious affairs of Xenogears, easter eggs and designs from FF6 & Xenogears. Unique battle mechanics plus bit from FF6. Everything is nicely packaged.
And that's why Chained Echoes is my pick over Sea of Stars. Xenogears and FF6 are two of My Mt. Rushmore Jrpgs and though FF12 disappointed at the end, the first half or third? which was more politically driven was 🔥
After meditating on it for a while, my vote goes to Chained Echoes also. I enjoyed Sea of Stars, but I was also a little disappointed in it. The combat felt stale pretty quickly, and the sheer lack of abilities certainly didn't help. I kickstarted Stars (and NOT Echoes) and I really thought Stars was going to be the big big one from a distance. But experiencing the game is always different than looking at it from afar. Sure, Stars is GORGEOUS and easily takes the cake in visuals (it's pretty much unparalleled in its class in that area), I think Echoes had the better story, characters, and combat. Stars' story just DIDN'T do the trick for me. It took way too long to get going, and even when it did, it still wasn't great... The MC's were carbon copies of each other personality-wise it felt like, and that person was already a boring self-insert protagonist. Stars could have been a masterpiece with better characters, better story, and better progression.
My main problem with the characters of SoS is that almost everyone are so nice, that it made the world felt artificial and unbelievable! Hell, even the group of pirate (You know, sea-criminal) that you meet are so nice that they volunteer to evacuate a town when it's under monster invasion!
storywise both games are nothing special sadly. Sea of stars is a bit too childish and the characters are too naive and too friendly to be real. Chained echoes however opens plot point after plot point without fully explaining them and leaving some even open in the end. I still like the more mature story of chained echoes more. thats just taste. gameplaywise chained echoes stomps sea of stars to the ground. the combat system of sea of stars just lacks depth as there are too few skills and literally no negative status effects like poison, blind, sleep etc. Also chained echoes is much more challenging than sea of stars. both games have equally great music. i think sea of stars music is slightly more polished due to higher budget. but that doesnt mean anything. visually speaking of course sea of stars is better which is just a fact we cant ignore. the graphics and the map layouts are fantastic. In summary for me chained echoes is a much better game. I would rate Sea of stars 8/10. and chained echoes 9.5/10. *Story* : Both *Gameplay (huge factor)* : Chained Echoes *Music* : Both (debatable) *graphics* : Sea of Stars overall chained echoes is much more appealing
I enjoyed Sea but i found the story and characters pretty bland. Especially the two main characters. They feel unbearably generic and poorly written. About the only character I liked/thought had any development is Garl. Chained on the other hand maybe suffered from it's ambition but goddamn I thought the story was great (with hiccups) and the characters felt way more fleshed out and interesting.
Chained Echoes is one of the greatest Rpgs of the past years while Sea of Stars was something slightly above average imo, id even call it disappointing in many areas
I couldnt agree more. Sea of stars was a bit disappointing altough I still believe that sea of stars is more than abvoe average. its "only" good imo. the game is by no means bad. it just isnt as good as i thought it would be. however chained echoes pushed the limits. if it wasnt for some plot points/plot decisions and the kinda repeating graphics, it would be maybe be the best rpg game ever. Chained echoes needed better graphics and interesting map layouts and some better story decisions.
Chained Echoes should have taken the place of Sea of Stars in the 2023 Games Awards indie game category but unfortunately it didn't have the hype machine behind it.
Yeah, Sea of Stars *really* benefited from getting the attention of the loudmouthed influencers...one in particular who's landed in quite a bit of hot water recently, and very ironically Sabotage Studios has busted a move to distance themselves from him.
I feel mixed about this because I would have preferred Chained Echoes to get that opportunity, but I'm also very glad that another very quality indie RPG got the nom. (Ironically, both Chained Echoes and Sea of Stars are better than the actual winner.)
I have yet to play Chained Echoes, but I will say that Sea of Stars was my most OK gaming experience in 2023. I mean, it wasn't *bad* ...it just didn't live up to the hype. The visuals are gorgeous, but the game play wasn't anything too special, and its biggest flaw was its weak narrative. Especially with something like an RPG, I *need* to be engaged by the story -- and unfortunately that's where Sea of Stars fell the most flat for me.
Thanks for the thoughts. I think I was pretty clear which story I favor more (Chained Echoes), but I thought Sea of Stars' story was easily above average. But I see a lot of comments like this one where the Sea of Stars story disappointed. I'd be curious to know what JRPG stories you do like. Just curious!
I gave my money to a work of art made by one guy because that alone is incredible! Not that Sea of Stars dont deserve it but between the two that was my way to choose!
For me with sea of stars I miss a lot of that grit and heavy themes chained echoes brings. I just overall prefer darker and edgier stories unapologetically
Hey thank you, I played sea of stars and could not finish it due to boring combat system, too much patern gameplay for my taste and leveling system was huge let down too. I restrained myself from buying chained echoes because I tought it would be prety much the same. Now i can buy chained echoes with confidence. I think i will like it better.
I don't get how this video hasn't got a lot more views. Thanks for sharing your thoughts man, I really enjoyed hearing you talk about these games. And for the record I think I'm going to buy Chained Echoes during Steam's winter sale, and Sea of Stars in the next sale I guess, 'cos I agree, gotta play both - why on earth wouldn't we?
