Multi-Platform Game Review: Sea of Stars

 Sea of Stars released in 2023 on just about every platform.  It released for Nintendo on the Switch, Sony for the PS4 and PS5, and Microsoft for PC, XBOX Series X and S and XBOX One. It also won 2 awards, The Best Indie Game at the Golden Joystick Awards and the Best Independent Game at the Game Awards in 2023. It was nominated for three other awards between award shows. With these awards in mind, I played Sea of Stars in early 2024, and wondered how the game would be. How do I feel this game squares up overall with rating, it's story and much more? Find that out below!

Positives:

1. Story- A major part of a game that can make or break it is the story. Sea of Stars has a fantastic story, that provides a very big plot twist early that makes the story very worth it in the end.  Overall, the story is brilliantly written and done from start to finish and keeps you engaged throughout. 

2. Graphics- A lot of times Indie games don't get the recognition they deserve for the work they put in.  The Switch version (That I played) for Sea of Stars had absolutely splendid graphics.  From the scenery, to the stages, the FMV's and motions of the characters were all splendid. The company who put this together should absolutely give themselves credit for the job they did.

3. Music- I like the soundtrack to this game. Almost every track in every world is splendid work. In parts where it is relaxed, it is relaxed. In a spot where it is intense, it is intense. There are many tracks to this game, and all of them are very good overall.

4. Character growth- Over the course of this game you see the two main characters, Zale and Valere, grow a lot from starry-eyed wanderers needing to fulfill one quest to heroes the world needs but don't deserve. They turn into people who don't judge others, want to help in every situation, and make the world be more peaceful without evil throughout. I love this aspect of them.  However, other characters like Serai, Garl, and even the villain, the Fleshmancer.

5. Ending- Not to be spoilery, but I enjoyed playing for the multiple endings.  I liked this a lot and thought that this was really neat overall. I would highly suggest playing the game for yourself (or if you don't play and want to YouTube it, go ahead.)

6. Garl- Okay I don't like singling out a specific cast member but this dude is right up there in legendary characters for me.  He's right up there with Vivi, with Auron, and others in terms of overall likeness, being a charismatic person, and wanting to help at all costs.  He's such a great character in this game and I am glad that he keeps this friendship with Valere and Zale throughout the years.

Negatives:

1. Moraine- If there is a major negative here, it has to be Moraine.  He's supposed to be a major teacher to Valere and Zale, and even their predecessors Brugraves and Erlina.  Instead, he seems to lead by kind of a dictatorial style.  That may explain what the predecessors did in the game, but it doesn't seem to fit Valere and Zale, who are a lot more open about their friendships, especially with Garl (who is not well liked by Moraine for a while.)  He just seems to be a woe is me guy when things go against him, and that rubbed me the wrong way.

2. The Rainbow Conch Quest- One that is seemingly behooving in the game, this probably was the worst sidequest.  Much like other quests in some other games like Final Fantasy in a way, this quest of finding all 60 rainbow conch shells was tedious, long and honestly rough.  It does pay off in the end but I don't blame you if you didn't try this.

3. A Boss Ending- Again, not to spoil anything but if you got frustrated by one of the end game bosses, I can't say I blame you at all. It was ruthless, almost to the point of unfair but one that I still did play and beat.  Again, if you feel it isn't worth or that you thought it was insanely tough, I don't blame you.

Overall Rating:

Despite the negatives that I mentioned above, I overall really enjoyed Sea of Stars.  My initial reaction made me put it as a 9.5 out of 10 but after some time (aka like 3-4 months) of looking back on my playthrough of this, it changes a bit. I love the story, I love the progression of the characters, especially the trio of Valere, Zale and Garl. This game thoroughly deserved the awards and accolades it received. My rating for Sea of Stars is 9 out of 10. Splendid game that you should all try once.

Midwest Gaming Classic 2024: The Folzyfantasy15 Experience

 Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Home to Miller, Harley, Summerfest, the Bucks, Brewers, and that Bronze Fonz statue. Also, home to the Midwest Gaming Classic convention, hosted inside the Baird (Formerly called Wisconsin) Center. If you need a reference, it's literally a couple blocks down from Fiserv Forum, very near the UWM Panther Arena, and the Milwaukee Theater. And this place is MASSIVE (and the convention itself only covers one part of it.) I took the opportunity to go to this convention in April.  You may be asking yourself, "Folzy, didn't you go to Pax East in Boston just a couple weeks prior?" And you would be correct. I went to MGC because.. why not? Plus I have always loved Milwaukee, and this convention compared to most was rather inexpensive, so why not go? With that, here's my thoughts on MGC, and what I think they could improve on for 2025 and beyond!

