Star Ocean: The Last Hope

"Deep synthesis and satisfying combat abound, but story & script is mediocre"

I've been a Japanese-developed RPG freak since the PlayStation era, so it was no surprise that I checked out Blue Dragon and SO: TLH on the 360. Despite the fact the 360 didn't sell much in Japan, the JRPGs such as those (and Namco's Tales of Vesperia & Eternal Sonata) did keep it longer than the original Xbox did.

Rendered by Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean: The Last Hope pushes the Xbox 360 to the limits. Developer tri-Ace was known for pushing the consoles since Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, and it shows. Sit in front of a nice HDTV and Star Ocean 4 will blow it right off with an visual fireworks display only Gears of War and Killzone 2 can top. It is really that stunning in hi-def (standard-def has harder to read text due to letterbox). It's also nice to see the great details put in. For example, engage an enemy in the sands and walk around and you'll see footprint traces left on the enemies and characters. Same goes to riding a bunny (?!) around the sandy beaches.

The game's pacing is a step up over Till the End of Time on the PS2, which had an incredibly slow start. Item Creation is still here and is handled a lot different as usual, and is accessible in the first couple of hours into the game (although I wish there was an option to make Welch shut up). Pickpocketing from The Second Story (Second Evolution on PSP) makes a return here, with the same consequences of lowering affinity of party members by chance. And the Private Actions are still here.

If only the story kept up. Much like the PS2 game, it predictably declines into overwrought anime territory. And no, I won't even go there. It doesn't help that some voice-overs are mediocre. When you have a little mage girl who overuses the end sentence, 'kay, something is going wrong. Worse, the game is more linear than SO3 on PS2. In that game, you couldn't get all characters in a single playthrough. In The Last Hope, all characters join in one playthrough. Compared to Mass Effect's superior storytelling and voice acting (which is a different developed RPG as it's western-developed), this is inexcusable.

So if the script isn't great, how is the battles? They are a lot tighter than SO3 on PS2. At first glance, SO4 seems similar in design to a typical RT-RPG like the more recent Tales of Vesperia. Although you do spend most of your time defeating enemies that dares challenge you, this isn't a typical button-masher. Keeping the fighting close to the core, SO4 features an expansive combat engine that embraces combo strings, aerial juggling, and a Rush Mode where players won't stumble when struck. A prime example includes Meracle's final standard hit that can send the enemy flying. While the enemy is twirling overhead, Faize can continue the string with Earth Glaive, Lymle fire some Fire Bolts at the enemy, and finally finishing it with Meracle's Comet Impact for heavy damage. The game's combo system is so expansive that God of War's Kratos would deem it awesome. The game's battle pace is insanely fast and frenzied over SO3's slow and defensive pacing. The game brings back the squad of 4 party members in the battle, and can be swapped in a middle of battle a la Final Fantasy XII, even if a member is fallen. The new Blindsides and Rush Mode are both awesome in theory and execution. You'll feel like an ultimate badass as you slaughter groups of enemies with insane combos. The movements are not as clunky as Till the End of Time or other RT-RPGs. The ease of combat is truly remarkable and something I'm sure tri-Ace spent most of the development cycle perfecting. Once you understand how the game works, slaughtering foes with 300 hit combos seems as second nature as bashing an enemy with a Kendama in Tales of Symphonia. The only downside of this comes to some occasional boss battles where you have a hit-me-here bulls-eyes to maximize the damage. Even for some who don't have weak spots to hit, you've got a boss who has a hunk of HP - around millions for a final boss.

If you stick with this, though, the character customization becomes incredibly addictive. Synthesis is much easier than SO3, as you don't need Synthesis Materials this time around. The equipment has a certain number of upgrades, and only 4 special factors can be set, such as raising a percentage of your stats, or reducing MP cost, or increasing fire spell damage. In no surprise, this is very addicting once you understand the raw materials to use and which weapon to synth it to. It's a shame that Synthesis can only be accessed after half-way through the game, where you must have Sarah join you to use it. While it's deep enough, it's also a must in the harder difficulty levels and post-game content.

Overall, it's a major step up over Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant. Overall, I had to give this an 8. It's not on the level of western-RPGs like Oblivion and Fallout 3, but as JRPGs go, it's far from average.


Pros: Gorgeous visuals, user-friendly menus and combo system, deep Synthesis system.

Cons: Mediocre story & script, disappointing boss battles.


Graphics (out of 10): 10 Possibly the best in a 360 game, even though enemies pop into the screen 30 feet away from them in the field and there is a bit of choppiness. Battles have a maelstrom of mind-blowing effects, all running at a silky-smooth 60 Frames Per Second.

Sound: 7 Please, make Welch shut up. The soundtrack is decent though.

Gameplay: 9 The user-friendly menus and insane combos are noteworthy (unlike Till the End of Time, pulling off a 300 hit party combo is a snap once you know the game system). Customization is also very deep due to the Synthesis system, though that's unavailable until you get a specific character, halfway through Disc 2.

Story: 6 Though it uses a space-faring setting like Mass Effect, it's more Rogue Galaxy than BioWare's masterpiece in terms of storytelling.

Replayability: 7 Not quite as replayable as Till the End of Time on PS2, and the Achievements don't require you to beat a post-game superboss on the extreme difficulty levels.

Final Word: While the script isn't great, and the final battle is a letdown, the gameplay is tight and deep that it pulls you through till the end.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/04/09

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