Star Ocean The Last Hope
Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the fourth entry in the long-awaited continuation of the celebrated science fiction and fantasy RPG series. This prequel set during the aftermath of World War III combines sci-fi and fantasy elements spanning multiple planets and the vastness of space itself to recount the origins of the Star Ocean Universe. Exhilarating combat expands upon the franchise’s famous real-time battle system, introducing amazing graphics and next-generation visual effects.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars A great experience, if you accept it for what it is (A J-RPG).
I was a big fan of j-rpgs in my youth. In recent years however I have become a bit melancholy. This is not because J-rpgs have gotten worse. Put simply it is akin to loving a flavor of ice cream but getting sick of it after eating too much.
So when I say Star Ocean Last Hope is a great game and addicting to play that is a testament of quality. In truth I dreaded getting this game. I was afraid I’d get tired of it after playing it a mere 3 hours and put it on my shelf where it would hence forth collect the dusts of obscurity. Imagine my glee when this mishap did not happen!
Before I go into how great star ocean last hope is I figure I will take time to warn you of its’ shortcomings first. This game is guilty of having a blond idealistic youth as its’ main protagonist. Almost every stereotype you can think of that inhabits sci fi japanese anime settings makes an appearance. The voice acting at times is grating. Not because the voice actors/actresses are bad but because of the lines they are made to read.
If you disdain playfully rambuncious cute nekos , adorable little girls that wave magic wands, big breasted pointy eared milfs, stoic self sacrificing cyborg scientists, the typical childhood girl friend next door, naive feather winged angel babes that come along with the baggage of prophetic nightmares, long haired brooding scythe wielding bishi-boys, and the usual sibling rivalry established between two best friends avoid last hope at all costs. It is not trying to be radically different from other J-rpgs. If anything it is proud of being what it is. Still reading? Still think Last Hope holds merit? Good, because the worst it has to throw at you ends with this paragraph!
The most rewarding aspect of star ocean is its’ combat engine. When you wade into battle with enemies after charging them head first it’s go time! You will be running around the battle field, jumping, side stepping attacks, stringing together combos, and strategically taking cover so you can fire off your spells without being interrupted. The fights are very much in “real time” and to me the system is much like the Tales series. (Though fans of the Tales games claim it’s battle system is still better).
For a guy such as me tired of heroes getting in a perfect line to match their enemies on the other end of the court as if everyone is about to engage in a poetry slam fest or dance off this is a huge ray of sun shine. Combat is last hope is fast, furious, and in your face. It’s easy to switch off + take control of each character and whether you like long range attacks or up close attacks you’ll find someone that fits your style of play.
“Beats” are styles that give each protagonist different tactics and bonuses when facing their foes. You can also reconfigure everyone’s battle ai if a certain series of actions are making you come up short handed. Nothing about this is truly original but it works well and getting a varied number of “battle trophies” makes you feel a sense of accomplishment.
The story in Last Hope is engaging. It will keep you playing to see what happens next BUT also be aware it is not trying to be high-brow literature. Think about any favorite Sci Fi series you have watched. Not every episode blew your mind. Not every character stuck out as memorable. However you tolerated a few lags or annoyances knowing the series would “pick up” in season two or be handed off to a better writer. Last hope is this same roller coaster. The plummeting dips are worth tolerating to get to the exhilarating high points!
To get the most out of last hope there are a few things I’d advise.
1# When you get Bacchus immediatly go to Aeos + Lemuria to mine: Mining is essential for collecting gems and metals to make good stuff when you communicate with Welch who helps you from earth. It can be a pain to neglect this and have to back track later. It may even require switching cds. The moment I got Bacchus I re-visited Aeos and Lemuria to drill for resources.
2# Have Reimi harvest: Whenever you get a chance have Reimi harvest plants and vegetables. Whereas mining is essential to create weapons and armor “plants” are used in recipes to make awesome potions and foods that replenish magic,restore health, and cure ailments.
3# Be balanced upgrading your skills: Do not just pump your combat abilities. Occasionally put points into things such as cooking,alchemy, artistry, robotics, and smithing. These trades aid you when creating new artifacts. Sometimes what you make is better than the merchandise offered in stores.
4# Switch out characters in your idea groups: When you talk to Welch you create teams to invent. Try switching off people in each team until the ideas keep flowing.
5# Do not sleep through a whole voyage…Socialize!: Right before you go to a new planet you have “free time” on your ship. Instead of sleeping until arrival see if your friends and crew mates have interesting things to say. These events sometimes occur after you take a short nap. Depending on how you respond to people will gradually effect the story.
