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The release date is set for the Sea of Stars free DLC expansion called Throes of the Watchmaker. We’ll get access to a new storyline, character, and classes for Valere and Zale on May 20, 2025. This applies to every platform, so it will show up on consoles and PCs at the same time.

The announcement included some details about how this all will work. First, we will need to reach a certain point in the story to unlock it. There’s a certain point in the story after defeating a Dweller boss that the party is able to fly to new locations on the world map, rather than sail there. Once you hit that point, The Vespertine crew can get you started with the Throes of the Watchmaker campaign. We’ll head into the tiny town of Horloge and go through its campaign to learn new secrets. When we do, Artificer will become a playable character following the unit’s NPC debut in the story. Valere will also gain acrobat abilities and Zale will become a juggler, to tie in with the cursed carnival theme of the new storyline.

Here’s the latest trailer for the free Sea of Stars Throes of the Watchmaker DLC that confirms its release date. As a reminder, this additional add-on will last about eight hours.

Sea of Stars is available for the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC now, and the release date for the free Throes of the Watchmaker DLC is May 20, 2025. 

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There are lots of JRPGs coming out constantly from Atlus, Square Enix, and other Japanese publishers but only a few consoles and platforms are the best for them. Whether you are trying to play previously released titles like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth or check out games like Metaphor Re:Fantazio, these are the best consoles for JRPGs today.

Best Consoles for JRPGs Today: PS5 3m263e

If I had to pick an overall best console today for JRPGs, it would have to be the PlayStation 5 and its more powerful sibling, the PS5 Pro. There is the obvious point in how it is much more powerful than the second console for JRPGs, but also its library as well. The PS5 has the most possible JRPGs since exclusives like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Final Fantasy XVI, and more demanding third-party games like Tales of Arise are there.

This even includes games that aren’t yet available on PC and may potentially never be. If you are looking for the best console to play JRPGs these days, this is the one.

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The runner-up console I would recommend to JRPG fans these days is the Nintendo Switch. This will likely extend to its eventual successor as well. What it lacks in power and graphics, it makes up for in its versatility. You can play amazing JRPGs like Persona 5 Royal and Trails through Daybreak on the go anywhere you like.

In addition, the Nintendo Switch does have its own selection of worthy exclusive JRPGs. Games like Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Fire Emblem Three Houses, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions are all phenomenal games you can’t play anywhere else. Plus, it has access to older titles through the Nintendo Switch Online like Earthbound.

Honorable Mention: Steam Deck 30121j

Finally, an honorable mention worth considering is the Steam Deck. While technically a PC, it is like the Switch in its portability. It has access many different third-party JRPGs, plus plenty of JRPG-inspired indies like Sea of Stars. Though it lacks some in the hardware department, it makes up for that with its emulation potential for other consoles. However, be very careful when navigating that legally gray area.

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A new DLC for Sea of Stars titled Throes of the Watchmaker was announced at today's Nintendo Direct. This free DLC will launch sometime in Spring 2025, and feature a new story, companion, and classes for Valere and Zale.

The DLC will take place in a world menaced by an evil carnival, with the protagonists Zale and Valere getting new skills and abilities as Juggler and Acrobat respectively. A new playable companion will also the group, who appears to be some kind of robot or perhaps a mech-suit. The presentation only announced the DLC for Nintendo Switch, since it was a Nintendo presentation after all, however a tweet from the developers confirms it will be available for all platforms.

You can watch the trailer from the Indie World Showcase via Youtube below:

Sea of Stars originally released back in August, 2023, with a Switch demo appearing earlier that February. Earlier this year, Sabotage Studio announced it was developing a potential co-op feature to add to the game, called Single Player+.

The Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker DLC will launch for free on Nintendo Switch in Spring 2025. The game itself is readily available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.

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It’s looking like co-op multiplayer for three players could be coming to Sea of Stars around its one year anniversary. Sabotage Studio announced Single Player+ is in development.

