Are you liking the main characters?

[HolidayFromReal]

I am 18 hours in and I do enjoy this game quite a lot.

However I can't get myself to warm up the the main cast (Valere, Zale and Garl).

Valere and Zale are pretty much the same flat character. There is almost nothing that distinguish them or makes them unique. Most of the time they speak without saying anything. They don't even have a single character trait that really stands out.
I feel like this is a massive missed opportunity because they could have easily based their characters around when they were born (summer and winter solstice).
Zale being a hot head while Valere tries to remain calm at all times. There is a single scene in the Inn of Wraith Island after a major story event where this is briefly implied.
But apart from that...n o t h i n g.
If they would swap out their respective character potraits I would not have noticed it since they basically both say the same things.

And Garl... oh Garl... I really tried to love this guy. But he is always at 110%. Trying to cheer everyone up is normally an admirable trait. But here it just gets annoying. He doesn't feel human at times. It feels like Sabotage is trying to teach life lessons through Garl without letting him be his own interesting character.

Would love to hear your opinion on this :)

[Lobster]

I think you hit the nail on the head. Garl is forced as hell. The super upbeat guy that everybody likes, come on. And the two main characters have literally no personality.

No line or moment is really memorable in this game, and 7 hours in I'm STILL stuck with only these 3 party members.

Comparing it to Chrono Trigger, where 7 hours in you've amassed a party of a frog knight, a robot from the future, and a cavewoman, all with distinct personalities and funny lines... it's a joke.

[RobotGlitch]

Originally posted by Lobster:

I think you hit the nail on the head. Garl is forced as hell. The super upbeat guy that everybody likes, come on. And the two main characters have literally no personality.

No line or moment is really memorable in this game, and 7 hours in I'm STILL stuck with only these 3 party members.

Comparing it to Chrono Trigger, where 7 hours in you've amassed a party of a frog knight, a robot from the future, and a cavewoman, all with distinct personalities and funny lines... it's a joke.

Man re-reading you describing the characters from Chrono Trigger already makes me want to go back and replay it.

I haven't played this game yet, but it was giving me big Chrono Trigger vibes.. but the amazing story and interesting characters is what set the game apart from others trying to be like it.

[Man of God]

Not much so far. In fact I am not liking much of the characters at all anymore. It's giving me massive Eastward vibes. Mega, mega beautiful pixel art but horribly dry and boring script. The story just seems to sort of jump forward over and over and the characters are basically just your typical RPG stereotypes.

It's really nothing magical at all so far except the scenery is beautiful to look at, and the combat at least has the timing block/crit thing which is kinda cool. So far it's a disappointment and it feels like they've blown their entire budget on the artwork and wrapped it in a really sub-par story. The fact that the game has so many bugs, crashes and can even shut down your computer without warning + it has no native ultrawide resolution even though it's made in Unity. It really feels like it's lacking any polish at all...

Definitely not EA-tier but still a letdown so far.

Comparing this to Golden Sun is an insult to Golden Sun. Alex (アレクス) has 10x the character of all 3 of the guys in Sea of Stars.

EDIT:

No line or moment is really memorable in this game, and 7 hours in I'm STILL stuck with only these 3 party members.

This sums it up perfectly. Neither character is memorable at all. With Chrono Cross my heart ripped in two when Harle basically died...

[squibbles!]

Originally posted by 󠀡󠀡:

Not much so far. In fact I am not liking much of the characters at all anymore. It's giving me massive Eastward vibes. Mega, mega beautiful pixel art but horribly dry and boring script. The story just seems to sort of jump forward over and over and the characters are basically just your typical RPG stereotypes.

It's really nothing magical at all so far except the scenery is beautiful to look at, and the combat at least has the timing block/crit thing which is kinda cool. So far it's a disappointment and it feels like they've blown their entire budget on the artwork and wrapped it in a really sub-par story. The fact that the game has so many bugs, crashes and can even shut down your computer without warning + it has no native ultrawide resolution even though it's made in Unity. It really feels like it's lacking any polish at all...

Definitely not EA-tier but still a letdown so far.

Comparing this to Golden Sun is an insult to Golden Sun. Alex (アレクス) has 10x the character of all 3 of the guys in Sea of Stars.

EDIT:

No line or moment is really memorable in this game, and 7 hours in I'm STILL stuck with only these 3 party members.

This sums it up perfectly. Neither character is memorable at all. With Chrono Cross my heart ripped in two when Harle basically died...

I haven't picked the game up yet, but my heart sank when you compared it to Eastward; that was another game I was looking forward to for years, but ended up just being alright

[Vizer]

I felt the exact same way even in the first minutes of the game when Garl loses an eye and, without even a day passing, Zale and Valere are whisked off to Hogwarts to learn magic, and they express... excitement? They just went through a traumatic experience and they're eager to start training instead of taking care of their friend? . Zale and Valere never contribute anything to the advancement of the game, and they've got banger lines like these:

https://i.imgur.com/OpDvNbd.png

But more importantly, they contribute to the game's lack of emotional connection. You don't really feel anything when reading the story because the characters don't feel like characters, and they don't have human interactions or conflict. Childrens' shows like Hamtaro and Hey Arthur have better character writing than Sea of Stars.