@@PestulonGaming Not yet no. I'm still vacillating between the two of them :p I think I read an opinion somewhere that Sea of Stars was the more Camelot-like of the two, and then someone else said Chained Echoes has a better battle system and I ended up like a rabbit in the headlights lol. It'll be a spring sale buy now, whichever I choose.
I started playing Chained Echoes yesterday. It is one of the most magical gaming experiences I’ve had in years. It really brings back the charm of the classic 16-bit JRPGs with its graphics and mechanics (and phenomenal score) while still doing its own thing. I’m buying Sea of Stars on payday next week as it’ll still be on sale. I’ve heard so many good things about both games and I’m so excited to experience them. It seems like I might be let down playing SoS last but we’ll see. I appreciate this video. It’s exactly what I was looking for and it’s great you avoid spoilers. First time viewer here, and now a subscriber. I’m impressed. Big Ups!
Thanks a lot! I think it says a lot about the overall quality of Chained Echoes when you're saying such definitively good things about it after one day of gameplay. It truly doesn't waste much time showing you its greatness, but it also gets WAY better as it progresses.
Well, I thought sea of stars was perfection. I never once had a moment where i got bored of the characters, world, story, or combat. Granted I don't play many games of this genre, Chained Echoes is definitely on my list to play so we'll see
Thanks for the positive reinforcement for Sea of Stars. The comment section clearly leans more toward praising Chained Echoes. I think that's great for the sake of discussion, and I think it's great for the underdog of the two titles. But Sea of Stars is indeed great as well. Both games deserve to be elevated.
I think Sea of Stars is a marvel to behold from a technical and artistic point of view - it looks amazing, the animations are great, the artstyle is on point and it uses a modern engine to elevate pixel art to new levels. If only the writing didn't suck as badly as it did (especially this really weird fixation on Garl of all people for whatever reason - which I guess is something you either love or hate) ... it had so much potential but ended up being pretty disappointing in the story and writing department, and that is honestly one of the single most important parts of an RPG to me. So Sea of Stars really is the essence of Style over Substance. Haven't played Chained Echoes yet but from what I've heard so far, it should be right up my alley.
I waited years for sea of stars. I wanted it to be the next chrono trigger. The next best rpg ive ever played.. and it dissapointed me in so many ways.
The best thing about Sea of Stars is that all these comparison videos is gonna boost the sales of Chained Echoes. Chained Echoes is the best jrpg released this side of the century.
I played the Sea of Star demo and absolutely fell in love with the art style. I have gone through video after video and watched 2 of your videos... I'm going to lean towards Chained Echoes. Just bought it. About to get started. Just want to thank you for your in-depth review. 😎👍👍
Imo the Best Indie Jrpgs are Chained Echoes, Cross Code and Sea of Stars. Can't go wrong with either imo. Though Cross Code could be a Puzzle nightmare for some. Oh and the fact its an action game not turn based.
These SoS/CE comparison videos have had a lot of folks name dropping Cross Code in the comments. I've been aware of the game and have intended to start it a number of times, but I've just not gotten around to it. I'm very confident I would like it. It's just a matter of prioritizing it at this point.
Sea of Stars looks way better first few hours in but Chained Echoes (even given its late game flaws) has the better experience in its entire run. The combat is tighter, there’s more to explore, better story (which isn’t saying much). Both kind of suck in the same way though which is interesting like crap dialogue, flawed stories, repetitive move sets, repetitive late game strats
This is like comparing Chrono Trigger to FF6, you shouldn’t, they are both two, way different games. Chained echoes is all about complexity and depth in combat, while sea of stars is simplistic and rhythmic in design. Chained echoes is much more dramatic, while sea of stars is light hearted and very tongue in cheek. You should not put them against each other, you should celebrate the fact we have both of them to enjoy. Chained Echoes is a phenomenal achievement. Sea of Stars is a masterpiece. What’s wrong with both things being true ? Chained Echoes did so many things so well, it’s hard to find a game that pulls that off that doesn’t have a SquarEnix logo beside it, while Sea Of Stars does a few things to perfection. It’s amazing how they both went towards opposite ends of the spectrum and both succeeded to the nth degree. Stop arguing about them, celebrate them together. What a day to be alive, to have the early-mid 90s vibe all over again. Just enjoy them both.
The tedious thing in sea of stars for true ending he's talking about is finding all rainbow conchs in the game...yes it's tedious but there is a character or item that let's you know if you're missing any and what region they are in....just know it took him a extra day to do all that it t9ok me like 3 hours......just know on your first run just search everything so it's not taking you another 12 hours after the 1st ending it's not a guranteed extra day of tedious quests...thats how much he had left...if you're careful and meticulous you can knock most out the 1st time
I love both, sea of stars is more lighthearted and basic, but its really good, the soundtracks in Sea of stars are simply phenomenal. Chained Echoes on another hand is probably my favorite jrpg of all time, the story is just so good, nice pacing and plot twists, only thing I didnt like was the difficulty that seemed to spike some hours into the game, I did turn it down sometimes but then it was too easy, Sea of stars was just perfectly balanced in this regard. Also a big thumbs down in Sea of stars is the fact that the true ending is hidden behind collectibles, not a fun way to play the game too constantly use guides making sure you get every collectible along the way, I just ended up watching the true ending on youtube.
