18.10.2012

Out of all the console rpg's of this generation, Tri-ace has been one of the the only developers to actually get something right and Star Ocean The Last Hope is a great example as to what a next gen rpg can do. The artwork and the detail of this game is impressive and it turns shell shaded graphics into something new giving Star Ocean The Last Hope a great advantage in terms of appearance and presentation. but what does this matter in the long run if the game is bad?For starters i would really like to touch on the presentation some more, this game is beautiful for an rpg, not the best but for it's time it's up there. Star Ocean The Last hope brings colour back into gaming again whilst keeping it's graphics top notch,something developers need to keep in mind. Anyways enough of that time to get to the bread and butter of the game.The storyline is tolerable at least for me, but for most it can become quite irritating, prepare for some bad English dubs here and some anime cliché's though it's not all that bad really though it's nothing special, if you can put up with the dubs it's fine, you can even skip the scenes if you want to and many of the most obnoxious scenes aren't part of the main story anyways as they are optional events. The game starts off fine you start off with the main protagonist Edge Maverick who at first despite his cliché appearance is a likeable character however in a certain scene (if you've played the game you will know what scene I'm talking about) his personality is altered dramatically, so dramatically that it really doesn't count towards character development and ends up being a game breaker for some but he gets over it and the game moves on as if nothing has happened. As for the other characters, they range from being down right annoying to boring yet intellectual characters with little to no personality (one of which has no emotions whatsoever but it's to do with his character) and the generic anime bad ass character everyone loves. As long as you can put up with the obnoxious cast of characters and a story which could have been better then you should keep reading this review.Star Ocean The Last Hope is filled with content that can last a while, in fact it can last years if you're compulsive with hundreds of battle trophy's to collect and bonus dungeons with challenging bosses. Even if you didn't enjoy the main game the end game is still enjoyable to every console rpg fan.Character development is not as vast as the other games in the series but still provides a great amount of options to manage your characters. The BEAT system allows you to develop your character in one of three different styles, as well as that you can also develop skills manually like in the previous games. The item creation is back and unlike the previous games in the series it functions more like a conventional crafting system combined with elements of Star Ocean Till The End Of Time's invention system though instead of spending fol (main currency) to invent items you can spend sp which is surprisingly easier to acquire than it was to acquire fol in the previous game and items are easier to invent meaning less stress for the player. You use raw materials to create items which adds more exploration value to the game as opposed to the other star ocean games which require a single raw item to make a random item etc, you will be spending a lot of time on item creation especially in the end game but it is not compulsory unlike star ocean till the end of time.The battle system is arguably the best battle system in the Star Ocean series to date, whist many prefer Star Ocean Till The End Of Time's battle system, Star Ocean The Last Hope has much smoother combat mechanics which are easy to learn and hard to master unlike Star Ocean Till The End Of Time which is the complete opposite, once you learn the combat and get used to the controls the game becomes a spam fest. Now Star Ocean The Last Hope removes this with the rush gauge though some might argue that it is possible to charge the rush gauge over and over to win (I'll admit i did it once) it's not that easy and i know that because i only just managed to win with it with no resurrection items and against a boss that 1 hit ko's everyone in seconds (don't worry this is one of the optional bosses) and by that time you have such a wide variety of moves that rush combo spamming has a great effect but it useless against the super bosses.Regardless the rush gauge enhances the game play making it so that you cannot repeatedly button mash to win easily as with each attack you fill up the gauge till it get's full and when it fills the enemy won't stagger so they will come for you no matter how many attacks you throw at them, put it this way, when a boss gets in rush mode, get ready to run. The hardest boss in the game has an infinite rush gauge near the end of the battle so you can't rely on just running away you have to think strategically to win and this is where blindsides and rush combo's come in to counter this.Blindsides evade enemy attacks and leave them open for critical hit attacks which can really leave a mark whereas rush combo's allow you to perform special moves freely without fear of being hit mid combo which can be very useful towards the end of the game, my only problem with the combat is blindside counters, i just don't like the way they implemented them and I'd rather have the option of evading away from their counter than being automatically be hit and stunned, you can double blindside though but that sometimes makes it too easy though many times bosses will aoe counter you which screws blindsides over entirely, fortunately the game allows you to automatically blindside a foe whether or not they can counter or not by dodging just before they attack which adds a risk factor to the game. Aside from that Star Ocean The Last Hope plays like all of the Star Ocean games preceding Till The End Of Time with special moves accessible with a press of a button, you can even stack up to three of them per button this time round too.The game also has a bonus board which awards you with bonus xp/hp-mp recovery/sp/fol based on your overall battle performance. It would have been nice if the rewards were randomized like Star Ocean Till The End Of Time instead of trying to repeatedly get critical hits for the exp bonus but oh well. The bonus board resets after you get hit by a critical hit/run away/die/quit the game so you can get more bonuses as there is a limit to the number of bonuses you can get.The soundtrack of the game is great, i mean it's Motoi Sakuraba's work so of course it's great, it's not his best work but it's great nonetheless and it contributes a lot towards the presentation of the game.So basically if you want another great content filled rpg to bite your teeth into, look no further, in terms of content this is one of the best rpg's on the Xbox 360 but if you want an rpg with a deep storyline I'd recommend you play something else like Lost Odyssey instead.-----------------------------Plot/story: 7.0Presentation 9.0Graphics: 9.0Music: 9.3Gameplay: 9.5Lifespan: 9.7Re playability: 8.8-----------------------------Overall score: 8.7-----------------------------If you are bored and have plenty of time on your hands and tolerate the obnoxious dubs and poor script buy this game.If you are not sure or want to try it then rent it but i strongly recommend you buy the game as the price is fairly low now.-----------------------------

