Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker (2025): The Review

Overview

Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker makes a clear attempt to fix the original’s underwhelming protagonists by putting a stronger spotlight on character development, but the effort feels forced and heavy-handed, missing the emotional mark. Still, the combat remains sharp and satisfying, and while the DLC goes a bit overboard with its puzzles, its stunning art direction and atmosphere continue to do much of the heavy lifting.

Score: 8 out of 10

The Positives ✅

Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker is a fascinating paradox, a DLC that fixes some things, breaks others, but still manages to impress on pure craft and generosity alone. From the moment you dive in, the steampunk-inspired world bursts with life and atmosphere. The pixel art is jaw-droppingly cohesive, with every frame oozing polish. Lighting, particle effects, and animations hit that sweet spot between retro charm and modern sharpness, making this expansion arguably prettier than the base game. The sound design backs that up, the new score flows seamlessly into the world, with crisp, satisfying effects for every spell, swing, and menu blip. It’s not a massive leap forward, but it doesn’t need to be; it’s confident in its craft.

Mechanically, the DLC keeps what worked and builds on it smartly. The combat, already one of the base game’s strongest aspects, now feels more dynamic thanks to the new timing-based mechanics. Attacks and defenses gain interactive layers, turning standard turn-based combat into a satisfying rhythm of reflexes and strategy. Whether you’re catching projectiles, dodging lasers, or collecting stars mid-battle, these tweaks breathe new life into encounters without overcomplicating things. The mix of minigame-like inputs adds variety and tension in a way that feels genuinely rewarding.

And perhaps the best part? It’s free. No extra purchase, no microtransactions, no nonsense. For an add-on that’s this visually polished, musically rich, and mechanically engaging, that’s borderline absurd value. Even with its uneven storytelling, the amount of content and quality here would’ve easily justified a price tag. Getting it for nothing feels like a rare gaming miracle, a love letter to fans rather than a cash grab.

The Negatives ⚠️

Narratively, though… hoo boy. This DLC tries so hard to fix Sea of Stars’ biggest flaw, its bland protagonists, that it ends up throwing the entire story off balance. Valere and Zale finally get more focus, dialogue, and emotional beats, but the execution feels forced. They’ve gone from wallpaper to whiplash, overcorrecting into awkward, overexposed territory that strains the pacing and tone. It’s a strange irony: in trying to humanize them, Throes of the Watchmaker exposes just how flat their arcs really were. Meanwhile, side characters like Garl and Serai, fan favorites for a reason, are booted from the spotlight in favor of newcomers like Artificer, who feels like a filler substitute rather than a meaningful addition.

Even the new antagonists, as fun as their designs and gimmicks are, steal the show for the wrong reasons. They’re so vibrant and personality-packed that they highlight how dull the main duo still is. The Puppeteer, Narcis King, and the clockwork twins Pif and Pouf practically carry the story on their backs, overshadowing the leads in every scene. What was meant to be a story about character redemption instead becomes a showcase of missed narrative priorities.

Then there’s the puzzle problem, and it’s a big one. Exploration used to be one of Sea of Stars’ greatest strengths: secret paths, environmental tricks, the thrill of discovery. But Throes of the Watchmaker floods every area with puzzles, often multiple in a single room. They’re not bad puzzles, just overdone. Solving them stops being satisfying around the tenth one in a row and starts feeling like busywork. When 50% of a dungeon is switches, sliding blocks, and pattern grids, exploration dies on the vine. For a game that once celebrated curiosity, this shift feels like a step backward.

The Experience 🎮

Playing Throes of the Watchmaker is like revisiting a favorite restaurant only to find the chef experimenting with the recipe, some bites are incredible, others make you miss the old flavor. The heart of Sea of Stars, its combat rhythm, its lush art direction, its nostalgic energy, still shines here. The timed hits, the reactive battles, the satisfying “click” of landing perfect moves, they all remain top-tier. But the sense of adventure and narrative cohesion that once carried the experience feels fragmented. You’re still having fun moment to moment, but the emotional throughline just isn’t there.

That said, it’s hard not to appreciate the sheer effort on display. You can feel that this DLC was made by developers trying, genuinely trying, to learn from their mistakes. It’s a messy evolution, but one born of passion rather than indifference. Even with too many puzzles, uneven writing, and pacing quirks, Throes of the Watchmaker is worth seeing through, if only for the creative set pieces, inventive combat tweaks, and stellar presentation.

At the end of the day, it’s free, it’s ambitious, and it’s fun in bursts, which makes it hard to stay mad at. It might not fix everything wrong with Sea of Stars, but it does something arguably more interesting: it reminds you that even flawed games can grow, change, and surprise you. Throes of the Watchmaker doesn’t hit perfection, but it hits enough to make you believe this studio’s next chapter could.