Essentially, it seems that the Sea of Stars Single Player+ element would be a co-op multiplayer experience similar to the one for players of games like Secret of Mana. There are few exact details about how it would work at the moment. However, it would be a local mechanic for couch co-op, with no online option offered. It would also mean that, in addition to each person controlling a character, there would be a co-op timed hits mechanic. In the single player experience, hitting in time with on-screen actions can create a combo when attacking enemies and deal more damage.

Here’s the first teaser trailer for the Sea of Stars multiplayer feature. It doesn’t actually show combat and what the timed hits could look like with multiple people playing. However, it does show an early-game exploration element with Valere, Zale, and Garl going through a location together.

This also came alongside a sales update announcement. Since its August 2023 debut, five million copies of Sea of Stars have been sold. The game is available digitally and physically.

Sea of Stars is available for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.

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The Xbox Series X and S has increasingly been less of a platform for buying games and more of one for Game subscriptions. It’s no surprise, then, that all three of our Xbox Game of the Year 2023 selections appear on the service. Check out our picks below, and keep checking back this week for more awards!

These awards represent the consensus of the Siliconera staff. For more of the year’s award selections, check out our Game of the Year 2023 archive.

Hi-Fi Rush 5p6v5r

We say games “came out of nowhere” a lot, but rarely do games go from unannounced to out in one fell swoop, and even more rarely are they this polished and stylish. Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush brings rhythm into its action, with frantic musical gameplay and bright environments that echo a bit of that old Jet Set Radio feel. But it’s very much its own thing! And we didn’t forget about it, even after many packed months. If you missed it, maybe give it a look.

Starfield 567156

While Hi-Fi Rush was a shadowdrop, Starfield is definitely the opposite: rumbling to life slowly at Bethesda over decades and officially announced nearly a decade ago. It’s enormous, full of systems and conversations and worlds to explore. And after a few decades of Fallout and Elder Scrolls games? Yeah, we’re psyched to see a different sort of environment for Bethesda’s signature brand of storytelling.

Siliconera Xbox Game of the Year Winner: Sea of Stars r5p58

There have been many games in recent years that play off the nostalgia of the Chrono Trigger era, but few have managed to recapture that magic. Sea of Stars goes past the wink-wink-nudge-nudge referential approach, and delivers a world of characters that is worthy of its own generation of future nostalgia plays. The semi-active combat and interesting puzzles keep players engaged, and the execution of its pixel art style is exactly what you’d want. That makes it our Xbox Game of the Year 2023.

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I thought the Sea of Stars demo was fine.

I ed it a few days after it was announced during the February 2023. I didn’t finish it. The concept seemed okay, I liked the spritework, and the battle system seemed well-executed. But other things demanded my time, and I reasoned it’d be something I might get to when it’s on some subscription service.

What I didn’t expect is for the full version of Sea of Stars to leave me absolutely floored. It’s one of the best games I’ve played all year. The characterizations, stories, environments, opponents, and puzzles can feel so fresh and fun, even when they’re clearly building on or inspired by classic RPGs. It feels like an adventure that will be name-dropped alongside Chained Echoes when it comes to a modern renaissance of games inspired by the likes of Chrono Trigger and other formative titles.

Valere and Zale are special. Children born on the Winter and Summer Solstice, both were brought to Mooncradle and raised knowing one day, they’d enter Zenith Academy and become Solstice Warriors like Brugaves and Erlina, two older ones they follow and ire. After an instance with their childhood friend Garl, the head of the academy Moraine deems them ready to begin their training. After years, they’re prepared to face The Fleshmancer’s minions, take the test and meet with the Elder Mist to become fully fledged Solstice Warriors, and take part in their first cleansing to deal with a “Dweller” to keep it from becoming a “World Eater.” And so, we them, and eventually their allies like their friend Garl, as they head to step into their new roles and head to Wraith Island for the eclipse.

All of that probably sounds like a typical introduction and plot for an RPG. However, the way Sea of Stars tackles it all is so special. Even when it’s setting up this plot, things happen that set it apart from more typical fantasy storylines. The implementation of characters like Garl and impetus for them ing Zenith Academy, the interactions between them and their mentors and the mentors with Moraine, and even the conversations between Valere, Zale, Garl, and the Elder Mist sew these seeds. Yes, it is a coming-of-age tale combined with one involving the saving of a world, but it’s also playing with that and doing things you might expect.

