Story & Playability
This review covers the Xbox 360 version of Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.
SO4 takes place many years from now, with Earth having been made uninhabitable by World War 3. Mankind has no choice but
to turn to the vast star ocean in an attempt to find a new world to call home. Along with his childhood friend, Reimi,
Edge Maverick sets off into space to accomplish this very task as a member of the Space Reconnaissance Force. Of course,
his journey to save humanity takes him to many worlds as he also searches for his best friend Crowe, who is missing in
action, and Edge and his crew ultimately have to save not only the human race but the entire universe.
Those who are familiar with games created by Tri-Ace probably know by now that you don’t usually play their games for
the plot. That said, SO4 actually has a rather good storyline, with few plot holes and well-developed characters, and
fans of the earlier Star Ocean games will appreciate several references. Sure, the game has its own fair share of
clichés, but they didn’t seem overpowering and for a list of the clichés I refer you HERE. Unfortunately, the game has rather poor
delivery and conveyance of its plot, with some characters being very unrealistically over the top and borderline cheesy
about many story elements. Although the wording of the lines has a lot to do with this problem, another big contributor
is character movement, of which the chief offender is the kind-hearted, peppy Reimi. Many of her actions are
unnecessarily emphatic as she talks. While it might add interest to make characters move as they talk, Reimi is one of
the only characters with her own personal mannerisms, making some of her lines downright awkward, especially considering
no one in the game seems to find it odd how much she moves when she talks. While not a major downfall of the plot, the
story would probably have come off more interesting had the characters not been trying too hard sometimes.
Another awkward element of the story is that some things that are very important to the plot are not covered in
cut-scenes, and found only in hard to find optional events, notes in the main menu, and the booklet that come with the
game. Many players won’t think to look in any of these places, and some of this information is vital to understanding
a particular character and their role in the story. Without it, many scenes in the game will be misinterpreted or
downright creepy.
The most significant drawback to SO4’s story is its pacing. Random, unimportant scenes of partial nudity, innuendos
for fan service or humor are inserted into serious moments, sometimes even perilous, completely disrupting the pace of
the situation. Thankfully, this doesn’t happen very often, because when it did it was completely out there. Second,
though the cut-scenes are interesting, they’re just too long. The game developed a strict pattern of “hour long
cut-scene, then hours of running around with no story, then hour of private actions, then hour long cut-scene.”
Lather, rinse, and repeat. The story thus loses some of its effect and interest, especially to those of us who barely
have the attention span of a fly. Of course, nearly every cut-scene can be skipped and has a text summary of the plot at
the end, but this causes the player to miss out on the character interaction and bonding that really makes SO4 stand
out.
That said, SO4 excels in character development and interaction. Though the characters could sometimes be over dramatic,
the bonds between the characters proved to be both very interesting and important. Unlike many games of late (*cough
cough Final Fantasy 13 cough cough*) the characters actually care and interact with one another and make the story much
more engaging, even if a little cheesy at times.
All in all, despite its minor story flaws, Star Ocean has a solid plot with great characters and character development.
And since I rambled on about the story so long, I’ll save playability for the “Fun” section.
Rating: 7
Graphics
SO4 is stunning in the graphics department. The environments are all rich in color and detail with well-used lighting.
Dungeons were each unique, never looking much like one you’ve visited before. This is also the only game I’ve ever
played in which the player can stand on the beach and go whale-watching. Truly, the environments are that developed.
Characters are also very colorful and well-designed. However, the characters and many of the worlds they visit have very
Japanese mannerisms, which would be good and make sense to a certain extent considering that this game was developed in
Japan. Still, considering the broad scope of this game, it doesn’t make sense for every single world in the universe
to act Japanese. In fact, it would add tremendously to the atmostphere if the characters and some of the civilizations
didn’t act so Japanese, because this game is about aliens that should be very different in culture. It’s nothing
against the Japanese personally; it simply detracts from the diversity of the worlds that are clearly meant to be
different.
Overall, graphics and art are absolutely beautiful, but the stylizing and cultural influences are not varied much for a
game that covers the whole star ocean.
Rating: 8
Sound
Star Ocean 4’s music was for the most part rather bland. While it’s nice that the battle music changes to fit the
emotions of the story as it developed, the battle music proved some of the only notable music. Rarely is the other music
attention grabbing, and when it is it’s usually for the worse.
Voice acting is overall quite good, with good delivery and voices that match each character’s personality. Although
at least one character is painful to listen to, it’s clearly intentional. I can’t really speak for the Japanese
voices, having only played the English version, but the voices are done well. After all, it’s hard to go wrong with
Laura Bailey and Jason Liebricht on the voice acting crew.
Rating: 5
Fun
Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope is incredibly fun. Once again, Tri-Ace has managed to create an addictive battle system,
with the “blindside” system allowing players to strategically dodge and counterattack in order to inflict more
damage. Battle skills are present as typical of the Star Ocean series, but this time around they can be chained and even
the spell casters are fun to use because each has their own forte and playing style. From arrows to claws to cannons,
SO4 has playing styles for nearly every gamer.
Item creation in SO4 is, in my humble opinion, the best yet of the series, with each item being a recipe that can be
used to make the item time and time again at your request, provided you have the right materials. Recipes are easy to
make; the only downside is that items can be very difficult to come by and it’s not unusual to have the recipe tens of
hours before you procure the ingredients.
Private actions are also a fun aspect of the game, though they often give them to you too many at a time. Via private
actions, the player can gain more information about other characters, get a laugh or two, and contribute to emotion
points, which ultimately determine what character endings you see at the game’s end.
In closing (you deserve a cookie if you’ve read all my ramblings thus far), Star Ocean 4 is a game with a good, though
awkwardly delivered story full of great characters. Graphics are also beautiful and detailed, though the game’s music
is rather lackluster. However, the game’s free-motion battle system keeps the player involved in the game and provides
nice challenges and tons of fun, making the game recommendable to any gamer who has the time to put in to this forty
hour behemoth.
Rating: 8
Final Verdict
7.1667 (above average)
Reviewed by SnickerdoodleNinja, May 08, 2011