I was talking to a friend about Garl earlier today, and I said the exact same thing: he isn't a character. He's a motivational poster. He has no faults or insecurities or weaknesses or disagreements. Characters that remain positive and spread positivity while dealing with the doldrums and unfairness of life, when they want to give up but persevere, are strong. Characters that are positive to a fault are just a bad writer preaching positivity. Garl had his incident, but we never see him being human. He's never uncertain, he's never tested, he's never wrong.

In a negative Steam review, someone phrased it perfectly: the way Sea of Stars characters talk is "modern Internet casual". The writing in this game reads like a Discord conversation, instead of people talking to each other. How many times in Sea of Stars can you count that a character (it's not even the same one each time) SPEAKS "??"? That's something people do on the Internet, not in a conversation.

[Billy Blaze]

No... like really... absolutely not.

"Garl" is fine, I guess.
But the 2 main chars are just so bland.
If you would take away the char portraits, it would be never clear who is talking.
They both simply have no personality.

And even with "Garl", the story is just uber nonsensical.
Yeah yeah, it's fantasy, bla bla bla...
But after what happened to "Garl" in the flashback and for how long they haven't seen each other... the reaction is just far away from being normal.
Like, you would expect at least a tiny bit of guilt when it comes to the main chars... but nope.
It happened, tough luck, just forget about it.

After playing for a while on PS5, I've had to start "Rise of the Third Power" again.
The 2 main chars which get introduced (also guy and gal) aren't even remotely alike.
But they are (and the story in general is) so well written, and it made me laugh multiple times out loud.
Since the guy is such an idiot at times (or is he?) and the level headed girl is just in utter disbelief at times when it comes to his reactions and ideas.

But in "Sea of Stars"... nah, it's just text.
Well, at least the combat is go... nah, sadly, it is also is mediocre.
The 2 positive things are the graphics and... the music, I guess.
But most of the time a song starts good, it takes an unexpected turn and many songs sound like 2 songs mashed together.

[Halfshell]

Originally posted by Vizer:

I was talking to a friend about Garl earlier today, and I said the exact same thing: he isn't a character. He's a motivational poster. He has no faults or insecurities or weaknesses or disagreements.

Think you're entirely missing the point that hes forcing himself to be all upbeat and positive like a mask, forcing himself to keep up when hes scared, etc. You know the first introduction of him "I'm sure glad noone told me how long that'd be (re:their training)". You can't hear the pain and loneliness in that line? After taking a hit for the team and losing an eye, he gets chewed out instead of commended. Moraine could very easily have let them see Garl anytime you know. Hes very obviously bitter inside and hiding it.

Though this becomes more obvious later. The game expects you to read between the lines here and there. Theres reasons for pretty much every line, only camping is kinda whatever.

Also how is this ever compared to Eastward? Did we not play the same game that require like 6x speedhacks so cutscenes (I/E look at this town) would still take 30 seconds?

[Retrofire]

Playing this game, I can't help but make comparisons to Chained Echoes (since both were Kickstarter games marketed as SNES RPG throwbacks) and I only after reading the OP post, I realized that there is nothing I can say about the two leads. Like, Garl can be overbearing at times, but at least he has something, I am at the point in which the 4th party member is introduced and it shocks me that I can't think of a single personality trait that differentiates between Valere and Zale.

Meanwhile, in Chained Echoes, we got Glenn, a mech pilot who gained his love of airships and mechs due to associating them with freedom while he was stuck in a giant prison city. In contrast to the cutthroat environment he was raised in, he is often way too formal to those around him, and doesn’t want to lose the people that are close to him. Sienna, a cocky thief who despite thinking that it is best to look after only herself, keeps finding herself, either by circumstance or gut feeling, drawn back to the group. Amalia, a weak girl who after growing up in a house full of treachery, finds herself forced to become a healer, and despite lacking any form of bedside manners or proper social skills, tries to help people in need, such as creating a big feast for the playable party. Victor, a rich playwright that often finds pleasure in living like a commoner, to the point that even when he gets conned out of his belongings, he finds himself laughing in joy of the experience. While I admit that some of the character’s personalities become more fleshed out later in the game, even within the confines of that game’s first act, many of the party members are showing more personality than Sea of Star’s main cast.

Even with the more tropey characters like Robb or the Egyl, there is at least something to latch on to, Like Robb’s snobby attitude or Egyl’s unyielding loyalty, something that makes having that character in a scene different than having a brick wall. If you replaced either Valere or Zale with a brick wall, there would be no significant alterations to any scene, or at least in anything leading up to Wraith Island.

[sorethroat]

Originally posted by Retrofire:

Playing this game, I can't help but make comparisons to Chained Echoes (since both were Kickstarter games marketed as SNES RPG throwbacks) and I only after reading the OP post, I realized that there is nothing I can say about the two leads. Like, Garl can be overbearing at times, but at least he has something, I am at the point in which the 4th party member is introduced and it shocks me that I can't think of a single personality trait that differentiates between Valere and Zale.

