Sea of Stars from Sabotage Studio launched in August 2023 and scooped some critical acclaim at the time. The game was a breath of fresh air amidst an ocean of action-packed titles that came out during that same release window. Bringing a classic JRPG-esque adventure to the table in a gorgeous pixel aesthetic was something that immediately caught my attention back then and itβs a shame it took me so long to actually get around to playing the game.
So does the Sea of Stars Throes of the Watchmaker live up to the base gameβs great accolades and is it worth checking out? Letβs dive right in!
Sea of Stars Throes of the Watchmaker
The original Sea of Stars game followed the tale of a cast of colourful characters. Zale and Valere two Solstice Warriors, powerful fighters who can harness the power of solar or lunar magic set forth to fight against Dwellers, formidable foes that wreak havoc. The base game revolved around their journey across the world on their quest to defeat the forces of evil and bring back peace. Pretty standard fare for any self-respecting role-playing game to be quite honest.
Where Sea of Stars excelled though was with its storytelling. The characters were incredibly well written and I can safely report that the Throes of the Watchmaker DLC follows in the footsteps of the base game. This time around players will once again take on the role of the Solstice Warriors but face off against the mischievous Puppeteer and her evil minions. Our heroes Zale and Valere enter the clockwork world of Horloge but this time around they will gain access to brand-new skills and abilities.
Players will be able to use the Juggler and Acrobat classes and will also be able to recruit a new playable character known as the Artificer. The artificer was in the base game but was just an NPC over there so itβs great to see it in action here in the DLC.
The story is once again, pretty standard fare with an evil opposing force wreaking havoc and our group of heroes setting forth to defeat them. In a slight twist, both Zale and Valere lose access to their strongest attacks and the rest of your party from the base game is essentially locked out of this DLC by a plot point. Likewise, Artificer cannot be used in the base game and is limited to the DLC area.
Gameplay once again features a mixture of puzzle solving as you explore the new areas interspersed with some fast-paced turn-based battles. The combat gameplay is turn-based with an active element to it in the form of button presses and rhythmic timing to your attacks. Solving puzzles in the game feels incredibly satisfying and when you get through particular tough segments, the sense of achievement that youβll feel is great! More so than even defeating strong enemies.
This makes Sea of Stars combat so enjoyable though I really do wish the entire game had a fast-forward option to speed up the gameplay. Something like a 2X or 4X speed increase for battles would immensely alleviate the fatigue that sets in after battling the same type of enemy over and over in an area. The base game suffered from this exact issue too.
Graphically, Sea of Stars Throes of the Watchmaker features a different aesthetic to the base game. Everything is based around clocks this time around and features a whimsical clockwork world vibe with sinister carnival undertones. It looks fantastic and the new animations for Zale and Valere fit right in too.
The soundtrack is once again excellent and there are some very catchy tunes to listen to. Unfortunately, once again, there isnβt any real voice acting here and characters only make sounds when talking in-game as their dialogue is displayed in text boxes. The sound effects used for attacks and other things are top notch though and it really helps make the world feel alive.
Final Verdict
Overall Sea of Stars Throes of the Watchmaker is an excellent DLC and Iβm extremely surprised that itβs free for all owners of the base game. This is a roughly 8-hour-long DLC which plays out like an elongated side-quest or storyline building on the gameβs lore while being almost completely standalone due to its focus on a handful of characters. Sabotage Studio could easily have charged something like $10 for this given the hefty amount of content but instead opted to make it free.
They deserve immense praise for this since other developers most likely would not even consider doing something like this ever. If you own Sea of Stars, Throes of the Watchmaker is great since itβs effectively more of the same great content with a slight twist to the formula. It doesnβt change anything to the base game and can be enjoyed separately once you gain access to the DLC area. Give it a go. Itβs great!
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