Nerdy Old Warriors

Okay, need some help understanding the Star Ocean series. This will be my first Star Ocean game (when I buy it). I am seriously disappointed in the reviews for WKC but really want a good RPG to play (yes, I will be buying FFXIII when it comes out).

So help a SO noob out. How is it different from FFXII gambit system or a standard turn based RPG?

Well, I played two previous installments of Star Ocean and I thought they were decently enjoyable. The combat system is almost purely action based in all installments. The two I played (PS1/PS2) had an attack button, "skill" button, and items/magic were something activated with the menu, which I can't remember if it paused combat or not. The most rpg-like was the "relationships" in the first one (you could go to a town as a group, or the group could separate and the main character could build relationships with who you chose) and item creation in the second one I played. I don't remember the names, but I do remember getting bored after awhile. For me, I prefer action games to be total freedom and rpg's to be more traditional, so the combat system was ok, but doing all that grinding gets boring when you keep fighting weakling monsters. The stories were always interesting, if not a little over-the-top and there were usually multiple endings with these games (a definite plus for me). I always did like giving any rpg a try, but I haven't been really into an rpg game since Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne. I won't be getting this one because my new philosophy is online component or I won't own it, with very few exceptions. This game looks awesome though, and would seem to be more fun with a Phantasy Star Online type of setup, but it wouldn't be Star Ocean otherwise.

forgive my ignorance in that this response may not make sense or i may say things that make no sense but here goes:

think final fantasy when you're on the main map walking around and you run into an enemy on your map...then it jumps into a 'fight mode' where you're basically in an arena with your party and the enemy/enemies are on the opposite side...it then 'begins' and immediately is completely action based. You can control one character at a time but can switch to whichever character you prefer. I would say it seems a bit like Kingdom Hearts in that aspect.

At least that's ^^ how I remember it when I played my last Star Ocean game on my ps2 (Star Ocean: Till The End of Time)

viewing youtube vids would help you better understand it i'm sure. Sorry if my description sounded retarded.

Ouch. You and so many like you are the reason every dev seems forced into making multiplayer on every new game...even when it isn't necessary. Please take no offense to this but I think people with this viewpoint could potentially miss out on some fantastic games simply because it doesn't have online??? Seems silly...but I'm kinda weird so..

case in point: Uncharted or Uncharted 2 - if U2 didn't have multiplayer it would still be one of my favorite games of all time. The online aspect did not sway me one way or the other.

@ V,

I wasn't offended at all, I agree that not everything needs a multiplayer, just for me, I'm only getting games that have it, unless I am really sure that I am getting a single player experience worth $60 (Uncharted 2 was great, but didn't rock my senses, it was what the last Indiana Jones movie should've been like). My feeling is that developers are aiming for games to be more like movies and while it's cool that scripts are much better than they used to be and that they use real actors to create scenes, I personally never had the desire to "play" movies, I just wanted better games. I wanted to be more involved in the shaping of the story as I play than simply watching things unfold. I always thought that was the point of having a controller in my hand. At the same time, I just enjoy playing with others more than by myself nowadays. Even when I was a kid, my buddies and I would get together and try to play a game all the way through as a group (like Castlevani II: Simon's Quest or Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past) if we weren't outside running amok. Sorry to off-topic.

Dragun, if you're wanting to be involved in the shaping of the story in a video game than you should probably check out Heavy Rain if you haven't already.

I understand your points. Point I was making was simply that a game doesn't need multiplayer to be great and there are sooo many people that seem to force devs to create a mp part to their game for no apparent reason. Especially if it takes their focus away from the campaign...

It's all good...back on topic: Star Ocean got a 7.5 (I think) on the xbox side of things and that seems a whole hell of a lot better than the scores White Knight Chronicles has gotten so I'm definitely springing for that one. Especially since I've like SO's previous installments.

My biggest concern about SO is that it is a port of a 360 game. I will wait and see how well the game is ported to the PS3.

I understand that Pyro. It wouldn't be the first time a port from 360 turned out to be complete crap.

Weird thou because they have this game listed as an exclusive and "Only on Playstation"

---TD

That's because on the 360 it was called "Star Ocean - The Last Hope" and on the PS3 it is called "Star Ocean - The Last Hope International". The International version is PS3 only (but from what I have read there is no difference between the 2 games).

Game came out today. Post your reviews please if you have it.

Anyone pick this up and play yet?

I'll be picking it up from Gamestop or Target on Friday. This last week has been crazy busy...my ps3 misses me...

I just picked this game up today. It will be a while before I can post a review of the game.

First Impression from playing about 2 hours last night...

I have never played a Star Ocean or a RPG with this style of combat technique. It is an action oriented RPG - meaning the battles are in real time but you can pause to go after items/spells. It is somewhat similiar to Dragon Ages and God of War. In Dragon Ages you can pull up your inventory to cast an unmapped spell or use a health item and that would pause the game while you are looking - same thing in Star Ocean. In God of War - you can combine your attacks by timing your swing so to speak. Same thing here. You start with a 3 swing combo but at the end if you time it right, you can add in a special 4 combo move - that is 7 hits before the enemy can respond. So you might be thinking - hell this game is a breeze, well maybe it would be for you but I am playing it on Normal and have already died 2. There is a learning curve on how to best use the combat system that I behind the curve on.

There are 4 different levels of game play -> normal is the second easiest, there are 2 more levels of hard for this game. The game is centered more around the combat than story. You can upgrade to different combos, etc... There is something called BEAT that you can help adjust how you are going to play - I don't really know much more about it.

AI - they are doing there job so far. Nobody that I have makes a good healer, we are all attackers. So not sure if there will be healer coming into the group or not.

Graphics - it is definitely a first generation PS3 game. Graphics are decent to slightly above PS2 levels. So far no slow down in framerate.

Sound - good

Talking - don't know. I switched on the Japanese voices with English subtitles just to be different. The original English voice actors weren't the best and could get annoying, plus the lip syncing was off. It is better with the Japanese voices.

Have a question for me about the game? Ask away. I will try to answer it.

I've got a good question: Do you like it?