Star Ocean Series

[Lex]

We don't have a series thread for this when we probably should.

Star Ocean III: Til the End of Time was my introduction to the series and I thought it was a brilliant game - some pacing and length issues but overall a really enjoyable experience. Given that it was my first foray into the universe of these games I probably had a bias, but I enjoyed the story. A lot of people complained about the game's "big twist", but I liked it overall. Battle system was tremendous fun.

I have The Last Hope International and I haven't really gotten into it? I've tried to play it a few times but it's so monumentally huge I'm having trouble. Also, I remember getting stuck in the tutorial in the beginning where it's explaining the battle system and you can't leave until you get it right. I think I was there for an hour making mistakes XD. Something about pressing circle within a really tiny window of time.

Anyway, Star Ocean V is releasing this summer, and SE had a livestream thing today for it. It has three new trailers (in English), but really the whole thing is worth watching if you're into it. I don't consider myself a huge fan of the series given that I've only really played one of the games, but it at least looks vaguely interesting.

 

[trash panda]

I'm still watching the video as I type this (its taking forever to load).

I was introduced to the series with SO2 (another one of my first RPGs for PS1). I play it repetitiously (probably just as much as FFIX & Breath of Fire III). Love the item creation system, adore the music (especially dungeon/battle music) from the entire series....nnnnnnnot so crazy about most of the character designs. I think my favorite characters are Ashton & Celine (SO2) & Roddick (SO1).

I could never really get into SO3 and I only moderately got into SO4. Here's hoping that SO5 takes a few steps in the right direction.

 

[Mayo Master]

I only got SO3, personally, and I really enjoyed it - it was one of my favorite PS2 games. For some reason, while many people disliked the plot twist, I actually liked it.
SO4 seemed to get poor reviews so I didn't get into it.
As for SO5, I remain a bit doubtful. Personally, I find the art direction really weird. They chose to make cartoon-like characters against realistic background, and while it's an art style that worked for old games (such as the original FF7), IMO for PS4 technology it makes for a very clunky result, visually. That's often my point towards people who would have liked cartoonish characters for FF7: Remake - it would be just visually awkward.

 

[Shademp]

SO4 is the only iteration I have played. I am well aware of its poor stance in comparison to SO2 and SO3 and I can't say I'm surprised. The story of SO4 is filled well and over the brim with J-RPG and anime tropes. The amount of anime-style comedy, as well as in-game references to the anime-centred otaku culture, makes it feel like I'm watching an animated show instead of watching an unfolding J-RPG plot. As it stands the plot, the characters and the comedy are cringe-worthy guilty pleasures for me which is how I could enjoy this game as much as I did.

The planet landscapes are beautiful but needlessly huge, making travel from one area to the next into a test of stamina and patience. Similarly the dungeons are usually too deep and repetitive, making you feel fatigued similar to how the landscapes make you feel like a marathon runner.

The lip-syncing is next to non-existent, at least in the PS3 version. You can switch between Japanese and English audio and if I recall correctly the lip-syncing is more adapted to the JP audio. The mouths of the porceline-like anime characters move so out of sync with the English audio that you will grit your teeth from almost every cutscene. I played through SO4 multiple times but I only watched the English cutscenes ONCE. I could stand no more. Play this game in Japanese audio if you want to preserve your sanity.

Another poor element is how you are in desperate need of a guide when trying to accomplish the in-game character-specific battle trophies. The requirements are often so far-out and difficult to unlock, without any hints found within the game itself, that you feel like the battle trophies were designed specifically to make you purchase an official game guide. Thankfully, GameFAQs saved me from the hazzle of spending actual money.

I could rave on and on about the elements that suffered in SO4 (and how I still derived a lot of enjoyment out of the game) but for the completionists out there I have one thing to say about SO4: DON'T PLAY IT. The game, whether you play it on Xbox360 or the PS3, has a tendency to freeze. The final, optional super-dungeon has auto-generated rooms and you will have to play anything between 3-10 hours to get to the optional superboss WITHOUT ANY SAVE POINTS. After the game freezing for the umpteenth time while I played through this dungeon, I just gave up. I was SO CLOSE to getting a Platinum Trophy, after spending six months on this game, but the freezing was more frustration than I could handle.

 

[Lex]

@Mayo, I don't know if you had the same experience with SO3 as me, but it took a while for me to get into it? I think it was around the time you crash on the second planet. I loved the twist too. And I'm addressing you specifically because you mentioned SO4 - I hear it's actually a lot better than SO3 but you really need to play the International version (iirc only released on PS3) for the Japanese dub, because the English dub is absolutely terrible. Like game-destroyingly bad, which is why the game seems to have a bad reputation. That and hours between save points. Otherwise it's one of the only proper classic JRPG's to actually exist in the last 10 years. I'm going to try to get into it again to see if SO5 is worth picking up at release.

@Shademp, Star Ocean 4 is the hardest platinum trophy to obtain in all of Playstation. Literally. It has an estimated time of 1000+ hours because of the Item Creation trophies. I'm telling you right now that if all you've got left to do is an optional superboss you better fucking go do it, because you'll be the only person I know who has it XD.