chained echoes has 100 times better combat system than sea of stars as sea of stars combat system lacks depth. in sea of stars there are only 6 characters in total and every character has only 3 skills minus the ultimate and the combat skills. thats a joke. in chained echoes there are 12 characters and every character has 16 skills. Also there are no classic negative status effects in sea of stars like poison, blind etc. which is so stupid. Sea of stars is by no means a bad game, its only mediocore good. Chained echoes however is a true gem. Sea of stars only has much better graphics and overall map layout to offer. chained echoes combined with sea of stars graphics and map building would be a massive banger@@adiveler
As long as Chained Echoes doesn't have a hidden requirement to collect an arbitrary item with no plot relevance to get the true ending and doesn't tell you till after the "bad" ending it is far better. As someone who got 49/60 naturally, if you for any reason didn't pick up one up going back to get it is obnoxious. Between this and B'st side quest that offered nothing to the core story, especially since the reward for this is only useful for 2 fights, it leaves a bad taste at the end. You can't even get the reward till after you beat the final boss. It is a terrible taste to end a game on and can completely ruin it.
I got both endings in sea of stars and I didint mind the grinding for the true ending. what fucked me up is how non statisfying the combat system in sea of stars was. Only 3 basic skills (minus ultimates and combos) for every character. lol. btw. chained echoes only has one ending. You dont need to grind or make a choice in the story.
This is exactly how I felt after I found this out near the end of the game. I watched the true ending on youtube since I was really busy at the time and disappointed by this.
So I’m in a tough spot where I wanted to see Chained Echoe’s combat myself, being someone who is quite selective with jrpgs, esp related to combat depth which a lot of them struggle with. And yeah, overdrive is pretty cool for sure. But while it adds positive randomness and choices to combat it’s still a trade off where it can actually prevent you from using some moves as deliberately. Also, the moves you can get are not very complex, mostly the usual simple buffs or debuffs, and area, single target, or status, and the game’s fair customization only helps so much with this. Now, so far the game has had me fight 3 goblins in a row, 3 groups of ghosts, and 3 groups of zombies, and more, which is tedious for how long encounters take and for minor rewards from chests that enemies block. There is also only 1 portrait for each character to display them or convey emotion without voice acting, and no other art. Outside of these the game does quite well with quests/exploration and such but I just got a bit disappointed so far from what the hype had me expecting, along with the story and characters not being super exciting as of yet, so unless it’s just slow and gets a lot better, it’s probably not for me, but still glad to see some jpg innovation at least, and for those who do enjoy it 👍 If I’m wrong/stuff changes later, lmk, I love talking about this kinda stuff
I actually played SOS first and then went right into Chained Echoes. Thoroughly enjoyed both. Both battle systems were very cool and have some novel mechanics that kept it fun and fresh. Visually and soundtrack I’d give the edge to sea of stars but not by a landslide in either. I was more upset with the ending of chained echoes than I was with sea. Not the open ended feel on a lot of plot points (sequel?) but more so about Kylian. We have Glenn living a dozen lives and being “groomed” by Gwayn to have Kylian have a “eh youre good enough moment” and we get it in a flashback. Left me sour Both dope games and I’m glad I played them. Kinda wanna let’s play them as a first and second dive into content
you really beat around the bush and over explain yourself alot. to me Chained echos does alot better job at getting you hooked on the story and the word and the music just sucks you right in and makes you excited where to go next. Sea of Stars is slower and more nuanced it hard ot get you to care about anyone so far and im 15 hours in and just dont care what happening and the music is awful. like NES level awful.
Couldn't disagree with you more. Sea of stars has superior graphics, soundtrack and combat system. The plot of chained echoes is more 'complicated' but sea of stars is still very enjoyable. The greatest strength that makes sea of stars so enduring is that it takes a classic jrpg experience and condenses it all in 35 hours of gameplay. Chained echoes is guilty of bloat.
sea of stars has a superior combat system... Is this a joke? dude minus the ultimates and the combo skills every character in sea of stars has only 3 basic skills xd. Sea of stars combat system has literally no depth to it. In sea of stars there isnt even any negative status effects like poison, blind or sleep. If you play the game in the beginning, there isnt much that will be added later to the combat system. the combat system in chained echoes has much more depth and is much more challenging. in chained echoes there are 12 characters (minus kylian) and every character has 16 skills.
@@Wills_Smurf what can I say? less is more? Sea of Stars is also a very quick game to finish. Including the true ending it took me 34 hours. I think that's the real power of sea of stars, it's short and sweet and therein lies its power. Chained echoes was fun up to Act 2 then I lost steam and enthusiasm in the fighting system. It got stale and boring. With sea of stars it was fast paced and I never got tired of the combat system, even though I had heard from some critics that it runs out of steam. Not for me it didn't! I thoroughly enjoyed it. For me the lock system in sos was more enthralling than the overdrive system. Plus I think the hidden gem is that the combat music in sos is fucking lit, compared to chained echoes.
