The two main reason why I didn't purchase the 360 version was because it lacked jp voices and the anime themed interface. With these two fixed in the international addition along with the new ps3 bonus content, I knew I had to put this game on pre-order back when it was announced and i can say it doesn't disappoint. I'm having a blast so far though it took awhile to get used to the new interface. One of my favorite parts of this game thus far is the background music as it is simply spectacular! If anyone enjoys playing JRPGS, don't hesitate to buy this game.
Just got the game and am already loving it!!!! The anime and 3d concept is a great visual joy. The gameplay is fun.....difficult at times when switching between party members but very good overall! I'm 20+ hours in an voice acting isn't too bad although I did start the game with japanese voice overs but know am using the English ones. I'll update once I fully complete the game! Have a great day!!!
Star Ocean 4 is great for rpg fans of this genre. The battle system is good, the graphics are good but not outstanding. I find myself enjoying very much. This is a great rpg that shouldn't go unnoticed. the battles are not to hard or too easy giving the gamer a challenge. My only advice is to get the strategy guide cause its real easy to get lost.
i found star ocean a excellent game who those who feel the glorious jrpg days from the ps2 are over.
These offers you an impressive battle system and huge maps to explore and for those who are played other star ocean the create items options its amazing
Give the game a chance and buy it
This is one of the best RPG experiences that is currently out there. The battles are extraordinary, the cut seens are superb, and gameplay is a masterpeice. Although the some voice-overs can use work, you can switch the language to Jpn and keep the subtitles. Even after completion, there are tons of things to explore and conplete.
The PS3 version is far better than the 360 version.
I suggest trying it and loving it yourself.
9.7/10
Outstanding. I've played Star Ocean: The first Departure, The Second Evolution, Till the End of time and now The Last hope. I have also played the Final fantasy series and similar games. I had the XBOX 360 Version but switched to the PS3 version because it only has one disc so I wasn't scratching it by changing between 3 discs (rather annoying I might add) and the graphics appeared slightly better on the PS3 Version (same game on same TV). The Game complements there rest of series. Game play pretty is easy to learn and you are always able to practice without having your game end. For those who want to find out more I recommend looking up the "Star Ocean Wiki" as it talks about all the games and has more screen shots.
I had never played the original Star Ocean game so I cannot judge based on that issue. However being an Old Guy (53) my desires are different than the younger generation. This is pretty good actually. I like games that make me want to move forward. Find out what is around the next corner. Hot babes maybe, who knows. I rated this a 4 for being fun and 4 overall. I like the interface, (buttons). and the fact it lets you pause in the middle of being destroyed to change your tactics at certain parts of the battle where I DIE!! because some enormous monster destroyed my party and had a good lunch. I like the mapping system to a certain degree. It has repetitive ending battle cut scenes however with these it lets you know how you did during the battle, gives me some numbers. There are lots of fun little things to do on the ship you fly between planets with. Sleep, make meals, etc. (Other than that folks if you like RPG's I don't think you will be disappointed at all. I recommend you buy the strategy guide. STAR OCEAN THE LAST HOPE: INTERNATIONAL Signature Series Strategy Guide (Bradygames Signature Series Guides) Your going to need it to help you plot and plan your strategy throughout the game. For me anyhow the game is worth buying new.
So this game actually only deserves four stars...but since I know some other moron will post the obligatory "Dis here game iz alredy on teh three-six-zeeero" and give the game a low score I bumped it up to five stars. That should cancel out exactly one dipstick.
On to the game!
Beautiful game. COMES WITH A FREE $(*@)(%! MOVIE!! Holy 'effing mother of Gargonzola the game takes thirty friggen minutes to get going. I know it's supposed to be an epic tale of survival and exploration but I MADE A SANDWICH in the time it took for the game to start. Sure, people joke and say, "...man, I could have gotten up and made a sandwich in that length of time." Yeah, well, not only did I MAKE the sandwich, I ate the damn thing too. Beautiful movie...but when it came time to move my guy around I looked at the controller with slight distrust. "Hmmm..." Lo and behold the damn game was ready for me to play it! Battle tutorial! AWESOME! Ohh...nice and then I can explore the ship and then...AW F$$%! ANOTHER damn cutscene.
When we FINALLY have control for REAL, the camera is fluid, the controls are accurate (except when I "sprint". I don't know who stuck a N0S bottle up the main character's butt to make him zip forward like that but it's slightly retarded. At least make the damn sprint last longer. I have to keep having my guy make grunting noises like he's plowing the remnants of Thanksgiving dinner through his colon. *sigh*
Combat is very nifty. Again, nothing groundbreaking but this is an RPG for frick's sake, what did you expect? There's a little battle bonus board that you can add to by meeting special conditions in battle. A bonus battle feature where you can sneak around behind the enemy...the name of which escapes me at the moment. DIFFICULTY SETTINGS!!! Very very cool. It's one thing to have a difficult RPG...it's another to have to get your guys to level 27 before you can fight the first boss. The Japanese are all sadistic, I think. You get used to whacking all this little stuff and THEN comes captain octopus that absolutely spanks your monkey until bananas come out of your ears. So frustrating...and this game avoids those frustrations with an easy button.
The voices...ugh. The obligatory cute asian-looking girl with perky...er...attitudes and tight pants is entertaining for the first five minutes. Then you want to go and grab that stick with a hand on it from the concorde grape-jelly character who runs the item making machine and strangle her with it. The main character dude says the same...damn...thing...every...friggen...battle. You can switch them over to the Japanese voices and laugh at them for awhile...but then it starts to feel like you're in an airport and you've gotta switch back.
