NOW PLAYING - Star Ocean Last Hope International

NOW PLAYING – Star Ocean Last Hope International

With all the excitement over Ni No Kuni, I wanted to write about my experience with another great JRPG – Star Ocean Last Hope International, a non-Final Fantasy offering from Square-Enix.  Although it was released back in 2010, I only recently picked it up when I saw it for a good price at GameStop.

I’m currently on my second playthrough, and I’m still thoroughly enjoying every minute of it.  The first time, I was entranced by the storyline.  Although a bit generic, the premise of taking off into space and discovering new worlds hooked me pretty quickly.  And while the evil force behind the scenes has a pretty standard villainous desire, the specifics behind it are intriguing. The main characters have a good amount of depth and the interactions between them are both entertaining and poignant.

The cast of Star Ocean Last Hope.

Thankfully, if you played the game before, you can skip through the sometimes lengthy cut scenes and get right to the action.  The real-time battle system is well designed and uses some interesting mechanics.  Blindsiding is probably one of the most unique features, allowing you to dash behind your enemy and attack for critical damage.  Chain combos – the execution of multiple characters’ special techniques – are awesome to behold and extremely damaging.  The Bonus Board – a meter of sorts that is filled by performing different feats in battle – provides bonuses when you conquer your foes in the form of extra experience, Fol (the money of Star Ocean), SP (used to build up your characters’ skills), or partial restoration of HP and MP.

Little girl Lymle can kick some major butt!

Each character has their own weapon types, special techniques, symbols (i.e. magic spells), and field skills (things like Harvesting and Mining that allow you to access different resource points, or Crafting and Alchemy that assist in Item Creation), giving each one a pretty unique playstyle and role.

The game itself is pretty lengthy, and there’s a lot to see and do.  Item Creation gives you access to additional items and equipment for your party, granted you “invent” the proper recipes and have the right materials.  Synthesis gives you more customization options, allowing you to fuse materials to your weapons and armor to make them stronger and grant additional abilities.  An extensive Collection is available that keeps track of all kinds of game data. Particularly important is your monster data, which you can actually use to create unique artifacts from Monster Gems.

There are a few secrets to be found too, including special endings for each character that may or may not appear depending on your choices throughout the game, and hidden dungeons and bosses that only appear on your second playthrough (hence why I’m going through it again).  There are even difficulty levels that can be selected when starting a new file for those who want more of a challenge throughout the experience.

As for as JRPGs go, Star Ocean’s overall structure is pretty familiar, but the well designed battle system and long list of things to do has kept me coming back for more.  My one complaint?  Like many classic JRPGs, saving can only be done at specific save points, and this game does a particularly poor job at placement, sometimes forcing you to play through segments that may take hours until you get to the next one.  And yes, I’ve been about an hour into a dungeon when my game froze.  On several occasions.  GRRR…

Ominous, isn't it?

Other than that, if you love JRPGs, be sure to check out Star Ocean.  Have you played this great game, too?  What’s most memorable to you about it?