6# It’s a Japanese RPG….embrace it, don’t be hating!: Lymle says “kay” a lot and some angst ridden people hate her for that reason alone. I find this ridiculous considering she has a decent back story, lovable personality, and is a useful magic user. Look, even in real life our friends have little annoying habits or weird quirks. It’s true J-Rpgs capitalize on “cute” “odd” or “sexy time” at every opportunity. While these exaggerations of certain themes can be awkward also remember such things were done in our favorite J-rpgs in the past too. (Even Chrono trigger had it’s dose of perverted erotic innuendo + annoying hero habits) If you knit pick enough you’ll find “the bad” in every thing. Instead, weigh everything fairly and acknowledge the good as well.
Pros and cons
+Engaging story set after World War 3 in which mankind is forced to reach out to the stars.
+Is the prequel to the first Star Ocean. Fans of the series will get a lot of service!
+Fun exciting combat
+ Environments are interesting to explore. Area puzzles are not too hard to figure out. (For the most part)
+Crafting system is easy to understand.
+Good music
+Characters become more and more likable as you learn about them.
+Socializing is encouraged between planet jumping
+Boss fights are challenging but rarely escalate to being frustrating.
Cons
-Every anime stereotype you can imagine rears its’ head screaming. Nothing is subtle. This IS a J-RPG.
- At first many of the protagonists seem to come from cookie cutter character molds and they sometimes speak annoying dialogue.
-It’s nice to be able to “dash around” enemies the only problem is there are so many of them in certain scenarios “escape” is not always an option.
-Expect to level grind….a lot.
-If you want to make the best objects and do certain side quests back tracking and cd switching become annoying obstacles.
Pro or con?
+/- Overall the graphics look beautiful but the faces of some of the characters look as if the designers struggled between “anime” and “semi realism” to such a large degree the end results appear a bit off somehow.
+/- Edge Maverick is a bright eyed optimist towards the beginning of the story but a mishap that happens in an alternate dimension makes him mopey for awhile. At least he eventually gets the spring back in his step later on. Personally for me it was nice to see a main protagonist express a large range of emotions. Edge is definetely a cut deeper than Cloud or the typical “silent hero” types. I suppose I can forgive him for being “emo”. If I felt responsible for screwing up a whole civilization I would likely act much the same. (And hey, he does move on)
+/- Some have said “blind siding” is difficult. This is a combat manuever in which you charge up, jump towards an enemy’s weak spot, and do more damage by exploiting their vulnerability. I am actually able to do it once or twice per battle but admittedly when you are charging up it leaves you open to attacks. Perhaps this aspect of combat could have been done better but considering all variables it’s still a nice feature.
Rent/buy? This is up to you. If you love J-rpgs and don’t mind some lighthearted Saturday morning cartoon fluff mixed with a dash of melodrama and over epic cheese you should bite into this juicy morsel asap. However if you are not big on the whole “Japanese RPG” phenomenon give it a pass and conserve your cash.
4 Stars It has its ups and downs
Great game but a little slow to begin telling the story proper. I had a great deal of fun with this game anyway. I was a huge fan of Star Ocean 2 and the next ones have not lived up to that however. Star Ocean 4 was no exception. The gameplay is still tight as ever and you will clock in at least 40-60 hours before you finish the game depending on if you side quest a lot like me or not 
3 Stars One thing or another…
It’s been a long time since I wrote a review, but after 300 hours of gameplay, I thought I would make a few points. Star Ocean is a game that, with slightly better writing and development could have been one of the best games of the decade. But it consistenly falls short.
Let’s take a bit of a look.
The game is graphically beautiful. Full appreciation is due to the artists and animators. Not just for wandering around the vast multiworld universe that is the setting for the game, but fight animation is also lovingly detailed. Everything is great except for facial expressions. The characters are usually deadpan, and Reimi has a distant stare that is positively chilling.
The story is intricate. Edge and Reimi start out on Earth’s attempt to find a colonizable world in order to save the human race from the ruin of a war torn planet. They meet a number of different alien races enlist characters (you wind up playing 4 out of a set of eight characters). Eventually they meet more villanous aliens, uncover a plot to end the universe and have to defeat an evil mastermind. Initially the game is linear, but gradually non-linear elements (such as quests) are introduced and you will do a lot of planet hopping. To some degree there’s too much story. The worst example is the infinitely long closing sequence, which is unavoidabe and unstoppable.
Interplayer relationships are interesting as the characters are all quite different. Acting, however, is spotty. The worst example here is the crisis Edge goes through when his actions result in the destruction of a planet. Not his fault, but he spends endless hours whining and beating on himself (massively overacted) before he gets back on track
Gameplay itself is the real problem. The characters are irritatingly difficult to steer, and the precise position needed to accomplish something can be quite elusive. This can get on your nerves. For all the complicated battle options most battles are repetitious and frankly, the bosses are too easy. Or so they are until suddenly they get way to0 hard.
