Set in 2090, as a prequel to the Star Ocean series of RPGs, this sets the scene of the whole sword and magic space Opera proceedings. With Earth doomed, you and your band of strangely androgynous, ridiculously uniformed, teenage characters head out to the stars. Playing initially as Edge Maverick (sporting the world's cheesiest name), you stumble across your role after the ship crash lands and you prove your worth at slaughtering the indigenous inhabitants and unlocking the thin plot developments.
Game Revolution writes: "For many PS3 owners, the drought of good JRPGs has been almost enough to switch sides in the console war. With only a handful of titles out there, of which many are terrible, it's almost enough to lose hope in the genre completely. Fortunately, Star Ocean: The Last Hope International Edition has arrived to fill the void."
XGN writes: "That Square Enix is an excellent developer in role-playing games is concerned that what is obvious. Besides including the great Square Enix Final Fantasy series will also have the Star Ocean series. Similarly Star Ocean: The Last Hope International for the PlayStation 3. Know this game to reach the stars?"
PSFocus writes: "The Cold War was one of the most fascinating periods in our history. The Third Reich was just circumstances, or the arms race began again. Luckily we knew this cold period positively to close when the Soviet Union fell. Yet there is a question that many people their main plays: what if something happened? Here picks Star Ocean: The Last Hope in. We are not in the past, but just in the future! The world suffers from a war that more harm than good. Eventually they make peace, because the earth is almost completely destroyed. The only hope for humanity, the infinity of space!"
Having been without a real jrpg for so long, I was excited to finally play this. I have never played a Star Ocean game before but always loved the sci-fi element of it. I was a big fan of Final Fantasy 8 and 10 as well because of the futuristic elements they had used and now even with FF13, the same applies. I read that the voices in this game would be horrific and while I do agree they are not the greatest, they are still tolerable. The little girl is by far the most annoying but again, I am able to just get through it. The game has some funny parts which actually had me laughing, something a lot of games don't do often. The battles are interesting and there are a lot of them (especially if you like to level up your characters before proceeding) and the story is mediocre. The battle trophy system is just ridiculous in terms of thinking about a platinum trophy for this game. I know people will pull it off but with FF13, GoW3 coming out, this game will get beaten and then put on the back burner for a while. If you are itching for a fix, this may or may not do it for you. I am happy with it but not blown away by it.