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Star Ocean has been a long running franchise that many RPG fans appreciate; this being said how is the game overall?
-Xbox360 vs. PS3-
Notable differences on the PS3 version:
+ Do not need to disc swap, since everything is on one disc.
+ Includes Japanese vocals as an option.
+ Able to switch between menu layout Classic (Original JP Menus with the Animated dialog boxes) and the CG (NA/EU version of the menu, which was all done in CG, but lost the Anime feel and the portrait on dialog boxes).
+ Includes additional characters.
-I never played Star Ocean how does this fare with the storyline?-
Star Ocean: The Last Hope (aka Star Ocean 4) Has very minor relevance within the other three Star Ocean games, each game are not direct sequels so each game is independent of each other and you will not be missing anything at all if you haven't played the previous ones.
-How does the battle fare?-
Just like all other Star Ocean, you control the leader of the party and able to set the other 3 on auto while having the ability to switch between each character.
-Difficulty and depth of the game?-
The game itself can be challenging, since some of the bosses are rather difficult, I believe this is a good thing just because a lot of RPGs these day are just dumb downed. The depth of the game is amazing, also unlike other RPGs there are tons of character interactions and details required to achieve specific endings for the game. Yes this RPG requires you to grind a bit for levels and skills, but people tend to complain about this aspect of the game; honestly I think RPG gamers have been spoiled over the years. Back in the days when players spent hours and hours unlocking secret weapons of leveling for boss fights since they were too hard, I find that enjoyable instead speed running through the game not requiring to grind or skills. So if you like a challenging RPG, this would be a good bet (Nothing as challenging as Demon Souls of course).
-Length of game?-
If you try to accomplish all the side quests and not speed through the game. The game itself can easily be 80+ hours long.
-Graphics-
The game is done very well with nice visual background.
-Should I get this or White Knight Chronicles?-
Both game plays completely different, WKC would have a bigger replay value since majority of the game is online based versus SO is strictly offline. Both games are JRPG based, but some would argue that WKC does not have a great storyline and big character roster list, so if you are looking for a decent character roster and a well developed storyline I would go for SO.
-Conclusion-
Overall I would say that SO4 is a great game, just like the other SO games in the series. If you enjoy playing the other SO in the series I am sure you will enjoy this. Unfortunately PS3 does not have big list of RPG titles, but if you enjoy RPGs then this would be the game to buy.
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So this game actually only deserves four stars...but since I know some other moron will post the obligatory "Dis here game iz alredy on teh three-six-zeeero" and give the game a low score I bumped it up to five stars. That should cancel out exactly one dipstick.
On to the game!
Beautiful game. COMES WITH A FREE $(*@)(%! MOVIE!! Holy 'effing mother of Gargonzola the game takes thirty friggen minutes to get going. I know it's supposed to be an epic tale of survival and exploration but I MADE A SANDWICH in the time it took for the game to start. Sure, people joke and say, "...man, I could have gotten up and made a sandwich in that length of time." Yeah, well, not only did I MAKE the sandwich, I ate the damn thing too. Beautiful movie...but when it came time to move my guy around I looked at the controller with slight distrust. "Hmmm..." Lo and behold the damn game was ready for me to play it! Battle tutorial! AWESOME! Ohh...nice and then I can explore the ship and then...AW F$$%! ANOTHER damn cutscene.
When we FINALLY have control for REAL, the camera is fluid, the controls are accurate (except when I "sprint". I don't know who stuck a N0S bottle up the main character's butt to make him zip forward like that but it's slightly retarded. At least make the damn sprint last longer. I have to keep having my guy make grunting noises like he's plowing the remnants of Thanksgiving dinner through his colon. *sigh*
Combat is very nifty. Again, nothing groundbreaking but this is an RPG for frick's sake, what did you expect? There's a little battle bonus board that you can add to by meeting special conditions in battle. A bonus battle feature where you can sneak around behind the enemy...the name of which escapes me at the moment. DIFFICULTY SETTINGS!!! Very very cool. It's one thing to have a difficult RPG...it's another to have to get your guys to level 27 before you can fight the first boss. The Japanese are all sadistic, I think. You get used to whacking all this little stuff and THEN comes captain octopus that absolutely spanks your monkey until bananas come out of your ears. So frustrating...and this game avoids those frustrations with an easy button.
