| Author | Review |
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VAN WILEY
288,239
TA Score for this game: 1,460
Posted on 05 March 09 at 06:01, Edited on 07 March 09 at 09:09 |
This review has 37 positive votes and 13 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Star Ocean has come a long way, beginning its release on July 19th, 1996 in Japan, the game was a hit. Sadly, the first game was never able to make it's appearance in North America, so American Gamers had to make their first judgement of the series with "Star Ocean: The Second Story" which was released on the Playstation Game console on July 30th, 1998. Following the Playstation came the Game Boy Color's Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, which was a short game, but served it's purpose to expand the storyline, and finally, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time made its way to shelves on August 31st, 2004 on the Playstation 2. American Gamers were happy on October 21st, 2008, when a remake to the first game, "Star Ocean: First Departure" released on the playstation portable, with a remake to the Playstation version, entitled "Star Ocean: Second Evolution" on January 20th, 2009.
For a while, fans of the series were worried about whether or not they would see another Star Ocean game released. There were only rumors for many years, until about April of 2008, Star Ocean: The Last Hope was announced. Gamers were excited, and many thought it was a continuation. Yet, many were even more excited to find out that the game was a prequel to the series. The game released on February 24th 2009, and many of the hardcore fans of the series, began to sink their teeth into the new adventure.
Star Ocean starts out a few centuries before the first Star Ocean (SNES) in S.D. 0010, The first SRF mission into space has begun. You play the role of Edge Maverick, supported by his childhood companion Reimi Saionji. The SRF (Space Reconnaissance Force) is sending 4 of its ships out into the deep ends of space to explore the many planets in the star ocean. Of course, things go wrong, and worse comes to worst, you're stranded on a planet with the need to survive.....but, will you?
Star Ocean's Storyline is one of the best of the entire series. It comes in first, with Till the End of Time's storyline following short behind. For the first hour or two (depending how fast or slow you go with the storyline), you will find it a bit boring, but after that time withers away, you will find yourself beginning to find as much interest in the story as you can. The storyline comes included with twists and turns you never saw coming.
The three discs included in the game include a large amount of features for the game. Not only do you get the excellent storyline, but you get 50 achievements, worth 1000 gamerscore, two bonus dungeons, a colliseum, quests, shop missions, weapon, monster, spacecraft, collection lists, and a whole lot more for the $60.00 you are dishing out for the game.
The game comes included with four difficulty levels. Earth is the easiest, followed by Galaxy, Universe, and chaos, which is the hardest. If you are new to the series, you should still consider playing on the galaxy difficulty your first play. I made the mistake of playing earth, even as a veteran Star Ocean player, and now I regret it, as its almost comparable to Earth's difficulty. The game's difficulty gets even more challenging with the bonus dungeons, but the game developers still offer sythesizing weaponry to add stat and battle bonuses, and now include a bonus board, in which doing certain things during battle, can earn you more experience, more fol (the money), healing after battle, etc. Just be careful to not let the enemy get a critical hit during battle or it will break and you will need to earn it all over again.
The sound is the only problem I had with the game. The voice acting is the best, but the ending battle voice sayings get old, as each character has about 2 or 3, not including the voices for when you gain a level. Other than that, you will find each characters voice unique in it's own way. At first they might seem bad, but in the middle of the first disc, it improves much.
The learning curve of Star Ocean: The Last hope, is much easier than it was in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, the Tutorials explain a lot more, and it's a little easier to learn each control. You will probably find yourself accessing the options menu your first time playing though, as the left and right of the camera is inverted, but includes an option to switch it to it's original feel.
I definitely insist that you buy this game if you want to take some time out of your life, and are frustrated with buying games every week or so. Star Ocean: The Last Hope is guaranteed to take at least 2, maybe even 3 months of your life away.
10/10
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Vursus
163,269
TA Score for this game: 1,979
Posted on 20 June 09 at 07:47, Edited on 20 June 09 at 07:51 |
This review has 21 positive votes and 5 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Does the newest instalment in the Star Ocean series live up to its predecessors?
