Star Ocean: The Last Hope[8] (スターオーシャン4, Sutā Ōshan 4?) is a console role-playing game developed by tri-Ace and published by Square Enix initially only for the Xbox 360, and the fourth installment in the Star Ocean series. Famitsu revealed that the battle system featured four party members, and was more team-oriented. The game also feature more of a sci-fi emphasis than past titles with the ability to control your own ship. This ship is quite large, and is able to land on at least 5 planets or other space-based destinations. Players are able to travel through the "star ocean," jumping across planets.[9] The game takes place a few centuries before the original Star Ocean (around S.D. 10, or approximately 2097 AD).[10] The game's plot revolves around Edge and his crew combating a mysterious threat called the "Grigori".
An international version of the game has been announced by Square Enix for a worldwide PlayStation 3-exclusive release on February 9, 2010.[6] Officially known as Star Ocean: The Last Hope International, the game will contain both Japanese and English voices as well as new content that will be exclusive to the international version of the game.[11]
Plot
The Last Hope takes place on Earth in the year S.D. 0010 where the world is on the brink of destruction. In A.D. 2064 World War III broke out after several clashes between the World Republic Federation, the ruling government body on Earth, and its enemies around the world. Weapons of Mass Destruction were utilized by both factions of the war without hesitation, razing the lands on Earth. The declining situation lead the people to believe that the end of the world was nearing, but the critical situation forced both factions to declare a ceasefire. In the aftermath of the war, most of the Earth's population has been killed and the natural environment was deteriorating at an alarming rate.
The surviving population of mankind were forced to live in the confinement of underground cities and the countries banded together to form an organization known as the Greater United Nations. The Universal Science and Technology Administration or USTA was established by the Greater United Nations, its mission was to locate a new home planet for mankind in the far reaches of outer space. A.D. 2087, Professor Trillas Bachtein succeeded in his warp drive experiments which was a breakthrough in space travel. In S.D. 0001, the first year of the newly established Spacedate calendar, the USTA secretly put in motion its Space Reconnaissance Force or SRF project which would then in S.D. 0010 send the first human expedition into outer space to locate a suitable planet for the relocation of mankind.[3]
Gameplay
The Last Hope utilizes the same real time battle system like previous games in the series, new features include a new Rush Gauge and Blindsides. The Rush gauge allows players to perform a pre-emptive strike against his opponent or use a special ability or attack. Each character will have and utilize their own individual Rush gauge. Blindsides allow the player to counter attack an enemy who is targeting the player by slipping behind the enemy quickly out of his line of sight and launching a pre-emptive strike on the enemy from his back. Another new system is the increase in the number of characters that can be controlled and fought with in battle to four, instead of the three from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time.
System
Edge, Faize, Reimi and Lymle attacking enemies in Star Ocean: The Last Hope International
Calnus
A new feature in The Last Hope is allowing the player to take the role of captain of the spacecraft, the SRF-003 Calnus, which has been sent to scout new frontiers by the USTA. The Calnus possesses a flight deck where the player can select which planet he would like to fly to, a recreation room where the player's teammates can hang out and interact with one another as well as a conference room where the player gathers with the crew to come out with new ideas for Item Creation. The battle arena contains the battle simulator, a feature from previous games such as Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, which allows the player and his teammates to practice combat. The crew's quarters allows the player to choose which characters share the same room, the correct pairings can lead to special actions between characters known as Private Actions.[3]
Private Actions
Private Actions or commonly known as PA, is a feature that returns from previous games in the Star Ocean series, where the main protagonist, Edge, can interact with his teammates. PAs consist of actions such as conversing with them during rest after exploration or battle, the player can form a rapport with him/her, which increases the member's affection or respect for the main character. Choosing the correct choices during actions would unlock special events or cutscenes between Edge and the team member. Placing characters in the same room also builds up rapport and unlocks even more PA events. If a member is severely injured in battle, a special "Rage" mode can be unlocked which allows close members to attack enemies with more power. PAs are also able to change the ending of the game with different cutscenes being shown, there are a total of about 100 PAs which can be unlocked in the game.[3]
Battle
BEAT System
The Battle Exalted Action Type (BEAT) System is a new feature in The Last Hope which allows the player to choose the preferred type of fighting styles of team members, these include offense, defense, sneak attacks, etc. As combat experience increases, the team can achieve higher combat rank statuses, which unlock advanced styles, known as Action Upgrades. BEAT.S is a type of offense fighting style, which is actually a special Blind Sides technique. In effect, the team member forgoes defense and initiates multiple Blind Sides to confuse the enemy, then unleashes a flurry of highly damaging attacks. BEAT.B is a type of defense fighting style, a special Rush mode power play style. The team member fights the enemy directly in front with special attacks. During this time, the member is almost invulnerable to enemy attacks. BEAT.N is a neutral style of fighting as it doesn't upgrade any particular ability, but combines the stat enhancements from the other BEAT styles. This is often used as the default BEAT for a character and the player can change it at will.
