Star Ocean: The Last Hope

[Zeroth]

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/43158.html

First off, the graphics on this game look amazing! They look almost as good as Final Fantasy XIII. Yes, I know that Final Fantasy XIII is also coming to the 360, but what we've seen of that game are PS3 screen-shots. Star Ocean: The Last Hope is a 360 only title (it's crap, I know), so to see graphics of almost the same caliber of Final Fantasy XIII on the 360 is truly astounding.

This is one of the very few times where I wised I owned a 360. I really liked Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, and to see The Last Hope only appearing on the 360 is disappointing. One thing I do have to say, it's kind of weird hearing about the story after knowing what happened in Till the End of Time.

[The_Real_Crunk]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

in the future, spaceship captains are 14 year old blonde boys with swords, in goofy uniforms.

[Jehuty]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Wait, what? I thought SO4 was slatd for PS3 too?

Agh. This is one of my favorite series.

[MRevelle83]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

I'll wait for the N-Gage port.

[Wavelength]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

It's a pretty cool trailer. Star Ocean is one of my favorite series of all time (Second Story is still my all-time favorite game), and I'm really hoping they make this "last" game count.

Looked very sci-fi in theme, while retaining the usual suspects in fantasy trappings. I've gotta admit, I love that. The spacefaring parts of SO3 were my favorite arcs, and I only wish they lasted a lot longer. (On a related quarrell, you only got to visit five worlds in that game by my count, and of those, Hyde, Moonbase, and that final planet were all complete teases. What a missed opportunity!) You know, the marketing for Star Ocean has always had a very strong sci-fi or astronomical bent to it, even when the games are mostly traditional fantasy RPG. I guess I'm hoping for a more even balance this time around.

Nice shots of the battle system. The swordplay looks good, though I worry about the physics engine. Did you see that enemy go straight into the air upon being hit? That would be really annoying if an enemy pulls that on you.

Terrible character names. I was no fan of "Fayt Leingod" and "Cliff Fitter," and "Peppita Rosetti" was far inferior to her original name "Souffle"...but wow, "Edge Maverick" has got to take the cake for bad names. That is, unless you consider random jumbles of sounds like "Faize Sheifa Beleth" to be names, in which "Edge" has some competition. Seriously! Couldn't we get normal names like "Claude" and "Rena," or good ones like "Precis" and "Ashton"?

BARREL!

I do like the character designs, and like you said, the graphics look sweet. hoping there are more characters; this group looks to be lacking both experience and testosterone.

No mention of skill or item-creation systems. But they've got to bring that back, right? It's a Star Ocean game!

Still looking forward to this tremedously. I'm on the fence about buying a PS3 vs. a 360, and along with Tales of Vesperia, this is really pushing me towards the 'Box.

(Moderate Spoilers about SO3 from here on)
*** SPOILERS ***
I'm not sure what to think about this being set before the other Star Ocean games. I've never been a big fan of prequels... then again, they wrote themselves into a bit of a corner with that big twist in 3. Still, couldn't they make a story about the people in the universe which controls the Eternal Sphere? I mean, no need to ever claim that the game is set in the Eternal Sphere...
*** END SPOILERS ***

[Kefka Jr.]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Come on, Edge,

*shakes head FURIOUSLY*

that's just reckless!

[Zeroth]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Come on, Edge,

*shakes head FURIOUSLY*

that's just reckless!

I actually thought that the hair physics were pretty impressive on that part. *shrugs*

But yeah Wave, the sci-fi parts on Star Ocean: Till the End of Time were my favorite, too. It's a shame that this isn't coming to the PS3, though. Game Pro thinks it might be announced sometime in the future, and hopefully they're right. I mean, look at what's happening with FFXIII. There's no reason SO:TLH can't do the same.

[Toaster]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

It happened to Eternal Sonata.

If it doesn't happen, I won't be crushed. But it would be nice.

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Star Ocean 4 is selling 360s in Japan. I think this is the fourth time it's outsold PS3 but is it the first time they've outsold Wii there?

Nintendo DSi - 41,839
PSP - 29,552
Xbox 360 - 25,334
Wii - 16,973
PlayStation 3 - 16,149
Nintendo DS Lite - 9,975
PlayStation 2 - 5,029

[The_Real_Crunk]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Thats the power of EDGE MAVERICK!

[Wavelength]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Thats the power of EDGE MAVERICK!

But is he the original maverick?

[Kefka Jr.]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Oh, bull****, Wild Arms already had a protagonist named Maverick!

[Vonwert]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

I plan on getting it, even though the early reviews seem mixed. Of course I got to finish Ar Tenilico 2 first.

[Biggie]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Ugh, why are JRPG's with adult protagonists few and far between.

They got rid of the animu character designs in the menu and battle system for the U.S. release, which actually turned me on to it a little more. But it still remains, I'm sick to death of playing as teenagers or children. Half the appeal of JRPG's is the soap opera type stories, but I can't take any seriously anymore with adolescences.

[Wavelength]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Ugh, why are JRPG's with adult protagonists few and far between.

They got rid of the animu character designs in the menu and battle system for the U.S. release, which actually turned me on to it a little more. But it still remains, I'm sick to death of playing as teenagers or children. Half the appeal of JRPG's is the soap opera type stories, but I can't take any seriously anymore with adolescences.

In RPGs, anyone above the age of 13 seems to act like an adult anyhow. I guess there are certain territories, both mature and immature, that teenagers can't really go into with their characters, no matter how they "act" for most of the plot... so all things being considered, I would prefer adult protagonists, but it's not a big deal to me.

On the other hand, it would be just a little strange, from the point of view of a 10-year-old, to be playing as a 30-year-old in a game with good character development. They're doing the smart thing by making most heroes teens.

Edit: the other nice thing about young protagonists is that it makes you feel (especially if you're not an adult yet, but even to some extent if you are) like you can do anything, no matter how young you are or how the world treats you.