Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2010, Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2009. I played this on a ROM some time ago when DeJap released their translation patch. I thought the systems in the second Star Ocean were some of the best I've ever seen in an RPG, despite the learning curve, and this game is basically Star Ocean done in the style of the Second Story. I think its better than Star Ocean second evolution. 3:30pm - HerrFrog Chills with RPGs, Trails of Cold Steel III Trailer Showcases New Allies, Second Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists Trailer Released, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Mercenaries Blaze: Dawn of the Twin Dragons, Final Fantasy Legend II (SaGa 2 Hihoudensetsu), Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy, RPG Cast – Episode 568: “What Popcorn Is Disgaea?”, Gloria Union Remaster Announced for Japan. SO: First Departure was the first game I've ever played for the PSP and bought it when I got my PSP early in 2009. It stands out in a few ways from its contemporaries, mostly in its Tales-esque battle system and character recruitment and affection minutiae. Even though Square Enix’s Star Ocean has been an … This game just encapsulates fun for me (outside of the tedious backtracking and archaic dungeon design *see hidden passeges that are required to progress*) and I remembered liking it more than the Second story PSP release. In the end, Star Ocean: First Departure is a wonderful translation of a game Americans were robbed of so long ago. This page works best with JavaScript. Star Ocean: First Departure R features a truly terrifying epidemic within the confines of the planet, Roak, in place of an initial, focal antagonist. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, If you liked SO2, you will enjoy this game, Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2019. One person found this helpful. Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2019. The game is both fun and challenging some dungeons being more difficult than I remember (mount metorx cave). The original battle and skill system of SO was somewhat clunky. The graphics are fine for the PSP screen resolution, and the gameplay is simple enough not to suffer from the not-so-precise L-Analog stick. These include a simple storyline, a fascinating combat system, and a … Overall, Star Ocean: First Departure R is an average release of an even more average JRPG. Theres just fewer useful abilities and some strange design flaws (ronyx uses a useless bow that provides no INT? I found it a very good game for the PSP. The party you control are members of the defense corps that protects the town, soon it’s attacked, and you’re able to protect the town. One must remember that Star Ocean: First Departure R is a re-release of a PSP game that released eleven years ago, which was then a remake of a Super Famicom title made in 1996. Which is something I think is missing in other Star Ocean Titles. Star Ocean: First Departure R is a phenomenally solid game for those looking for an old-school RPG to play that will also offer a wealth of content and replayability. The second, Star Ocean: The Second Story was a PlayStation gem, while the third, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time had a twist that had some swear off the series for good. Really solid review! MonsterVine was supplied with a PS4 code for review. Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2019. For Star Ocean: First Departure on the PSP, GameFAQs has 11 reviews. Star Ocean: First Departure R is a classic game that reminds us of where the series started. Star Ocean: First Departure is an enhanced remake of the original Star Ocean, developed by TOSE. Star Ocean: First Departure is a remastered adaptation of the first Star Ocean game on the Super Famicom (the Japanese SNES) which never made it to the western world. But definitely nothing that shines particularly bright. I'm not saying that First Departure has a poorly written story, but it saves all of its noteworthy developments for the latter phases when it should have showcased them throughout its campaign. Review for Star Ocean First Departure R on PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Nice that we are getting all these older, overlooked gems. This guide is the best way to get the most out of your game, whether playing once or multiple times. I wouldn’t call it explicitly better per se lol, it just has a really zany and fun story! Though Star Ocean: First Departure is technically a remake of 1996’s Japan-only Star Ocean for Super Famicom, most of us missed out on its magical RPGamer has been covering RPGs since 1998, with the current version of the site launched in 2018. In 2008, Square Enix released an enhanced remake called Star Ocean First Departure onto the PSP. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. The story doesn’t do much on its own but it does a … However, if you are willing to accept this as a condition and enjoy the series’ environments and atmosphere, you are sure to enjoy it. Star Ocean: First Departure R does its job of bringing First Departure to the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, but fails to do much beyond that. With all that said, I think the score is fair. I actually played this game on the PSP and remembered liking it so much that getting a chance to play it again was amazing. First Departure kicks off in a typical fantasy world of swords, magic, and monsters. The fantastic RPG studio tri-Ace's debut game is back in a remake of a remake so let's see if … Star Ocean: First Departure R is a fine port of a mediocre RPG. One of the biggest things Star Ocean First Departure R has going for it is that it’s absolutely beautiful. It has some fun button smashy gameplay. Star Ocean First Departure R finds you in the mostly