Special Attacks and Symbology
New special attacks can be unlocked for team members as their levels increase such as long-range, melee or area attacks can be performed. Link combos can be performed through chaining special attacks together. Symbology or Heraldry allows characters to cast magic which may use up more MP depending on the type of users for example melee-orientated fighters would use up more MP rather than spell casting orientated-ones. The casting times of symbology vary according to the statistics of the user, Link Combos can also be combined with Symbology to create multiple chains of magic attacks.[3]
Characters
(Left to right)Lymle, Sarah, Reimi, Edge, Meracle, Bacchus, Myuria
Not in picture: Arumat, Faize and Crowe
- Edge Maverick (Earthling, Male, 20 years old)
- Edge is the captain of the SRF-003 Calnus, a spaceship, who is an honest young man with a strong sense of responsibility and justice. He initially volunteered to take part in the maiden voyage of the SRF to save mankind from the brink of extinction and soon becomes captain of the Calnus after the events of the first mission. He is rather impulsive and jumps into things head first without considering the consequences, his age has also caused him to be underestimated even by some of his inferiors in the SRF.
- Reimi Saionji (Earthling, Female, 19 years old)
- Reimi is the childhood friend of Edge as well as an inaugural member of the first SRF mission. She was chosen to join the SRF after she passed the USTA's examinations with flying colors. Her skills with a bow are like no other having mastered both Western and Eastern styles of archery. Although she always appears to be a cheerful person to her friends constantly carrying a smile, she treats herself very harshly though she never shows it. Her parents serve as boardmembers of the Space Development Division of the USTA.
- Faize Sheifa Beleth (Eldarian, Male, 18 years old)
- Faize is a young man from the planet Eldar and is part of its Planetary Exploration Team. He treats etiquette with the utmost importantce and often holds in high regard those who possess skills and abilities which he does not. He is the first extraterrestrial that Edge and Reimi meet and was deeply impressed by Edge's swordsmanship and strong leadership. He is often calm and collected and possesses vast talents such as calculated reasoning and engineering talents which enabled him to build his own spacecraft.
- Lymle Lemuri Phi (Lemurisian, Female, 15 years old)
- Lymle is a young girl who lives in the village of Triom on the planet Lemuris, she lost her parents at a young age and has since been raised by her grandfather, the village chief. She was born talented gaining the ability to use Symbology, a form of magic, from birth. She is a spoiled child who is often mischievous, due to an incident when she was younger she had previously closed the world out and speaks and acts like someone younger than her age. She took an immediate dislike to Faize when they first met on Lemuris due to his first impression of her.
- Bacchus D-79 (Morphus, Male, 32 years old)
- Bacchus is a scientist from the planet En II, which possesses the latest cutting edge technology which is miles ahead of that of Earth. He is the oldest of the group and voluntarily transformed his body into that of a cyborg in order to handle more complex thoughts and calculations, however this has led him to lose the ability to easily express his emotions though he still has a strong sense of justice. His cyborg body has also allowed him to be the most resourceful of the group as he has the ability to camouflage himself.
- Meracle Chamlotte (Lesser Fellpool, Female, 16 years old)
- Meracle is a cat-like human female, she is always the most cheerful of the group. She was initially kept a prisoner on an alternate version of Earth as an experiment due to her alien origin. As she has a partially animal-like nature, she tends to have cat-like qualities such as higher hearing and smelling senses as well as a strong sense of curiosity. She has a big appetite and is constantly hungry, always shouting out "Yummy!" whenever she sees food or something similar to it.
