This is Star Ocean Sessions, where I’ll be playing through, and creating content for all the games in the series. Let’s start with Star Ocean 1: First Departure R, released for the PS4 and Switch, in 2019.
Now, Star ocean is a very long running RPG series, running for over 25 years, but the best part is, it’s still going, with ‘Star Ocean: The Divine Force’ set for release later this year.
So what’s new with First Departure R? We have new character art for their portraits, an option for Japanese voice acting, and some changes to the difficulty, but for the most part, it’s the same experience as First Departure on the PSP.
I’m looking forward diving into this series once again, and particularly playing the later titles that I haven’t play before. Let’s get into it!
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.: Star Ocean First Departure R Game details:.
Release Date: December, 2019 (SNES: 1996)
Platforms: PS4, Switch
Reviewed on: PS4
Sub-genre: JRPG
Developer: Tri-Ace
Publisher: Square Enix
#StarOcean #JRPG #SquareEnix
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I still want to know what this guy's accent is.
so did you get after credits scene that leads into the awesome sequel
I loved the Star Ocean series but i don't think i could replay these earlier titles. The old rpg way of having to figure out where to go on your own, without quest markers, and backtracking is too tedious for me today. lol
Literally started this 4 days ago
Thrilled to see you cover this series. Thank you so much for putting the time in to bring me this entertainment!
Star Ocean for me is very hit or miss. 1 is an OKAY game but clearly antiquated and I agree completely with your criticisms outlined in this video (backtracking, needing a guide). Unfortunately the entire series is guilty of these gaming sins and lacks fast travel, which exasperates the already excessive backtracking.
2 and 3 are both in my personal top 20 favorite video games of all time. 3 in particular holds a special place in my heart, though it’s still super guilty of the flaws we discussed above.
4 I absolutely hated and felt actively miserable playing. It also felt like I could play for an hour without a save point which is just bad design and super frustrating, especially if you’re tight on time irl or you happen to die.
5 didn’t actively make me want to touchdown slam my controller the way 4 did and it’s plenty modern but it just isn’t a very good game. It’s bland, forgettable, still has loads of backtracking and was an overall mediocre at best disappointment.
Overall, very hit or miss series for me and one I’m very excited to see your objective, well-articulated thoughts on over the coming months. Thanks again for doing this series!
I personally love this series, but I think you were fair with this one. Even if some things that did bother you did not bother me. 5 is the only game in the series that disappointed me. SO3 and SO4 are pretty controversial, some people like them and some dont.
When did we become dependant on walkthroughs? It's so much more satisfying playing without one.
I LOVE the Star Ocean series! There is just something about the combination of fantasy and sci-fi that feels wholly unique, despite the (intentionally?) obvious Star Trek inspirations. And Sakuraba's music… still remember the first time playing SO2 as a kid and feeling awe as the wild yet grandiose music swept over me. That being said, I never got the chance to try some of the deeper features, other endings, or even SO1 itself. Still in my backlog. This review makes me just a hair less impatient. But some day, I'm going to MAKE time for all of them!
I also remember being only to hold up to lile 20 max of each item. I could be off on that but it came to mind.
Ah, yes. Star Ocean where if you recruit Cyuss you basically fuck up Ioshua's life.
I played the PSP version of the game, and enjoyed it for the most part – however the PA system was pretty bare compared to what the second game gives you. In that game, PAs can involve events and NPCs within the towns, rather than just talking to your own party members only.
Maybe Ilia was using Avenging Fist so much because she was sick of the dog enemies lifting their leg and urinating on her and the rest of the party as their attack.
Anyway, nice review. Looking forward to seeing what you think of the sequel.
Nice review as always. Star Ocean 1 is a lil bland compared to the 2nd and 3rd entries in the series but I'll always adore that graphical aesthetic it gets from SO 2
I haven't played either of the remakes yet but I cannot imagine myself NOT picking up Cyuss.
You'll probably have the same complaints with Star Ocean 2. First Departure R is just a port of the 2009 PSP game, which was a remake of the first game using the 1998 SO2 engine. It uses the exact same skill and crafting system, and the exact same combat.
I was really disappointed they went with a lazy port of a 10-year-old PSP game when they had so many beautiful character models, animations, and background assets already done in Star Ocean Anamnesis that could have been perfect for a high quality 3D remake.
I’m curious but was there any mention about the events in Star Ocean 4 in this game? I do want to get into this series but I really want to play the games chronologically. For anyone that has played all these, is there any point to doing that? Do these games build on each other in some way?
This is a fantastic idea. Can't wait for the rest of the videos!! My big criticism for the series is also that you get locked out of getting characters for recruiting others, and you don't even realize you are making a choice.
Also how much beer did you drink playing this!? There's quite a lot of stoppage time..
I have no idea how you needed a guide to tell you what to do next when the characters state the current objective at the end of almost every PA you do
Great review! I really enjoyed this game on my first playthrough. I did not use the item crafting at all because I did not know how to use it.. the '??' items I picked up were useless to me and I just chugged through the game, not a very fun experience. The characters, world, and classic beatem up style combat system is what kept me going. The 70% rating is very accurate for this title. I'm looking forward to the other Star Ocean reviews!
"Avenging fist" lol now i miss it :'(. loved this game!
Funny, I played Star Ocean 1 a couple years ago and don't recall having any particular problems getting through it without a guide. I think I looked something up once or twice, but nothing excessive.
I'm playing both this on my PS4 (second playthrough) and I'm glad you highlighted all these points in this video. FDR is a fun but super-flawed JRPG.
While there's a lot of great things about this game, the skill system, the talents, the PAs, etc. There's still a ton of things wrong, backtracking, random battles, too guide-heavy etc.
This remaster could've fix some of that but instead they do the bare minimum.
Case & point, Saga Frontier got a remaster and they made a ton of changes for the better (including balancing), like inventory management, event logs, and even adding unused story content.
This remaster is an overall underwhelming port with only a few minor additions and really sums up how Square Enix cares about the Star Ocean series.
I'm not gonna lie. I thought this game was hard.. but easy if you use Roddick alone due to exp being more if you're alone
This is on sale on psn atm i just picked it up great review its spot on and on yeah indeed Ilia drives you crazy LMAO i'm enjoying it for what it is but yea its very cryptic don't forget what is going on or you defo gotta look up whats next.
I made the same mistake with Cyuss. I actually restarted the game after I realized that recruiting Cyuss would prevent me from getting my preferred final party with Phia, Pericci, Mavelle. That required me recruiting Ashlay instead of Cyuss. Fortunately, I realized it shortly after recruiting him, so it was only a few hours lost.
I thought experiencing grinding was harder in SO1 than SO2. Not that you need to, but I kinda wanted to get level 255 like I did in SO1. But, the exp gains were nowhere near what they were in SO2, particularly once you get the Silver Trumpet. It was not that time consuming to grind up to 255 fighting Iseria Queen and popping Experience Cards. Not so in SO1.
Also, I loved SO1's music. I thought the updated music for FD/FDR was great. Much better than what I heard of the SNES version.
I feel like Ilia would get along pretty well with those soldiers from Xenoblade 2. XD Imagine her in a fight with them.
I've recently been trying to get into the series but the fact that a large part of the games' contents are missable and obtose to the point of being guide dependant is really killing it for me. Is this something that changes in later entries?