- Tested on Nintendo Switch.
- Code transmitted by the publisher.
- Finished in 25 hours normally focusing on the main quest.
- Gameplay captures and home screenshots.
- It's my first Star Ocean (and not the last).
- Unlocked six of the thirteen playable characters.
- The game has 99 ends!
- OST reorchestrated for remake.
- Fun fact, Claude calls himself "clodo" in Japanese.
The first Star Ocean landed on PS1 in 1998, a monster year for video game: Half Life, Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid, Fallout 2, Baldurs Gate, Suikoden 2, Parasite Eve 2 And I'm passing by. Twenty-five years later, can we say it was better before? In this pre-winter carambolage of which to give the syncope to Father Noel, difficult to answer in the affirmative without frying out the indecency and some publishers unfortunately risk leaving feathers facing such an offer. This year, several JRPG flagship licences were given a second breath, starting with the remake of Star Ocean The Second Story R We're scrutinizing today! Decryption of an exemplary redesign.
A cult JRPG of the 9O years in the pocket
In recent years, like Capcom, Square Enix seems to scrupulously follow the path of redemption with games created and designed for fans. Since the new graphic style in pixel Art combining 2D and HD decors dOctopath Traveler, the publisher multiplies cared RPGs to the smallest detail. Triangle Strategy and Live a Live (read our critical) had already placed the cursor very high. By choosing again a graphic bias between nostalgia and modernity, the developers managed to transcribe part of the charm of the PlayStation era. The artistic direction is full of details and the colours shine on Switch Oled. A treat!
Star Ocean offers a mixture of fantasy and science fiction. The adventure began very briefly in space before Claude, a young officer of the Pangalactic Federation, was teleported to Milokeenia. This once peaceful little planet is plagued by an upsurge of violence after a mysterious orb fell from the sky. In the pure tradition of Berserk released eight years before the Playstation game, the natives turn into monsters and one of them will even want to marry by force Rena, young girl of the village and archetype of purity. Without going to the end of its ideas, the game multiplies the screenplay axes, while it is gradually discovered that the whole universe is threatened by the Sages, a group of polite equivalent of Freezer and other destroyers of worlds that the children of the 1990s know only too well. In Star Ocean, we don't get bored for a second, the universe is dense and if my personal adventure has concentrated around six playable characters, it is possible to mount up to 13 protagonists with completely different techniques and styles.
The arrival in majestic cities always has its small effect, especially since the lighting works reinforce the colour palette. The whole thing turns without brows and only the aliasing a little upsets the retina on Switch, probably due to the limitations of the support. A goldsmith's work marked by unwavering generosity with animated 2D models (designed by Yukihiro Kajimoto) during the dialogues between our characters, dialogues moreover fully doubled with the original Japanese voices. We can only recommend you to play in VOST for the atmosphere. Generosity obliges, it is even possible to choose three different styles of artistic direction for the characters and the game incorporates even a pretty cinematic anime. Such a service fan forces respect.
We must also welcome the work of Motoi Sakuraba (Other, Blue Ocean, Dark Souls) which has rearranged the OST in addition to new compositions, sometimes quite dark. Again it is a success even if we would have enjoyed a pile of extra themes. Some pieces remain impregnated with a magnificent mystical aura.
It
To make a good RPG, coating is of course important but you have to rely on a demanding gamedesign, right? Sea of Stars, recently shot in our columns despite its many rewards. On this side, the developers have fulfilled their goal by hand. There are also several great names of the JRPG, beginning with Yuichiro Kitao, who was already working on the system of combats of Star Ocean 3 and Valkyrie Profile 1&2. For the creative part, Yukinori Masuda had already worked on the Valkyrie So does he. With its real semi-time system, Star Ocean recalls the saga Tales Of for its frenetic action while bringing an overlay of strategy by the possibility of suspending action to ripen our assaults. Special mention to the quality of animations. A fight is always marked by a flood of spells and damage indicators, while remaining intelligible to the player.