- Myuria Tionysus (Morphus, Female, 22 years old)
- Myuria is a researcher and combat fighter born on the planet En II, the same planet as Bacchus though they have never met before. She has a very determined personality, never giving up on whatever she has set her heart on accomplishing, and is very agile and battle fit. She also puts on a calm personality to her friends but changes to a rather serious attitude when situations get grave. Her ship crashed when she was on honeymoon when it was caught in between an alien spaceship and Crowe's spaceship, the SRF-001 Aquila.
- Arumat P. Thanatos (Eldarian, Male, 26 years old)
- Arumat is a warrior from the planet Eldar, blessed with extraordinary fighting ability even by Eldarian standards. Unfortunately he is faced by the health problem of his muscle cells breaking down which has forced him to choose between giving up his current body or dying an early death. Not surprisingly, he chose to live out the rest of his life for redemption of the lives of the men he lost along the way. He was 17 years old when his entire troop was destroyed after a battle with the phantoms, leaving him as the only remaining survivor.
- Sarah Jerand (Featherfolk, Female, 19 years old)
- Sarah is a Winged Featherfolk who grew up on the planet of Roak without ever living her village once, living in virtual isolation. Unfortunately unlike other Featherfolk she is unable to fly for short periods of time, due to unknown reasons. She was later assigned as an envoy to the kingdom of Astral, as the Featherfolk are revered as sacred people. Though she is very naive, she possesses a great sense of kindness, love and compassion, and often has a motherly attitude to those she comes across.
- Crowe F. Almedio (Earthling, Male, 21 years old)
- Crowe is an unplayable character in The Last Hope, he is a childhood friend, rival and big brother to Edge beating him in almost every aspect most of the time. He is the captain of the SRF-001 Aquila, a spaceship, and was also part of the maiden voyage of the SRF, however he was separated from the rest of the fleet after a warp anomaly occurred as the fleet was traveling. Crowe attained the rank of Captain for SRF-001 Aquila at a young age of 21 years, due to his exceptional talent and leadership abilities. His quick thinking allows him to remain calm, analyzes and solves the many situations he's put in. Crowe's reason for joining the SRF is to help open a new chapter for Earth and mankind, in the aftermath of World War III.
Development
Star Ocean: The Last Hope was originally announced at the "Star Ocean Special Stage" at the 2007 Square Enix Party as the tentatively titled Star Ocean 4 with no platform.[12] An Xbox 360 release was revealed during the 2008 Xbox 360 RPG Premiere. In a special interview with Xbox Japan, weeks before the game's release, game producer Yoshinori Yamagishi revealed that the team began planning out Star Ocean: The Last Hope immediately after they finished developing Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, so actual development time took about 5 years. The game uses an improved version of the game engine used in Infinite Undiscovery, where it is able to generate much better graphics, and the stunning expression of light in real time. He also mentioned that the biggest problem the team encountered while creating the game is capacity, as making a RPG on a latest generation console requires vast amounts of data and coding thanks to the complexity of graphics and animations. The game will also be running at a constant 60 fps. Pre-rendered movies are done by a collaboration between tri-Ace and Visual Works, while character design and illustration (only in the Japanese version) is handled by Katsumi Enami, best known for her illustration work in the light novel and anime series Baccano!.[13][14]
When asked whether the title would release on the PlayStation 3, Square Enix producer Yoshinori Yamagishi replied "We can say that it will be released first [on the Xbox 360]. Whether we'll release it on the PS3 is undecided. We may release it, we may not."[15] Square Enix and The Last Hope's development team have since stated that there are no plans for a PS3 version.[16][17] In an interview, Yamagishi cited that Xbox 360 was the first seventh generation console to come out, and its "extremely well-made hardware", from a developer's standpoint, as the reasons why he chose it to develop Star Ocean: The Last Hope on.[18] In a test play session held for Microsoft Japan employees and some prominent bloggers, when asked if Star Ocean: The Last Hope follows after Star Ocean: Till the End of Time's plot twist, Yamagishi stated in a Q&A session that the world of SO4 exists in a parallel universe from the one in the first three Star Ocean games.[19] When asked if tri-Ace will remake the first three games on a new generation console, Yamagishi stated that he would rather work on a new sequel to Star Ocean than develop remakes, as the development time for them would be very consuming.[20] Since then Yoshinori Yamagishi has stated that he finished with Star Ocean after achieveing all he set out to do with the series.[21]
On September 14, 2009 Star Ocean: The Last Hope International was announced in Japanese gaming magazine, Famitsu, exclusively for the PlayStation 3 including new content that was not included in the original Xbox 360 version. This put an end to the many rumors that The Last Hope would receive a PlayStation 3 port.[11]
International Version
Official North American Cover Art of
Star Ocean: The Last Hope International
Star Ocean: The Last Hope International is an international version of The Last Hope to be released exclusively for the PlayStation 3, it will contain new additional exclusive content for the PlayStation 3 such as dual voices (Japanese and English), Japanese, English, Spanish, French, German and Italian subtitles, and multiple soundtracks are included.[11] It's also been confirmed that The Last Hope International will be heading to North America and Europe, the same day as the Japanese release. [22] There will be at least one new major character in the game as the official site shows 13 character slots an increase by one from the previous 12. It is unknown though if the number of playable characters might increase to more than one.[23] Square Enix confirmed that there would be additional characters in the international version of the game in their December European newsletter.[24]
Soundtrack
The music for Star Ocean: The Last Hope was composed by Motoi Sakuraba, who has worked on the soundtrack for the previous Star Ocean games and many other games developed by tri-Ace. The soundtrack will be released in two parts:
- Star Ocean: The Last Hope Original Soundtrack - A 3-CD set containing all the music tracks in the game, with a total of 71 tracks. It also contains a DVD extra of an interview with Sakuraba himself, plus video footage of his workshop and some original music performed by him.[25]
- Star Ocean: The Last Hope Arrange Soundtrack - A selection of tracks from the original soundtrack performed in different remixes.[26]
Reception
Famitsu awarded the game a total of 34/40, composed of a 9/9/8/8 score.[33]
Overall, the game was far better received than Square Enix's other next-gen console RPGs such as Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant, both of which had mixed reviews from critics. IGN awarded the game a score of 8.0. In its review, IGN stated that despite the rough pacing in the storyline that could be told in a much more engaging manner, tri-Ace and Square-Enix's latest RPG holds together quite well with action-packed gameplay. Some of the small annoyances encountered during the game was the disc-swapping, which requires players to do just that if they need to travel to previous locations. The review also feels that the Japanese voice track should have been included as an option in the US version, as the English voice track and lip-synching are horrendous. X-Play gave The Last Hope 4 out of 5 stars, stating that the story is epic, engaging and well-paced from start to finish, and combat is frantic, complex and smooth. X-Play stated bad voice acting, and objectives that aren't always clear to lead the player, as the downsides of the game. TeamXbox awarded the game with a score of 8.5, praising the balanced and addictive combat which allows the player to handle both strategy and gaming skill to the fray. The Official Xbox Magazine gives a score of 8.5, citing the addictive mix of combat, quests and storyline as a plus, but criticizes the long stretch of cutscenes and a lack of save points around.