You know I'm a completionist, so I was aware of the Plat difficulty on that game before I started playing it. It still sits there at 1% because I think I've got one trophy for playing the first few hours. Almost every trophy is missable because you can't return to certain areas, map completion in this game will destroy me.

I really want them to re-release SO3 on PS4 as one of their PS2 upscaled downloadables.

 

[Ghost X]

I hope one of the sequels explains why all the main characters of each game are basically the same people done over and over again (if it hasn't been done already, of course ). I too got SO3, and think I got in and out at a good time .

 

[Jason Tandro]

PLAY STAR OCEAN: THE SECOND STORY (Or Star Ocean: Second Evolution - The PSP Port). It remains the single best Star Ocean game ever made with its brilliant combat, storyline, characters and item creation mechanics. That remains in my top 5 RPGs ever.

 

[ForceStealer]

I only played Til the End of Time, but I didn't finish it. I liked it okay, but enough niggling annoyances built up until I just lost interest. The dungeons seriously wore on for way too long, and I definitely see the pacing issues you mentioned. Probably my biggest complaint though was that I had signed up for a science fiction RPG and the game just used its bargain bin Prime Directive as an excuse to be another medieval RPG.

You're stuck on that first planet and I figured okay, this is just a way to ease people into the game with a familiar setting first. Then you finally get off that planet after way too long and immediately crash on another medieval planet. Are you kidding me? And after what felt like eternity on that planet I threw in the towel.

The combat was indeed fun, but I don't think it did anything that, say, Tales of Xillia doesn't do better without pulling a fast one over on me.

I enjoyed that the main character had the same voice as Kadaj though

 

[Mayo Master]

About SO3: personally, it didn't take me long to get into the game. I think I got into it as early as the crash on the first planet, because it has you getting familiar with the combat mechanics, which I found fun and dynamic. I'm actually surprised about the number of people who disliked the plot twist - I wonder if it had anything to do to the notion that most people have about their lives having meaning and significance.

About SO4: I've read many accounts along the lines of Shademp's description, and based on that I figured it's not a game for me. As much as I like RPGs, I'm not necessarily enjoying J-RPGs more, especially when they're set in their old ways. Last J-RPG I really enjoyed was actually from Tri-Ace nonetheless: Resonance of Fate (which IMO has been largely under-appreciated).

Spoiler: In fact I wish there would be a sequel

I think there would be room for a sequel since, by the end of the game, it is shown that the pollution that confined humanity to Basel has receded, so people could very well explore the world again, a world which could very well harbor new things and hidden dangers (for one thing, Rebecca, who's quite the dangerous mutant, comes from outside of Basel). IMO there's a big potential for a large open-world RPG, but I doubt that's in Tri-Ace's plans, especially given the relative commercial failure of Resonance of Fate.

 

[Abortedj]

I really enjoy the ports of Star Ocean 1/2 on the PSP. That is however where my experience with the series stops. Would like to play more of the series.

 

[Lex]

SO3 recommended

 

[Abortedj]

Is that the Ps2 incarnation? I think I remember hearing you kill god in that one, admittedly an idea I rather like.

 

[Lex]

Indeed

 

[FallenAngel]

I...just tried to recall my experience with this series after reading through the thread. Nostalgia flash.

I played the first at a cousin's place on a japanese super nintendeo cartridge flashed with a half-baked english translation via a hardware adapter(I remember the setup being a bitch). We got about 6-8 hours into it over the weekend. When I next visited him, he had already sold his SNES.

I played the second on my playstation via a copy borrowed from my sister's then boyfriend. I think I got pretty far(about 3/4 through?) before they broke up and he took the game with him(well, at least I got to complete his copy of Metal Gear Solid before he bailed).

I actually do own the third one myself(!). Liked it a lot. Probably would have completed it if my PS2 hadn't died after I was about 15 hours in.

My relationship with this series is...complicated.

That reminds me though, I got a PS3 a couple years later and the game should run on that as well right? Had all but forgotten about it till now, thanks for the reminder.

 

[Lex]

EDIT: Discussion not strictly related to Star Ocean but about censorship should be posted in this linked thread

^^^^^^ that would be the Japanese reaction to this news:

In the interview, Star Ocean 5 character designer Akira Yasuda, director Hiroshi Ogawa, and producer Shuichi Kobayashi revealed that not only is the studio aware of western criticism of revealing female character designs, they’ve made changes to the game because of that very same western criticism.

“Recently there’s been a trend in games where if you put out a character that shows a lot of skin, later on you might have to make a lot of revisions, ‘although she’s erotic, there’s not a lot of skin showing’ is the feeling you get,” said Yasuda.

“In fact, it got a rating of C by CERO (Editor’s Note: Cero C is ages 15 or older),” Yasuda continued. He explained why the game’s spellcaster, Fiore, is wearing such a revealing outfit. “Fiore uses a lot of displayed crests on her skin to cast curses. That was part of her setting."

Finally, the developer confirmed they’ve slightly censored the game, in the form of Miki’s panties. You can view a comparison above, with the first image before the change, and the second image after the change.

“Recently, there’s been a lot of flak from overseas countries saying that if you put teens in ‘sexual’ underwear it’s not good,” said Kobayashi. “So we increased the amount of clothing.”

“How distressing (laughs),” Ogawa said in a follow up.

 

[Lex]

Uh oh