| Star Ocean: The Last Hope | |
|---|---|
North American Xbox 360 cover art |
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| Developer(s) | tri-Ace Square Enix |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
| Designer(s) | Mitsuo Iwao (game director) Yoshinori Yamagishi (chief producer) Hajime Kojima (assistant producer) Yoshiharu Gotanda (supervisor) Katsumi Enami (character design) |
| Composer(s) | Motoi Sakuraba |
| Series | Star Ocean |
| Engine | ASKA Engine (proprietary)[1] |
| Platform(s) | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 |
| Release date(s) | Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | 3 DVD-ROM DL (Xbox 360), 1 Blu-ray Disc (PS3) |
Star Ocean: The Last Hope[8] (スターオーシャン4 Sutā Ōshan Fō) is an action role-playing video game developed by tri-Ace and Square Enix who also published the game, initially only for the Xbox 360, and the fourth installment in the Star Ocean series. Famitsu revealed that the battle system featured four party members, and was more team-oriented. The game also features more of a sci-fi emphasis than past titles with the ability to control your own ship. This ship is quite large, and is able to land on at least 5 planets or other space-based destinations. Players are able to travel through the "star ocean," jumping across planets.[9] The game takes place a few centuries before the original Star Ocean (around S.D. 10, or approximately 2087 AD).[10] The game's plot revolves around Edge and his crew combating a mysterious threat called the "Grigori".
An international version of the game was released by Square Enix as a worldwide PlayStation 3-exclusive on February 9, 2010.[6] Officially known as Star Ocean: The Last Hope International, the game contains both Japanese and English voices as well as new content that is exclusive to the international version of the game.[11]
Contents |
The Last Hope takes place on Earth in the year S.D. 0010 where the world is on the brink of destruction. In A.D. 2064 World War III broke out after several clashes between the World Republic Federation, the ruling government body on Earth, and its enemies around the world. Weapons of Mass Destruction were utilized by both factions of the war without hesitation, razing the lands on Earth. The declining situation lead the people to believe that the end of the world was nearing, but the critical situation forced both factions to declare a ceasefire. In the aftermath of the war, most of the Earth's population has been killed and the natural environment was deteriorating at an alarming rate.
The surviving population of mankind were forced to live in the confinement of underground cities and the countries banded together to form an organization known as the Greater United Nations. The Universal Science and Technology Administration or USTA was established by the Greater United Nations, its mission was to locate a new home planet for mankind in the far reaches of outer space. A.D. 2087, Professor Trillas Bachtein succeeded in his warp drive experiments which was a breakthrough in space travel. In S.D. 0001, the first year of the newly established Spacedate calendar, the USTA secretly put in motion its Space Reconnaissance Force or SRF project which would then in S.D. 0010 send the first human expedition into outer space to locate a suitable planet for the relocation of mankind.[3]
The Last Hope utilizes the same real time battle system like previous games in the series, new features include a new Rush Gauge and Blindsides. The Rush gauge allows players to perform a preemptive strike against his opponent or use a special ability or attack. Each character will have and utilize their own individual Rush gauge. Blindsides allow the player to counter attack an enemy who is targeting the player by slipping behind the enemy quickly out of his line of sight and launching a preemptive strike on the enemy from his back. One noteworthy change in the system is the increase in the number of characters that can be controlled and fought with in battle to four, as it was limited to one in the other three non-handheld Star Ocean games.