After playing both games, I can say Sea of Stars was by far a much better game. Chained Echoes was fun and had elements in it that i liked better, however, the story was very disappointing to me and i cant say why without spoilers. Sea of Stars did so many things right that i will definitely be playing it again sometime and am super hopeful for a DLC and sequel. I cant say the same for Chained Echoes.
The story was disappointing? WHAT!!!? Sea of Stars story was as cookie cutter as it gets. Chained Echoes had one of the deepest and most interesting stories I've seen in YEARS. I don't know what you are smoking, but you can keep it.
@ShonnDaylee that's your opinion. As for me, I don't like watching some guy in his 20s wake up in bed after being banged out by some creepy 60+ year old dude. I dont like seeing some guy eat a little child. I didn't like the stupid plot twists towards the end that ended up being a plot hole. I didn't like the wokism being pushed in the story. We get enough of that in our everyday programming. I'm actually surprised that the maker didn't go full gender swap in his twist because the girl 100% looks like the guy with long hair. Sea of Stars was cookie cutter. It was also simple, charming, and endearing. I live in a world that is difficult and confusing enough, so when I want to unwind with a nostalgic type game, I don't need it to push some moral boundaries to satisfy certain agendas or bring about a stunning wow factor. That's me, though, and I'm sure their are others that feel the same way........and that's ok. I'm not sure why my likes and dislikes is so offensive to you, but you are a perfect example of this new Era of divisiveness, where only your opinion matters and everyone else is enemy number one. It's sad and bad for society and self.
what wokism you talking about? that sienna is a lesbian? lol. chained echoes story is much more mature than sea of stars. however both stories are only mediocore.@@seapanther53
@Wills_Smurf you're showing how well you're programmed by woke culture. Ask yourself this, why were only the gay and lesbian characters sexualize and romanticized in a forced manner? It added nothing to the story and obviously only meant to check a box on the wokism checklist. Any why the scene of a guy getting ready to eat a child for dinner? Wtf?
I agree, I 100% both but Chained Echoes was just phenomenal.
Also enjoyed this. Very thorough, with a focus on some important points. You also mention good points (like the difficulty/accessibility stuff) we haven't seen elsewhere. Thank you!
Thanks! Yes, the accessibility angle in SoS was very refreshing.
I'm with you on this one. I also think chained echoes is a superior experience overall. Both great games but the story of chained echoes is on another level!
I liked xenogears the most
Sea of Stars ended up disappointing me big time. In my opinion, Chained Echoes is simply superior in every way, in every aspect.
Agreed chained echoes infinitely better
1. I played both of them. sea of stars combat lacks depth while chained echoes combat system just is much better and has more to offer. For example in Sea of stars you dont even have basic negative status effects like sleep, poison, blind etc. which is a musthave for every rpg. Also every character in sea of stars has only 3 basic skills minus ultimate and combo skills. And there are only 6 characters max. thats a joke. Meanwhile chained echoes has 12 characters (not considering kylian) and all of them have 16 skills.
2. Storywise both sea of stars and chained echoes are only mediocore. I dont like that chained echoes didint explain everything at the end like what happened with markas and the church etc. Also some plotpoints arent fully explained. Like for example the 7 kings are only mentioned like 2 games in the whole game.
3.The music of both games both toptier.
4. Sea of Stars only has much better graphics and overall maplayouts which is understandable since chained echoes didint had the same budget as sea of stars.
5. In summary I like both games and I consider both games to be very good pixel rpg games. However for me chained echoes has all the things that sea of stars lacks. a much better battle system, more possibilities, more challenging battles. Chained echoes felt more like a true rpg.
I think playing Sea of Stars just 2 days after I played Chained Echoes was big mistake, like Chained Echoes is sooooo good it made me enjoy less Sea of Stars because it has somethings i didnt like and Chained Echoes just made me be more critic with Sea of Stars
chained echoes cockslapped sea of stars@@jorgeddls
I preferred the art-style and characters in Sea of Stars.
I don't expect a game to hold my hand, but there were aspects of Chained Echoes that was unclear to me. I felt they could have done a better job explaining certain mechanics/parts of the gameplay.
I wasn't big on the crystal system and no leveling in Chained Echoes. Consequently I ended up spending more time than I would like in the menu screen. Although new to me with these jrpgs, I'm indifferent about the game's approach to resetting hp/sp after every battle.
I prefered the soundtrack in Chained Echoes, and that especially matters in games where there's no voice acting. I also enjoyed the side content like the reward board. Bonus points because the game was apparantly mostly developed by one guy.
Two good games. Both a touch overhyped though if the online commentary is anything to go by. Not looking to offend any Chained Echoes fans mind you, as they LOVVVVVE this game.
Octopath Traveler 2 blows them both out the water for my money. 🤪
really enjoying your thoughts here. i'm gonna have to pick up Chained Echoes now after finishing SoS
Thanks. Like I said, this year is really crowded, but I believe Chained Echoes is a must-play for any RPG fan who can possibly fit it in.
Did you finally play it and what did you think?
With the retro overload on some songs, I suspect these were the songs returning from the Messenger, which Sea of Stars is a prequel to. That game has a chiptune and genesis/megadrive inspired soundtrack, and some songs and locations are retooled in Sea of Stars. The stories of the two games are interconnected and it seems like Sabotage studio is going for an expanded universe where all their games are connected despite being different genres.
