The Shoulders and Shadows of Giants | Deconstructing Sea of Stars

Sea of Stars was developed by Sabotage Studio and released on August 29th, 2023. Sabotage claims one of the most beloved RPGs of all time, and one of my personal favorite games--Chrono Trigger--as a main source of inspiration. And with gorgeous pixel graphics, a large world to explore, mysteries to unravel, adventure to be had, bosses to defeat, and a whole cast of new friends to make along the way, Sea of Stars was able to generate a considerable amount of pre-release hype. Not to mention the fact that Sabotage's previous outing, The Messenger, had already found a modicum of success in the indie game scene. To top it all off, they were even able to secure the support of Yasunori Mitsuda--the man behind most of Chrono Trigger's outstanding soundtrack--as a guest composer. In short, the chefs over at Sabotage were cooking with a recipe for success.
So, does Sea of Stars live up to the hype? Is it the next Chrono Trigger or just nostalgia bait?
Intro (0:00)
Visual (2:47)
Audio (8:37)
Gameplay (14:11)
Story (35:27)
Final Thoughts (42:19)

[@PLYR_JET]

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[@InnanetFran]

Nice breakdown! Looks like a super cool and fun game. I've heard a lot of good things about it from some buddies. I just wish I enjoyed the artwork, because although the game does look good and makes use of some great effects, the artwork is unappealing enough to my personal preference to where I never gave this game a second thought - I really don't like looking at it. Your description of the gameplay and music, though, might be enough for me to reconsider!

[@jtvj8423]

This looks like a must-play, I heard it was great but this was the perfect non-spoiler deep dive to show why it's so great.
The bit about pixel art interpretation is so true, I see a dog king too lol