I also loved that while this is very much Valere and Zale’s story, ing cast don’t feel like they’re tacked-on party and NPCs who occasionally get a brief part of the larger tale dedicated to them. Garl, in particular, felt just as important to me as his two chosen friends, and there’s something so remarkable about it. He’s not the ordinary friend who waited. He isn’t comic relief. He matters, and I love Sabotage Studio for that. And he isn’t the only one. I found myself caring so much about characters who, in other games, might have been relegated to asides or short quests. To be honest, I got the kind of additional love and attention I would have expected from a major Final Fantasy release’s supplemental characters here, and I can’t help but feel Sabotage’s insight and detail puts that of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XVI to shame. I felt more attached to a wizard named Malkomud, who is really central only at certain moments, than I did about Benedikta Harman.

This level of excellence isn’t just present with the character design and story. It comes up in practically every element in Sea of Stars. The environmental design is great. Both Valere and Zale are incredibly active characters, and as such they’re climbing and jumping around their environments when you’re in dungeons or other areas. This means there could be secrets around every corner, as you might be able to walk across a thin outcropping of rocks, scale certain walls to reach higher areas, or use eventual abilities you unlock to do things like use innate magic to change the time of day or gusts of winds to move blocks to solve puzzles and access areas. It’s dynamic and encourages you to explore, with all sorts of rewards like extra ingredients for cooking, items, equipment, or even access to new areas as rewards.

That same sense of movement and liveliness extends to the combat system. It’s turn-based, but there’s a sense of Paper Mario or Mario RPG timing involved. You can turn attacks into multi-hit ones or mitigate damage by pressing a button at the right time. You can “break” enemies and keep them from using stronger attacks by using the right types of damage and elements shown in the countdown window to basically mess up their concentration. You can learn combo skills between characters, allowing all your efforts when fighting to yield access to fantastic skills that can really save you at critical moments. Not to mention basic attacks restore MP and allow you to “use magic without using magic” by causing these orbs to fall that you can have other characters — even ones who can’t use Solstice Warrior magic like Garl — absorb to empower their attacks. Add to that no need to grind, due to the game keeping up with your progress and adjusting enemies accordingly, relics that can help you with timing, and the accessibility options that do things like restore health after each battle’s done, and it all feels so… fun. It’s never tedious and is genuinely a joy.

Also, it looks so gorgeous all the while. The character designs, from the sprites to their portraits, are phenomenal and distinctive, while still being clear and recognizable in any situation. The enemies end up having personality, even some of the more common ones. Environmental design is great, with clear tells when you can explore more, explicit ambiance for certain areas, and just a generally great level of attention to detail.

The result is a game that just feels welcoming and lived in. When you happen upon villages, they feel like real communities. Characters come across as well-rounded, actualized individuals. I never felt forced to retread certain paths unless I wanted to see if there was a secret there, as there was no forced grinding or unnecessary padding. However, if I did want to do more, like fish, cook, play Wheels, or hunt for Rainbow Conches, I could do that.

Speaking of Wheels, it is giving Splatoon 3’s Tableturf Battle, the Trails series’ Vantage Masters, and Final Fantasy’s Triple Triad a run for its money as one of my favorite in-world games. It’s something of a strategic affair in which you pick two of six Heroes figurines, and spin the wheels tied to them to get a “hand” of icons. You use these to match energies to act, raise bulwarks to defend, and even evolve Heroes via earning XP, all in the name of getting strong enough to fend off your opponent’s attacks while hopefully depleting their HP. Each Hero is in a different role or has certain specialties. It is such a great diversion, I often found myself looking for new Wheels champions to play against for that first time reward when you win or even a casual match.

Sea of Stars feels like something special. It lovingly honors RPGs that came before it, while also setting its own course. I kept happening upon NPCs, design decisions, and even lines of dialogue that stuck with me. Everything flows together so well and is paired with a heartfelt story that feels innovative while building upon a classic kind of adventure.

