Developer Sabotage Studio this week released their latest free “Dawn of Equinox” update across all platforms for their turn-based role-playing game ‘Sea of Stars‘. Dawn of Equinox adds an all-new cooperative play mode, allowing up to three players to play through the entirety of the Sea of Stars campaign. The combat system has also gotten a brand-new gameplay loop, relic changes, a Quebecois localisation, and quality of life features.
Have a gander below for more details on Dawn of Equinox for Sea of Stars. This update precedes the major free DLC ‘Throes of the Watchmaker’, which will add a brand-new storyline, a new playable character, and more. Sea of Stars is currently available on Xbox Game Pass.
Sea of Stars developer and publisher Sabotage Studio today released Dawn of Equinox, a free content update representing Sabotage’s fully realized vision for the award-winning turn-based RPG inspired by the golden era of 90’s role-playing classics. Dawn of Equinox releases today across PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1244090/Sea_of_Stars/)
Today’s gameplay launch trailer celebrates and tours the suite of additional features and refinements introduced by Dawn of Equinox, including a reworking of combat and the implementation of three player co-op for the entirety of Sea of Stars’ spectacular adventure.
“We ultimately see Dawn of Equinox as the community’s gift to us – the overwhelming love and support they’ve shown us ever since we announced Sea of Stars is what gave our team the means to return to the project and refine it even more,” said Thierry Boulanger, co-founder of Sabotage Studio and game director on Sea of Stars. “There’s a lot in store for the Solstice Warriors in our upcoming DLC, Throes of the Watchmaker, but in the meantime we couldn’t be more grateful to all of our players for the opportunity to realize the definitive edition of our dreams for Sea of Stars through Dawn of Equinox.”
Dawn of Equinox features:
- All-New Local Co-op: Sea of Stars’ story will be playable in its entirety by up to three players, with allies traversing the world together and mastering a new Co-op Timed Hits combat mechanic.
- Combat 2.0: The addition of Mystery Locks brings a new gameplay loop around revealing the ways to break the spells of enemies each time a new type is encountered in battle. Along with “Reveal” functions added to some of the playable cast’s special skills, Combo Points now remain after battle, offering new ways to open certain encounters, or test different damage types on enemies to reveal their locks. A comprehensive balancing pass has also been done to reflect both these new changes and player feedback since launch.
- A Revamped Prologue: Implementing combat for the young versions of our heroes, the updated flow does away with the flashback structure to begin in their childhood, directly including action in the prologue.
- Bonus Cinematic Scene: An entirely new cutscene has been added to accentuate a pivotal moment in the original adventure, referred to as “Paths on Water”.
- A Speedrunner Mode Relic: This new item activates a range of features helpful for those looking to set a new personal best or world record.
- Difficulty Presets: Three difficulty options are now available when starting a new game, which are presets using the game’s Relics. New Relics have also been added, both for quality of life and difficulty adjustments.
- Improved Parrot Relic: Sea of Stars’ secret-tracking parrot has learned a few new tricks to better assist players tracking down overlooked challenges and collectibles.
- Quebecois Localization: A comprehensive French Canadian translation for Quebec’s finest Solstice Warriors.
- Quality of Life Improvements: An array of general updates and improvements spanning Sea of Stars’ full campaign.
Dawn of Equinox arrives today ahead of Throes of the Watchmaker, free DLC launching in Spring 2025 which will debut a completely new storyline, a new playable character and more as an encore to Sea of Stars’ original adventure. Throes of the Watchmaker will find Sea of Stars’ leading heroes Valere and Zale venturing into a magical miniature clockwork world threatened by a cursed carnival, which forces the Solstice Warriors to adapt to unfamiliar rules to fully master their Sun and Moon powers. The entirety of Throes of the Watchmaker will also be playable in the Local Co-op featured in Dawn of Equinox.
Launched last summer to critical praise from media and fans before being recognized with accolades including Best Independent Game at The Game Awards, Sea of Stars has garnered more than 5 million players and is available across PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One for $34.99. It’s also free to subscribers to Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.