25.7.2009

story 4/5graphics - HD 4/5, normal TV's - 3/5voice acting 2/5battle system 4/5STORYfirst off I'm gonna say that this is a big improvement story wise compared to the last star ocean game (3 - till the end of time), as the previous one got confusing towards the end of the game and alot of areas had to be revisited in order to advance the story - which got boring. In this one you only have to backtrack if you want some chests you couldn't open before, or some optional quests. The story is compelling as well as not being overly complicated, although the voice acting is terrible at times, and kind of ruins the moment during some of the game story(there's a scene at the end that will make you cringe).but there is an option in the menu to turn them off if this would bother you. :PGRAPHICSThe graphics in this game are nice - lush environments and the characters look good - although the robotic mouth moments can be weird, i guess its the best they can do with current technology lol.People who use non digital/HD TV's might have a bit of trouble reading the texts and noticing the difference between black and white, as i did. although this is normal on most new 360 games - but these games are designed for HD so not much you can do. the game again, looks good on a HD TV.BATTLE SYSTEMI liked the system they used in this game,although its pretty much the same as previous games in the series, in this one you can hold down b and do a blind slide attack, which makes the character slide behind the enemy and always do a critical strike. one major let-down for the battle system, is that very little customisation is allowed as to how the other characters act. this is pretty annoying as if you want a character to concentrate on healing symbology, all you can select is "attack with full force!" and don't do anything, ETC. So you either have to hope to god they use healing symbology, or do it manually through the menu. Since this is a SquareEnix game, you would have thought they would have used something like the gambit system they used in FF12. SO OVERALL in terms of the fights, you don't get to decide much. which is disappointing. i have still given this area a high grade because despite this, it is enjoyable because of the well developed controllable aspect of the fight.OVERVIEWDespite its faults, the game was really good. IMO a worthy 50-60 hours of my time spent. I'm just glad there's finally a new game out that goes for longer than 1hour *cough* the Wii * cough*. Some of the areas in the game are also rather large - so investing in a guide might be a good idea if you have trouble keeping track of where your going. I bought the official guide and it also gives handy tips on the item creation that's available in the game.ALSO after you finish this, go buy Tales of Vesperia, awesome RPG.