Sea of Stars will come to the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on August 29, 2023.

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More people can test out Sea of Stars as the PS4 and PS5 demo is here. The developer revealed the news via the PlayStation Blog. This marks the final platforms to get the free trial. It’s also available on the Switch, Xbox consoles, and PC via Steam. It also comes as Sabotage Studio confirmed it will be part of the PlayStation Plus game catalog for certain tiers at launch.

With the Sea of Stars PlayStation Plus tiers, only two will get access to it. Someone must subscribe at the Extra or tier to be able to play it at launch. Those are $14.99 and $17.99 per month, respectively.

It appears that the Sea of Stars PS4 and PS5 demo is identical to the ones available on other platforms. It will offer a slice of gameplay from a point at which people get multiple party to use and can start to explore the world. However, it will not include spoilers for the full game.

Sea of Stars will come to the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on August 29, 2023. The demo is available on every platform now. It will be on PlayStation Plus Extra and at launch.

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People will be able to try Sea of Stars ahead of its release date, as a Switch demo was announced during the February 2023 Nintendo Direct. The RPG, which features music from Chrono Trigger and Cross composer Yasunori Mitsuda, will appear on August 29, 2023. The demo is out now on the eShop.

The announcement didn't note what people can expect from this demo. However, it will provide an opportunity to see what the battle-system feels like and offer a chance to explore the world. That might look familiar to some, as this is a prequel to the game The Messenger.

The Sea of Stars release date is August 29, 2023, and a Switch demo is out today. People can get the full game on the Switch and PC.

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Sea of Stars is an RPG prequel to The Messenger. It is the sort of project in which its inspirations are worn on its figurative sleeve. In this case, its tributes to Chrono Trigger appear via the means of its battle system, world map, and even music from Chrono Trigger and Cross composer Yasunori Mitsuda. During a preview event, Siliconera learned more about the “around 10” songs from Mitsuda and game’s influences from Sabotage Studio President and Creative Director Thierry Boulanger.

During the preview event, Mitsuda’s music ended up referenced early on. While showing off a quest that would send Valere, Zale, and Garl to an abandoned wizard’s lab on behalf of the pirate Klee Shae, Boulanger teased the first track. While wandering around the world map, headed to the location, the party ed Coral Cascades. Boulanger noted that is where players will hear the first track the Chrono Trigger composer made for the game.

Later, Boulanger elaborated when asked about the extent of Mitsuda’s contributions to the project. He said, “Some of [the tracks] have both day and night versions, which are counted as two separate tracks. Considering this, we are expecting around ten tracks from Mitsuda.”

During the 2020 Sea of Stars Kickstarter campaign, Sabotage Studio announced the Chrono Trigger composer would work on some songs for the soundtrack. At the time, it didn’t explain the potential extent of his work on the project. However, the developer did note that he and Eric W. Brown would both work on the game’s soundtrack. Brown also worked on The Messenger

As for other references, it calls to mind Chrono Trigger in other ways. One is its battle system. It features up to three characters in the fight at once like Chrono Trigger. It also involves turn-based combat that immediately takes place in the field, without being taken to a separate area. Characters have certain elements associated with them, such as Valere and her affinity with Lunar magic. The world map involves a zoomed out space, with multiple locations shown. When asked about its other influences on Sea of Stars, Boulanger noted, “In of narrative, there will be none, but its lessons when it comes to simplicity and taking a distilled approach to what is presented is present in a lot of ways when it comes to design, including in our previous game.”

Finally, Siliconera asked if there would be any opportunities to develop relationships between characters or work on any reputation, Boulanger explained players wouldn’t see that. However, he did suggest there will be be side quests for some people. He said, “While all characters have a rich backstory and some of them may hint at optional side quests for their personal closure towards the end of the game, there is nothing in the game akin to romance, gifting, reputation or relationship building.”

Sea of Stars will come to the Nintendo Switch and PC during the 2022 holiday season. Its Kickstarter campaign raised CA$1,628,126 from 25,589 people in 2020.

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