Nov 052021
Near the end of October, we also had another big JRPG announcement, a bit of an unexpected one: a new Star Ocean game is in development.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force is the sixth entry in the series, set after the events of the fifth game but still earlier than the last game in the timeline.
It stars two protagonists, Raymond (who looks significantly better in artwork than his game model) and Laeticia, and you’ll choose whose story you want to follow.
Their meeting is the spark for the game’s story, but the official blog post about the game says your choice of who to play will determine “the events that take place during the story, including the allies who’ll have your back by the end of the game.”
Exploration looks like it will be a big focus, with a lot of verticality involved since you can fly for short distances.
I’ve seen a lot of people criticizing the game’s visuals, and I don’t really get it. Aside from the character models, which I’m not crazy about, I think Star Ocean: The Divine Force looks beautiful. The environments especially stand out to me and make me want to explore this game’s world.
It’s so pretty!
Now… back in 2015, I was also pretty excited for Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness, which got a fairly negative reception when it came out.
And… I still haven’t played my copy of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time.
Since then, however, the first Star Ocean game was remastered, so I intend to pick up Star Ocean: First Departure R to try it ahead of this game’s release. I keep hoping they’ll remaster or port the second game in English, though, since that’s supposed to be one of the best in the series and is difficult to find nowadays.
Here’s hoping The Divine Force will be an excellent return for the series when it comes out next year! What do you think of the newest Star Ocean game from what we’ve seen so far?
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You can already play the second game in English. The original version (the best/second story) is for the PS1 and they did a newer version for the PSP (second evolution). The first half of Till the End of Time is great, but it goes downhill a hell of a lot, and the ending is just abysmal.
Are people complaining about the environmental graphics? That’s a little bit harsh. The character models in SO have been real ugly since 4, sadly. Not sure why they insist on using that weird doll look still.
I know, but finding a PS1 game nowadays isn’t easy, and I don’t have a PSP. Since it’s not digital, there’s no way to play it on a Vita. So finding a PS1 copy would be the only way for me to play it.
[…] when Star Ocean: The Divine Force was announced, I said I intended to play Star Ocean: First Departure R before it came […]