The voices...ugh. The obligatory cute asian-looking girl with perky...er...attitudes and tight pants is entertaining for the first five minutes. Then you want to go and grab that stick with a hand on it from the concorde grape-jelly character who runs the item making machine and strangle her with it. The main character dude says the same...damn...thing...every...friggen...battle. You can switch them over to the Japanese voices and laugh at them for awhile...but then it starts to feel like you're in an airport and you've gotta switch back.
Menu can be changed from modern to classic. Modern being what I have heard was available on the 360 and classic being a bright anime/cartooney style. I prefer the anime style personally.
In the end, if you didn't try this on the 360 then I say give it a go. I LOVE RPGs and this one has already provided me with hours of pleasure. Seriously, don't be afraid to buy the game. It's pretty damn good.
Buy Star Ocean: The Last Hope International Now
I had never played the original Star Ocean game so I cannot judge based on that issue. However being an Old Guy (53) my desires are different than the younger generation. This is pretty good actually. I like games that make me want to move forward. Find out what is around the next corner. Hot babes maybe, who knows. I rated this a 4 for being fun and 4 overall. I like the interface, (buttons). and the fact it lets you pause in the middle of being destroyed to change your tactics at certain parts of the battle where I DIE!! because some enormous monster destroyed my party and had a good lunch. I like the mapping system to a certain degree. It has repetitive ending battle cut scenes however with these it lets you know how you did during the battle, gives me some numbers. There are lots of fun little things to do on the ship you fly between planets with. Sleep, make meals, etc. (Other than that folks if you like RPG's I don't think you will be disappointed at all. I recommend you buy the strategy guide. STAR OCEAN THE LAST HOPE: INTERNATIONAL Signature Series Strategy Guide (Bradygames Signature Series Guides) Your going to need it to help you plot and plan your strategy throughout the game. For me anyhow the game is worth buying new.
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...I'm forced to average the two. I commiserate with another reviewer about the "This was on the X-Box, so it's worse here by definition!" reviews, but I can't co-sign on grade inflation.
And honestly, while this game has a lot going for it, its flaws can be severe. The average player probably wouldn't notice (i.e. the one that plays the game one time through), but I would guess that most people buying this game are hardcore (and the developers believe the same look at all of the postgame extras, and the ridiculous PSN trophies associated to the game).
So anyway:
The Good:
I really like the battle system in this game. There is one major flaw (targetting), but all in all, I've enjoyed fighting (which is good for a game of this length). The "blindside" and "rush combo" systems are magnificent, IMHO. The characters clearly have different personalities on the battle field (including the fighters Faize's rapier combos act much different than Edge's, e.g.).
The story. While the cutscenes are a major pain (they are too long, and poorly written), I'm a sucker for a space exploration story. No, this isn't "Mass Effect 2," but I think the plot synthesizes much of what is good about various Japanese sci-fi animes (ridiculous science, absurd character interactions, a universe-threatening enemy, etc.)
The extras. Tri-Ace has ALWAYS given the player more for completing a game, and this is no different. A huge battle arena, two long and rewarding post-game dungeons, billions of battle trophies to test your skills and patience (OK there are only 900, but it will feel like billions by the end). SO:TLH delivers. However, there is one major flaw here, as I will state below.
The Bad:
-Battle targeting is atrocious. The computer NEVER fixes on the proper target; your character will often run the length of the battlefield to attack another enemy, instead of the one in front of him. In order to change targeting, you have to use the start button (who in the world thought of that?)...but this is a pain in the heat of battle against an enemy such as, say, Kokubei (who has about 10 other small enemies constantly circling her). Ugh.