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Release Date: Feb 24 2009 (NA), June 5 2009 (EU)
Platforms: Xbox 360 exclusive
Developers: Tri-ace
Genre: Sci-Fi / Fantasy RPG
Publishers: Square Enix
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Nuclear weaponry plagued the surface of Earth as opposing nations fought for power with monstrous greed scaring the planet with unchangeable consequences, annihilating millions and reeking chaos upon all who involved bringing Earth to the verge of complete destruction. However, amongst this devastation, a cease-fire is agreed upon to save the incredibly damaged planet from extinction, although, even so, those alive are left unable to walk the surface due to irradiated landscapes, causing them to retreat to underground cities. But, with a worldwide alliance the Greater United Nations are formed and progressively USTA – Universal Science and Technology Administration – a solution is proposed, one to venture into the great Star Ocean.
SD 10 (Space Date) or alternatively (AD 2097) is the date, and after much progress in technology, mass space exploration can now finally become reality and the search for a new land for inhabitation is within reach. This is where you come in, YOU are Edge Maverick, a courageous SRF member with an appetite for adventure, and of course you’re joined by the lovely Reimi Saionji, your childhood friend, a kind hearted girl who shares the aspirations of Edge to find a new home for the withering planet Earth.
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Star Ocean: The Last Hope has a compelling storyline enticing the gamer into the fantasy world to discover more of the fate of Earth. Immediately problems arise causing havoc for the young hero threatening to put a halt to the mission assigned. As you travel throughout the wide Star Ocean seeking an ideal planet you are opposed by fearsome foes and gain new intriguing allies that allow a variation to battle and great assistance to your ultimate goal. Combined with an amazing plot with unexpected twists you are sure to be gripping the edge of your seat on this epic adventure across space and time.
This feature like previous instalments has amazing gameplay with a healthy mixture of exploring and battling, with incredibly easy controls and flexibility. The exp based levelling system is similar to that of any other RPG but with the addition of SP (Skill points) it allows the gamer to customise each character to suit their playing style with greater success. Skills (acquired from levelling and boosted using SP) can be assigned to either of the trigger buttons in accordance to the gamers’ desire and as the player develops through the game skills can be linked for maximum efficiency. Furthermore, simple attacks are incredibly easy to execute and can be adapted to assure enemies do not pose a threat with the combination of both aerial and ground attacks. Also, another of the greatly useful abilities which you are imbued with are blindsides, the process in which with correct timing you are able to evade attacks and launch a more powerful rear assault upon a foe.
Of course, playing as a single character for 50+ hours can get incredibly tedious can’t it? Well, fear not, at any time during battle with a simple touch of either ‘RB’ or ‘LB’ you can switch between characters in accordance to the needs of particular battles and with any four of the nine playable characters in combat at any one time, you are sure to be able to find one better suited to a particular situation. With this feature, the task of felling monstrous beasts can become an ease. But, of course the BEAT (Battle Enhancement Attribute Type) system will also play a great role in victory with either a defensive or offensive type available giving various bonuses to blindsides and the ‘Rush’ system (an overdrive like state in which the player becomes immune to knockdowns and has an increased chance of critical strikes).
The game features astounding graphics with amazing surroundings for the various environments and spectacular cinematics. The details of even the simple things such as foliage help give some of the stranger planets their surreal atmosphere, emerging the gamer into the fantasy worlds further. And the graphics don’t stop outside of battle, fluid movements; stunning skills and thoroughly detailed creatures help make the battle experience a great joy for the gamer, intensifying the thrill of battle.
Audio for the game was also well thought out, with an amazing soundtrack with Motoi Sakuraba who has contributed music in various other games in the Star Ocean series as well as games like Valkyrie Profile and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In addition this music combined with various clips allows for the gamer to feel more connected to the characters displaying a much deeper feeling of emotion, portraying the characters with greater qualities. Of course, the surprise and pre-emptive sounds never become old, always ensuring you know of the mistakes or successes you’ve made.
