I remember getting the first trailer for Sea of Remnants during a PlayStation State of Play. It looked unique, so I was willing to give it a try were it to pass by my desk. I missed an initial chance at it; just a busy time of year at that point. Then, a playtest opened up recently. Now that I've been able to engage with it for a bit, Sea of Remnants certainly exudes a distinctive quality to it, although with so many RPG systems in tow, I'm still figuring the game out.
Everything opens to your "puppetfolk-person" in a dream before waking in a watchmaker's shop. Apparently you have amnesia, but washed ashore in the city of Orbtopia with a girl who is still comatose. After customizing your character and a lengthy tutorial that takes upwards of an hour and a half, you learn how to play Sea of Remnants, and take the helm of a ship trying to chase down your memories and figure out who you and your friend (who happens to have a doppelganger who joins your crew) are. There's something intriguing here; enough of a taste to make me curious as to what's going on.
What's wild about Sea of Remnants is how many genres it's pulling from. There's an open-world, but each location is accessible by your ship. Speaking of your ship, there are ship battles a la Assassin's Creed IV, but a lot simpler in construction. The regular, on-ground combat is turn-based, but if you die in either form of combat, you wash ashore at Orbtopia again, losing your earned gear in a roguelite twist. While I was able to get my head around many of the mechanics eventually, there is still so much happening in the background that I wonder if it will be off-putting to a casual crowd.
One of the defining factors of Sea of Remnants is the art style, and that shines through. Your marionette character looks great, and each cutscene oozes an ambiance I don't feel like I see in many games. It pops off the screen, with a lot of bright colors that fit the motif. There's even more to the puppetfolk idea than meets the eye – you'll be upgrading each part of your body in order to level your character.
The companions are also quite swashbuckling, in more ways than one. As talked about earlier, RS is the splitting image of your shipwrecked associate. She is incredibly lively, as you find out immediately during a tavern brawl. You'll meet even more companions along the way, like Delores, who is a nun (and thus a healer). Given the game will feature 300 companions, you'll get the chance to find some sort of combination you like, especially in countering enemies during your escapades.
Combat, as mentioned before, is turn-based. This is more standard in delivery, not with the flamboyant counters of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but more akin to Final Fantasy X (although with a timed press during attacks that generates bonus damage). You'll pick your attack, wait for their turn, and repeat. There is a bit more to it, with a casino machine-like spinner that gives you a chance at extra damage and another turn if you hit it right, and an ultimate attack that you can use to interrupt the current turn. I'm still not completely sure of the spinner's configuration, but it could be an interesting addition to the turn-based formula. Between finding weaknesses to certain attacks and the many companions available that change up the cadence and effectiveness of your crew, there's a lot of depth to swim in.
Gear is something you'll earn as part of the grind – a necessary condition in order to take on tougher foes (especially as you progress through the story). These aren't anything crazy: a helmet with a "however much percentage effect on damage" and so on, but any bonus is a useful bonus. Something unique offered given the possibility of losing your stuff is the delivery service. Early on in the tutorial, you find a worker named Jeff working for Rich Man's Lines. This service acts like a safe pocket, letting you give up recent treasures from your voyages and pick them up when back in Orbtopia. It's an excellent touch for those worried about losing hard-fought items, although limited to so many slots and a timer.
With that timer in mind, it may shock you to find out this is an online-oriented game. It's single-player, but there are apparently in-game login rewards, events, and more. There are even phials on the ground that function similar to the messages in Dark Souls. I know games like Genshin Impact exist (although those still have more in terms of players present in your world), so I'm curious how everything will work out with Sea of Remnants. Is there a gacha component? How will DLC work? Will there be time-gated content or paywalls attached to time-gates? It's still too early to tell, but it'll be a wild adventure, that's for sure.
Sea of Remnants sets sail some time in 2026. It'll be available on PlayStation 5, PC, and mobile. You can pre-register to be a part of incoming tests here.
