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"Sea of Stars" captures the classic 16-bit era of jRPGs with continuous plot moving without taking a second to blink. If you're a die-hard fan of turn-based combat, this is probably the game for you. Skills, Attacks, and Defense all boil down to timed-based button presses to increase/decrease damage.

The story revolves around the "Solstice Warriors" attempting to save their world from the left-over baddies from The Fleshmancer. As you travel, you learn more about the world, its universe, and how it came to be the way it is today—the plot "drives" this game. Whereas there are weaknesses in character development and scenario writing, the overarching "purpose" pushes the player from one event to the next. Often, of course, without skipping a beat.

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The overarching plot of "Sea of Stars" is a classic one. You choose between two characters, "Children of the Solstice," each having the power of the Moon or the Sun. The story starts with the main characters as children in the seemingly quaint town of Mooncradle - where the Great Eagle drops off children born on Solstice. These children are then trained to harness the power of the Sun or the Moon (Summer and Winter Solstice, respectfully). The player is quickly introduced to the "best friend" of the two Solstice Warriors: Garl—an average, run-of-the-mill child of Mooncradle. From there, you see the progression of the Solstice Warriors as they train and grow under the tutelage of the Headmaster.

Once grown, the Solstice Warriors are sent out from Mooncradle to explore the world to take down one of the fabled "Dwellers" (who can manifest into a World Eater if left unattended). During the journey, you will laugh, you will cry, and you'll smile. From freeing a ghost pirate ship from a curse to traveling to a castle with children who can never age - the adventure of "Sea of Stars" has much to learn about the state of the planet, its people, and the horrors.

• Character Development - One of the weaker areas of Sea of Stars is just how they develop the Solstice Warriors. They are seemingly the game's main characters, yet they are given next to no personality. Even more troubling is that they share the same "emotional responses" to every significant event in the game as if writing two separate characters was a bit too much.
  
• Garl - I want to start by saying that I adore Garl. In the game, he's an exaggerated positive character that either sets or offsets the story's current tone. The only problem is that he is essentially the protagonist of the game. Sabotage leaned heavily onto Garl to support the cast, and the plot and would invoke him to drive character development. It was apparent throughout the first half of the game that this was the case. It became even more so once Garl was killed by The Fleshmancer for calling him a "loser.".
  
• "True Ending" - The True Ending supplements the fact that Garl is the primary source of all narration from Sabotage here. As the player revives Garl, using the classic "switcheroo" tactic once deployed in Chrono Trigger, you can easily be swept up in emotion if you've tied yourself to the "Garl Charisma" before his untimely passing. But once the revitalized team takes down The Fleshmancer, you realize just how pivotal Garl was regarding the personalities of the Solstice Warriors.

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The combat is where "Sea of Stars" shines - simplicity, yet harks back to an earlier time. In an era where many prominent turn-based RPGs are turning into Action RPGs, "Sea of Stars" is unapologetically a turn-based RPG. The most significant thing is returning the critical "time-based response" functions that can either improve the attack damage or reduce the incoming damage. By timing a button press correctly, you can do either of these things - you can even improve the total amount of health that is healed when using a skill (if appropriately timed).

The player does pick up "Combos" throughout their travel. The concept is as simple as the name itself - two characters join skills together to implement a more impactful technique. But if you're looking for the Triple Techs from Chrono Trigger or anything more elaborate, you should look elsewhere. The "combo" system is likely the weakest component of "Sea of Stars'" combat system. Found throughout the world as scrolls or through story events, combos tend to fall flat compared to QoL enhancements around similar systems in turn-based games in recent years.

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The graphics in "Sea of Stars" are remarkable. They're a true love letter to the 16-bit era of gaming, except with improved visuals (via modern technology). While they're not polished sprites like you would see in Falcom's "Kiseki" series, these sprites are a callback to an earlier time, but with the classic polish that you've seen in games such as "Chrono Trigger," "Final Fantasy VI," or other favorites.

The world is absolutely beautiful. Characters have their art style, but each character is well-designed and given the same amount of careful attention to the world that the player interacts with. From monstrous dragons wrapped around mountains to animated cutscenes that skip outside of the sprite-based realm, the game has its charm. Sabotage knocked it out of the park with the graphics, designs, and visuals.