You may be right! Of course, since I like Sea of Stars so much, The Messenger has bullied its way into my backlog. Hopefully soon.
8:03
When I played Sea of Stars, I noticed Garl is the character everyone is suppose to like...and there are no exceptions to this. Be it man, beast, and even Gods. Not allowed to not like Garl.
He is for all intensive purposes the main character of Sea of Stars, the solstice warriors? Nah they arent even characters, they function more like Garl's Jojo Stands. Yes Garl gets two stands cause hes Garl.
Its Garl Universe.
Chained Echoes is quite an interesting game. Reminds me a lot of FF12's world building and terminology, the religious affairs of Xenogears, easter eggs and designs from FF6 & Xenogears. Unique battle mechanics plus bit from FF6. Everything is nicely packaged.
And that's why Chained Echoes is my pick over Sea of Stars. Xenogears and FF6 are two of My Mt. Rushmore Jrpgs and though FF12 disappointed at the end, the first half or third? which was more politically driven was 🔥
After meditating on it for a while, my vote goes to Chained Echoes also. I enjoyed Sea of Stars, but I was also a little disappointed in it. The combat felt stale pretty quickly, and the sheer lack of abilities certainly didn't help. I kickstarted Stars (and NOT Echoes) and I really thought Stars was going to be the big big one from a distance. But experiencing the game is always different than looking at it from afar. Sure, Stars is GORGEOUS and easily takes the cake in visuals (it's pretty much unparalleled in its class in that area), I think Echoes had the better story, characters, and combat. Stars' story just DIDN'T do the trick for me. It took way too long to get going, and even when it did, it still wasn't great... The MC's were carbon copies of each other personality-wise it felt like, and that person was already a boring self-insert protagonist. Stars could have been a masterpiece with better characters, better story, and better progression.
My main problem with the characters of SoS is that almost everyone are so nice, that it made the world felt artificial and unbelievable! Hell, even the group of pirate (You know, sea-criminal) that you meet are so nice that they volunteer to evacuate a town when it's under monster invasion!
storywise both games are nothing special sadly. Sea of stars is a bit too childish and the characters are too naive and too friendly to be real. Chained echoes however opens plot point after plot point without fully explaining them and leaving some even open in the end. I still like the more mature story of chained echoes more. thats just taste. gameplaywise chained echoes stomps sea of stars to the ground. the combat system of sea of stars just lacks depth as there are too few skills and literally no negative status effects like poison, blind, sleep etc. Also chained echoes is much more challenging than sea of stars. both games have equally great music. i think sea of stars music is slightly more polished due to higher budget. but that doesnt mean anything. visually speaking of course sea of stars is better which is just a fact we cant ignore. the graphics and the map layouts are fantastic. In summary for me chained echoes is a much better game. I would rate Sea of stars 8/10. and chained echoes 9.5/10.
*Story* : Both
*Gameplay (huge factor)* : Chained Echoes
*Music* : Both (debatable)
*graphics* : Sea of Stars
overall chained echoes is much more appealing
I enjoyed Sea but i found the story and characters pretty bland. Especially the two main characters. They feel unbearably generic and poorly written. About the only character I liked/thought had any development is Garl. Chained on the other hand maybe suffered from it's ambition but goddamn I thought the story was great (with hiccups) and the characters felt way more fleshed out and interesting.
I'm assuming the true ending task mentioned was getting all 60 of the rainbow conches?
That is indeed the final challenge.
Yea but ypu fan get most of them naturally just playing, im a meticulous searcher, it took him a extra day for side content...it took me like 3 hours
Chained Echoes is one of the greatest Rpgs of the past years while Sea of Stars was something slightly above average imo, id even call it disappointing in many areas
I couldnt agree more. Sea of stars was a bit disappointing altough I still believe that sea of stars is more than abvoe average. its "only" good imo. the game is by no means bad. it just isnt as good as i thought it would be. however chained echoes pushed the limits. if it wasnt for some plot points/plot decisions and the kinda repeating graphics, it would be maybe be the best rpg game ever. Chained echoes needed better graphics and interesting map layouts and some better story decisions.
Chained Echoes should have taken the place of Sea of Stars in the 2023 Games Awards indie game category but unfortunately it didn't have the hype machine behind it.
Yeah, Sea of Stars *really* benefited from getting the attention of the loudmouthed influencers...one in particular who's landed in quite a bit of hot water recently, and very ironically Sabotage Studios has busted a move to distance themselves from him.
I feel mixed about this because I would have preferred Chained Echoes to get that opportunity, but I'm also very glad that another very quality indie RPG got the nom. (Ironically, both Chained Echoes and Sea of Stars are better than the actual winner.)
I have yet to play Chained Echoes, but I will say that Sea of Stars was my most OK gaming experience in 2023. I mean, it wasn't *bad* ...it just didn't live up to the hype. The visuals are gorgeous, but the game play wasn't anything too special, and its biggest flaw was its weak narrative. Especially with something like an RPG, I *need* to be engaged by the story -- and unfortunately that's where Sea of Stars fell the most flat for me.
Thanks for the thoughts. I think I was pretty clear which story I favor more (Chained Echoes), but I thought Sea of Stars' story was easily above average. But I see a lot of comments like this one where the Sea of Stars story disappointed. I'd be curious to know what JRPG stories you do like. Just curious!
