Gamertell

Title: Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Price: $59.99
System: Xbox 360
Release Date: February 24, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Square Enix (Tri-Ace)
ESRB Rating: Teen
Pros: Engaging storyline, endearing characters, frantic yet fun battle system, item creation is more precise, private actions are amusing, able to freely engage enemies at will.
Cons: Long cutscenes, lip-syncing is non-existent, private actions primarily limited to one area, forced to walk in shops/rest areas, in-game character models may be a bit too cartoonish for some, lack of save points, tortuously long dungeons.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb sideways; 89/100; B+; ***1/2 out of five.

Welcome to the beginning

Star Ocean: The Last Hope(SOTLH) is the latest installation to the Star Ocean franchise and serves as the prequel to the entire series of games that have been released so far. Players are thrust into a not so distant future where the planet Earth we know and love is no longer able to sustain life on its surface thanks to the mass destruction resulting from World War III. Earthlings now have no other choice but to rely on the ambitions of the Space Reconnaissance Force (SRF) and must abandon their beloved blue planet for the great star ocean in search of another terrain capable of sustaining life.

The main protagonist is 20-year-old Edge Maverick, a SRF volunteer with a strong sense of justice who sometimes acts recklessly when faced with critical decisions. Nevertheless, he is honest and sincere when it comes to protecting those he cares about. Edge is joined on his excursions by his childhood friend, Reimi. Like Edge, she is a SRF volunteer, however her personality is relatively composed and she is very level-headed when it comes to making important situations. During their galactic travels, they meet a vivid cast of characters that range from a powerful lolita who is able to summon a demonic dog-beast named Cerberus to an earnest scientist who escaped death by willfully transforming his human body into that of a cyborg.

In With the New

Familiar attributes such as skill points, private actions, character skills, and real-time battle controls return to this installment. More importantly, though, are the slew of new techniques that are sure to be exciting for veteran fans of Star Ocean games as well as newcomers alike.

Command Skills Unlike the previous games, players can utilize character specific command skills while traversing the massive terrain of each world. Successful harvesting leads to the acquisition of rare materials needed in item creation as well as for the completion of certain sub-quests. Examples of character specific command skills are Edge’s ability to “Dash” (allowing players to run past enemies for a very short period of time) ,Reimi’s ability to “Harvest” (enables the collection of plants and herbs), and Bacchus’ ability to “Mine” (acquiring precious stones and metals from crevaces in the land).

Rush Mode: During battle, this bar will continue to increase when characters sustain or inflict damage. When in this elevated mode, characters are able to receive less damage and deliver more explosive hits upon enemies.

Battle Enhancement Attribute Type (BEAT) System: Enables players to choose each active team member’s preferred fighting styles: BEAT Strike (offense), BEAT Neutral (no emphasis), and BEAT Burst (defense and magic). Through battles, each BEAT type is leveled up and is capable of endowing more powerful attributes to its intended user.

Real Time Member Change System: Allows players to instantly switch between active characters in battle.

Bonus Board: Each piece on this board can filled with a colored jewel that represents bonuses. Depending on how you defeat an enemy determines what type of jewel will be added to the board. However, this very board can be broken if the player’s lead character sustains too many critical hits, but of course, can be rebuilt through subsequent enemy encounters. An easy way to avoid this outcome would to utilize the real time member change system to instantly switch from one character who is under fire to another who is at a safe distance from a barrage of enemies.

• Blue - One jewel awards an extra 10% to experience points.
• Yellow - One jewel increases the amount of money given by 10%.
• Pink - One jewel awards 1% healing point to the party when battle ends and gameplay returns to field.
• Green - One jewel nets the party 1 Skill Point (SP), to be used in upgrading the BEAT ranks or skill levels.

Intermissions That Last a Mile

Players familiar with the Xenosaga trilogy will remember well the copious amount of lengthy cutscenes throughout all the games. Well, if you’re a fan of FMV, then SOTLH will definitely not disappoint you. The game starts with an introductory movie establishing the premise of the game that runs for nearly 45 minutes. I admit that most of these scenes are integral to the progression of the story but I would feel less antsy in my seat if they shaved off something around 10 minutes from each movie. I enjoy playing my games, not watching them.

There was pretty much no effort that went into the voice-syncing. When characters converse during FMVs, it’s comparable to those horribly dubbed black and white Godzilla movies from Japan. It’s quite laughable, actually, and undeniably unforgivable (a la Square Enix’s previous RPG release on the Xbox 360 Infinite Undiscovery).

Also, it’s a shame that the in-game character models look a bit too cartoonish and unfortunately do not resemble their more realistic looking character portraits. Square Enix has been known for the quality and precision of their character models in regards to FMVs and so far, they’ve been letting us down.

Glutton for Punishment

Now, it’s true that the power of the Xbox 360 allows games to be developed with a vast potential for enormous yet intricately detailed levels. However, in SOTLH, this turns out to be a double-edged sword.  While the topography is definitely bigger than that of any other seen before in the SO series, the dungeons are much too long for any sane individual to have to struggle through. Quite often in the game, just as you think you’ve reached the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel after navigating enemy-ridden corridor after corridor for nearly an hour, the game tosses you into yet another dungeon packed with, yes, more enemies and puzzles to boot.

Also, let’s not forget that save points are stingily placed around the map and you do not have the privilege to save anywhere you wish. The level layouts and the lack of save points both seem a tad bit sadistic to me, but then again, if you’re a masochist, you might just find some pleasure in this sort of torture.

Still a Frontier Worth Exploring

In the end, if you are a Star Ocean fan, I have no doubt that you will be playing this if just to experience the entirety of the Star Ocean universe storyline. Now, is this the best installment in the series? No. Is it better than most of the other RPGs available now on the Xbox 360? Yes.

And, as I mentioned before, this game’s apparent sadistic streak is nothing to laugh at and should most definitely not be taken lightly. However, there is something about this game that entices me to keep pushing forward that could be compared to the call of cigarettes to a smoker who’s trying to quit cold turkey. It’s just something that’s hard to get out of your system once you’ve taken it up.

Site [Star Ocean: The Last Hope]