Star Ocean: The Last Hope (Xbox 360) > Reviews (6)

Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Star Ocean: The Last Hope is a console only role playing game for the Xbox 360 and for the PS3. The game was developed by tri-Ace and published by Square Enix (Final Fantasy publishers) and was actually supposed to be an Xbox 360 only game but was later released on the PS3. Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the forth game of a series with the very first back on the old PS1. The older versions of Star Ocean were set in normal times, however this game is set in a Sci-Fi world and also on this one you have the ability to control the ship your on. The game takes place centuries before the very first Star Ocean game so its more of a prequel. This Star Ocean is 3 dvd's.

The basic plot of the game is about a young man named Edge (lead character). Star Ocean takes place on earth but in the year S.D. 0010 and in this year the world is facing its toughest battle yet and the possibility of being completely destroyed. Now a young man by the name of Edge and his comrades must fight for the worlds survival and stop a mysterious threat called the Grigori. Can Edge and his group of fighters somehow bring humanity back to the place they call home or is it already to late? The basic plot to the game is short and sweet but it doesn't mean its not a great one as I feel it is one of the better storyline's to a role playing game.

Gameplay

Now prepare yourself because there is a whole lot to add to the gameplay of the game itself. Star Ocean has always had so much to all four of there games. However I will start with the basic controls to the game, they are fairly simple but as you progress further your learn more things and find your using every button more than once in the game and it can be quite hard to remember these controls. The basic menu is easy to navigate and nicely designed, its dark and contains four options New game, load game, settings (all your game settings are found here) and battle simulator (basic training to get you used to the new fighting system). In the game you can only be one character, however another four members join and fight with you. When in the fights you can swap between them if you wish but out of them you are always Edge as the story of the game is his. Throughout playing the game there are hundreds of save points scattered through the world these are called save spheres and it is really simple to save at these points and I would advise that you save your game at everyone you come to. To encounter enemy fights all you need to do is when your free roaming is go up to the monsters and run into them and a battle starts up. The fights are not turn based as you can just go up to them when in battle and hack away at your enemies. Also be careful as you can sometimes encounter different battles such as surprise attacks, ambushes and preemptive attacks.

Another thing I like is that if you have a character with the skill harvesting or mining then you can find some quality items at harvesting/mining spots which are scattered throughout the game.

Throughout the game you go to many different towns and in these towns are shops. If visiting a shop and talking to the shopkeeper then you will get four options. Buy items, sell items, accept orders which is basically gathering items for the shopkeeper and also delivering items which is dropping off items he/she has requested. You can buy many different types of items/weapons and armor. In this Star Ocean game there are rings called 'Disintegration Rings' which if you've found can be used in the field of play. For an example one ring you acquire could remove ice blocks leading to new areas or new items and so on, with each ring having different effects. Also every ring has a limited number of uses, however you can recharge them by using a skill one of the characters have or by visiting a ring expert. After getting so far in the game you will be able to control the Calnus (your sky ship) and you will be able to travel between all the different planets and places you have visited or yet to visit and you can also use the ship to restore health by sleeping.One of the best things about these Star Ocean games is the ability to make your own items with the item creation terminal. The item creation terminal is located on your ship and you can make many new items, weapons and armor here and it is fairly simple and gives you a guide on how to do it. In the party menu screen which can be accessed almost anytime. There is lots of options here one being the ability to set your party leader which is only set so your that character in the battle. You can also do things like manage your items, look at the skills you have learned from raising level, use skill boost to improve your skills, you can change your battle configuration, check character statuses, change tactics, change a characters fighting style, look to see what trophies you have collected from doing certain missions and change in game settings. You get a gameover if all you party characters lose all there HP or if they are all paralyzed in combat. After winning a battle you get a results screen and this basically tells you how much experience you have gained from this fight, how much gold you have received from this fight and the items you have earned if any. There are a whole range of different attacks you can master and use, lots of combos to learn and skills to obtain. Also if you get lost in the game there are numerous adventure hints located in the game. That is pretty much the best of the gameplay, quite impressive right?

Characters

In the game there are five main characters that join your story and help you fight for the existence of the world. The main character is Edge Maverick, he is 19 years old but has a birthday early on making him 20. Edge is a very honest young man with a very strong sense of justice and responsibility. He is volunteering for the maiden voyage of the Space Reconnaissance Force to save humanity from the brink of existence. Edge contains superior circumstantial judgement he often tends to come off as reckless but overall he is a smashing character to play as.

