Sea of Stars

Sea of Stars is a pixel-art JRPG inspired by classics of the nineties that, on Xbox Series X/S, tells the story of two Solstice Warriors, Valere and Zale, fighting against the alchemist Fleshmancer and his monstrous creations scattered across the world. Combat is turn-based, but enriched with a system of timed strikes and blocks that increase or decrease damage, combining attacks against specific types of enemy magic to disrupt their abilities, and the ability to combine the two main characters' abilities into stronger joint attacks, which lets the game pair a nostalgic look with modern, well-thought-out mechanics that keep battles exciting even after dozens of hours played. The party also gradually grows with additional companions with their own personalities and abilities, adding another strategic layer to combat.

On Xbox Series X/S, the game runs smoothly at high resolution, and the hand-drawn pixel-art environments, from sunny coastlines through dense forests to dark caves, stand out thanks to detailed lighting, dynamic weather, and fluid character animations. The music was composed by Eric W. Brown, partly in collaboration with Yasunori Mitsuda, composer of the legendary Chrono Trigger, to which Sea of Stars openly acknowledges itself, both visually and tonally, as one of its main inspirations. Exploring the world also offers logic puzzles, platforming sections, and hidden treasures that set the game apart from purely combat-focused JRPGs.

Upon release, Sea of Stars was received as one of the best independent JRPGs of recent times, and day-one availability on Xbox Game Pass helped it reach a wide audience that might otherwise have overlooked a smaller title. Today the game is often cited as proof that the genre of pixel-art JRPGs inspired by the classics can still offer fresh and well-considered gameplay mechanics, not just a nostalgic memory, and for many players it represents an ideal entry point into the JRPG genre as a whole.

Why play it: For a well-considered pixel-art JRPG that, thanks to day-one availability on Game Pass, works as an ideal entry point into the genre even for players with no prior experience.