Star Ocean: The Last Hope

"A Good JRPG for genere fans"

This is a JRPG in every sense of the word. As a fan of both the Western and Japanese genere I'm glad this game has come out for the XBox and it is a lot of fun to play. The story is basic JRPG fare. A moody reckless young hero and his protective female childhood friend go off to save the Universe. The pick up a motley cast along the way that comprises a fairly standard JRPG team. The super powered annoying child, the tough chick with a score to settle, a combined Tank and Mentor, and a few others for flavor. Each team member is somewhat customizable in their skills and level independently based on use. And there is plenty of "fan service" in the character design and a few scenes based on your interactions with them.

The battle system is a lot fun combining real time action with the ability to freeze everything and issue orders. You can actively swap between your on-field team of four, or hot swap out up to four other members in reserve during battle. Being a sci-fi RPG it is a combination of tech and magic with swords and spells. As you wander the world you are presented with various paths to follow and scattered amongst them are the many enemies either out to thwart your plans or just looking for a tasty snack that could very well be you. Each character has a standard basic attack as well as Special attacks that combine individual powers with the ability to achieve mulitple consecutive hits to deal out significantly more damage. Trophies are awarded to the characters that you personally control in a battle if they meet those trophy's criteria, and extra awards are given for gaining cerain numbers of trophies for each character. And as each character gains experience and increases in level new special abilities and powers become available allowing you to unleash more devastating attacks on you ever more powerful foes.

There are several worlds on which you can land and explore and each has a story connected with the overall mission in the game. Each world is broken up into areas and there can be several sub-missions and side quests to complete. Each world culminates in a Boss Battle against an extremely over powered creature, but each has a weakness that can be exploited to help get through the fight more easily. Some bosses could take 2 hours to kill just hacking away, but if you find the weakness they can go down in a few minutes.

The story is a little cliched, but fun overall, with the obligatory twists out of left field. Some of the "character development" gets a little cheesy, but its nothing unexpected in a JRPG. Anyone that complains about it just doesn't know the genere. The voice acting is standard. Nothing oscar worthy, but not torture, either - except for the annoying child.

The animation is gorgeous, and the scenery is absolutely amazing. A few of the levels are a little bland, but overall this is one really beautiful world to go out into, kill a lot of things, and save the universe for our exploitation and enjoyment. I recommend this game to any one that is a fan of the Japanese RPG genere. This is one of the better ones available for XBox360 owners.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/09

Game Release: Star Ocean: The Last Hope (US, 02/23/09)