11.6.2009

Star Ocean, The Last Hope is the next game to be released in the series, but is actually a prequel set before the first Star Ocean game. The game opens with World War 3, a war which damaged the earth to the point where its civilians had no choice but to explore the universe for other worlds to inhabit. Thus the game opens with Edge, a man on one of four ships which are sent to look for new worlds, however, something goes wrong and the game starts to develop from that point onwards.The first thing I would like to say is that the cast is mediocre. Edge is a reasonable person but he just doesn't have the charisma that the main character really needs. Some of the other characters can also be a little irritating like Lymle,a little girl who pretty much says "kay" pretty much all the time. Thankfully, characters like Reimi with her pleasent temperament actually make it worth playing.Now the graphics are brilliant. Some of the opening worlds are stunningly detailed, but perhaps not quite what some 360 owners are used to. Some of the ships are a little bland i.e. just corridor after corridor, but this is forgivable. Characters and enemies are varied and have more than enough detail. Facial animations are pretty good too. So graphics aren't an issue.Again the game continues as an action based RPG meaning you can control a character in real time to fight battles. You can fight with any character simply by pressing one of the shoulder buttons and this is pretty good due to the varied styles of the characters using the new BEAT system. Some characters are fast, up close characters, others are slow and cast magic from a difference, but the variation keeps you interested. Characters as in most games level up based upon the ammount of experience you earn from fights. This can upgrade attacks, magic, skills etc, but perhaps the best new feature is the blindsight mode. You enter blindsight by dodging at just the right time to basically run around your enemy and launch attacks. This can result in gauges being built up to give bonus experience, fol etc.Aside from the fighting, you can explore areas, complete side quests, create items such as recipies, weapons, items etc or simply talk to the characters within the story. You can also earn battle trophies for completing certain objectives (i.e. hit an enemy first 50 time in a row/reduce enemy life to 5 etc).The only thing that can become irritating is having to deal with respawning enemies. IT IS REALLY ANNOYING! But this is an RPG and I guess most RPG players are used to this by now.So basically, its more of the same and aside from a fairly average cast, the game holds out fairly well. I even think some action fans could get into this if they can simply wade through the story. Anyway, I personally recommend this for any RPG fan.

6.7.2009

OK, before I go any further I'd like to say that I am new to this series and this is probably the first true Japanese RPG style game I've played, so I have nothing to compare this game to...That said, I think the game is absolutely fantastic, although when I first started playing it "Retro" did spring to mind, but as I say whether that's a trait of JRPG's or not I don't know. The story is fairly in depth with a host of different characters to interact with and control (although some are extremely annoying at times). I am definitely a person who has to complete a game 100% and unlock every single achievement, which is very much a challenge with this game as it spans over 3 disc's and has a host of different endings.

19.7.2009

I was a huge fan of Star Ocean Three for the PS2, and have been waiting what seems like forever for a new Star Ocean game, and was thrilled when this game was released. The Last Hope is a prequal to all the other games, and focuses of humanity's first steps into space exploration. Your hero is Edge Maverick, captain of the human ship Calnus. Wit the help of his comrades, he explores new worlds to colonise with humans due to the condition Earth is in.The combat is in the traditional Star Ocean style, fast paced and fun. A significant new edition to the battle system is the Blindside move, which confuses your enemeies and allows for deverstating damage to be done from behind.

21.3.2011

In my opinion Star Ocean: The Last Hope is one of the most epic and enthralling games I have ever played. I am not a big RPG player but after playing Star Ocean I will be seeking out further RPG titles to entertain me. One RPG I am familiar with is Phantasy Star Universe. In my opinion Star Ocean is the game that Phantasy Star should have been.AS I previously mentioned, the story is EPIC... the adventure takes place over various planets from all over the universe and is really gripping. The characters, I understand are probably not everyone's cup of tea and the extended cut-scenes and cinematics filled with their repetitive and over-exagerated, anime-esque personalities can drag on a bit occasionally but only occasionally in my opinion.

13.7.2009

Ive never played a star ocean game before, and I usualy prefer the turn based combat RPG's. But with a lack of turn based RPG's in recent history i throught id give this game a try.20 odd hours in and im enjoying it. Its not perfect, but its definatly entertaining. The graphics are something to marvel at. Its a real treat for any RPG gamer who has been gaming since before PS1 days, and literaly do drop you jaw at times. The the battle gameplay is fun, sometimes frustrating, but hasnt stopped me from progressing the story as of yet. Gameplay in terms of explring towns, talking to people is spot on. Its what youd expect, some people just have a simple sentace to say to you regarding something thats happening in their lives,

18.5.2010

The game is great: I don't think anyone would disagree on that. The battle style is fantastic, the graphics excellent and the worlds are big and beautiful.What most people have problems with are the characters and, to a lesser extent, the story. The characters are ridiculous: your typical Japanese game designer on crack. There's a girl dressed like a china doll who seems about 5, but you're supposed to believe she's 15, a very young half-cat girl disturbingly wearing very few clothes, a mechanised robot-man and an angel. Yes, an angel.BUT if you have a sense of humour about the whole thing, it should be fine. If you're a guy, and you like playing serious shoot-em-up guy games, you will not enjoy this.