Time AND money. Great analysis. Thank you!
Finally, the debate the world SHOULD be having right now!
I gave my money to a work of art made by one guy because that alone is incredible! Not that Sea of Stars dont deserve it but between the two that was my way to choose!
For me with sea of stars I miss a lot of that grit and heavy themes chained echoes brings. I just overall prefer darker and edgier stories unapologetically
7:50 I think if you like SoS or not is greatly depends on if you like Garl or not. A lot of people who dislike the game find him very annoying.
Hey thank you, I played sea of stars and could not finish it due to boring combat system, too much patern gameplay for my taste and leveling system was huge let down too. I restrained myself from buying chained echoes because I tought it would be prety much the same. Now i can buy chained echoes with confidence. I think i will like it better.
I don't get how this video hasn't got a lot more views. Thanks for sharing your thoughts man, I really enjoyed hearing you talk about these games. And for the record I think I'm going to buy Chained Echoes during Steam's winter sale, and Sea of Stars in the next sale I guess, 'cos I agree, gotta play both - why on earth wouldn't we?
Thanks for the kind words. Have you been able to pick either up?
@@PestulonGaming Not yet no. I'm still vacillating between the two of them :p I think I read an opinion somewhere that Sea of Stars was the more Camelot-like of the two, and then someone else said Chained Echoes has a better battle system and I ended up like a rabbit in the headlights lol. It'll be a spring sale buy now, whichever I choose.
I started playing Chained Echoes yesterday. It is one of the most magical gaming experiences I’ve had in years. It really brings back the charm of the classic 16-bit JRPGs with its graphics and mechanics (and phenomenal score) while still doing its own thing.
I’m buying Sea of Stars on payday next week as it’ll still be on sale. I’ve heard so many good things about both games and I’m so excited to experience them. It seems like I might be let down playing SoS last but we’ll see.
I appreciate this video. It’s exactly what I was looking for and it’s great you avoid spoilers. First time viewer here, and now a subscriber. I’m impressed. Big Ups!
Thanks a lot! I think it says a lot about the overall quality of Chained Echoes when you're saying such definitively good things about it after one day of gameplay. It truly doesn't waste much time showing you its greatness, but it also gets WAY better as it progresses.
Well, I thought sea of stars was perfection. I never once had a moment where i got bored of the characters, world, story, or combat. Granted I don't play many games of this genre, Chained Echoes is definitely on my list to play so we'll see
Thanks for the positive reinforcement for Sea of Stars. The comment section clearly leans more toward praising Chained Echoes. I think that's great for the sake of discussion, and I think it's great for the underdog of the two titles. But Sea of Stars is indeed great as well. Both games deserve to be elevated.
I think Sea of Stars is a marvel to behold from a technical and artistic point of view - it looks amazing, the animations are great, the artstyle is on point and it uses a modern engine to elevate pixel art to new levels. If only the writing didn't suck as badly as it did (especially this really weird fixation on Garl of all people for whatever reason - which I guess is something you either love or hate) ... it had so much potential but ended up being pretty disappointing in the story and writing department, and that is honestly one of the single most important parts of an RPG to me. So Sea of Stars really is the essence of Style over Substance.
Haven't played Chained Echoes yet but from what I've heard so far, it should be right up my alley.
I waited years for sea of stars. I wanted it to be the next chrono trigger. The next best rpg ive ever played.. and it dissapointed me in so many ways.
Sea of stars is so good.
I wonder if they release Chained Echoes as retail
now do that for crosscode
CrossCode is burning a hole in my backlog.
Great video. I was looking for a good RPG for my Steamdeck and Chained Echoes it is.
Glad I could help, and if you've picked it up, I hope my hype delivered. 😇
Chained Echoes is more my vibe but Sea of Stars is fantastic as well.
The best thing about Sea of Stars is that all these comparison videos is gonna boost the sales of Chained Echoes.
Chained Echoes is the best jrpg released this side of the century.
Wow, that's a statement! In terms of this century, I've got DQXI S and FFVIII Remake ahead of it, but it's certainly up there for me.
I played the Sea of Star demo and absolutely fell in love with the art style. I have gone through video after video and watched 2 of your videos... I'm going to lean towards Chained Echoes. Just bought it. About to get started. Just want to thank you for your in-depth review. 😎👍👍
Thanks for the kind words, and glad I was able to offer some direction. Sea of Stars is also highly recommended (if you can make time for both).
Imo the Best Indie Jrpgs are Chained Echoes, Cross Code and Sea of Stars. Can't go wrong with either imo. Though Cross Code could be a Puzzle nightmare for some. Oh and the fact its an action game not turn based.
These SoS/CE comparison videos have had a lot of folks name dropping Cross Code in the comments. I've been aware of the game and have intended to start it a number of times, but I've just not gotten around to it. I'm very confident I would like it. It's just a matter of prioritizing it at this point.
Both of them are excellent games! I will be finishing Chained Echo first then Sea of Stars!
I did it the other way around and now after I played chained echoes, I can safely say that chained echoes is the goat.
Sea of Stars looks way better first few hours in but Chained Echoes (even given its late game flaws) has the better experience in its entire run. The combat is tighter, there’s more to explore, better story (which isn’t saying much).