A new feature in The Last Hope is allowing the player to take the role of captain of the spacecraft, the SRF-003 Calnus, which has been sent to scout new frontiers by the USTA. The Calnus possesses a flight deck where the player can select which planet he would like to fly to, a recreation room where the player's teammates can hang out and interact with one another as well as a conference room where the player gathers with the crew to come out with new ideas for Item Creation. The battle arena contains the battle simulator, a feature from previous games such as Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, which allows the player and his teammates to practice combat. The crew's quarters allows the player to choose which characters share the same room, and the correct pairings can lead to special actions between characters known as Private Actions.[3]
The Private Action system (often shortened to PA) is a feature that returns from previous games in the Star Ocean series, where the main protagonist, Edge, can interact with his teammates. PAs consist of actions such as conversing with them during rest after exploration or battle, the player can form a rapport with him/her, which increases the member's affection or respect for the main character. Choosing the correct choices during actions would unlock special events or cutscenes between Edge and the team member. Placing characters in the same room also builds up rapport and unlocks even more PA events. If a member is severely injured in battle, a special "Rage" mode can be unlocked which allows close members to attack enemies with more power. PAs are also able to change the ending of the game with different cutscenes being shown, there are a total of about 100 PAs which can be unlocked in the game.[3]
The Battle Exalted Action Type (BEAT) System is a new feature in The Last Hope which allows the player to choose the preferred type of fighting styles of team members, these include offense, defense, sneak attacks, etc. As combat experience increases, the team can achieve higher combat rank statuses, which unlock advanced styles, known as Action Upgrades.
New special attacks can be unlocked for team members as their levels increase such as long-range, melee or area attacks can be performed. Link combos can be performed through chaining special attacks together. Symbology or Heraldry allows characters to cast magic which may use up more MP depending on the type of users; for example, melee-orientated fighters would use up more MP rather than spell casting orientated-ones. The casting times of symbology vary according to the statistics of the user, Link Combos can also be combined with Symbology to create multiple chains of magic attacks.[3]
Star Ocean: The Last Hope was originally announced at the "Star Ocean Special Stage" at the 2007 Square Enix Party as the tentatively titled Star Ocean 4 with no platform.[12] An Xbox 360 release was revealed during the 2008 Xbox 360 RPG Premiere. In a special interview with Xbox Japan, weeks before the game's release, game producer Yoshinori Yamagishi revealed that the team began planning out Star Ocean: The Last Hope immediately after they finished developing Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, so actual development time took about 5 years. The game uses an improved version of the game engine used in Infinite Undiscovery, where it is able to generate much better graphics, and the stunning expression of light in real time. He also mentioned that the biggest problem the team encountered while creating the game is capacity, as making a RPG on a latest generation console requires vast amounts of data and coding thanks to the complexity of graphics and animations. The game will also be running at a constant 60 frame/s. Pre-rendered movies are done by a collaboration between tri-Ace and Visual Works, while character design and illustration (only in the Japanese version) is handled by Katsumi Enami, best known for his illustration work in the light novel and anime series Baccano!.[13][14]
When asked whether the title would release on the PlayStation 3, Square Enix producer Yoshinori Yamagishi replied "We can say that it will be released first [on the Xbox 360]. Whether we'll release it on the PS3 is undecided. We may release it, we may not."[15] Square Enix and The Last Hope's development team later stated that there were no plans for a PS3 version.[16][17] In an interview, Yamagishi said that Xbox 360 was the first seventh generation console to come out, and its "extremely well-made hardware", from a developer's standpoint, as the reasons why he choose it to develop Star Ocean: The Last Hope on.[18] In a test play session held for Microsoft Japan employees and some prominent bloggers, when asked if Star Ocean: The Last Hope follows after Star Ocean: Till the End of Time's plot twist, Yamagishi stated in a Q&A session that the world of SO4 exists in a parallel universe from the one in the first three Star Ocean games.[19] When asked if tri-Ace will remake the first three games on a new generation console, Yamagishi stated that he would rather work on a new sequel to Star Ocean than develop remakes, as the development time for them would be very consuming.[20] Since then Yoshinori Yamagishi has stated that he finished with Star Ocean after achieving all he set out to do with the series.[21]
