PS3 Review – Star Ocean: The Last Hope
In the year since the 360 version of SO:TLH, Square Enix and Tri-Ace didn’t add much to the game. When the game hit the 360 last year, the character portraits were CGI and looked horrible. Ditto for most of the menus. Square Enix and Tri-Ace tried to make them appeal to North American gamers and it failed. Now you can either use the horrid CGI portraits OR you can use the new, anime-style portraits and menus, which I recommend. Japanophiles also have the option to use Japanese voiceovers. I guess these ‘amazing’ new additions to the game warrant the whole ‘International Edition’ label.
Fans of the Star Ocean series will be happy to see all the connections to the other games. Avid RPG fans will enjoy the game. And why not? It’s a solid, above-average RPG. It does little new and doesn’t advance the RPG genre any, yet is still good enough and would be a steal with a lower price. Gamers looking to get into RPGs for the first time… this isn’t the title for you. Why? Seeing as how it offers little new and is nothing to brag about, you won’t understand why RPG fans hold the genre so dearly to their hearts. While you wouldn’t go wrong buying Star Ocean: The Last Hope, with so many blockbuster titles (including another Square Enix RPG) arriving next month, I would advise letting this above-average RPG age a bit before you make a purchase.
PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score
Has a few original ideas here and there Long, boring cutscenes with a cliched storyline and characters |  |
9 Responses to “PS3 Review – Star Ocean: The Last Hope”
ooh average scores, means quick price drop for me. I will have to keep an eye out for this.
I agree with the quick price drops i will have to wait myself.
I’ve enjoyed WKC a great deal more than this title so far.
Wait so this is coming stateside? I played it on the 360 and was not impressed. I was under the impression that SE wasn’t bringing it back stateside. Well either way I’ll wait a bit and get it when the price drops.
Isn’t every RPG cliched these days?
They also like reusing the same story:
Kid hero….doesn’t know his roots yet…helps someone get something important…..oops they’re the bad guy…HAHAHA goodbye loser…..travel through rest of game picking up faithful companions…..add a romance and a few cliches…..unlock something ancient and powerful….find out about your past….kill final boss.
So the battle system is great and the story sucks with really boring cutscenes. Sounds like Star Ocean : Til The End of Time only it doesn’t turn out that you’re really a video game character.
Frankly I have to agree though. You don’t buy a Star Ocean as a newcomer. You buy a Final Fantasy as a new comer. Star Ocean is for anyone who wants to spend 45 minutes of intense concentration to kill one mere boss. But what a 45 minutes it is.
I’ll still wait for the price drop considering the games coming out this year. Although, I’d buy into that burger joint saving game if you plan on releasing it.
@UberSilenus. Yeah…the twist in TTEOT was um..lame.
At one point during a boss battle I thought I was suppose to lose, seeing as how I had spent 25 minutes fighting the dumby. Good thing I just don’t give up, as I beat him one minute later. The only problem? I was over-leveled by 5 levels! yeesh!
I’ll let you know about Burger Fantasy Online once there’s something to confirm. Haha.
Thanks for checking out my review everyone!
the little bit i played on the 360 was OK and that was about it.. still plan to rent
[...] games’ graphics with each next-gen release. Infinite Undiscovery looked like crap, Star Ocean: The Last Hope looked alright, and Resonance of Fate actually has some pretty nice visuals. The characters are way [...]