Star Ocean First Departure Review
Star Ocean: First Departure is a PSP remake of the 1996 game of the same name. This is the game that started the Star Ocean series. You will be taking on the role of a tailed, reluctant, hero, as you will discover that you are not alone, and the life you had known isn't all there is out there. A strange disease has ravaged a town, and the cure is something out of this world.
The graphics show that it is a remake of an older game, there's nothing that is going to blow your mind but you can definitely tell that the graphics have been updated. the one thing that I would have like to see with the update is the ability to see if your character actually has a weapon equipped or not. There was a portion of the game where even though my character's model showed a weapon, there wasn't a weapon equipped, and it kept me from taking on a quest. There's a little bit of tearing that occurs from time to time while in cities.
The music is on par with a game of this type, it fits well, and doesn't seem to be out of place in most cases. The set phrases, as well as the overall dialog are my biggest gripes. Even though there is the possibility of changing your character's name, you're going to hear every character say your default name throughout the game.
The controls also bug me. When on the world map, your character seemed to change speeds from time to time when it wouldn't seem that you should. Also in battles trying to move towards enemies felt really loose. Also the combat feels like a button masher when that type of fighting really doesn't fit what you'd expect.
The gameplay is you trying to get from point A to point B. There are times when you can switch the story around a bit, but they it will eventually get right back into line. There are 4 characters that you will automatically gain, but there are other also characters that you will have chances of gaining as you go along. You will also be gaining skill points as you go along, as well as the opportunity to unlock skills to level up. These skills will allow for unlocking of abilities (ie crafting, cooking, and such). You'll notice that there will be certain instances when leaving a town, or about to enter a town where you can initiate private actions, I worn you, if you've done it once chances are its the same one that is flashing up. Also there are cases where you're trying to return to complete a quest , this is when you don't want to do the private action, it will seperate your character from the group sometimes, and then you can't complete the quest until you exit and re-enter the city. My final qualm is the locations of save points, I don't mind them being near boss fights, that's a great lifesaver, but at the same time after staying at an Inn there is no option to save after resting, your best choice is to go back out to the world map to save.
If you've played the first and want to see what has changed, then I'd say get the game. If you are looking for a very complicated RPG with flaws on the PSP, then get the game. If you are looking for your next favorite RPG for the PSP, then I'd look elsewhere. This game gets a 5.7 out of 10.