On September 14, 2009 Star Ocean: The Last Hope International was announced in Japanese gaming magazine, Famitsu, exclusively for the PlayStation 3 including new content that was not included in the original Xbox 360 version. This put an end to the many rumors that The Last Hope would receive a PlayStation 3 port.[11]
Star Ocean: The Last Hope International is an international version of The Last Hope which was released February, 2010 exclusively for the PlayStation 3. It came on a single Blu-ray Disc and contains new additional exclusive content for the PlayStation 3 such as dual voices (Japanese and English), the original illustrated character portraits for dialogues, as well as multiple new soundtracks.[11][22]
The music for Star Ocean: The Last Hope was composed by Motoi Sakuraba, who has worked on the soundtrack for the previous Star Ocean games and many other games developed by tri-Ace. The soundtrack will be released in two parts:
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | (PS3) 76.62%[25] (X360) 74.63%[26] |
| Metacritic | (PS3) 74/100[27] (X360) 72/100[28] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Famitsu | 34/40 |
| Game Informer | 7.0/10[29] |
| GamePro | [30] |
| GameSpot | (X360) 7.5/10[31] |
| IGN | (X360) 8.0/10[32] |
| Official Xbox Magazine | (X360) 8.5/10[33] |
| TeamXbox | (X360) 8.5[34] |
| X-Play | [35] |
| Blast | 8.4/10 |
| PC Advisor | |
| PixlBit | [36] |
Famitsu awarded the game a total of 34/40, composed of a 9/9/8/8 score.[37]
Overall, the game was far better received than Square Enix's other next-gen console RPGs such as Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant, both of which had mixed reviews from critics. IGN awarded the game a score of 8.0. In its review, IGN stated that despite the rough pacing in the storyline that could be told in a much more engaging manner, tri-Ace and Square Enix's latest RPG holds together quite well with action-packed gameplay. One of the small annoyances encountered during the game is the disc-swapping, which requires players to switch discs if they need to travel between planets later in the game. The review also feels that the Japanese voice track should have been included as an option in the North American version, as the English voice track and lip-syncing are horrendous. IGN gave The Last Hope International an 8.5, applauding the inclusion of the Japanese voices, and the original anime portraits. X-Play gave The Last Hope 4 out of 5, stating that the story is epic, engaging and well-paced from start to finish, and combat is frantic, complex and smooth. X-Play stated bad voice acting, and objectives that aren't always clear to lead the player, as the downsides of the game. TeamXbox awarded the game with a score of 8.5, praising the balanced and addictive combat which allows the player to bring both strategy and gaming skill to the fray. The Official Xbox Magazine gives a score of 8.5, citing the addictive mix of combat, quests and storyline as a plus, but criticizes the long stretch of cutscenes and a lack of save points around.
The game has sold 166,027 copies in its first four days on the Japanese market placing it in third place behind Blue Dragon and Tales of Vesperia for sales of Xbox 360 games in Japan. 24,584 Xbox 360 units were also sold during the week of February 16, 2009.[38] The Last Hope has since become the best-selling Xbox 360 game in Japan, with 208,438 units.[39] As of May 31, 2009, the game has sold 450,000 copies worldwide.[40]
GameZone's Steven Hopper gave The Last Hope International an 8.5/10, saying "With the inclusion of the Japanese voice track, this is the definitive version of The Last Hope, and a worthy purchase for Japanese-RPG fans. While the core game hasn’t changed from the original 360 version and there are a couple frustrating issues, this is definitely a solid RPG and a good investment of time."[41]
PixlBit gave The Last Hope International a 4/5 stating, "If you own a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and are looking for the definitive version of Star Ocean: The Last Hope, look no further. The PlayStation 3 version has no disc swapping, while the Xbox 360 version spans 3 discs, and it also features Japanese voice-overs. Finally, the game features a variety of other small enhancements that improve the overall experience in the PlayStation 3 version."[42]
1UP gave The Last Hope a letter grade of B- and The Last Hope International a letter grade of B stating about The Last Hope International: "The PS3 version of Star Ocean 4, while coming out a year after its 360 counterpart, at least brings a few highly desirable additions. For one, you can listen to all the game's dialogue in Japanese -- a feature more games should include (It even made me want to play through the game without the voiceacting turned off completely!). And you can swap the game's menus to a brighter, more anime-inspired look. If, like me, you thought the 360's 3D character portraits looked out of place, it's nice to switch over to the original Japanese art."[43]
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