Menu can be changed from modern to classic. Modern being what I have heard was available on the 360 and classic being a bright anime/cartooney style. I prefer the anime style personally.
In the end, if you didn't try this on the 360 then I say give it a go. I LOVE RPGs and this one has already provided me with hours of pleasure. Seriously, don't be afraid to buy the game. It's pretty damn good.
As much as i tried to stay away from this game, due to square selling out to M$, i just couldn't resist. If you're in the same boat as me with only a ps3 and are tired of the bull**** games that are being released then this is your savior. Finally a true rpg to the ps3!!! I have had this game for two days now and have already put about 30 hours into it. I just can't put the controller down. Maybe im overrating this game and under normal times this would only be a four star game but becuase it feels like such a breath of fresh air after i have been smothered with shooters and all those so called "western" rpg's that are just plain horrible, it definetly seems like a five star game. Uhh i guess i can actually review the game now that i'm done venting.
Story- This is what an rpg is all about. The story with SO4 is decent, nothing extraordinary, It's what you would expect with any square enix game. It's well paced with lots of twists in the plot. But sometimes you have to go back to the formula that works. This is exactly what this nextgen needed. I'm not a person that is into all the sci-fi space travel stuff but SO4 really keeps you interested in the plot. I love it. Also I have heard alot of complaints about the english voice acting...it deosn't bother me at all. I can see how it could be annoying to some people, but i find humor in all the voices. Also, this version comes with option to play with japanese language with english subtitles so if the voice acting really annoys you than you can just switch.
Battle System - Just about the same as the previos games. The AI isn't too retarded, although i still think they should try to come up with something similar to the gambit system from ffXII.
Music- Very good! Fits nicely with battles and always has the right theme to go along with the plot.
Graphics- Excellent!
This is an excellent game so if you are a fan of rpg's do not miss this one. Tons of replay value to go along with a good story. I just wish it would have came out further away from FFXIII. Once i get my hands on that i don't think i will be playing anything else for awhile.
Showed up 2 days early, very nice. Graphics rival ff 13, excellent storyline. Battle system is way more refined. Invention system is somewhat lacking vs end of time, but still decent. Overall any SO fan will not be left wanting. Highly suggest getting the strat guide, but get it from a store at 6 to 8 bucks. Too overpriced on amazon/ ebay
I'm not much for long detailed reviews so I will keep this simple.
"Star Ocean: The Last Hope" has its faults as ALL games do but it is still very good and very worth the time and money you put into it.
The storyline starts off semi-interesting with a very common theme these days-then quickly turns into a much better RPG storyline.
Overall if you like the series you must buy this game...and if you like other RPG's, you should purchase the entire Star Ocean series and see that VERY few other RPG's compare.
It has the open-hearted soulfulness of Eternal Sonata, Dragon Quest 8, etc. People complain about the English voice acting, but I think it is good. The PS3 version doesn't freeze, doesn't require disc swapping, and you can manually switch which enemy you are targeting unlike the original 360 version. But the 360 version is still playable, it just might freeze a few times (or not, if you're lucky).
this game should be the better version of than of the 360 but in terms of graphics and comparison the 360 still wins. but I like the fact that it has Japanese voice overs that is a must buy for me after the gold box event thanks amazon
This game was sick. I never played any other the pther games but im a huge fan of squareenix and i love the final fantasy series so i didnt expect anything less. If you want a game thats deep, long and great battle system this is the game to get until FFXIII.
Except, its not as fun.
Given, I have about 9 hours logged, I have to force myself to play.
I have an SD TV, so I wont blame the game on this, but I cannot read any of the text, it may as well be in Japanese. I have no freaking idea what any of the menus say, and I wonder if other people can read it because it is so small... but the english dub will make you want to stab your own eye. It was the same in SO3, but luckily this time we can change to japanese with subs, however if you are like me and have a crummy TV, then this will not be much help.
The ideas, story line, and flow are much the same now. our ship was attacked by some strange thing, now we are on a planet that looks like the middle ages, yadda yadda... The characters lack depth and do not make me like them. There is the always optimistic and unconflicted male lead, the shy sex object female lead who always screams and makes suggestive noises, and then the snobby polite fellow, and the token little kid character. This has always been a problem I had with SO... the characters do not let you into their world as they do in Final Fantasy, or other RPGs. (I'm a FF fan ^^) The graphics are nice, but a lot does look like SO3. Including the beginning of fight sequences.
I feel that the boss fights are unproportionatelly hard to the standard mob fights, forcing one to grind considerably (because the mobs are much lower in level then you and it takes a long time to level up) before each boss fight. This is rather annoying.
There is much that could have been incorporated to make this better... in game Battle Trophies could have been linked to your PSN, but they are not. The only trophy I won so far was one for defeating a boss... even though I've won a large amount of battle trophies. The item creation could have been linked online, though this is also separate from what I gather... things are much more convoluted then SO3... and I have heard that it lacks the end game awesomeness and extra dungeons that where in SO3. It seems ultimately like a step down.
That being said... its not AWFUL... I am playing it until FFXIII gets out. If my view changes of it before then, I will revise my edit, but for now, this is my experience with the game. It had so much potential, I'm let down for sure.
