Star Ocean: The Last Hope Review

As of late, JRPGs [Japanese role-playing game] are becoming increasingly popular for Microsoft. What was once a platform barren of any real authentic role-playing has become a console of choice (in the US, at least) for developers with the Xbox 360. Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the latest release from RPG giant Square Enix, which both succeeds and fails in its attempts to broaden the audience.



As the fourth (technically fifth) installment in the Star Ocean series, The Last Hope is actually a prequel to the entire saga. Earth has been ravaged by the effects of World War III, and is slowly dying. In response, the world governments turn to the stars in hopes of colonization, forming the SRF (Space Reconnaissance Force). The story follows the unfortunately named Edge Maverick, as he and his fellow SRF compatriots explore the universe and beyond for a new home planet for humanity. It's a basic setup that is chock-full of tired clichés and obvious plot twists that really only serve to progress you from one monster-filled map to the next.

Visually, the game ranges from beautiful to unintentionally creepy. The planets you explore are very nicely detailed, switching from snowy conditions to futuristic spacecraft while keeping a consistent feel. The actual characters, however, are the victims of a mating between over-stylized anime and your grandmother's porcelain doll collection. Their soulless expressions during cutscenes completely render out any emotional impact that developers were aiming for, and it occasionally gets hard to get a sense of what the characters are feeling. Add in some slapstick characters who are supposed to be your superiors and palette-swapped bad guys, and you got yourself one of the most disappointing and bizarre games to look at.



Once you get to actually control Edge, you are immediately introduced to one of the games many bad first impressions. The camera is very unresponsive and zooms way too close in tight areas. So where do they start you off? Why, the interior of a narrow space ship, of course. The camera works well enough in outdoor maps, but for the most part you'll find yourself indoors and struggling to rotate the camera to see what you want. Because of this, expect to unintentionally run into enemies, initiating battles you otherwise would not want. Smaller nuances like having the access map button arranged to START and the menu button linked to Y only serve to further annoy.

The battle system in itself is one of the diamonds in the coal that might keep you interested, though once again it is presented halfheartedly. The game starts off rather harshly; even things like a generic cave bat can kill you and all of your party in a single fight. It takes some time before you can confidently enter a battle, which may put off most non-JRPG fans. But if you choose to stick with it, you'll be treated to a complex and rewarding battle system, full of depth and strategy. You eventually get the ability to use Symbology, Star Ocean's magic system, which adds a whole new element to your tactic. Characters can be tailored at your discretion to use a specific fighting style (called BEAT style), which specializes their offense and defense. Once you can tailor fighting styles, there's a lot more to it then pounding away at the A button, but getting to that point is the problem.



One thing that doesn't get better over time, unfortunately, is the voice acting. It ranges from barely tolerable to hang-yourself-and-everyone-around-you bad, which drowns out the great soundtrack provided. Some characters like Lymle, a little girl who specializes in Symbology, are so mind-gratingly annoying that you'll actually want to stop playing because of her. She ends nearly each sentence with "'kay?" even if that sentence isn't a question. Imagine hearing the following lines, four or five thousand times:

"This feels pretty good, 'Kay?"
"It looks all sharp and painful, 'Kay?"
"I deserve to die, 'Kay? (Ok, I made this one up, but I wish it happened.)

While all of these aspects do make the game sound terrible, over time it becomes enjoyable. The battles become more fun the longer you play and the story does at least have some high points. There is a story synopsis in the menu that updates after each important event, so if you forget what to do or haven't played in a while, it's easy to get a refresher on your situation. Still, it would be a crime not to mention that many of the great things about Star Ocean are hindered by poor design choices and time-consuming cheap deaths. But for the players that tough it out, there is a decent game worth playing here. Just don't stare into Captain Grafton's oversized, lifeless eyes. Your brain will melt.

Fun Factor: Battle system is enjoyable once it gets going, mixing food items.

Game Length: Roughly about 37 hours.

Difficulty: Harder than standard "Western" RPGs, but not out of the scope of other JRPGs.

On the Negative Side: Terrible camera, Voice acting is awful.

Bang for your buck: Side quests extend the life of the game and get you some pretty cool items and equipment.