SKILLS STAR OCEAN FIRST DEPARTURE R FULL
SKILLS STAR OCEAN FIRST DEPARTURE R PSP

Later in the game, though, finely-honed talents allow you to create equipment that simply isn't available in shops.

The first time you try to mix silver with a sword, for example, you might produce a creaky old staff better suited for life as kindling. Others seem less beneficial at a glance, yet still are worth your attention because as you combine things, you'll grow more proficient at important tasks. Many of these have practical purposes that are immediately obvious, such as the ability to turn a raw material such as iron into a practical accessory. Throughout the world, you can obtain texts that allow you to master useful arts such as cooking, alchemy and even musical composition. Each time you level up your warriors, they gain skill points that can then be distributed as you see fit. Whatever your eventual thoughts on the narration, the next thing likely to catch your attention is the character customization. There's a general absence of hokey lines, even when folks get preachy-fortunately not a regular occurrence-so that it's easy enough to get involved despite any failings. Additionally, any plot-centric dialog accompanied by expressive character portraits and is fully voiced by actors who do a nice job of putting emotion behind their lines. These don't happen nearly enough but always look spectacular when they occur. To spruce things up a bit beyond what was possible on 16-bit hardware, key moments in the tale are now assisted by animated cutscenes. If the youths wish, they can embark on a time-spanning quest that may allow them to save their world.Įven at the time of its original release, the story in this first Star Ocean installment wouldn't have won any awards for originality. Just as total heartbreak seems imminent, two strangers from another world materialize from thin air and offer a solution.

Their limited ambitions and world views are soon put to the test when a mysterious illness begins to spread through the surrounding villages. They're part of a three-person band of juveniles who have been tasked with protecting their backwoods village on the planet Roak. In general terms, the story revolves around two characters: Roddick (a young man with blue hair and a sword) and Millie (a pretty young sorceress).

SKILLS STAR OCEAN FIRST DEPARTURE R FULL

References to the 'star ocean' that lies just beyond the firmament help to fuel the imagination when intrigue is running low, but overall you'll spend a full three quarters of the game wondering when the science fiction will return. Sound familiar? Except for some characters thrown into the mix at the beginning and a few hints at futuristic technology throughout, there's not much here that would feel out of place in a Dragon Warrior title. While it's true that the end game is full of fascinating twists, turns and attempts to engage the player in a bit of introspection, the majority of the experience comes down to a band of heroes romping through a fantastic world where magic-known here as symbology-and castles are as common as dandruff and bad breath. there are a few problems.įor insatiable RPG fans, the primary concern will likely be the plot. Against all odds, that's almost exactly what happened.

SKILLS STAR OCEAN FIRST DEPARTURE R PSP

To succeed, the PSP remake needed not only to work within the original template, but also to polish the beloved formula to make it relevant for folks who cut their teeth on the likes of Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts. That doesn't stop developers from trying, though, and Star Ocean: First Departure is only one of several recent attempts to bring old-school RPG magic to a new audience. As a result, the spectacular experiences of the 1990s aren't always going to please gamers of the new millennium, even if you dispense with tweaked visuals and improved balance. Games have come a long way in the past decade, even within the RPG genre. especially since almost any rival can be overcome simply by level grinding (though frankly, that's seldom even necessary).' You can experiment with numerous variations if you like, but there's no incentive to do so. 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. 'It's all quite basic and it works smoothly without any noteworthy hitches except the obvious one: it gets repetitive.

Skills star ocean first departure r