As per the usual requirements of a modern day Role Playing Game SOTLH does nothing short of supplying the gamer with intense and lengthy adventure, promising over 70 hours of gameplay to complete the vast array of quests and main story events with post game content supplying almost limitless activities. This varies from extra dungeons to a coliseum filled with dangerous opponents to strike the unprepared down and to those willing, bunny racing allows for a break from fighting.
Although, the game does have a very limited replay value, highly dependent on what the gamer chooses to do in the first play through as the main sub content consists of the quests and orders and alternative PA character endings. However, for achievement hunting gamers advancing through each of the modes can help sufficiently to gaining further Gamerscore with the new game + option of transferring all collection data, and the Gamerscore for completing the game on Universe and in turn Chaos difficulties.
So, in conclusion, Star Ocean features a very deep and sometimes moving storyline promising to keep the gamer entertained and wanting to delve deeper into the amazing worlds before them whilst keeping many of the much loved features that previous Star Oceans contained. It variety of side quests ranges greatly from simply collection of items to working your way through the coliseum rankings and venturing across space on a hunt for an encrypted item. Therefore, making this a great choice for any RPG fans.
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Storyline: 9/10
The compelling mood that is presented before you is guaranteed to make you want to learn more about this amazing tale.
Length and replay value: 9/10
Star Ocean promises countless hours of felling foes and competing in various side tasks, although offers little replay value for those whom have explored the game fully on a single play through.
Gameplay: 9/10
The controls are simple with easy access to change between characters and the multitude of side quests makes it a very enjoyable experience. The Game is also incredibly tough on Universe and Chaos difficulties giving the gamer a true run for their money.
Graphics and Audio: 8/10
The stunning graphics help to form a better feel of the environment around you and with the aid of the audio a tense and dramatic atmosphere at times ensuring you’ll continue to crave more.
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Overall Score: 9/10
‘‘An epic tale, promising to keep you entertained’’
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TheSecondLetter
92,537
TA Score for this game: 1,480
Posted on 21 January 13 at 18:42 |
This review has 6 positive votes and 0 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
To quote Phil Lout, "I find it unusual that it is more socially acceptable to complain about what you have than it is to ask for what you want." So to all of the reviewers, editors, and fellow opinionated fans who've dismissed Star Ocean The Last Hope as mediocre, I have to ask: "What do you want?"
This generation has seen its share of excellent Japanese Role Playing Games. But many of us agree that this number pales in comparison to generations past and some of us have reservations about the genre's future. But when I played Star Ocean The Last Hope, I couldn't help but think, "here is a JRPG that answers the mail. It's not the greatest ever, but it is great and more than on par with its series predecessors. So why are so many of us complaining about it and dismissing it as not all that great--especially during a generation where greatness has come in smaller numbers?"
I'll give you the fact that the story is very cliched and its delivery is severely encumbered by the awkward voice acting. But c'mon, most games in general have cliched storylines. I'll also give you the fact that conventions like save points are archaic and the disc switching fiasco was completely unnecessary. But remove these negatives, and I'd argue that The Last Hope is one of the better JRPGs of this generation.
While the story itself is cliched, the journey to reach its end is very enjoyable. Leaving a war-hammered Earth to find another planet capable of sustaining human life was an excellent choice for a series based on space-travel. The theme provides a reasonining beyond mere exploration for the characters' space adventures. The characters, while annoying at times, are all at least likeable. The Last Hope also does a great job of developing them if you decide to participate in the private action dialog scenes that supplement the main story. To avoid spoilers I also felt the writers did an excellent job with one of the more intense climactic story-segments depicting the harsh realities associated with combat. The way the cast handles it was extremely appropriate given their age and inexperience with like situations.
