Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker Review – Carnival Puzzles and Traps

Sea of Stars captured hearts with its homage to 16-bit RPGs, weaving turn-based combat, sprite-art worlds, and light platforming into a cohesive throwback experience. Throes of the Watchmaker arrives as a complimentary post-game expansion, inviting players to revisit the Solstice Warriors just after their climactic victory. Here, Valere and Zale shed their divine powers to enter Horloge, a miniature clockwork realm crafted by the enigmatic Watchmaker—only to discover a sinister echo of her darker self.

From the outset, this expansion leans into what fans loved most: tight input-timed battles and intricate environmental puzzles. Yet beneath the spectacle of spinning gears and juggling fire, there’s a deliberate narrative turn. Stripped of their Solstice abilities, our heroes confront twisted reflections of themselves, forcing a look at identity and purpose in a way the base game only hinted at. Dialogue skews lighter when exploring carnival-themed dungeons, but moments of quiet reflection emerge as the party grapples with truths they’ve long avoided.

Expect roughly eight hours of clockwork-infused challenges: precision-dependent combat, traversal through vertical shafts, and brain-teasers that repurpose classic mechanics. It’s a balance of familiar thrills and newfound stakes—one that asks whether overcoming external threats can teach us more about our own inner workings.

Reflections in Clockwork Shadows

Throes of the Watchmaker opens only after you’ve reached the credits of Sea of Stars, raising the stakes from the start. Once you step into Horloge, the mystery of Keenathan’s true name serves as your catalyst—an unexpected twist that feels earned because you’ve already invested in these characters. This moment echoes the way indie gems like Undertale reveal quiet truths about their heroes: it reframes everything you thought you knew.

The DLC reframes Valere and Zale by stripping away their Solstice powers and forcing them into Acrobat and Juggler roles. This reversal isn’t just cosmetic; it shifts how you guide each character through combat and exploration. It also mirrors the narrative thrust—our champions must confront dark versions of themselves created by the cursed cog. Valere’s stern composure gives way to a barely contained fury in her doppelgänger, while Zale’s earnest confidence warps into self-obsession. These mirrored twins highlight traits the base game hinted at but never fully explored, much like the dualities in cult film Persona 5 Strikers.

Supporting that core arc, the Artificer joins the party as both a gameplay companion and a narrative foil. His mechanical quirks provide levity—think WALL·E meets Null in Hollow Knight—yet he also underscores the expansion’s theme of identity. Returning pirates pop in for brief banter, grounding these revelations in friendships you already care about.

Moments of levity punctuate deeper beats: a quiet campfire chat after a boss fight hints at unspoken worries, while flashbacks to pre-Solstice days reveal small regrets. This balance between light-hearted exchanges and somber revelation drives emotional pacing, ensuring you feel the weight behind every reclaimed name and every broken lock.

Precision in the Clockwork Arena

Throes of the Watchmaker kicks off by reshuffling Valere and Zale into Acrobat and Juggler classes, and it’s more than a visual gimmick. Valere’s pole-vaulting strikes and vault-assisted aerial combos demand a fresh spatial awareness—you’ll bounce off trampolines and swing on pendulums mid-battle, turning every skirmish into a mini platforming puzzle. Zale’s fire-juggling, by contrast, plays like a ranged DPS twist on classic action-RPG juggling mechanics—think Mario RPG’s timed fire blocks, but layered with multi-target arcs that reward creative spacing.

The Artificer’s AoE focus stitches these two roles together. With a well-timed trampoline assist or cannon shot, he can scatter crowds or set up chain reactions when Valere and Zale leap into the fray. This trio dynamic tips battles from grid-based exchanges into circus choreography, where positioning is as vital as timing.

Speaking of timing, the input system remains tight. Landing that split-second strike or perfectly parried block carries an immediacy akin to the rhythm action flourishes in titles like Cosmic Star Heroine. Returning players must recalibrate muscle memory—those who mastered base-game timing will find themselves occasionally jarred as Acrobat flips demand slightly later taps and Juggler arcs call for earlier releases.

Lock-breaking counters deepen this tension. Enemies telegraph ultimate moves with elemental lock icons, and every decision to smash a lock or let it stand becomes a wager: mitigate damage or risk a full-power slam? I learned this the hard way against a mid-boss whose unbroken locks unleashed an instant-kill beam—after two trial runs, I understood that patience and precision outweigh brute force.

Then there’s the Wheels minigame in the final boss fight: a spinning carnival dial where you must stop segments at optimal angles. It injects a slot-machine thrill into what should be a climactic duel, stretching pacing in unexpected ways. Is introducing a high-stakes minigame during a key cinematic moment a stroke of genius or a pacing gamble that leaves you spinning?

