Impressions: Star Ocean: The Last Hope International

As happens quite often with my game purchases, SO4 was a last minute thing. I didn't even plan on buying this game at all. Star Ocean 4 joined my collection as the last minute RPG substitution for White Knight Chronicles, which I decided to just borrow after the swath of middling reviews. (PinoyPS peeps seem to like WKC quite a bit though, and if I end up liking the game I'll purchase my own copy.) You might imagine my concern then, as when I began playing through SO4 my opinion of the game rollercoastered wildly, both for the better and for the worse. (To make things even more panicky for me, I bought the game at launch, for a launch price. *nervous*)

Here's a quick summary of how my first few hours went:

00 hrs, 15 mins

Boot the game up. I patiently wait through the long install, and watch the simultaneously intriguing and boring CG intro. Game starts, non-CG talking scene begins. Script looks pedestrian, and English voice acting is abysmal.

John is sad.


00 hrs, 25 mins

Note: Obviously not an image from the tutorial. Mahirap maghanap ng litrato!

I then get shooped directly into the combat tutorial. I play it, and many happy/nostalgic memories of playing through Star Ocean: Till The End of Time return (Fayt LINEGOD - manliest name EVAR!!1!!!). This combat system fucking kicks ass!

John is happy!

00 hrs, 40 mins

Not the best camera ever.

Then the walking around part begins. Why is this camera stuck behind my guy? What the hell happened to the old overhead view? This is where I begin to get worried again. I walk out of the ship and things get even worse - the blast doors open into a huge MMO style map that wasn't really my cup of tea.

Jesus Christ! What the fuck did I just buy? Did I just make a huuuuge mistake by giving up the game I wanted all along (WKC) to get THIS in return?

John is extremely worried...

02 hrs, 30 mins

Lymle lights up another poor fucker with an earth-shattering kabloom. Again, obviously a shot from much later in the game.

Thankfully, the Php 2,700.00 sized hole in my wallet encouraged me to soldier on. After a couple of hours, I fully understood the intricacies of the combat system (including the skills required to build the Bonus Board), and I've gotten used to the distinctly un-RPG-like camera positioning. Combat is fun, if a little simplistic so far. Battle Trophy system works the same as in Star Ocean 3, except now every character has a unique set. Speaking of Trophies, WTF is up with that Trophy list? Looks extremely hard to Platinum. I do some internet research on this topic and it seems that getting 100% Achievements/Trophies takes literally hundreds of hours. Fuck that, looks like I'm not getting the plat for this one eh?

John is hopeful.

14 hrs, 24 mins


Addiction has set in. The Skill Point and Invention systems opened up, bringing back yet ANOTHER flood of Star Ocean 3 memories. The Private Actions are also back, and are as interesting as ever - this has the unfortunate effect of turning SO4 into a FAQ game (i.e. a game in which you have to keep a FAQ up on a laptop or equivalent device while playing so you don't miss anything important) but I don't really mind. Yeah, the camera is still pretty crap, and the story has been pretty predictable so far, but then Star Ocean's never been about story. Like most Tri-Ace RPG's it's all about the gameplay with this one - I'm not ready to give any ratings or reviews for this as it's far too early, but I can definitely say that Star Ocean 4 is doing a very good job of scratching that niggling JRPG itch that I've had for months now.

And there's something oddly comforting about seeing the Square Enix logo again on a PlayStation console. Feels good.

John is contented.

22 hours 32 minutes

Shi jian bu zao le, wo gai gao ci le.
But I'll see you again.

John has no time to play Star Ocean thanks to his goddamn STRAMA paper. Any remaining free time for gaming is eaten whole by games which require less time investment. (Heavy Rain! Darksiders! Dante's Inferno! Bayonetta! Ratchet and Clank Future 2! Yes, I have the gaming equivalent of ADHD.) Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XIII lurks inside the neighborhood Datablitz, with Yakuza 3 coming over on the next plane from Europe. Their evil plan, of course, is to ensure that it's quite some time before I dig Star Ocean out of the game closet for another go-round. Natabunan na si loko.

But that time will come again, The Last Hope, mark my words.

One day, when these new-fangled hot releases get old, I'll dig out the keys to the rusty old starship, ask Reimi if she wants to roll out, and sail through these star oceans again. JRPG love!