Earlier, I mentioned the awkward voice acting. I don't want to attribute this awkwardness to the voice actors alone. I'm no thespian, but I imagine even the best actors can't make corny writing sound amazing. A bigger issue is how the voices are mixed into the overall sound presentation. The voices sound more like voice-overs than they do natural conversation. The producers in this case needed to take the volume down and supplement the dialog with ambient noise appropriate for each cutscene. Voice acting problems aside, The Last Hope has an excellent soundtrack full of songs I'd be happy to listen to outside of the game. The Last Hope will also take you to many visually stunning and diverse locales. Simply put, the game is really beautiful to look at.
Combat in The Last Hope will be very familiar to you if you've played any of the other games in the series. For those of you who've not played other Star Ocean games, the combat here is fast paced and action heavy. There are no random encounters in The Last Hope. All of your enemies aside from bosses will be visible throughout the world and will react to you based on their disposition. The combat system has quite a bit of depth and is fun to play. This is good because most of your game time outside of cutscenes will be spent in battle while you attempt to level and develop your characters. Rather than a 'press A to win' affair, you're given the ability to dodge enemy attacks, blindside techniques to deal more damage and a host of melee and magic abilities to use at your discretion. Battles can be pretty chaotic, but you'll always have the option to pause and choose actions from a menu if you ever need to slow down the action.
Leveling and developing your team is another great feature about this game. Again, just like Star Ocean games in the past, you'll have an overwhelming amount of customization options for each of your characters. You'll have options to improve melee skills, weapon crafting skills, magical abilities and even the ability to tweak your tactical posture in fights. All of these options work in concert to allow you to tailor battles to your liking.
For you achievers and completionists out there, Star Ocean The Last Hope should be a dream come true. There are a ton of things to do outside of the main storyline in this game. There are in-game trophies for completing specific actions in battle and achievements for perfecting the private action dialog scenes, crafting every item, finding every treasure chest and completing every side quest. There are also bunny races--yep, bunny races. On top of that, there is a hugely unforgiving bonus dungeon that can take upwards of four hours to complete depending on how well prepared you are. If you plan to fully complete The Last Hope, plan on investing more than 400 hours of playtime to do it.
In the end, Star Ocean The Last Hope won't go down as one of the best JRPGs ever. I do believe and still contend that it's one of the best this generation has seen. It's also possibly one of the last JRPGs that major consoles will see with this much playable content. If you've not played it, I highly recommend that you do. Even with its flaws, I can't imagine a JRPG fan not finding something to love about this game.
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irohma
59,697
TA Score for this game: 2,160
Posted on 28 June 12 at 19:08, Edited on 20 August 12 at 19:07 |
This review has 3 positive votes and 1 negative vote. Please log in to vote. |
Star Ocea: Last Hope - 8,5
Veredict:
Star Ocean: Last Hope is everything fans of the series can expect. You have a robust and solid battle system, a very intricate and rewarding item creation, a very large content, optional dungeons, tough bosses, excellent challenge, and so on. The technical value of the game is huge, but perhaps that's what it limits itself to.
The story is not exactly bad, but the script and narrative makes the tale not so epic as the game originally propose. Characters have very beautiful and detailed models, but they look more like dolls than humans and the voice acting makes they look even more like creepy things. Soundtrack also does not help a lot, but at least don't get in your way.
Gameplay wise there is little to complain here. Star Ocean follows the same basics of the previous games of the franchise, so returning fans will immediately feel at home here. Newcomers can also easily grasp the combat because the game has a very balanced learning curve that always allows for new discoveries, strategies, test new characters, and so on. The free-control combat in 3D environment is initially limited to moving around and pressing the attack button many times to perform combos, but it gets more complex with the addition of unique skills, the blindside action, and teh rush gauge system.
The skill element is old to Star Ocean franchise. Each character has a set of special abilities that are very unique in not only the damage it does, but in how the character performs it, making them more useful sometimes than others, thus granting a nice piece of strategy.
The blinside system is a new feature, allowing you to wait for your opponent and catch him offguard, usually revealing weak points or allowing for increased damage. The rush gauge functions like those in fighting games, filling as you attack and take damage and allowing you to enter a rush state where you can't be knocked down and has access to a few bonuses. Also, you can use the rush gauge to perform rush combos, mixing attacks from teammates to unleash huge amounts of damage.
These features are all nice and good. They contribute to making the battle system fun for a tremendous amounts of time and giving you more reasons to play the game again and again. Sadly though, the artistic part of the game is not as top notch as it should be.
The graphics are great. Characters models are among the best of its time, full of details, a nice animation and good expressions. Perhaps the design choice of making them look like dolls can disturb many, but this fact is torelable. What can truly harm character experience is their voice-acting, constrasting too much with their japanese-style personas and for Lymle making it absurdly annoying to hear.
The story is also a weak point here. The tale is in fact the first in the Star Ocean storyline, detailing how mankind initially explored space and faced the first galaxy-threatening opponent. What happens, however, is a below average script and only a few nice turns of events to keep you interested in what's about to happen. A shame, because the last Star Ocean had one of the best stories of teh last generation.
Overall, the game is something any RPG fan will want to keep around. It may initially seem to focus on grinding, but that's not the case. Star Ocean allows for some pretty fast paced experience and very little repetition comparing to other japanese games out there. You can grind if you want, but you can also work around to avoid it. Besides the apparent grinding, the game has a superb replay value and can give you hundreds of hours of fun play. A shame the characters and story are not as strong as they could be. If they did this right this game could certainly earn more respect in this generation.
Pros:
- Addicting combat system
- Huge content
- Great replay value
Cons:
- Doll-like characters with below-average voice-acting
- Poor script
- Not so epic narrative
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svandoren
34,682
TA Score for this game: 142
Posted on 06 May 09 at 17:32 |
This review has 26 positive votes and 36 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
As a veteran RPG player with years of experience in the Square franchises across the years, I can say without any hesitation that Star Ocean: The Last Hope is among the worst.
The game begins by laying the foundations for a grim future for Earth in a post-WWIII universe where humanity is clutching to its firmament with all its heart. Groups of highly trained space-farers are dispatched to find hospitable new planets to turn to in our darkest days.
And by this, of course, I mean a 20 year old kid is given a ship to fly around in with carte blanche to do whatever the heck he wants--ostensibly, his main agenda is to form a cadre of the least-interesting characters imaginable, with as little depth as possible to their cardboard-cutout personalities. These include a 15 year old midget who, through personal trauma, hasn't intellectually advanced beyond her five year-old speech, an effete alien with metal ears, a cat-girl pulled from the pages of the worst in Hentai, and an older woman with the largest breasts I've ever seen in a video game (whose said appendages bounce with alarming speed at the drop of a hat).
As this is an RPG, it is the character development that makes or breaks it. And in this regard, Square has let us down even further. The main character should be the one you root for, the one whose trials and tribulations are somehow appropriate to your own life--in short, someone with whom you can easily identify. In this case, however, you have a child with an attention-span issue who routinely (and with efficiency!) puts himself up on a cross and demands that we all look up at him and weep for the pain he's going through.
Give me a break.
And the voice acting? Don't get me started on that one. Never before have I listened to such poor voice acting.
The greatest value of this game is in the "Skip cutscene" functionality, which gives the gamer the ability to read a synopsis of the scene instead of having to sit through the gasping whines of the collection of children on the screen.
And what of the combat system? Well, that's the only reason there are 2 stars instead of 1. It is, at least, different. And adaptable.
In short, if you're looking to burn up some time playing a game that will frustrate you both while you're playing it and when you're not (the inane banter of the characters when they level up sticks with you for hours afterward), then this is the game for you! Be sure to get it now, while the price is still up around $60. It's far more satisfying to shatter those discs after investing that much money in it than if you picked it up out of the bargain $1 bin where it belongs.
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