Where are the save points? It takes FOREVER to get to one! I've heard that autosaving doesn't work in JRPGs (with citations of other 360 RPGs as evidence). I don't buy it. There HAS to be something better, and if we ARE fixing ourselves to this archaic system, at LEAST make it reasonable. At time, you will find yourself going an hour or more between save points in dungeons. At the end of the game, adding together the cutscene time, the credit time, and the battles, it took over 2 hours before I could save my game! That's ridiculous.
Also, when you finally do save, the game asks you, "Do you want to keep saving?" The default answer is "YES" the first time this question is asked. What the heck? I guess even the game realizes that saving is a luxury that you never want to end. :-P
While battle trophies carry over to different playthroughs, battle trophy progress does not. What are you thinking, Tri-Ace? So, if I kill 29,999 enemies with Edge in one playthrough, and don't get the trophy, I STILL have to kill 30000 in the next playthrough. All I can say is, if you care about these things, keep your old save files intact.
The cutscenes. They are WAAAAAY too long. Now, I'm not a fan of cutscenes in general, but when the writing is as bad as it is for these, it's particularly atrocious. In fact, I would suggest just skipping them entirely (the game is nice enough to provide you a synopsis of any scene you skip, and the synopsis is both short AND well-written).
The unforgivable:
Missable trophies. OK I can accept that some games should have PSN trophies that require work. But this is ridiculous. For example, there is one trophy for completing all the quests in the game (and there are hundreds, plural, by the way). The catch? Near the beginning of the game, some quests simply...disappear. Forever. There is nothing telling you that this might happen, but it can. Later on, other quests disappear. Forever. So, what do you do? YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE ENTIRE GAME AGAIN. Clearly, this is implemented solely to sell strategy guides. There are other egregious examples (what, I can't make every item in the game because one of my party members left permanently?), but you get the point. Everything about the trophies is meant to anger you. I kid thee not.
Anyway, there you have it. If you are going to play through once, I would rate this from 4 to 5 stars. It's pretty fun. But if you are like so many others that requires that platinum trophy, expect lots and lots of frustration. Happy gaming!
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Where to begin? Ahh, I know, the one thing that will immediately turn off gamers! Before you get into this game, be advised that it IS a JRPG and the acting follows that of the typical japanese anime dub over by american actors who just don't cut it. There is however the option to turn on the original japanese dialog track, which may be easier on the ears. I love JRPGs and crappy anime acting (why I don't know) so it doesn't bother me one bit, but sometimes it can take away from the serious overtones the game should have.
That aside, be prepared for a HUGE world. Be prepared to run back and fourth between towns on different planets and be prepared to use the square (dash) button a LOT. The atmosphere that Star Ocean has created is immensively huge, and sometimes it feels as though things are lacking. Don't get me wrong, it is an absolutely beautiful game and looking around will keep you more than entertained while you explore. You can also encounter enemies, harvest materials and mine for materials on the "world map", if that's what you want to call it.
Sprawled throughout the game are specific quests that you will come across, as well as the main story line. The quests are NPC specific and require you to talk to specific NPCs at certain times in the game to get the quests. They are usually simple in nature and are similar to quests in an MMORPG (gather materials, get items from enemies etc). The most rewarding benefit of these quests are the skill points you will aquire, which allow you to level up certain skill sets each character has.
The main story line I will let the amazon description fill you in on, but alas it's alright. I'm not rivited by the story or sucked into the game because of it. All in all the atmosphere and the fun level of gameplay keep me entertained and the story is an added bonus. It's not to say it's a bad story, it's just lacking any real oomph. However, there are aspects of it that are excellently presented that make you wonder if at some point the remainder will be just as good as the scene you just witnessed.
To put things into perspective, I am aiming for getting everything in the game, I am 68 hours into it and only a third of the way through. Probably about half of those hours were spent traveling between places to complete quests. There is no easy warp option, it's you against the world.
