To preface this, I don’t really like JRPGs. Especially turn-based ones. That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate them, it’s just that a lot of them have had, in the past, an emphasis on things like grinding over gameplay. This might not be true for more modern ones, but considering I largely avoid the genre, I don’t know.

All that said, Sea of Stars does everything so right. I remember playing Persona 5 and having a blast, primarily because of the story and presentation, but Sea of Stars not only has that, but does everything it can to keep you immersed.

Combat is turn-based, but you have the opportunity to time button presses to attacks to do extra attacks. I know that sounds not amazing, but the combat system also requires attacks of specific types to stop an enemy from doing a special attack. Nail the timing, and you can interrupt an attack completely. Fail, and you either have to brace for it, or find another way around it (and early game, that’s not an option most times). Likewise, timing the button press when getting hit blocks damage, and with an item early on, it also recovers MP. The game goes all in on rewarding you for actively playing instead of just sitting back and clicking through menus.

Plus, the traversal is just so great. Yeah, an isometric game has great traversal mechanics. It feels weird saying that, but it does. Almost every screen has multiple layers to move up and down, making it feel like a real world instead of just walking from point A to point B. Plus it encourages exploration of those layers for cooking ingredients and treasures, which are hidden away in secrets, but if you’ve played enough games you generally know where to look.

This is also going to sound kind of like more weird praise, but there’s no bullshit with needing to find several keys spread across the world to go back to one location to get a chest. Everything you see can be obtained if you can figure out how to get to it, with literally one exception that I’ve found in the first right hours. The puzzles aren’t that hard, and as long as you’re thorough you can find everything.

Regarding the story, it’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s presented so well that it’s still entertaining. It’s almost relentlessly positive, and even the darkest parts are handled in the manner of “we’ll get through this” instead of “this is hopeless.” It’s good, but it’s not the best I’ve played (though given everything else, I wouldn’t be surprised if it improved later).

I have no idea if you’ve played, or even heard of, a GBA series called Golden Sun. It feels a lot like a spiritual successor to it. But the thing that keeps me playing is that not only is the gameplay fun and the story entertaining, but it seems to absolutely value your time. No grinding, you’re capable of maintaining your party through good combat decisions, and limited backtracking. You’re not there to play a game, you’re there to experience a journey, and it keeps you moving forward. I love this game, but I feel safe saying that you could buy this on Steam, and figure out in the two-hour return window whether or not it’s for you.

I’m using a custom controller setup. Search for “mitsein’s very good ftl control scheme” or something similar to find my setup. I use the right track pad as the mouse, left trigger is pause, right trigger is right click, d-pad is weapons 1-4, left stick controls hyperdrive and ship menu, and the right side buttons control going to assigned stations. Takes some getting used to but I spent a lot of time perfecting it and it works well now.

I find the track pad is best used with the pointer finger instead of the thumb. I like to play games like this by laying the device flat on a desk or in front of me lying on the couch and using my pointer finger without having to hold the device up with my hand at the same time.