 The Baird Center played host to MGC and honestly, it's quite the host. Having three floors and a lot of rooms really helps this out.  The convention itself features a lot on the three floors. On the first floor, at least for me, there was some game rooms, a 'garcade' and some tabletop/card game rooms as well.  That's in addition to the ticket area. I got to the center early so the ticket line went quick.  As the day wore on, it became apparent that the line would get longer and slower.  Therefore it was good I felt that I could get in early. The garcade was cool to look at and see some of the games in there. The second floor had some good commentary with players playing different games. In this case, when I sat down, it was Tetris on the NES. They also had a spot for the very old televisions to be sold. Down the hall was a Nintendo stand and then a visual history of Nintendo in a couple areas as well. This seemed to be compact into the consoles, so I hope they bring it back and expand on it more in the next year. The third floor was the floor of all the major business. First, there was a merchandise station as soon as you got up the escalator. Second, The Game Center is incredible, with a stage with a feature game, then a ton of games from nearly to all consoles over time and a lot of pinball and arcade type games. Obviously the gaming here was intense, so be noted that when you go to MGC to expect gaming to be.. well gaming! The rest of the floor was also noted for VA's and different creators to hand out artwork, autographs, more arcade games, some food stands and a main stage as well for different performances. However, likely the big draw of the third floor would have been the Vendor Hall. The Vendor Hall is what it sounds like. A lot of vendors for games, artwork, and whatever else vendors may sell. While in this hall I got to meet a couple of friends from whom I met at Pax and a couple new friends for the first time, which was super cool! On the vendor hall, I was able to buy Madden 03 for GameCube as well as Tales of Symphonia and a Pink Yoshi Amiibo.  On the whole though, there is seemingly something for everyone and I would highly recommend just checking it out overall.  Do note though, there may be a lot of vendors that overprice their games so be wary and maybe check out the average pricing for details on it. With that in mind, what are some things that MGC may be able to improve on?

 Yes there are some things they can do to be better. Note, the Baird Center is undergoing renovations as I type this so this might be a moot point by 2025. However, some thoughts I had are spotty wifi was a damper, and that this needs to be improved for next year. I think it's something like Pax, where at times there was spotty wifi and in some areas especially it needed to be better overall. That's something that can be easily fixed. What may/may not be fixed is food quality for the price.  I actually wanted Jersey Mike's but they had small subs with few options for too high a price.  I went with pizza, which was alright but not great, and not worth nearly 16 dollars. There were other stands for similar to higher the price but with average value.  Hopefully the quality of food for the price one pays gets better overall for next year.  One other thing that I think they can get better with, and of which I compare to Pax, is accessibility.  One thing I liked at Pax is how they were so good with this, from medical badges to making sure people had chairs to prioritizing people with medical badges were seated first. MGC I thought had struggles with this, and I hope they can take examples from Pax and apply it here as well.  They had some good features for accessibility, but some things that definitely could be better. The last recommendation I would make is the use of a quiet room or two. I think that would be good for getting people just to relax and re-energize overall. 

 All in all, I enjoyed my time at the Midwest Gaming Classic.  I am hoping that I can go back to it in 2025, and it is honestly pretty affordable given other conventions possibly in the area or nationwide.  I do think there are several things they can improve on, but that can come with time.  I enjoyed my time seeing friends, buying different games and just venturing around.  I hope that they can keep up the great work and have more outstanding guests for next year. 

Pax East 2024: The Folzyfantasy15 Experience

Boston, Massachusetts. Home to the Celtics, Red Sox, Bruins, and a fan of dumping tea into harbor's in the 1770's. Also home to a convention, Pax East. Yours truly has never visited the northeast, so this was all new to me. Btw, for those who do end up reading this, while I won't mention you by name specifically, it'll be pretty easy to figure out who I am mentioning. Without further ado, lets talk.. BOSTON!

Logan Airport is.. oddly big but also easy to get around? The trains are mostly straight forward it seems, at least the times I was on them. The Uber drivers were all fantastic that I had. All great things! But then the night I got in, trains got me to where I could order an Uber then head to my hotel.  We aren't going to mention Hertz, because they were trash. The hotel overall I would rate a 4 out of 5. Quite well nicely done, soft bed, but rough on temperature control and the pillows. But overall that leaves everything to that wasn't strictly Pax related, so LETS DIVE INTO PAX!