Both kind of suck in the same way though which is interesting like crap dialogue, flawed stories, repetitive move sets, repetitive late game strats
Sea of Stars is good, Chained Echoes is fantastic
definitely chained echos
and crosscode- both are phenomenal games. sea of stars is decent compared to the chams
TLDW both, but just wait a few years set a price alert, no need for getting it - there's zero fomo
i subbed because that beard is magnificent. 😍🥰
Chained Echoes not even close. SoS isn't a bad game but my god Chained Echoes' combat and story were such amazing.
This is like comparing Chrono Trigger to FF6, you shouldn’t, they are both two, way different games. Chained echoes is all about complexity and depth in combat, while sea of stars is simplistic and rhythmic in design. Chained echoes is much more dramatic, while sea of stars is light hearted and very tongue in cheek. You should not put them against each other, you should celebrate the fact we have both of them to enjoy. Chained Echoes is a phenomenal achievement. Sea of Stars is a masterpiece. What’s wrong with both things being true ? Chained Echoes did so many things so well, it’s hard to find a game that pulls that off that doesn’t have a SquarEnix logo beside it, while Sea Of Stars does a few things to perfection. It’s amazing how they both went towards opposite ends of the spectrum and both succeeded to the nth degree. Stop arguing about them, celebrate them together. What a day to be alive, to have the early-mid 90s vibe all over again. Just enjoy them both.
The tedious thing in sea of stars for true ending he's talking about is finding all rainbow conchs in the game...yes it's tedious but there is a character or item that let's you know if you're missing any and what region they are in....just know it took him a extra day to do all that it t9ok me like 3 hours......just know on your first run just search everything so it's not taking you another 12 hours after the 1st ending it's not a guranteed extra day of tedious quests...thats how much he had left...if you're careful and meticulous you can knock most out the 1st time
Both games were over hyped to death.
Chained echoes was way better and what's more cooler is that it's also way cheaper than sea of stars.
I love both, sea of stars is more lighthearted and basic, but its really good, the soundtracks in Sea of stars are simply phenomenal.
Chained Echoes on another hand is probably my favorite jrpg of all time, the story is just so good, nice pacing and plot twists, only thing I didnt like was the difficulty that seemed to spike some hours into the game, I did turn it down sometimes but then it was too easy, Sea of stars was just perfectly balanced in this regard. Also a big thumbs down in Sea of stars is the fact that the true ending is hidden behind collectibles, not a fun way to play the game too constantly use guides making sure you get every collectible along the way, I just ended up watching the true ending on youtube.
Chained Echos has a better story, Sea of Stars is more polished and pretty. Both are excellent. I am feel blessed.
What about the combat?
chained echoes has 100 times better combat system than sea of stars as sea of stars combat system lacks depth. in sea of stars there are only 6 characters in total and every character has only 3 skills minus the ultimate and the combat skills. thats a joke. in chained echoes there are 12 characters and every character has 16 skills. Also there are no classic negative status effects in sea of stars like poison, blind etc. which is so stupid. Sea of stars is by no means a bad game, its only mediocore good. Chained echoes however is a true gem. Sea of stars only has much better graphics and overall map layout to offer. chained echoes combined with sea of stars graphics and map building would be a massive banger@@adiveler
As long as Chained Echoes doesn't have a hidden requirement to collect an arbitrary item with no plot relevance to get the true ending and doesn't tell you till after the "bad" ending it is far better.
As someone who got 49/60 naturally, if you for any reason didn't pick up one up going back to get it is obnoxious.
Between this and B'st side quest that offered nothing to the core story, especially since the reward for this is only useful for 2 fights, it leaves a bad taste at the end. You can't even get the reward till after you beat the final boss.
It is a terrible taste to end a game on and can completely ruin it.
I got both endings in sea of stars and I didint mind the grinding for the true ending. what fucked me up is how non statisfying the combat system in sea of stars was. Only 3 basic skills (minus ultimates and combos) for every character. lol. btw. chained echoes only has one ending. You dont need to grind or make a choice in the story.
This is exactly how I felt after I found this out near the end of the game. I watched the true ending on youtube since I was really busy at the time and disappointed by this.
Sea of Stars vs Chained Echoes ... my answer : Crosscode.
Definitely in my backlog.
chained echoes stomps crosscode btw.
CrossCode was bit too pixelated and hurts my eyes. Overly pixelated art style is terrible and more pixelated than actual retro games were
So I’m in a tough spot where I wanted to see Chained Echoe’s combat myself, being someone who is quite selective with jrpgs, esp related to combat depth which a lot of them struggle with. And yeah, overdrive is pretty cool for sure. But while it adds positive randomness and choices to combat it’s still a trade off where it can actually prevent you from using some moves as deliberately. Also, the moves you can get are not very complex, mostly the usual simple buffs or debuffs, and area, single target, or status, and the game’s fair customization only helps so much with this.
