Review | Star Ocean: The Last Hope
//Following suit
In the tradition of the genre, Star Ocean: The Last Hope eschews a save-anywhere feature in favour of save points. The result is a game that’s difficult to play casually, especially as such points only tend to be available before and after large sections or boss fights. Like the scripted sequences, the save points are not spread out through the game; quite often, in fact, you’ll find two of them redundantly next to each other, having passed none in the previous hour.
Moving away from the more traditional JRPG combat mechanics, Star Ocean: The Last Hope uses a real-time system that works very well, allowing players to choose their fights and strategically tackle them. After initially engaging enemies, you’re warped to a combat arena where you and your party of three will fight. Your party will fight automatically, controlled by the AI, using tactics predetermined by yourself out of combat. You have full control of the leader, with the ability to switch the characters at will.
The AI does a great job of controlling your characters, and the option to instantly switch between each one means you’re always there to unleash their full potential with items and special abilities. The combat provides a tactical experience that is easy to use and difficult to master, and in a genre where combat is one of the main aspects of the game, its good to see Tri-Ace creating a system that works so well. The only real problem is the targeting system, which is difficult to control. However, if you stop fighting the targeting and just go with it then combat proves to be smooth and manageable.
Less so are the movement and camera controls, especially when exploring a small or indoor area. The camera likes to put up a fight and requires a lot of fiddling, while movement is restricted by the ability to only walk slowly or run at full pelt. It all makes accurate control difficult, and even when you master it, dodging some enemies to can still prove difficult due to a short draw distance. This, however, only seems to affect the roaming enemies, strongly suggesting that it is simply a way of allowing your enemies to respawn and to try and force you to battle more, and due to the valuable experience and enjoyable combat, this potential trick to encourage more encounters is therefore not without its benefits.
Whether the enemy draw distance is a problem or a design choice, the overall presentation is excellent. Colours are bright and varied, and characters and environments are marvellously detailed while maintaining a smooth frame rate. It’s a visually busy game, bombarding your senses perhaps a little too much at times, but the variety of locations and characters is a display of great design and graphical competence.
In the face of the genre’s currently limited appeal, Star Ocean: The Last Hope remains traditional despite the sci-fi theme. It’s sure fill a gap in the hearts of JRPG fans – but only for now. The Last Hope is a competent RPG with solid combat and an intriguing story, but it lacks the innovation or distinctive style to truly outshine other titles. Worthy of your time, but brighter stars fill the night sky.
7/10
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