Thursday, March 21: Cold as all heck.  Actually, it would have been fine if it weren't for the wind. A ferocious wind that made it feel so much colder than it actually was.  But that's not important because we got to the Boston Conventions and Events Center for PAX EAST! Upon entering, I went to get my badge at 8 am and avoided the line, because that's how we roll right? After sightseeing a bit, I got to meet my first person during the convention, who had the most amazing Kit Kats ever. We met with other friends as well and the group became much larger over the course of the day.  It was beyond cool all day, meeting friends, seeing friends again, taking pictures and just overall having a vibe.  After about 9.5 hours at the convention on Day One, it was time to head back to the hotel. I got lost in the parking lot but got to get on the road and back for Day 2!

Friday, March 22: First though, a road trip to New Hampshire and Maine was in order. Which I saw both and they seemed really neat.  I got to Pax around 10am. First things first: FF XVI panel (and meeting more friends of course.) It was incredible to say the least. I love that the company used Pax as an announcement for their DLC and major information about XVI (and XIV it appears, I didn't attend the XIV panel.)  Another fun thing to the convention was just seeing more and more friends and people along the way.  This is why I love the video gaming community, because of the friends it can bring about.. from anywhere in the world seemingly.  When that singular piece can bring people together in a place like Pax or an event like Reconnect, all things are enjoyable. After seeing more people, and meeting people, I also got to experience Pax's quiet room for a bit of time and I have to say those are absolutely fantastic for a getaway situation. I also got to see the retro game part of Pax, where I got Dark Cloud 2 finally, after many years of searching for it.  So that was all by 3pm by the way, so what to do after? Get pizza and then play cards! Which was done for a long while and then it was time to head out and get ready for Saturday.

Saturday, March 23: A day that was.. really really rainy. Parts of the Boston area got three inches of rain that day.  Never fear friends, for up north in parts of New Hampshire they had over two feet of snow.  You may be asking yourself, "Okay but Folzy, did you not go to Pax this day?" And I respond with, "Yes, you are absolutely right." Where I went was the New England Aquarium. It is nestled down by the harbor, which I imagine would look like a lovely place to be in the late Spring and Summer. I went with a friend, one who taught me a lot about the marine life of the fish and other sea creatures/freshwater creatures that were in the aquarium.  I will say I like that they had a gift shop and a cafe area in this aquarium. It really makes it better with those extra touches overall.  I liked really all of the exhibits and all the information that they had, but learning from my friend on these creatures is better overall.  After the aquarium, I just went to get lunch then after bus shuttles and an Uber, got to the hotel to head home to get ready for the final day.

Sunday, March 24: A day of vibing, a day of emotions, a day of soaking it in and acknowledging the end.  I did this with Reconnect sometime around when the group of us took lunch together. I just soaked in how lucky I was to be in the same area as everyone around me. That's just how the day started for me when I got to the Convention Center.  I just wanted to soak in the time I had in Boston, and also not want it to end.  It also meant I got the last day to meet some new friends before we all left. It's impressive that we go to the last day of a convention and meet new people, like I did at Reconnect as well, but it feels like the blossoming of a new friendship! However, all great things eventually do come to an end.  Much like Reconnect, saying bye to my friends (for now) was especially hard.  When I left Pax, I honestly got emotional as I walked out of the lobby for the last time, got my Uber and then at the hotel, just broke down.  Yes, a lot of it was sadness over saying bye to these amazing people but also joyful tears of the experience of the time at Pax. And yes, I got emotional a few more times after this.  After that it was just pack up and head home on Monday.

One thing that I would wonder and what I think a lot of people would ask is: "What would you improve on Pax?" And I think a couple of things are easy. One is wifi strength.  At times this was an issue, as it was spotty and not consistent.  They need to be better overall on this.  The second is food quality.  Not necessarily the price, though some of this could be 5 dollars cheaper.  However, the quality is.. mid-tier at best for a lot of it and it could sorely be improved. I will easily pay 15 dollars for food that is high quality and good. Not when it is mid-tier at best.

All in all, this is without to say how much Boston meant to me, but more specifically Pax and the friends I was around to see meant to me as well. Everyone I met for the first time but who I talked to from streaming, those who I met from Reconnect, and those who I did meet for the first time without knowing they streamed and becoming quick friends all made everything so much more amazing.  From of the bottom of my heart, with my whole heart, I want to say thank you to all of the people I met at Pax. You are all phenomenal people and deserve the best.  Until we meet next time friends!