Canadian indie team Sabotage Studio made an incredible mark in 2018 with its debut title The Messenger, a retro-inspired action-platformer with dashes of metroidvania design peppered in, and amazing music and off-the-rails humour to beat. The studio has now announced its second outing after some recent teasing– Sea of Stars, a turn-based RPG that is, in their words, “inspired by the classics” and will serve as a prequel to The Messenger.
Taking the form of Kickstarter project, the game is promising “the Sabotage touch in every system.” On its Kickstarter page, Sabotage promises that Sea of Stars will “modernize the classic RPG in various ways, including combat, exploration, narrative, and interacting with the environment, “while still offering a hearty slice of nostalgia and good old, simple fun.”
Combat promises to be dynamic, with timed hits, combos, strategic options, and what have you, while there are also supposedly no random encounters or grinding. Traversal has similarly been described as “unshackled,” and will include everything from vaulting and jumping to swimming and climbing. There’s also talk of a rich narrative and “full-on dynamic lighting.” You can get more details through the link above.
An announcement trailer for the game was also revealed to give a taste of the game’s visual style, music, setting, and mechanics. Take a look below.
Sea of Stars is scheduled to release in 2022 (the Kickstarter page mentions March 2022 as the estimated delivery date), which means it’s still a ways off. It’ll be out on PC and “consoles”, and given its launch timing, we can at least expect it to be cross-gen, if not entirely next-gen exclusive. Stay tuned for more updates.
