Game review: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Published on Thursday 11 June 2009 15:03

XB360, £39.99

IN THE distant future, the Third World War leaves Earth in ruins and from the ashes of the destruction comes the age of space migration. Mankind's mission to find a new home sees a fleet of ships embark across the great star ocean of space, with lead characters Edge and Reimi on the maiden voyage. When a near miss with a mysterious asteroid sends their ship hurtling towards the uncharted planet Aeos, an epic quest unfolds that will determine the fate of the entire universe.

Playing similarly to other Square Enix role-playing games, Star Ocean's focus is on completing quests and engaging enemies in combat. The battle system here is real-time as opposed to turn-based, resulting in fast-paced tactical encounters. Your team can have up to four characters, each with unique melee and magical attacks called Symbology.

As you win fights, your characters will level up, unlocking new Symbology and chain attacks called Special Arts. With some clever play, you can rack up impressive combos by stringing these together. Fights aside, there is easily 40-plus hours of play across three discs, with an expansive universe, alien races and quests to discover.

While the series isn't as well known as developer stable-mate Final Fantasy, Star Ocean is every bit as engrossing, with stunning aesthetic quality, likable characters and a rich history waiting to be discovered. This is a successful restart to a great series and future sequels will be very welcome indeed.