Now, so far the game has had me fight 3 goblins in a row, 3 groups of ghosts, and 3 groups of zombies, and more, which is tedious for how long encounters take and for minor rewards from chests that enemies block. There is also only 1 portrait for each character to display them or convey emotion without voice acting, and no other art. Outside of these the game does quite well with quests/exploration and such but I just got a bit disappointed so far from what the hype had me expecting, along with the story and characters not being super exciting as of yet, so unless it’s just slow and gets a lot better, it’s probably not for me, but still glad to see some jpg innovation at least, and for those who do enjoy it 👍
If I’m wrong/stuff changes later, lmk, I love talking about this kinda stuff
I actually played SOS first and then went right into Chained Echoes. Thoroughly enjoyed both.
Both battle systems were very cool and have some novel mechanics that kept it fun and fresh.
Visually and soundtrack I’d give the edge to sea of stars but not by a landslide in either.
I was more upset with the ending of chained echoes than I was with sea. Not the open ended feel on a lot of plot points (sequel?) but more so about Kylian. We have Glenn living a dozen lives and being “groomed” by Gwayn to have Kylian have a “eh youre good enough moment” and we get it in a flashback. Left me sour
Both dope games and I’m glad I played them. Kinda wanna let’s play them as a first and second dive into content
Chained for me is far better than sea of stars i did 100% in both games
.
The fuck is chained echos?
Chained Echoes, there is no contest 👀
I LOVE Sea of Stars, but Chained Echoes is way better. This game is truly one of the best RPGs, of this gender, of all time
you really beat around the bush and over explain yourself alot. to me Chained echos does alot better job at getting you hooked on the story and the word and the music just sucks you right in and makes you excited where to go next. Sea of Stars is slower and more nuanced it hard ot get you to care about anyone so far and im 15 hours in and just dont care what happening and the music is awful. like NES level awful.
Dont like the player portraits in sea of stars
When i found in SOS that I had to do a collection quest to get the true ending, I stopped playing. CE is the better one
Couldn't disagree with you more. Sea of stars has superior graphics, soundtrack and combat system. The plot of chained echoes is more 'complicated' but sea of stars is still very enjoyable. The greatest strength that makes sea of stars so enduring is that it takes a classic jrpg experience and condenses it all in 35 hours of gameplay. Chained echoes is guilty of bloat.
sea of stars has a superior combat system... Is this a joke? dude minus the ultimates and the combo skills every character in sea of stars has only 3 basic skills xd. Sea of stars combat system has literally no depth to it. In sea of stars there isnt even any negative status effects like poison, blind or sleep. If you play the game in the beginning, there isnt much that will be added later to the combat system. the combat system in chained echoes has much more depth and is much more challenging. in chained echoes there are 12 characters (minus kylian) and every character has 16 skills.
@@Wills_Smurf what can I say? less is more? Sea of Stars is also a very quick game to finish. Including the true ending it took me 34 hours. I think that's the real power of sea of stars, it's short and sweet and therein lies its power. Chained echoes was fun up to Act 2 then I lost steam and enthusiasm in the fighting system. It got stale and boring. With sea of stars it was fast paced and I never got tired of the combat system, even though I had heard from some critics that it runs out of steam. Not for me it didn't! I thoroughly enjoyed it. For me the lock system in sos was more enthralling than the overdrive system. Plus I think the hidden gem is that the combat music in sos is fucking lit, compared to chained echoes.
Ah yes, making a competition out of nothing.
I agree with the mario RPG being average, also dont see the appeal.
After playing both games, I can say Sea of Stars was by far a much better game. Chained Echoes was fun and had elements in it that i liked better, however, the story was very disappointing to me and i cant say why without spoilers. Sea of Stars did so many things right that i will definitely be playing it again sometime and am super hopeful for a DLC and sequel. I cant say the same for Chained Echoes.
It's good to hear this perspective. Thanks for sharing!
The story was disappointing? WHAT!!!? Sea of Stars story was as cookie cutter as it gets. Chained Echoes had one of the deepest and most interesting stories I've seen in YEARS. I don't know what you are smoking, but you can keep it.
@ShonnDaylee that's your opinion. As for me, I don't like watching some guy in his 20s wake up in bed after being banged out by some creepy 60+ year old dude. I dont like seeing some guy eat a little child. I didn't like the stupid plot twists towards the end that ended up being a plot hole. I didn't like the wokism being pushed in the story. We get enough of that in our everyday programming. I'm actually surprised that the maker didn't go full gender swap in his twist because the girl 100% looks like the guy with long hair.
Sea of Stars was cookie cutter. It was also simple, charming, and endearing. I live in a world that is difficult and confusing enough, so when I want to unwind with a nostalgic type game, I don't need it to push some moral boundaries to satisfy certain agendas or bring about a stunning wow factor. That's me, though, and I'm sure their are others that feel the same way........and that's ok. I'm not sure why my likes and dislikes is so offensive to you, but you are a perfect example of this new Era of divisiveness, where only your opinion matters and everyone else is enemy number one. It's sad and bad for society and self.
what wokism you talking about? that sienna is a lesbian? lol. chained echoes story is much more mature than sea of stars. however both stories are only mediocore.@@seapanther53
@Wills_Smurf you're showing how well you're programmed by woke culture. Ask yourself this, why were only the gay and lesbian characters sexualize and romanticized in a forced manner? It added nothing to the story and obviously only meant to check a box on the wokism checklist. Any why the scene of a guy getting ready to eat a child for dinner? Wtf?