“A beautifully made retro-inspired RPG that will instantly transport you back to the 16-bit golden years, for better or worse,” was how Katherine Castle (RPS in peace) summarised Sea Of Stars, a Chrono Trigger-style pixelart sojourn down memory lane from Sabotage Studios, creators of The Messenger. I imagine it’s better rather than worse for the addition of some sizeable, circus-themed free DLC, Throes Of The Watchmaker.
Out 20th May, the expansion adds a new playable character, Arty, together with an estimated eight hours of new areas, music, dungeons, minigames, enemies, bosses, puzzles, and playable classes for original protagonists Valere and Zale. Run your rose-tinted retinas over this trailer.
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Throes Of The Watchmaker is designed to be played after you’ve completed Sea Of Stars itself, with a “self-contained progression loop featuring completely new classes, skills and combos”. If I’m interpreting that last bit correctly, what you do here won’t affect your progression elsewhere in the game.
The setting is basically: what if somebody turned the Backrooms into a creepy clockwork carnival? Zale and Valere must master various funfair talents to prevail: Zale swaps his sword for the ability to juggle, while Valere trades her staff for a crash-course in circus tumbling. The aforesaid Arty, meanwhile, is a jaunty robo sharpshooter with hot pink fittings. He puts me a little in mind of the Casino Night Zone. Bet there’s some kind of small fluffy animal inside that carapace.
The DLC apparently benefits from a cinematic budget equivalent to that of the main game, with a new soundtrack contributed by Eric W. Brown and original Chrono Trigger composer Yasunori Mitsuda. Even as a stranger to the base game, I like the frolicsome wackiness of it all. The DLC has a touch of Majora’s Mask to it, I reckon. Here’s a story blurb with more:
“Throes of the Watchmaker returns to one of the most intriguing characters encountered in Sea of Stars’ main adventure – the genius inventor known as the Watchmaker, architect of the Clockwork Castle and creator of Wheels, a tabletop pastime enjoyed throughout Sea of Stars’ world. The DLC explores a fascinating invention by the Watchmaker, the miniature clockwork world of Horloge, a land threatened by a cursed carnival. Zale and Valere must adapt to Horloge’s peculiar rules to fully realize their mastery of Sun and Moon powers, the abilities they’ve refined since the beginning of Sea of Stars’ central journey to stop the Fleshmancer with Eclipse Magic.”
Again, it’s out 20th May. Throes Of The Watchmaker follows the addition of local co-op in Dawn of Equinox. Did you get a chance to try that?