Reimi Saionji is a 19 year old young lady born into the illustrious household. Reimi is a character that uses bows and as a young girl she studied archery. She is an extremely kind young lady with a huge heart, however in the game she is always way to hard on herself and sometimes the pressure can get to her. Reimi is a a friend of Edge and helps him on his missions. The other three characters are Lymle a very young kid at the age of 15 who can use the talent of symbology and often summons a creature known as Cerberus. Also Faize who is a Eldarian from another planet and he is a rather interesting character and is also very good with his skills. He also has his own ship. The last character you recruit is Bacchus D-79 and he is basically a scientist that has transformed himself into a cyborg robot with some incredible powers. These are the characters to your story and I feel they are pretty good.

The Manual

Now I don't usually mention the manual to a game but with this one it has everything. It is rammed packed with information about the game, basic plot about it. It tells you everything you need to know from controls, to what you can do on the game and also the characters and other aspects. It looks great, feels great and is great. The design of it is spectacular. The cover is very good, looks one of the better ones. It had 49 pages full of everything about this game so I felt it deserved a mention.

Graphics

This is a bit of a let down to the game. The graphics to previous Star Ocean games were actually really good. The characters in previous games were brilliantly designed and also the world/places you visit are also good, however in Star Ocean: The Last Hope the graphics are to plain. Don't get me wrong there is plenty of colouring and other aspects I just feel the characters, except Edge is rather plain. I feel the scenery is a little ordinary and I also feel the towns almost all look very similar. I was quite impressed with the design of some aspects, for example the battle graphics are actually really good and the graphics of the dungeons/caves/forests and any other places you can encounter endless enemies are very smartly designed and do fit in the game smashingly. Overall I wasn't to chuffed with the graphics to the game even though the movies in the game were really good and made the game feel slightly better in some places.

Sound

The sound to Star Ocean games has always been really good and in this Star Ocean game its no different. The music on the main menu fit perfect into it and suits it really well, also the different music that is used in towns, dungeons and other places fit in nicely and make they game more enjoyable as the music is actually quite catchy. The characters are yet again voice activated and it works well to the games advantage. The battle sound effects are really immense and brings the game to life, with special attacks and combos sounding brilliant. Overall I was very impressed with most of the sound effects and all of the music to this game.

Difficulty & Longevity

The game is very simple in most aspects to the game. Although there is a whole range of variety the controls at first are fairly simple but as you progress in the game you learn more skills and gain other aspects that make the controls slightly more difficult. Other parts of the game like the bosses are fairly easy, the normal monsters are incredibly easy. Also as you progressing you will find plenty of items in case your low on health. Also lots of save points so if you die you can reload and wont have to do much catch up. There aren't many puzzles in the game so no problem there. Some of the places you visit are huge and you mat find you might get lost a couple of times but overall it is a fairly simple game. As for the longevity of the game I think it is quite good. The game is 3 disks and it took me just over 65 hours to complete and to be fair that is quite good even though its 3 disks, it probably could of lasted me another 10-15 hours if I did everything on the game. Overall I was impressed with the length of the game and think its a real credit to it.

Good Bits

• Lots of variety to its gameplay make this game worthy of playing.
• Some brilliant sound effects bring the game to life!
• Over 60+ hours of gameplay and lots of places to visit.
• A fairly easy game that would suit most.
• A lot of bosses and normal monsters and an interesting list of characters.

Bad Bits

• Some of the graphics lack any real intent.
• The controls later in the game can actually be rather tricky.
• No multiplayer options or online options.
• No downloadable content for the European version of the game.

Other Bits

Star Ocean: The Last Hope is actually a rather good role playing game. i have always been a fan of the Star Ocean series but I do feel this is the worst out of the games, however this is only because the others are very good and this one still isn't to shabby. Although most of the graphics are very lackluster the game does offer a wide range of variety in its gameplay features and also a wide range of exploring in the game as well. There are lots of places to go, lots of missions to do and loads of side missions as well. A real let down to the game is the fact there is no downloadable content for the European version where in Japan they have add ons and other aspects. I feel these role playing games deserve some sort of multiplayer modes or options as it would benefit the game more. I actually do like the game and I would recommend it to anyone thats not to fussed what the actual graphics are like and also I would recommend it to fans of role playing games or even a game with a smashing storyline. Although the characters look slightly plain they are a rather good bunch of characters to play as (in battles). I also feel the cover to the game is brilliant and one of the best I have seen, definitely one of my personal favourites. The game has a rating of 12+ which seems pretty much perfect and I wouldn't complain with this aspect. I actually bought the game from my uncle who sold his Xbox 360 and I paid £5 for it and thats definitely value for money. The game is now selling on Amazon for ££17.99 brand new and this is mainly because it will probably turn rare in time with it being a game from Japan. Overall I would recommend the game and I would also give the game a pretty respectable 7/10!Review also on dooyoo under the username: simon020187!