Without a doubt, one of the greatest titles of 2023 was Sea of Stars, the RPG created by Canadian developer Sabotage Studios. The title, which is very much a nod to classical RPGs from the 1990s, was critically acclaimed by reviewers and players alike. However, when it comes to praise and recognition, nothing even comes close to what transpired this week. During a Japanese radio show, Yuji Horii, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Kazuhiko Torishima, all sat in for a special interview. You might recognize these three names, as each of them are intricately linked to one of, if not the greatest video game of all time, Chrono Trigger. During this show, the three gave high praise and acclaim to Sea of Stars, something that we are sure the developers are absolutely beside themselves over.
As you can see in the post above, the show was translated by Genki, who specializes in Japanese-related gaming news. Amazingly enough, this whole topic was started by the discussions of doing another entry in the Chrono Trigger series. Sakaguchi then mentioned that there was game that he discovered called Sea of Stars, and proceeded to show them a trailer for the title. Both Horii and Torishima were very impressed by what they saw. Horii stated that “it looks just like Chrono Trigger… it’s beautiful… that’s great!” Sakaguchi stated that “When I saw it, I thought they really did their best and did a great job.”
To add more perspective to this astounding praise, Chrono Trigger was not the only title that all three have worked on. Sakaguchi is famous for being the original creator of Final Fantasy, while Horii is the original creator of another all-time classic JRPG series, Dragon Quest. Torishima has a much different impact, as he was, and still is a key figure in the manga and anime industry. During the time of Chrono Trigger’s inception, he helped bridge the developers together and even brought in their main artist, Akira Toriyama, to work on the designs of the characters. Toriyama of course is world famous for being the creator of Dragon Ball, and the main character designer of Dragon Quest. Torishima was also Toriyama’s main editor during that time.
With all of that now in mind, Sabatoge must be overjoyed to the moon and back, knowing that their life’s work is now considered an excellent addition to the medium by three of the greatest designers/developers in video gaming history. Of course, the sales alone made it huge success in 2023, and despite a controversy that they quickly fixed, the title continues to be hailed as a major return to the classic RPG medium.