John McCarroll writes "Every generation, there are gems in the Square Enix family of games that never make it to North America. In the most recent generation, North America was robbed of Front Mission 5 and Dragon Quest: Shounen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon. In the PSOne generation, we lost out on Tobal No. 2 and Another Mind. Back in the 16-bit days, we lost out on Square titles like Bahamut Lagoon and Enix titles like Terranigma. With current handhelds being as powerful as they are, we've seen release of titles never before seen in this territory, such as Final Fantasy III, for example. Now, Square Enix gives us the chance to play through another of these missing gems: Star Ocean: First Departure. Is it worth picking up? If you're an RPG fan with a PSP, the answer is undoubtedly yes. That's not to say that Star Ocean is perfect, as there are issues with the title that make it feel archaic, but anyone who liked The Second Story or Till the End of Time will fall in love with this game"
Star Ocean is one of those series that did, and still does, things that others don’t. Think of it as a JRPG for fans of series like Star Trek. The casts regularly involve people from more advanced civilizations getting involved with those who are still growing, even though there are various measures in place to allegedly stop that sort of interference. As a result, people get energy weapons, cyborgs, magic and people who can turn into cats. It is a lot to take in.
Let's see here. There was another classic JRPG series that started this SCI Fi. It was Phantasy Star by Sega. Before Star Ocean, there was Phantasy Star 1-4 on Sega consoles
a beginners guide to star ocean....after playing the 3rd game
you've been told that the universe (SO lore) is just a ------------------- and close the book
Yeah, that plot twist didn't work for me. I wish SO3 isn't canon, but it is. Anyway, SE can just sweep SO3 under the rug perhaps by soft rebooting the franchise.
The first two were so great, among the top RPGs on 16 and 32-bit era. I wonder why it went downhill after that...
Play the PS1 game and then the PS2 game and then the rest probably aren't worth your time unless you're a superfan of the series. I think that's all you need to know.
The Enix era began on the NES and ended as we know it in 2003 on the PS2, but in 18 years' time, this publiser released some of the best games ever.
Alex S. from Link-Cable writes: "Video game remakes are a special thing, as typically no one sets out to remake a game that was poorly received when it was originally launched but instead it’s usually only the best of the best that get the remake treatment. Games that reviewed well, were a hit with fans and (maybe most importantly) sold well are often chosen for remakes (why do you think there are so many Final Fantasy and Zelda remakes?) so it stands to reason that most remakes – are typically quite good (check out our list of the best remakes ever)… typically. So today we’re dragging these games out of the gutter to remember why they earned the title of worst remakes of all time, whether it’s because they turned a perfectly good experience sour or are just bad games in their own right."
