Star Ocean: First Departure

On 03/30/2013 at 03:38 PM by GamerGirlBritt

I picked up this game for about $5 for PSP. I don't really have much experience in the Star Ocean franchise, excepting Star Ocean: The Last Hope for Xbox 360, and I actually thoroughly enjoyed that game, so I thought I'd give this one a try. I actually remember playing this in 8th grade when my friend Max let me hold it on our school trip to DC. He's all like "Good luck. I have no idea where I'm supposed to go next." And I'm all like "Because you're an idiot." Needless to say, I got farther than he did. And that was basically my initiation into the "club" aka group of guys of who were fucking amazed that I played video games.

But anyway...

This is basically a remake of the very first Star Ocean game that was originally released in 1996 for the Super Famicon (that's Super Nintendo to you) and one that was never actually released outside of Japan until 2008 with this remake for the PSP.

Being that the first Star Ocean game I played was the last one that was made, I'm actually just now realizing how much fan service was included in The Last Hope. Things about First Departure instantly rung a bell in my head, and filled in some of the holes I didn't initially understand in The Last Hope, and originally passed off as JRPG nonsense. That's reverse nostalgia for you.

The most jarring part about this is he's recognized as the best swordsman in his village...

But in all seriousness, I'm only a few hours into the game, and I'm really hoping it picks up soon. It's okay I guess, but that's just it....it's okay. Not too impressed at the moment. Everything's just so freaking slowwww. Story, gameplay, everything. I'm really enjoying the Private Action segments though. The characters are actually pretty likeable, even if the dialogue sucks. And the little sprites are pretty adorable.

Oh yeah, and someone sent me this pretty fucking hilarious semi-review of Final Fantasy XIII. It's fantastic.

leeradical42

03/30/2013 at 04:05 PM

I really enjoyed the Star Ocean series now I have played last hope loved it and then the ps2 till the end of time and loved that one two of course i didnt finish last hope so that one and FF13 & FF13/2. I need to buy again.

GamerGirlBritt

03/30/2013 at 04:21 PM

I played The Last Hope once, and stopped right at the last dungeon. It's just a massive game, but it's kinda linear in terms of story so I was pretty burnt out at the end. And I'm actually playing replaying FFXIII right now to recover that lost save file. I'm like, literally dying. But XIII-2 is good though.

GeminiMan78

03/30/2013 at 04:12 PM

Star Ocean 2 for the PS1 was my first SO game. It was pretty cool because there were two main characters to choose from and several to recruit. But you could not get every one on the first play through kind of like Chronocross. It was kind of hard never beat it. Till the End of Time on PS2 is not bad either.

03/30/2013 at 04:18 PM

Nice. If I start finding more enjoyment out of this one I'll probably pick up those two when I can.

BrokenH

03/30/2013 at 04:22 PM

The 2nd Star Ocean was my favorite but part of that is bias nostalgia. Last Hope was also really fun but some of the characters grated on my nerves just a bit. I have Till The End Of Time as well but didn't get that far. Need to get back to it.

Also, if you still have a PS2 laying around I highly recommend Rogue Galaxy!

03/30/2013 at 04:36 PM

Just watched a review for Rogue Galaxy and I must say it looks very promising! Will definitely get on it!

Matt Snee Staff Writer

03/30/2013 at 06:12 PM

I think Star Ocean 2 is supposedly the really good one for PSP... I've played a little and it wasn't bad, but then I got distracted...

03/30/2013 at 09:31 PM

Distracted by what I wonder? haha

asrealasitgets

03/30/2013 at 07:12 PM

I feel like a hack for never trying this series. I had the PS3 game in my hands the other week, but put it back on the shelf for some reason. I've played many RPG series and think it's my fav genre. I'll put the series on my to do list for 2013.

03/30/2013 at 09:30 PM

Yeah I've come to the conclusion the RPGs are probably my favorite genre. My RPG backlog is ridiculous.

SanAndreas

03/30/2013 at 08:40 PM

Never played this one. My experience with Star Ocean revolves around The Second Story and TTEOT. I'm a fan of Tri-Ace, however, mainly because of Valkyrie Profile and Resonance of Fate.

I played a little of Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, and enjoyed what I played of it. I stopped at some type of desert level that was like freaking impossible. I might revisit it soon.

Super Step Contributing Writer

03/31/2013 at 12:17 AM

Loved that FFXIII review, as well as TheSpoonyOne's. Never actually played the game (I share this guy's feelings about turn-based combat *ahem*), but the reviews of it are hilarious.

I probably wouldn't be able to get past wherever your friend was (my copy of Golden Sun is saved near some ice puzzle I couldn't figure out, and I haven't touched the game in eleven years), but that's nice you got to show him up for that snarky (I take it) "good luck." lol

03/31/2013 at 11:38 PM

Spoony's reviews are so hilarious. Try Angry Joe's reviews too if you haven't already. They're funny, but you can still take them seriously.

04/01/2013 at 08:56 AM

I like Angry Joe too, but I often have trouble loading his videos, I think in part cause they have more production value than a lot of other tgwtg people. Or at the very least, he uses that green screen way more often than anyone else. lol

Halochief90

03/31/2013 at 12:33 AM

I'm always up for a new PSP game. Star Ocean were always games I wanted to try and $5 sounds like an instant buy. I checked ebay and most of them seem to be $15 right now. The sequel is about double that. Some day I will probably jump on it though.

03/31/2013 at 11:40 PM

I'm still trying to get as much use out of my PSP before I finally cave and get a Vita.

Ranger1

03/31/2013 at 08:35 AM

The only Star Ocean game I ever played was Til the End of Time on the PS2. I really couldn't get into it, and I tried on more than one occasion.

mothman

03/31/2013 at 06:07 PM

That's because Till the End of Time describes how long it feels like you have to play the game in order to finish it.

The annoying battle system in which you can die from running out of mana even though you are at full HP becomes controller throwing good by about halfway through the game.

I will not even mention the huge spoiler at the beginning of disc two which basically ruins every other Star Ocean if you have not played them beforehand.

03/31/2013 at 11:41 PM

Hmmm. Maybe I better steer clear of that one.

That's how I feel about this one that I'm currently playing. I just can't get into it. And it's not normally this hard for me.

03/31/2013 at 06:10 PM

Britt, you are actually playing the games in the right order since Last Hope is a prequel to the other games. If you are going to complete, play through the first two games before going anywhere near TteoT

03/31/2013 at 11:43 PM

Alrighty. That's why I got The Last Hope in the first place. Even though it's a prequel, it's nice to be in on the fan service-y inside jokes. Now I know how non-Final Fantasy fans feel.

jgusw

04/07/2013 at 01:17 AM

I bought this game last year and I still hadn't played it yet. I almost bought the 2nd game last week.

PixlBit

Star Ocean: First Departure

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