Sabotage Studio and creative director Thierry Boulanger are making the kind of game he dreamed of as a kid. A classic Nintendo style RPG, yet crisp, seamless, and with all the graphical magic available today, titled Sea of Stars, the release is still two years away, but the core features, art design, and graphic technology are going to be amazing.

Sea of Stars takes place in the same world as the studio's "Ninja Gaiden"-style platformer "The Messenger," but in the far past; it features two protagonists, one representing solar magic and the other lunar magic, and players are given an island The player chooses one to lead the party through the island's adventures.

One of the modern twists is the dynamic lighting system. We've seen pixel-art lighting done brilliantly before ("Brigador" comes to mind). In a remote demonstration, I saw Boulanger change the time of day at will, shadows rotate, the sun and moon swap, and the light changes smoothly from warm to cool. This is amazing stuff, and not just something you see in technology demonstrations: manipulating time zones can be the key to solving the puzzle.

Even without the fancy lighting, "Sea of Stars" looks spectacular (you can see many screenshots in the gallery above). Boulanger and team intend to mix dungeons and gruesome monsters (the villain is a nasty necromancer) with pleasantly chill towns and natural scenery. They're going for charm: I saw Boulanger exploring a cute little water village made of seashells, and in the dungeon I encountered baby gorillas with their butts in the air, peeking out of holes in the ground.

But the bad news: the baby gorillas had seen their mothers held captive by a fearsome creature that could only be defeated by powerful eclipse magic. One can only imagine how a hero with the magic of the sun and moon would fare.

Combat is turn-based, but includes a timing challenge - pressing a button at the right moment increases attack damage, while blocking decreases the damage you receive. In this respect, Boulanger is inspired by Super Mario RPG. He wants players to feel that they can get through it by mastering their enemies' timing, rather than avoiding having to struggle in a tough fight.

The basic systems for Sea of Stars are working and the art style is in place, but it will probably take a couple of years of production before release. proceeds from The Messenger are being reinvested in the company, but funding will also come from a Kickstarter campaign. The Messenger is also being funded through a Kickstarter campaign. Given the speed at which the pledge total is rising, Sea of Stars will easily meet its US$90,760 fundraising goal and will likely cover some of the studio's expenses (update: fundraising is complete).

For more information on Sea of Stars, check out its official website; it is scheduled for release in 2022, but Boulanger says the Quebec City-based studio is comfortably transitioning to telecommuting during the coronavirus pandemic.