peaceful town of Kratus, as the character Roddick and his friends, Millie and Dorne, who are part of the local defense force. Barring the spikes that may take some initially unaware, Star Ocean: First Departure R is not too challenging, and beating the game should take less than thirty hours. Star Ocean First Departure R is pretty much the same adventure found in Star Ocean First Departure. Square Enix seems to be churning out its fair share of quality remakes these days, and Star Ocean: First Departure on the PSP is yet another strong update on a classic. for all those people who get tired of the first few encounters being so static, don't buy. Not quite as easy to play as SO TTEOT on the PS2, but it has a lot of variety, some character building systems not present in SO Second Evolution, and (for a stat-building leveler like me) lots of replay value. this game has a built in Personal Action system that basically takes your response and either help you or go against your will, and what you say earlier on can effect later Personal Actions. The feeling of a combination of Final Fantasy and Star Trek was great. The world feels as if it might as well been just a bunch of dots for cities connected by roads. I began playing this game on the heals of completing Chrono Trigger (DS) and Tales of Phantasia (GBA). Star Ocean released on the Super Famicom in 1996 and saw a western release via a remake on the PSP in 2007. All I have left to say is I can't wait for the release of Second Evolution. Hope you all enjoy, as always let me know what you think down below. Regardless, Star Ocean: First Departure R is an overall port of a good game. Has excellent replay value with multiple endings and a lot of recruitable characters. The protagonist, Roddick, witnesses the life-threatening illness spread like wildfire, leaving petrified, but still very much alive, victims in its wake. For the most part, the events leading up to "good stuff" consists of your checking various towns, occasionally slipping into a simple dungeon, and then repeating the process. Didn't have a psp at release but now especially at $15 or so its a must buy. When bandits come knocking on your door, you start your first battles of … Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. Allow me to start by saying I've played all the Star Oceans and am a huge fan. In search of anything that may cure their homeland from this malady, Roddick and friends head off into the mountains in search of a herb that is rumored to c… Due to the wholesale change in our back-end and systems only certain content created from 2018 onwards has been carried over to our new site. You can still see all customer reviews for the product. It truly is nice to think what may have happened had this gotten a western release originally! Sure, this game does feature a more entuitive battle system than FF, but after leveling up after several encounters makes you tolerant of the enemies attacks. Thanks to Square Enix for the review copy. A well done remastering of the first Star Ocean title. The Star Ocean franchise has been on the outskirts of Dame's backlog for years. The item creation and skill systems, as well as Private Actions, have been updated to the depth of the second game and really add that little something that set The Second Story apart from its contemporaries. I agree with Seifer276. It features a diverse cast of characters that will make you want to play … I say do yourself a favor and pick this gem up. Star Ocean: First Departure is an enhanced remake of Star Ocean, the original Super Famicom classic and progenitor of Tri-Ace's most renowned franchise. AzelKosMos's Review of Star Ocean: First Departure. It's all quite basic and it works smoothly without any noteworthy hitches except the obvious one: it gets repetitive. Star Ocean: First Departure (PSP) review by Jason Venter. By the time you reach the end of the game, you'll probably have faced more than 800 different enemy groups, with most battles won simply by spamming your basic sword strokes and perhaps the same projectile spell. and his normal attack is so awful you’d have to be crazy to use it…? Star Ocean First Departure R brings the PSP game to both PS4 and Nintendo Switch with some minor adjustments. Please make sure that you are posting in the form of a question. B-E-A-UTIFUL! I loved Second Story, and this one sounds even better. Hope you like it!! Backloggin’ the Year 2021 Edition – Meet the Crew, Backloggin’ the Year 2021 Edition – Finishing 50 Games a Year, RPGamer’s Most Anticipated Games: 2021 Edition, Backloggin’ the Year 2020 Edition – Final Wrap-up, 12pm - Loffter Plays The visuals have all be updated, but the character’s pixel designs have always been beautiful. Those of you not familiar with Tri-Ace Star Ocean series (and I am basing the following explanation on Star Ocean 1-3), they feature mostly non-serious stories in a Star Trek-like universe, where the Galactic Federation decrees that people from “developed” planets— those that created advanced technology and space travel— are required to conceal their technology if they happen to visit people that populate undeveloped planets. Most of these “undeveloped” planets feature humanoid races, and the frequently utilized JRPG pseudo-Medieval fantasy environment. Star Ocean: First Departure R starts out as a by-the-numbers JRPG set on the planet Roak. With superb voice acting, phenomenal replayability, and a great translation with new hybrid 2D/3D graphics, Square Enix’s remake team did a great job. I have not played any Star Ocean games before this. Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2009. This game always felt a bit flat. Like Final Fantasy reading the dialogue is important. The game is only one player, so don't go trying the Mlan switch, but do expect to want to play the game over again, or want to have the strategy guide. I enjoyed my time playing this remaster immensely, and became enamored of the story and its characters rather early on. Fast forward to the present and we have a new slightly enhanced version of the game available on both PS4 and Nintendo Switch. The game is beautiful, the environments look fantastic. This game is an rpg gamers dream. what the heck happened here…) It doesn’t provide the novelty of the SNES version’s impressive battle system and graphics/voice work for the console, but instead borrows from the second game and feels lesser for it. I’ll probably have to buy the game now. 3.5 is a perfect score. Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2009. I couldn't be happier. This may not appeal to somebody who loves the current wave of near-photo-real fast-reflex high-intensity FPS games, but if you like playing for hours and hours to get new players, new attacks/spells, new power-ups, new cut-scenes, and so forth, this is a pretty good game. Playing this gave me Final Fantasy vibes. Star Ocean: First Departure boasts an item creation system as well as a fairly extensive skill system which can be used to boost certain attributes of … Star Ocean First Departure R is an underwhelming port of an excellent but often forgotten Square Enix JRPG. I just couldn’t help but think they could have done a lot more if it wasn’t just an adaption of the SNES version with the SO2 systems integrated. a good title, good jrpg, not good difficulty, Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2010. if your used to going into battle FF style, this is the game for you. I feel as though for once squareenix hasn't disappointed (not too pleased with most of the latest releases) I like the voices overall Pericci I find annoying. Doing justice to a game long overdue for a release, Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2008. It plays much like Tales of Phantasia as one might expect. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, See all details for Star Ocean: First Departure - Sony PSP, © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. SO2 was the better entry to introduce in the West. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. and he’s a pure offensive mage? After more than a decade of waiting, American fans of the series are in for a treat. Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2012. The storyline isn't the most original, by any means, but it's pretty good for standard RPG fare, and the characters and events have a nostalgic charm that really reminds the player of the classic 16 bit RPGs of yore. The remake of the original Star Ocean which came out … The first details of the game were revealed at the "Star Ocean Special Stage" during the Square Enix Party 2007, alongside those of Star Ocean: The Second Story.Yoshinori Yamagishi, producer of the series, stated that he wants the remakes to feel as though they're completely new games. The … It’s a fun game simply because SO2 is a fun game to play. This game is fun. It stands out in a few ways from its contemporaries, mostly in its Tales … Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2019. 11:30pm - Q&A Quest, Wheels Plays, 10am - Stardew Valley Co-op with Scar So pick it up you won't be disappointed. However, all of our older content can still be found at archive.rpgamer.com. I am currently half way through this game and enjoying it as much as— if not more than— Star Ocean 2. STAR OCEAN First Departure R (PlayStation 4) Review By Albert Lichi 30.12.2019 3 When the original Star Ocean came out for the Super Famicom, it was one of two titles that held the distinction of requiring the largest cartridge size Nintendo would allow. And, honestly, I couldn't be more impressed. Dec 4, 2019 80 Star Ocean: First Departure R is an overall port of a good game. Disabling it will result in some disabled or missing features. I'd buy it again for PS3 if they bumped up the resolution. B-E-A-UTIFUL! There's a problem loading this menu right now. There was almost no reason to veer off the track other than for one new optional character. I loved it, just thought it needed some polishing. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. If it feels boring, hunt down some online FAQs to see what you may be missing. Published December 6, 2018. It’s certainly worthwhile as lore for the second game, and it has some funny skits and some decent dialog/characters. 9pm - The RPGamer Experience / JCServant Plays, 12pm - Loffter Plays I always thought the original was a little cramped, and now the areas are much, much larger. When it was first released, it was one of the best-looking 2D games out there, but since it has been remade (and remember, this is a port of the remake), they’ve added animated cutscenes and completely redone the graphics. Gotta go, Pericci's meowing. A lot of players come into this series expecting a true science fiction story, and are often disappointed to find that the majority of their time is spent on the undeveloped “backwater” planets. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. I'm a huge fan of "Star Ocean: The Second Story", so when I heard its predecessor came out, I had to give it a try. There are a few additional dungeons that open up near the very end of the game, which house the best equipment, and offer tougher fights than the final boss. Here it is, the first real part of my next major retrospective! Read GameSpot player reviews and contribute your own! Love the choice style combat. One helpful feature added allows players to move faster on the world map and in dungeons, making getting from point A to point B easier. While it is certainly fun and enjoyable, it retains a number of traits associated with the best JRPGs. Star Ocean First Departure R is the best Star Ocean game in a long time. 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