Sea of Stars demo

Sea of Stars Demo

retro SNES style game with Zelda dungeon crawling and JRPG combat

2023-12-24

The game for this Christmas eve is the demo for Sea of Stars on the Switch. A cute and fun retro SNES style game with Zelda-like dungeon crawling and JRPG combat.

The pixel art looks good, the controls are responsive and intuitive, and the exploration is fun.

The exploration is like classic Zelda dungeon crawling with puzzles, while the combat is like JRPGs. It's interesting that there isn't a cut to another screen for combat, you fight where you encounter the enemies.

The exploration puzzles are intesting. And there's some secrets to reward extra exploration.

The combat has interesting elements. Enemy position is something to consider for area of effect attacks, so an ability to move enemies helps. And as you make successful attacks lets you power up other attacks.

There's a neat resting element where you camp by a fire which restores health and magic. There you can craft meals with ingredients you find, which is important to use as healing. And while at a campsite, another character appears that tells you stories, which are perhaps lore or hints about the game.

Your main characters you can choose from are two fighters, it doesn't really matter who you choose because they're both in your party. And a third character is really more of a support role. He hurls enemies to be closer to each other so you can hit more, tosses snacks if you need health.

Other games I've had but just can't get into are No Man's Sky and now Starfield. The procedurally generated lands are dull, and the crafting is too tedious. I like games where you explore, but even though the vast part of the game is procedurally generated to be different, there's still a blandness to it. The designed games can have interesting places, and part of that is it can have features I become familiar with.

And while Starfield has cities that aren't procedurally generated, I still found the one dull. Why they chose that as the starting point I don't know. But if the game gets more interesting, I'll probably not find out because I'm already soured on it.

I still have to wrap presents, but have to also get ready for Wigilia, our family's Christmas Eve vigil dinner.