Sea of Stars is adding co-op multiplayer to the dazzling Chrono Trigger-inspired RPG
One of 2023’s best single-player games looks set to become one of 2024’s top multiplayer offerings
Not content with being one of the best single-player experiences of 2023, Sea of Stars is readying the modern-classic RPG to become one of this year’s most delightful multiplayer games. Developers Sabotage Studio have revealed that three-player co-op is on the way, letting you adventure through the entire campaign with a party of pals.
Sabotage have christened the incoming Sea of Stars multiplayer as “Single Player+”, so named because it will essentially be the original single-player story with local co-op added on top. (While it’s local-only, you could presumably play online using Steam Remote Play Together.)
A brief teaser video shows battle-chef buddy Garl and Solstice Warriors Valere and Zale - who serve as the main selectable characters for lone players to choose from - running around freely together in one of the game’s pixel-art environments, rather than dutifully trailing each other in a conga line.
While the experience sounds like it’ll be pretty much identical to the normal game, but with control of your companions handed to your fellow players, there will apparently be some new additions, too. The game’s turn-based combat, inspired by the likes of Chrono Trigger and other nineties JRPGs, will see the introduction of a “co-op timed hits” mechanic during combat. Sabotage are yet to detail exactly how that will work, but it certainly sounds like an expansion of Sea of Stars’ existing timing-based attacks, which grant extra damage, boosted defence and other effects by pressing the button at the right time.
We don’t know when Sea of Stars’ co-op will arrive just yet, with Sabotage revealing that the multiplayer mode was in development as part of celebrating the RPG passing the five-million player count, having shifted 100,000 copies on its release day. Honestly, though, the idea of playing Sea of Stars with friends somehow perfects a game that was pretty much already perfect for me (and gives me lovely nostalgia for Final Fantasy 9’s hidden multiplayer option).