Meanwhile, in Chained Echoes, we got Glenn, a mech pilot who gained his love of airships and mechs due to associating them with freedom while he was stuck in a giant prison city. In contrast to the cutthroat environment he was raised in, he is often way too formal to those around him, and doesn’t want to lose the people that are close to him. Sienna, a cocky thief who despite thinking that it is best to look after only herself, keeps finding herself, either by circumstance or gut feeling, drawn back to the group. Amalia, a weak girl who after growing up in a house full of treachery, finds herself forced to become a healer, and despite lacking any form of bedside manners or proper social skills, tries to help people in need, such as creating a big feast for the playable party. Victor, a rich playwright that often finds pleasure in living like a commoner, to the point that even when he gets conned out of his belongings, he finds himself laughing in joy of the experience. While I admit that some of the character’s personalities become more fleshed out later in the game, even within the confines of that game’s first act, many of the party members are showing more personality than Sea of Star’s main cast.

Even with the more tropey characters like Robb or the Egyl, there is at least something to latch on to, Like Robb’s snobby attitude or Egyl’s unyielding loyalty, something that makes having that character in a scene different than having a brick wall. If you replaced either Valere or Zale with a brick wall, there would be no significant alterations to any scene, or at least in anything leading up to Wraith Island.

And people wonder why silent protagonists exist. The main character (the one you chose in the beginning) should've been silent and it would've been more immersive.

[HolidayFromReal]

Originally posted by Halfshell:

Originally posted by Vizer:

I was talking to a friend about Garl earlier today, and I said the exact same thing: he isn't a character. He's a motivational poster. He has no faults or insecurities or weaknesses or disagreements.

Think you're entirely missing the point that hes forcing himself to be all upbeat and positive like a mask, forcing himself to keep up when hes scared, etc. You know the first introduction of him "I'm sure glad noone told me how long that'd be (re:their training)". You can't hear the pain and loneliness in that line? After taking a hit for the team and losing an eye, he gets chewed out instead of commended. Moraine could very easily have let them see Garl anytime you know. Hes very obviously bitter inside and hiding it.

Though this becomes more obvious later. The game expects you to read between the lines here and there. Theres reasons for pretty much every line, only camping is kinda whatever.

Also how is this ever compared to Eastward? Did we not play the same game that require like 6x speedhacks so cutscenes (I/E look at this town) would still take 30 seconds?

This sounds like your making stuff up in your head instead of reading between the lines.

[Army of Optimists]

At the start, I found the characters pretty bland and tropey. It didn't help that when you meet the pirates early on, Yolande incessantly points out how formulaic everything is as a big joke.

I'll say this, though, when you get to about the 20 hour mark, some events happen and I like the characters a whole lot more now.

Originally posted by HolidayFromReal:

This sounds like your making stuff up in your head instead of reading between the lines.

He's definitely not making it up. It becomes more obvious later that over-correcting with enthusiasm is how Garl deals with stress.

[HolidayFromReal]

Originally posted by Army of Optimists:

At the start, I found the characters pretty bland and tropey. It didn't help that when you meet the pirates early on, Yolande incessantly points out how formulaic everything is as a big joke.

I'll say this, though, when you get to about the 20 hour mark, some events happen and I like the characters a whole lot more now.

Originally posted by HolidayFromReal:

This sounds like your making stuff up in your head instead of reading between the lines.

He's definitely not making it up. It becomes more obvious later that over-correcting with enthusiasm is how Garl deals with stress.

Okay fair point. I hope you're right and someting changes soon. However 20 ours in is kind of late :D

[Halfshell]

Originally posted by HolidayFromReal:

This sounds like your making stuff up in your head instead of reading between the lines.

Are you kidding? Did you even get to ~20 hrs in where the protags exclaim for Garl to stop pretending to be strong? Are we even playing the same game here?

Edit: nvm someone else already explained ignore my kneejerk reaction.

[Seanspeed99]

Not far enough in to have a more concrete opinion, but I'd say so far, the two main characters are....serviceable. They're not annoying or dislikeable or anything, but I'm not very invested in them or anything yet, either. They seem to both have the same personality, so feel a little redundant.

Honestly, while some elements of the game definitely shine and I'm enjoying it enough to keep playing, there are a number of aspects of this game that I'd rate as merely 'serviceable' so far. That's not unusual for an RPG, as few RPG's just nail everything, but there's maybe a little bit too much 'safeness' in design decisions and whatnot. Again, still pretty early on, so my opinion might change.

[Kaisha]

The writing and dialog are mediocre at best.

The graphics, presentation, music, and puzzle solving worked really well. The writing, characters, dialog, story, and combat all fell flat IMO.

The only character (of all of them) I liked was Serai. Which is funny because she's clearly a joke LOL NINJA CYBORG ROBOT PIRATE and yet she's better written than any of them with a clear motivation and character arc.