Nostalgia-fuelled RPG Sea Of Stars gets a co-op mode next month

Throwback turn-based RPG Sea Of Stars will get the free update that adds a local co-op mode next month, letting up to three players waddle through the game's story side by side (by side). The update will also include commonly requested features, say developers Sabotage Studio, like tweaks to the combat and a "revamped prologue" that'll see players able to get stuck into the action quicker. We'd previously heard about this update, but now we know the actual release date.

It's coming out on November 12th, said the developers on Xitter. Changes to the combat include "ways to break the spells of enemies each time a new type is encountered" and a "comprehensive balancing pass." Story-wise, there's at least one new cutscene, designed to "accentuate a pivotal moment in the original adventure". Plus a mysterious in-game relic has been added to help speedrunners.

But the local 3-player co-op is probably going to be the big attraction. Playing with friends makes sense for the storyline in Sea Of Stars, which is about pixellated pair Zale and Valere, childhood besties who've been trained in magic from their youngest days to become the mystical saviours of the world. No pressure. The third spot on the roster looks like it could be taken up by various other characters you meet along the way, like magicless buddy Garl or assassin girl Seraï. Or maybe you can simply choose to inhabit anyone from the party, I don't know.

"It might not have the deep, narrative consequences of something like Chrono Trigger," said Katharine in our review, "but it moves along at a similarly decent clip, and maintains its momentum across its 30-odd hours much better than, say, Eastward ever did." We liked it enough to include it as one of our best JRPGs.

This may also count as prep work for another upcoming piece of DLC, called Throes Of The Watchmaker, which will be free too, say the devs. It'll include a new story and a new playable character, and is due out in spring next year. It follows our two heroes as they visit a "magical miniature clockwork world threatened by a cursed carnival." Can you hear jaunty and unsettling circus music? Don't worry. That's just what the words "cursed carnival" do to the human brain.