I'm a Playstation girl, and save for the few Nintendo products I owned throughout the years I never strayed from my Sony roots. When I saw the fourth and final installment to my favorite series was going to be on a completely foreign system to what it had been on previously, I vowed to not buy the game until it was released for it's home system (this is disregarding Star Ocean 1 that was for the SNES, but it wasn't released on this side of the Pacific until recently).
What tipped the scales? To be honest, it was the cute kiwi-colored vulcan-wannabe, Faize, or rather his voice. Once I heard Mitsuki Saiga's femboy voice I hauled ass to the nearest Best Buy and slapped down $400 for the RK Xbox and the game. Unemployment be damned, I needed a fix! Of course I knew I wouldn't be getting Mitsuki Saiga, but can you resist those big purple eyes?!
Ladies and Gentlemen,The Woobie.
My first impression of the game was "Holy SHIT you're pretty!". The opening blew me away entirely, starting with a missile strike and leading right up to where our heroes are introduced.
We first meet Edge Maverick, whom suffers from Ridiculous Japanese Hero Name Syndrome, as he's doing what young men do best; slacking off. He's part of a secret team of space explorers charged with finding the citizens of Earth a new place to live. Apparently the happenings in the infamous flash animation actually happened and everyone blew themselves to hell and back in a massive world war. So with their planet decimated, it was time to find a new one! Along with his childhood friends, Reimi Saionji and Crowe F. Almedio, they join the Space Reconnaissance Force.
Our dog, I mean hero, with his srs face.The bust in the background is named Myuria.
I like Edge. He reminds me of a golden retriever. Namely the Golden Retriever from the Beggin Strips commercials, but instead of "Bacon" he's saying "Adventure". Throughout the game you see his character grow and develop, going from Follies of Youth to Hardened Adventurer over the course of a month in-game. Overall I think he's a strong main character, one you could see posing heroically with a sword and his strange swooshy glowy hand power.
Think of that image, then look at this.
What is love?Baby don't hurt me! Don't hurt me, no more!
Edge, the type of guy who would jump at the chance to see something new, gets caught multiple times in compromising positions with the female members of his crew, and this always ends with his childhood friend showing just how interested she in him. The moments of pervy, courtesy of Tri-Ace, show just how much the the creators wanted to make an H-game. As if the plethora of anime stereotypes wasn't enough.
You got a neko, a mecha, the maganekko, the loli, the busty woman, the douchy badass, the cocky older brother, the childhood friend, and the yaoi fodder, and boy do they stay true to their archetypes. If you can't point out which is what, go back and watch more anime, or at least play some more Japanese games.
Most of the characters are likable, even with their quirks. The well rounded cast keeps the player interested between cut scenes, and social interactions allow you to learn more about them should you choose to do so. My personal favorite is Faize, whom while starting out as a lovable pushover vying for Edge's attention (or was it affection?), ultimately succumbs to the trope of "Break the Cutie". The same social interaction system from the previous games is in place, giving the player a choice of responses when dealing with certain characters, all of which effect which endings you get.
Wait, Edge! The cutie isn't supposed to break until disc 2!The battle system of The Last Hope brings back what you loved about the old games and throws in additional features to make fighting much more interesting. The 'Blindside' maneuver allows the characters to run around (very theatrically, might I add) and attack the enemy from behind for big damage. While it takes some timing to master, it's well worth it since some boss battles are nearly impossible to beat without taking advantage of this move. Another one is the rather impressive 'Chain Combo', where the player and another party member step up to deal out their most powerful attacks one after another on the unsuspecting victim.
My major beef with this game is the lack of, well... game. It's entirely too short for being three discs long (two actually, since the last one is just the final area), and while I love the beautiful cut scenes (though sometimes unneeded), they don't make up for the lack of game play. The entire game can be played through on under thirty hours, which is ridiculous given what genre it's in. It crams too much into a short span, making the plot somewhat rushed in my opinion. More time could be spent on character-developing side quests as opposed to pointless item collecting ones. A lot of questions brought up by backstory related social interactions go unanswered, leaving the player somewhat disappointed, especially when lined up with other games. While they leave a lot of things unanswered from this game, it does touch on quite a bit of elements from the other games, such as the UP3 and the Kennys.
No, wait! Don't shoot! I'm just here delivering the exposition!Another drawback is the graphic system. While Tri-Ace seems to have ironed out some of the graphical kinks of the Unreal Engine, the major ones are still apparent. The shadows look more like darkened blobs on the objects as opposed to solid shadows, and things such as hair and loose clothing seem to move entirely too much (ie; Reimi's hair). If they aren't blotchy, some of the scenery is all but blinding to look at, namely the desert and Colosseum. Playing in a bright room is recommended when going through those areas, or else you won't be able to see what you're doing. But even with it's drawbacks, the scenes look absolutely gorgeous. Both these and the character renders are incredibly detailed, making up for the graphical quirks.
The soundtrack is amazing, as to be expected with a Star Ocean game. The love of the rock organ is back with a vengeance, giving us addicting battle music that made fighting all the more enjoyable. The boss scores are both cryptic and invigorating, and the area themes compliment the environment perfectly. The voice acting in this game is worthy of applause, considering I don't particularly like dubbed games. Comparing the English to Japanese reveals that the director must have taken special care when choosing English voice actors.
Overall, I'm happy with this game. The story is slightly lacking in the extras, but still comes through in the end. The plot twists will make you do a double take, and possible cry in anguish. The battle system is solid yet challenging, with graphics and music that'll blow you away. The upcoming PS3 release offers even more extras, such as new characters and extra features. Even with it's set backs, I give this game a 9 out of 10.
Excuse me, miss, but your top is... falling... off... durrrr....
I thought your review of SO4 was very fair and balanced, tackling all the major positive and negative points! :nod:
ReplyDeleteI also thought the game was too short and could have done with some nice character interaction plots- like some more interaction between Edge and Faize to further their bond- or Faize and Lymle. Those seemed to be the best in-depth relationships in the story, and they both contained the same character.
With the others, you seem to meet them and then just have PAs in the Calnus whilst resting, which isn't very involving. =(
The blog is a great colour and layout, and I like the game-pixel text on the banner- in particular I like the nice big screenshots with the funny anicdotes underneath. :giggle: