Sabotage Studios, the creators of The messengerannounced that their next video game, sea ​​of ​​starswill be available in their versions of PS5 and PS4 from launch day, August 29, in the Sony subscription catalog, PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium. On the same date, it will also be released on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One.

The Quebec team also took advantage of the news to release the demo on Sony consoles. This is the same test that is available on PC and Nintendo Switch. The demo, although it contains elements that are part of the final version, does not include any plot spoilers either spoilers.

“It’s designed to provide some context, but more importantly shows some of the game systems and mechanics around dungeon exploration and combat,” explains the Canadian studio. “It aims to demonstrate tone and vibe without showing any of the main points of the trip. It’s not exactly the final product, but we think this playable part represents what we want to deliver.”

The difference from the JRPGs it refers to: movement and exploration

In the same statement of PSBlog (in English) where they made the announcement, level designer Philippe Dionne takes a look at how movement, verticality and depth controls to distinguish oneself sea ​​of ​​stars RPGs of the 90s from which it is inspired.

“We wanted the exploration was as developed as combat“says Dionne. Thus, the environments are designed taking into account the rhythm of the player’s actions, which pass through walking, swim, climb, jump, cling to ledges, walking on ropes and other mechanisms yet to be discovered. All this with an eight-way movement system.

“The new Sabotage made us want to work out the ins and outs of its story and learn more about its world and characters, in addition to delving into its challenging and deep combat system despite being the aspect the demo focuses on the most,” we said in our impressions after trying the demo on Switch. “Its glorious art style complemented by a sensational soundtrack, along with the cocktail of puzzle solving and exploring beautiful locations, are other aspects that completely managed to win us over.”