18.9.2011

Having never played any of the Star Ocean games before and having picked this one up merely because it was cheap and pre-owned, I have to say this is one of the best RPGs for the 360 that I've played. Forgetting about the voice acting, everything else is amazing. The gameplay is always interesting and you never find yourself having to will yourself to get to the next part, the cutscenes are well done, with beautiful graphics, the fighting style is brilliant, much more fun than a turn-based system and then, finally, it's not a random-battle system so you fight if you want to fight.On to the characters: Edge is a very strong protagonist (for the most part...some of disc 2 you just want to slap him)

14.3.2014

I honestly can't give this game anything but praise, the world is huge, the quantity of bosses and quests and side content/optional post end-game content is truly astonishing and the graphics are one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in gaming. This game comes on 3 discs but for bloody good reason; you aren't buying a game here, you're buying an adventure and a HUGE one at that. I honestly can't go into detail on ALL the good things about this game because this would end up as an essay but to put it in perspective; Final Fantasy 13 provides 24 hours of gameplay (60-80 hours if you want all the optionals)

19.5.2013

Star Ocean 4 is reminiscent of the benchmark FFX in more ways than it's visual style. The most important difference lies in the direct control real time battle system, which improves your sense of involvement.There are lots of awesome and clever ideas in this game, but that only makes it frustrating, when the implementation of most just isn't quite where it should be...Still, if you sit tight through the demanding and slow-paced intro, you will be taken in by game, in spite of the story being so looney-japaneese and the english voice acting so lackluster.If you can accept how the game occationally, particularly in regards to side quests, expects you to know what to do next based on only the vaguest of hints,

27.9.2009

I'll keep it short.for the target market, It's pretty much flawless. Yeah, it you are into "mature" games then this isn't for you, but then if you are why buy this game then write a bad reveiw! thats like those bad reviews for kingdom hearts from people who can't stand disney ! Its crazy ! And the sad truth is people who don't like games are more likely to write reveiws. The truth is mainly I'm writing this review as a retaliation.The graphics are great, the charachters are lovely, the worlds are deep and involving, the gameplay is great (you can switch from a melee fighter to archer to symbologist(magician) in a click and they all have there own fighting style which is easy enough to pick up)

17.2.2012

Ok to start with i was not expecting to much, as many rpg fans know we go through just as many poor games as we do great games and the xbox isnt exactly boasting a great collection of rpg's. This game is one of the few truly great rpg's and in my opinion better than ff13 by quite a margin. The graphics arnt spectacular but that isnt the reason we play these type of games. The battle system i think works very well give it a few battles and its very simple to pick up. The depth of the game is added to by the usual many extras you can take part in just like the final fantasy series. some very difficult battles await if you intend to play more than just the main story part of the game.

1.3.2010

I really love this games, never played the previous games, but after I finish this game I'm gonna get all the other games. But why?Well, first of all, the graphics are amazing, it doesn't need FMV (only opening is fmv), and i like it more if it is in-game graphics animation.Like all JRPG, The game itself is a more balanced game between story and actual gameplay. That's why I like it, not to many texts to read, and the fighting is avoidable, if you don't want to fight the creatures just avoid them, but still you can make it a hardcore fighting game if you want.There are many stuff to collect, that isn't necessary to complete the game. How long are you gonna play the game it depends on you.Overall,

7.5.2012

At first, I played this game for hours without knowing how to level up my characters. It was frustrating, but once I understood how the game worked, oh boy oh boy, it was fun! I even got surprised at some point in the plot! The monsters are varied, the gameplay is a lot of tireless fun, the game is nice looking and has the longest cinematics ever! Some bosses are overkill, like the last boss, which took me two hours to kill without dying! This game is a billion times better than final fantasy thirteen, with its involving cute characters and galactic story.This is my favorite japanes rpg ever.I really hope that there will be a sequel.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope (Xbox 360) - Reviews

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