"I remember entering the forest in the first area of the game. Just the music, the way the music enveloped the game, it was the first time I actually felt this connection: how the audio was completing the experience and how immersive it made it."
That's Sea of Stars director Thierry Boulanger describing his experience of Chrono Trigger. He's a big fan of Square Enix's iconic 1995 RPG and its memorable score. It made such an impression on Boulanger that it directly inspired Sea of Stars, the latest retro-styled game from Sabotage Studio.
Sea of Stars is an impeccable example of how to capture nostalgia. From its pixel graphics to its action-oriented turn-based battles, it riffs on the best RPGs of the 16-bit generation, eschewing the complex systems and branching narratives of modern games of the genre for a concise, streamlined approach with one foot in the past and another in the present.