You first need to purchase different skillsets in towns that will unlock them for each party member, and then use skill points gained in battle to flesh them out. What was much more enjoyable than the act of fighting was the skill system, which is incredibly expansive. You can always switch your party around for more variety, but it won’t do too much. This combined with a high random encounter rate made fights grow boring. Most engagements will be one with simple button mashing or special move spamming, and once I got adjusted to the strange party member AI I rarely ever found the game to be challenging. The combat, unfortunately, is very simplistic, with the only options available being a single button being dedicated for normal attacks and up to two special techniques players can set in the menu before fights. What connects all these events is some very traditional JRPG exploration (think towns, overworld, dungeons, and random encounters) but with hack and slash combat in a 3D isometric view. The actual events of the story never felt like anything more than a Star Trek rerun (which was an inspiration for the series), but I commend the character interaction for being enjoyable. Some people will only join you if you turn down others, and this freedom impressed me since there were really not many games like it back when it originally came out. ![]() The beginning of the game can play out in quite a few ways depending on some early choices, and it makes the game work well for multiple playthroughs since it’s impossible to recruit every character on your first go. The main plot will always remain the same in each playthrough, but how you reach the ending will change depending on who you recruit to your party. Star Ocean: First Departure R is a rather short game for RPG standards – being able to be completed in around 20-30 hours depending on your play style – but tri-Ace did well in crafting a story where player choice has actual weight. The characters and the way the story plays out were the real focuses, and it really shows. The actual story isn’t really a highlight of Star Ocean, as I found it to be an unfortunately paced tale that relies far to heavy on cliché. After traveling back in time, most of the game is then spent adventuring the past world of Roak. If you’ve never played any of these games before, you might be surprised to learn that Star Ocean: First Departure R has very little to do with space travel outside of setting up the game’s premise. The group travels to another planet to access a Time Gate, and go back in time to find the creature when it was alive to cure the inhabitants of Roak. They’re taken onto the ship, and learn that the only cure for the virus seems to be the blood of a creature that died on Roak 300 years in the past. They’re from Earth, a planet whose people have developed their technology enough to travel through space. ![]() When Roddick goes to search for a herb to cure the virus, they come across two people in the process of beaming down to the planet to try to solve the issue themselves. An unnatural petrification phenomenon has started to spread from a nearby town. Star Ocean: First Departure R begins on the underdeveloped planet of Roak, where Roddick and his friends run their town’s local Defense Force. Some changes work wonders – for instance, the new sprint button is a much-appreciated addition – but I can’t say the same about all of them. Don’t worry though, because the game still offers the PSP art and voices for those who prefer that. Square Enix has gone the extra mile here, recording new voice acting and bringing in renowned artist Katsumi Enami to redraw all the portraits based on the original SNES art. This PSP version is the basis of the recently released Star Ocean: First Departure R, which attempts to remaster the game for modern platforms and a new audience. ![]() We wouldn’t see the game in the west however until it was remade on the PlayStation Portable over 10 years later as Star Ocean: First Departure. The original game, simply titled Star Ocean, was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1996 and was the first game made by the company after leaving Namco. Out of all the games that tri-Ace has worked on, the Star Ocean series is by far the most popular.
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