Ticking Through Horloge’s Gears

Horloge unfolds in three distinct zones, each reinforcing the expansion’s clockwork circus theme. The opening carnival district greets you with chain lifts that rock like ferris wheels and trampolines that launch Valere into aerial strike combos. Brightly colored arenas feel welcoming at first, but the shifting platforms demand precision, evoking the playful tension of classic 2D platformers like Shovel Knight.

Beyond the spectacle lies the mechanical castle, where mirror-and-painting puzzles echo the reflective labyrinths of Myst but on a more intimate scale. You’ll rotate ornate frames to redirect light beams, aligning cogs hidden behind illusionary walls. These sequences reward patience—misalign one shard and you’ll hear a soft grind as mechanisms reset, punctuating the quiet with mechanical sighs.

The darkest corner of Horloge, a subterranean cave network, trades whimsy for atmosphere. Here, you wield a limited light source against creeping shadows. The need to backtrack through narrow passages in search of switch triggers can feel draining, yet each flicker of illumination reveals rusted gears and inscriptions hinting at the Watchmaker’s regret.

Exploration gains new depth through the Dialocus shrink mechanic: vertical shafts become climbable ladders, and hidden alcoves open above oversized pistons. Risking a detour to find treasure chests often pays off, but at the cost of surprise battles. The decision to stray from the main path mirrors narrative choices—venturing deeper may unearth rewards or trigger unexpected ambushes.

Puzzles run the gamut from pressure-plate sequences that test timing to cog-alignment challenges that demand spatial reasoning. Sabotage Studio paces these brain-teasers between skirmishes so the world never feels static. Subtle visual cues—cracked clock faces and discarded tools—whisper of the Watchmaker’s fateful error, weaving story into every brass pipe and gear tooth.

A Symphonic Clockwork Spectacle

The pixel art in Throes of the Watchmaker feels like an indie film brought to life frame by frame. Every brass piston and gear tooth glints in steampunk hues, while character sprites move with remarkable fluidity—Valere’s handstands and Zale’s juggling arcs convey personality in each pixel. Cutscenes, appearing every few hours of gameplay, blend traditional sprite animation with subtle parallax shifts, lending weight to key story moments without breaking the retro illusion.

Musically, the expansion strikes a clever balance between fresh compositions and familiar refrains. New carnival-themed tracks layer upbeat calliope riffs over the base game’s melodies, evoking the energy of a traveling fair reminiscent of Korobeiniki’s recontextualization in Tetris: The Movie fan edits. In dungeons, atmospheric loops build tension, their ticking percussion reinforcing the world’s mechanical heartbeat. Battle themes maintain that signature Sea of Stars drive, but add brass flourishes that underscore the performers-turned-combatants motif.

Sound effects play a pivotal role in the tight input system: a crisp click when your timed press lands on beat, a low thrum when locks shatter—each audio cue heightens the emotional payoff of mechanical mastery. Combined, art and audio craft a cohesive clockwork-circus world that surprises at every turn, whether it’s a sudden swell of strings as a hidden door creaks open or the carnival organ hitting a new counter-melody during a boss’s entrance.

Clockwork Co-Op and Seamless Spins

Throes of the Watchmaker’s drop-in/drop-out co-op accommodates up to three players, blending solo precision with shared spectacle. In multiplayer battles, each participant selects actions in turn—an odd fit for breakneck combat but a creative nod to party-focused cinema like The Lord of the Rings, where each hero awaits their cue. It’s quirky, yet it underscores cooperation without trampling the core mechanics.

The hidden-lock option tucks elemental indicators off-screen until the first successful hit, sharpening tension at the cost of initial disorientation. Veterans seeking a sterner test will appreciate the blind counters, while newcomers can toggle visibility for a gentler learning curve.

Across PC, Switch, and modern consoles, the DLC runs smoothly at a locked 60 FPS, with load times averaging under ten seconds. Minor texture pop-in in cavernous areas surfaced briefly but never derailed immersion.

Replay value comes from hunting every secret chest and mastering tandem timed hits. Progress doesn’t carry into New Game+—each Horloge venture resets your Acrobat and Juggler classes—reinforcing the expansion’s role as a standalone clockwork interlude.

Last Ticks and New Doors

Throes of the Watchmaker shines when its refined combat and inventive puzzles lock arms with pixel-perfect presentation—each leap off a trampoline or shatter of a lock feels deliberately crafted. Yet the narrative still flirts with lightweight territory, and the Wheels minigame can fracture pacing for players seeking an uninterrupted climax.

This expansion speaks most clearly to those who treasured the base game’s timing-based battles and crave fresh challenges set to a carnival backdrop. If precise inputs and brain-teasers are your calling card, you’ll find eight hours of richly spun clockwork to sink into without spending another penny.

But beyond the mechanical marvels lies a question: after revisiting Horloge’s gears and ghosts, what untold chapters might Sabotage explore next?