The game has sold 166,027 copies in its first four days on the Japanese market placing it in third place behind Blue Dragon and Tales of Vesperia for sales of Xbox 360 games in Japan. 24,584 Xbox 360 units were also sold during the week of February 16, 2009.[34] The Last Hope has since become the best-selling Xbox 360 game in Japan, with 208,438 units.[35] As of May 31, 2009, the game has sold 420,000 copies worldwide.[36]
References
- ^ Erik Brudvig (January 9, 2009). "Star Ocean: The Last Hope Reader Interview". IGN. http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/943/943546p1.html. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ Star Ocean 4 official site
- ^ a b c d e "STAR OCEAN: THE LAST HOPE". Square Enix. http://na.square-enix.com/starocean/. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
- ^ European Star Ocean: The Last Hope Boxart Revealed
- ^ "Japanese Release Date Update". RPG Fan. October 21, 2009. http://rpgfan.com/news/2009/514.html. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ a b Square Enix (September 16, 2009). "Square Enix Brings STAR OCEAN THE LAST HOPE: INTERNATIONAL to Sony PlayStation 3". Press release. http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-16-2009/0005095441&EDATE=. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- ^ Purchese, Robert (September 18, 2009). "Star Ocean PS3 dated for Europe". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/star-ocean-ps3-dated-for-europe. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ Xbox 360 RPG Press Conference Live Blog
- ^ Star Ocean The Last Hope announced for Xbox 360 - Star Ocean 4 // IV
- ^ JEUXFRANCE.COM : Magazine de Jeux Video
- ^ a b c Brian Ashcraft (September 15, 2009). "Star Ocean 4 Sails Onto PS3". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5359514/star-ocean-4-sails-onto-ps3. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
- ^ (Japanese) スクエニパーティのイベント内容が追加！ あの新作の発表も？
- ^ (Japanese) Xbox.com はじめよう！RPG
- ^ (Japanese) Xbox.com はじめよう！RPG
- ^ John Tanaka (2008-06-10). "IGN: Star Ocean 4: First on 360". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/880/880441p1.html. Retrieved 2008-06-10. "Producer says PS3 version may or may not be released"
- ^ "No plans for Star Ocean 4 on PS3". Gameguru. 2008-06-13. http://www.gameguru.in/rpgs/2008/13/no-plans-for-star-ocean-4-on-ps3-says-square-enix/. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
- ^ Erik Brudvig (2009-01-09). "Star Ocean: The Last Hope Reader Interview". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/943/943546p1.html. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
- ^ (Japanese) Xbox.com はじめよう！RPG
- ^ (Japanese) 鋭いツッコミも飛び出した「スターオーシャン4体験会」が開催
- ^ (Japanese) 壮大な宇宙開拓史がいよいよ始まる――『スターオーシャン4 -THE LAST HOPE-』先行体験会が開催 - ファミ通_com
- ^ http://rpgfan.com/news/2009/473.html
- ^ Mike Fahey (September 16, 2009). "Star Ocean: The Last Hope PS3 Really is International". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5360991/star-ocean-the-last-hope-ps3-really-is-international. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
- ^ "STAR OCEAN 4 スターオーシャン4＜INTERNATIONAL＞ OFFICIAL SITE". Square Enix. http://www.eternalsphere.com/so4/international/top.html. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
- ^ Cameron Teague (December 14, 2009). "New Characters Abound for Star Ocean: The Last Hope International". PlayStation LifeStyle. http://playstationlifestyle.net/2009/12/14/new-characters-abound-for-star-ocean-the-last-hope-international/#more-56937. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
- ^ http://www.square-enix.co.jp/music/sem/page/so4/ スターオーシャン4 オリジナル・サウンドトラック
- ^ http://www.team-e.co.jp/sp/so4/ 「STAR OCEAN 4 THE LAST HOPE」アレンジサウンドトラック
- ^ "Star Ocean: The Last Hope Review". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/208951/star-ocean-the-last-hope/. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ "Star Ocean: The Last Hope Review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/starocean4/review.html. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
- ^ "IGN: Star Ocean: The Last Hope Review". http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/955/955258p1.html. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
- ^ "Star Ocean The Last Hope OXM ONLINE". http://www.oxmonline.com/article/xbox-soapbox/star-ocean-last-hope. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ "Star Ocean: The Last Hope Review". http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1660/Star-Ocean-The-Last-Hope/p1/. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
- ^ "Star Ocean: The Last Hope Review Videos - g4tv.com". http://g4tv.com/xplay/reviews/1927/Star-Ocean-The-Last-Hope-Review-.html. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
- ^ "Star Ocean 4 get 34/40 in Famitsu review". N4G. 2009-02-10. http://www.n4g.com/xbox360/News-275269.aspx. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
- ^ "Star Ocean 4's first week sales at 166,027, a top class 360 game turnout" (in Japanese). Famitsu. 2009-02-24. http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1222262_1124.html. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
- ^ "Microsoft Xbox 360 japanese ranking". Japan Game Charts. http://www.japan-gamecharts.com/360.php. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
- ^ "Results Briefing: Fiscal Year ended May 31, 2009". Square-Enix.com. May 19, 2009. http://www.square-enix.com/eng/pdf/news/20090525_01en.pdf. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
External links