All enemies have basic resistances and weaknesses that must be exploited. To this is added a resistance gauge which will have to be broken according to the techniques of our shock team. This is also one of the welcome new features of this remake and we feel that the success of From Software games is not foreign. This brings a less pompous dimension to the battles that can radically change by mastering this aspect. Special skills allow fighting to be engaged differently according to three types of models: balanced, broken and PV. Hits that promote breakup are essential to break the guard of opponents after a well-positioned combo. It is then that spell specialists can combine powerful magic attacks to inflict maximum damage while boosting team characteristics. Essential at the end of the game. Despite the joyous mess on the screen, what a satisfaction to see the action freeze in cascade during multiple breaks of enemy defensive lines.
Make JRPG great again!
Despite his lively gameplay, it would be wrong to believe that Star Ocean is just a simple RPG action. It is above all a system game with a depth that gives the vertigo in terms of customization of specs and abilities of characters. Each battle won allows to win PBs and PCs that allow respectively to improve specialty, combat or spell skills. Distributing its points between the 32 specialty skills directly impacts the defensive and offensive characteristics of each character but not only. In fact it also allows to learn gradually a « small » 30 skills outside the fighting! To increase efficiency, it will be necessary to reach level 10 of each of them and thus unlock super specialties to operate in teams.
Depending on the course of each, it becomes possible to fish, steal your neighbor, forge alone or set of powerful equipment. You can cook, become a chef or apothecary, prepare medicines, publish books, play music, participate in an orchestra, learn the feriology or become a painter, all this according to a class system that you will only touch if you focus only on the main adventure. On this subject, perhaps the auxiliary quests are a little too much in step with the contemporary standards imposed by titles such as The Witcher. Without describing each of these skills, the whole is overwhelming. Each subsystem contains another one in the image of Russian dolls that would fit endlessly. We quickly become obsessed with all these menus that remain always legible, even if we sometimes did the impression (rightly) to see only the tip of the iceberg.
Attention will also have to be constantly paid to strengthening these skills of specialties or combat skills. A savoury dilemma since using PBs in this second case profoundly changes battles. Depending on your priorities, your heroes will be able to cast spells much faster, break the guard of the enemies or teleport behind them, randomly avoid attacks or interrupt powerful adverse spells, which is essential in the last third of the game. These are no less than 12 combat skills on which we can influence as we please.
You will not farm
Where many RPGs have sequences where it becomes essential to farm to progress, Star Ocean This again demonstrates intelligence. It is always possible to avoid fighting or to take advantage by surprising the monsters behind their backs. But it is also possible to learn a sentinel specialty skill, which allows our small troupe to instantly kill weaker enemies without going through the combat system. This skill allows in the last quarter to gain quickly in experience without breaking the pace while remaining reserved for the least tough enemies.
Without exorbitant difficulty, some bosses sparingly spells that can one shot us in a quarter of seconds if we didn't equip our characters with the right assets and armor. Hence the need to collect and forge the necessary minerals by not neglecting the blacksmithing capabilities of our small troupe. We could write hours about all these systems that tangle but a substantial part of the fun comes from the discovery. When you block on a boss, it is essential to step back and change your approach strategy that can radically change the deal.
It would certainly have been appreciated if the secondary characters were more involved in the main campaign in terms of emotional attachment as in Golden Sun For example. Still Star Ocean sketch a multitude of themes to give life to the universe. And it works! The game also offers 99 different ends depending on the affinities developed between the characters. Even though the differences remain episodic, we must salute the approach to the most experienced fans of the franchise.
Gargantuesque: that's how you could define Star Ocean. An example of successful remake, the title signs almost without errors in respect of the original work while allowing new entrants to discover the saga. We're already dreaming of a new episode. The system of fighting and personalization of characters enjoys a crazy wealth that should delight system lovers. Beautiful, rich and playful, Star Ocean can easily get among the best JRPGs of the year! A nugget of choice that you are strongly advised to try.
For
- DA enchantment
- Beautiful entertainment
- Character design successful
- Rich and deep gameplay
- A system game
- Menu Readability
- History without time dead
- No re-enactment
- No farming
- Quality Cinematics and OST
- Full dubbing in Japanese
- 99 ends!
Against
- Underexploited friendship relations
- Adjunct private share system
- Secondary persons in withdrawal
- Dispensable side quests
- Hide that naughty aliasing I can't see!
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