Battle trophy hunting is an important part of character building since you need enough trophies to remove the experience cap and get more than a small handful of things to say while killing mushrooms. Some of these are a matter of pure luck(kill an opponent with exactly the right anount of damage)or really aren’t much of a challenge (run away 20 times). None of the other collectables are that hard to get, but they are easy to miss if you don’t know that some place is about to be destroyed forever. Which means you will have to play the game at least twice to get the accomplishments. And while I don’t mind playing the hack and slash endgame for hours on end, the last thing I want to do is live through Edge’s tantrums again.
I have a number of other grumbles, but no doubt you have already figured out that this is a very playable game that simply doesn’t live up to its potential. It is a pleasant pass time though so I would recommend it anyway as a good value for the money.
4 Stars A game worthy of a second, third or even 4th round
So after finishing the game (Galaxy difficulty) here are my reactions of the game. I have to say, I haven’t played a game non-stop whenever I have free time ever since Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria. As expected of Tri-Ace, they’ve kept the usual active battle system that made it shine as a JRPG and then some.
- Graphics are superb, they’ve put a lot of detail on everything that you’ll never notice them unless you really move the camera up close. Pretty good use of the Unreal engine.
- Music is pretty much the same as every SO scores before it, I’m just glad that the battle music changes on location/event/bosses since it gets tiresome to hear the same one over and over again. You can always turn the music off and listen to your own if you want especially if you’re doing a 2nd run of the game.
- Storyline is epic where the main character and his friends are given/pushed the task of saving the Universe, not giving any spoilers LOL. So what if the story progressed slow or did it? I didn’t really noticed it that much. In my point of view, this is done just so the player gets him/herself acquianted with the characters as well as what they can do in battle. I’m saying this now because once you start Universe or even Chaos you’ll be paying more attention to them more than ever.
- Mechanics is a bit “iffy” <- LOL, you can play the game on 1080p but expect a lot of slowdowns and certain point freezes that you as a player don't want to experience especially if you're 3/4 of the way (i.e. Miga Insect Warren area) and it just stops (happened 3 times)... all those hard earned points and treasures lost... So I kept it to 720p and everything went fine after that. This takes me to save points... they're hard to come by especially if you're the "I just want to keep going and not stop to get provisions or make them before setting off" person... you'll hate this (ROFL) but this shouldn't cause you not to play this game, it just teaches you to be more prudent and make good use of the bonus board <- very important in later difficulties. I also wasn't impressed with the disc swapping taking place when visiting previous planets... they should make a patch where if you installed all three discs in your HDD you should only need DISC 1 or 3 but that is not the case..... This is the only one that really annoyed me since I had to do a lot of back tracking to gather materials for special items. I have no problems standing up and swapping discs since I'm proud to say I'm an above average fit person but when it comes to gaming, simple disturbances such as this affect the playing experience. And oh for those people complaining why their team AI is lackluster is because they dont configure their characters enough assigning them what skills they can and cannot use... so whenever the AI is assessing the situation it chooses the best options but if you gave him/her too much to choose from their reaction becomes slow... I love my healer(s) since I can just go into the fray and not worry (even the final boss)... too much.
I’m currently trying out Universe difficulty so I can unlock the Chaos challenge since this is the meat of the package and I love battles that most people call ridiculuous… Unfortunately, I heard that The Last Hope is being ported to the PS3 since this game is actually a timed exclusive… I would like to get the PS3 version if it does come out just so I can avoid the disc swapping and hopefully they include the original Japanese voice and then some. So for now I might have to take a break from Universe and see if the news are real…..
But if you’re the type who just wants to play the game just for fun then think no further and get this game for the 360 you will not be disappointed. But in the future you decide that you’d want more, then I suggest verify, if its real then wait and purchase the PS3 version just for convenience purposes LOL happy gaming!!!
4 Stars skip the cutscenes and it’s good
I picked this up because I usually love Square Enix games. I quickly realized that the cutscenes and the voice acting are absolute balls. I mean it’s so bad that you can’t really watch it without wanting to gouge your eyes out and fill your ears with cement. The good thing is that these scenes can easily be skipped by pressing start, and you are given a written synopsis of what you just skipped. This is great, IMHO, and more games should implement something like it.
Other than that, the game is awesome in every way.
Oh except the camera kinda sucks. And there should be something in between walking at a snails pace and running. How about jogging? Would it be too much to have my character jog? I don’t think so.
this concludes my review.
Still, it has a memory leak somewhere and locks up randomly. A good idea is to stop every so often and reboot.
