When I originally reviewed Star Ocean: The Last Hope for
Xbox 360 way way back in the long long time ago at About.com, I loved the
battle system and setting but questioned whether a game could still be good if
the story and characters sucked. This was back in 2009, however, and in 2010 I
started getting way into anime again. The reason why that is important is that
I’m now re-reviewing Star Ocean: The Last Hope remastered for PS4 in 2017 and
suddenly everything makes a lot more sense and is a lot more tolerable.
Characters are just typical anime archetypes. The story is thoroughly anime
sci-fi drama. Star Ocean 4 is just plain ol’ anime through and through and your
tolerance and understanding of that fact goes a long way towards whether you’ll
love it or hate it. Me? I still really freaking love it. See my full review of
Star Ocean: The Last Hope 4K & HD Remaster for PS4.Game Details
- Publisher: Square Enix
- Developer: Tri Ace
- ESRB Rating: “T” for Teen
- Genre: RPG
- Pros: Incredibly fun battle system; solid sci-fi settings; anime nonsense; nice presentation
- Cons: Story and characters aren’t the best
- MSRP: $20.99
Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the fourth game in the Star
Ocean series but is actually a prequel. It outlines the destruction of the
habitable surface of the Earth after World War III and mankind’s first steps
into deep space to find a new planet to live on. You play as the crew of the
ship Calnus starting with just captain Edge(lord) Maverick and his childhood
friend Reimi. Along the way they’ll explore several alien planets and space
stations, meet a bunch of new friends, and ultimately save the galaxy. It is
really, really aggressively “anime”, though, which may bother some folks.
Reimi’s a tsundere, there’s a catgirl, a sexy older woman, a ditzy bird woman,
and they make fun of things like maids and gym uniforms and stuff. Some of the
characters are kind of obnoxious, too, such as Lymle with her “kay” speech tic
and Edge is so emo it hurts. The story, too, falters a bit after a great
beginning. I don’t hate it or anything, and I definitely “get it” more than
when it first came out, but I have to admit it isn’t great.
So what makes Star Ocean 4 compelling if the story and
characters don’t? The battle system and overall gameplay are fantastic, that’s
what. Battles are action RPG-style where you initiate a battle with an enemy in
real time and then the scene shifts into a battle mode. In battle mode your
chosen 4-character party battles it out with multiple enemies at once. You can
freely move around and use various attacks, special moves, combo into multiple
special moves, as well as use defensive techniques like backstabs and other
things. You can play as any character you wish and all of them have different
play styles so you can find a character that suits your style and have a lot of
fun.
Making battles even more interesting is the bonus board that
rewards you with post-fight bonuses based on things you accomplish in battle.
Finish an enemy with a critical hit, kill multiple enemies with one shot, or
kill an enemy only with special moves, for examples, and you’ll earn bonuses to
XP, gold, or get a slight HP/MP recharge. You can also be ambushed and have to
fight several battles in a row if there are multiple enemies close by in the
world, and getting ambushed rewards you with a green gem on the bonus board
that gives your party more SP that you use to upgrade abilities. The bonus
board has a ton of slots in it, so you can build up tremendous XP / SP / Gold
multipliers through careful planning.
The gameplay outside of battle is satisfying as well. The
worlds you explore – and there are several planets with their own distinct
enemy types and environments – are awesome and interesting to explore. I really
love sci-fi settings in games and anime and Star Ocean 4 really nails it.
Character customization is also interesting because each
character learns multiple moves over the course of the game, but they only have
a few slots, so you can pick and choose what attacks everyone can do. Attacks
and abilities can be leveled up through SP (which is why earning extra SP on
the bonus board is so important) and can have a huge impact on the game. Each character
can also learn a wide range of extra abilities like better critical hits,
automatic healing, and much more. It is a deep and satisfying system that
really gives the game some legs.
A final part of the gameplay puzzle, though it doesn’t
really come into play until much later in the game, is the crafting system. I
know, I know, crafting systems are usually lame, but Star Ocean 4 lets you kind
of go nuts. Sure, you can craft normal healing and buff / debuff items and that
sort of stuff, as well as common weapons and armor, but when you get to the
late game you can start crafting some crazy stuff that totally changes the
game. You can craft items that give you massive XP multipliers, for example,
that let you level up insanely fast. This is important because the game doesn’t
end after you finish the story. Two brand new optional post game dungeons open
up that are much more difficult and require much higher levels to even stand a
chance in. You can spend a LOT of time with Star Ocean 4 long after you beat
the story.
Let’s put it all together now. Star Ocean: The Last Hope
features OK characters and story (they’re fine if you like anime) but a great
battle system, great sci-fi settings, awesome bonus board system, deep
character customization, tons of post game content, and a great crafting
system. In my mind, all of the good stuff greatly outweighs an annoying
character or two despite what Internet hyperbole about the game might try to
tell you. I really enjoyed it back in 2009 and honestly like it all even more
in 2017.
Since this is a remaster boasting “4K and HD” right in the
title, how does Star Ocean 4 look in 2017? Pretty spectacular, actually. The
character models look very sharp and great and most of the cutscenes are
gorgeous. The environments still have that sort of last-gen texture look to
them, but the game overall is quite nice. In a testament to how nice the game
has cleaned up, the real time graphics and real time cutscenes actually look
significantly better than the pre-rendered cutscenes, which didn’t get updated
very much if at all. It also runs at a mostly solid framerate, but intense
battles do bog things down a bit (on a PS4 Slim, at least). Sound-wise, Star
Ocean 4 boasts an all-star cast of anime voice actors and a great soundtrack. Seriously,
the soundtrack is awesome.
It is also important to note that this remaster is based on
the PS3 “International” release of the game which means that you have optional
anime portraits instead of CG, the game is balanced a little differently so you
get abilities in a slightly different order compared to the 360 release, and,
most importantly, you don’t have to switch discs. The 360 version came on 3
discs so the endgame could be brutally annoying if you didn’t plan things out.
One other note is that this remaster is 43GB, which, yes, is kind of nuts.
All in all, Star Ocean: The Last Hope 4K &HD Remaster is
pretty fantastic. They actually put a ton of work into it, which is surprising
considering the general tone around the game is that most people seem not to
like it. I’m glad it exists, though, because I always loved this game and this
new remaster is easily the best way to play it. Approach Star Ocean 4 expecting
fun gameplay mechanics and a so-so story and you won’t be disappointed. Even
better, approach it expecting anime nonsense and you’ll have an even better time overall. For
$20.99, Star Ocean: The Last Hope 4K & HD is absolutely worth a purchase.
