New Sea of Stars Trailer Shows Elder Mist Trials

Indie developer Sabotage Studio just released another teaser trailer of its upcoming turn-based RPG Sea of Stars.

The trailer is very short as usual, but it showcases a beautifully-crafted level created for the Elder Mist Trials. It certainly brings back memories of RPGs of old.

Sea of Stars, which is a prequel set in the universe of the developer’s The Messenger, has been funded with a very successful Kickstarter campaign and will feature music by Yasunori Mitsuda.

You can enjoy the video below.

If you want to see more of Sea of Stars, you can enjoy another trailer, showcasing an animated cutscene, one showing Mooncradle, one showcasing the Moorlands, one showing the Mushroom Cave, another featuring the music and day/night cycle, one showcasing the Thrower enemies, another focusing on swimming, one showing the Soonrang team attack, one focusing on refractions, one on interior spaces, one on the lack of random encounters, one on traversal, one on the day and night cycle, one on camping, one on old-school save points, and another extensive gameplay video.

The game will release this holiday season for PC and Nintendo Switch, but more platforms will be announced this year.

If you’re unfamiliar with the game, here’s a list of features:

• Engaging Turn-based Combat: Pressing the action button in sync with the animations increases damage output while reducing incoming damage. Along with timed hits, combat features multi-character combo attacks, boosting, and a strategic “locks” system offering options to play with different damage types in order to hinder enemies while they are channeling powerful attacks or spells, all in an immersive take on the genre; no random encounters, no transitions to separate battlefields, and no grinding.
• Unshackled Traversal: Swim, climb, vault, jump off or hoist up ledges as you traverse seamlessly through the world with a navigation system based on platformer expertise that breaks free from the classic bound-to-the-grid tileset movement.
• A Story Rich Adventure: Dozens of original characters and story arcs will take you on a captivating journey. Sometimes epic, sometimes silly, and other times emotional, Sea of Stars does its RPG duty of exploring classic themes of adventure and friendship, while also being chock-full of the unexpected twists and events you’d expect from a Sabotage production.
• All Fun, No Tedium:Enjoy combat without fear of hitting a wall and having to grind for experience or items; in Sea of Stars, defeat requires a change in battle plans, not hours of repetition to better the odds in a rematch.
• A World You Can Touch: There are many ways to hang out in the world of Sea of Stars if you feel the need for a change of pace in your adventures. Sailing, cooking, fishing, stopping by a tavern to listen to a song or play the infamous tabletop game known as “Wheels”…every system has been designed to deliver an experience that pays respect to retro classics, while rethinking in some areas to offer a smooth and modernized experience.
• Radiant Lighting: Dynamic light effects pairs with a world-influencing day/night cycle to make every area feel truly alive, pushing the traditional visual limits of classically-styled 2D pixel-art games; the only way to properly tell the story of heroes conjuring the powers of the Sun and the Moon.