Star Ocean: The Last Hope

[Flawless]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

New Screens

[ThaGenecyst]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

nice... it doesn't have that "flat" look

[Flawless]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

TGS trailer. Looks so good.

http://gamersyde.com/stream_8914_en.html

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TGS 08: Release Dates for Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Microsoft's Tokyo Game Show keynote has been understandably JRPG-heavy thus far, with new trailers being shown for Square Enix's Last Remnant and Star Ocean: The Last Hope -- the latter of which now has a concrete release date. Scheduled to drop on February 19 in Japan (March 3 in the U.S.), this 360 exclusive is the fourth installment in a longtime PlayStation-associated series.

[Flawless]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Star Ocean 4: Your Starship Revealed

Following up on Star Ocean 4's playable debut at last week's Tokyo Game Show, Famitsu has returned with a look at something that's new to the Star Ocean series as a whole: a star ship!

That's right, Star Ocean 4 will let players pilot their very own star ship. The ship is named Carnas, and main character Edge is its captain.

Once you get the ship, you'll be able to freely move about the galaxy, hopping between stars as you please. To select a destination, you head to the bridge and select a location from a menu. You're free to visit any planet that you've visited thus far on your adventure.

The ship is fully explorable in its own right and acts as your central base of operations.

In the main meeting room, you can make use of your characters' skills and materials that you've gathered to create new items. Over 1,000 items can be created in all. As your skill level rises, the quality of the resulting items rises as well.

Another room serves as a training center where you can practice battle.

You'll also find individual living quarters for your crew. You're free to make room assignments as you please. You may even be able to give Edge a roommate. Famitsu has a screenshot suggesting that someone is in Edge's shower....

You may end up spending a lot of time just roaming about your ship thanks to the game's Private Action (PA) system. This system refers to the events that you trigger as you move about the ship speaking with your party members. As you converse, you'll be presented with options, which could change how the rest of the crew feels about Edge, possibly affecting the game's ending.

As announced at TGS, Star Ocean 4 is set for March 3 release.

[bcruise]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

So I guess it's officially an exclusive now...

Oh well, I've never been able to play a Star Ocean game within 2 years after its release date, why start now? It'll probably be the next generation before I play SO4, that's pretty much how it went with the first three - something of a curse, I guess. Oh Enix, why do you treat me so?

[Flawless]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

New Trailer

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=czRZ0moKIu8&feature=channel_page&fmt=22

Battle footage looks great. Nice to see 60fps for battles. Makes me wonder what happened with Infinite Undiscovery considering this is running on the same engine.

More Details:

3 DVD's

Rush Mode

When in Rush mode you get two special effects added. "Perfect Guardless" and "Speed Up". Perfect Guardless reduces the damage received, while Speed Up increases movement and attack speed. Keep in mind enemies can use Rush Mode too, so watching their Rush Gauge will be pretty crucial to survival, especially against the tougher enemies.

Special Attack

Pretty self explanatory if you've ever played a game in the series. Special attacks character can use to fight. They consume MP, are learned through leveling up, and can linked into a combo (explained later). They have Skill Levels, which makes them stronger and stuff.

Symbology

Similar to Special Attacks, except they're the magic of Star Ocean. They have chanting times as always, and you use them in Link Combos. As if most people didn't expect this, they don't stop time in battles like SO1 and 2. They have Skills Levels as well.

Link Combo

Set skills to the L and R triggers to makes combos with them. It's possible to make combos with all skills, so I'm sure it encourages playing around with the system.

Spell combos also have been sped up to (or maybe even beyond) SO3's speed. After casting the second spell, you get instant cast (zero chanting time).

It's possible to have a maximum of six skills in a Lin Combo. And you don't have to use L->R->L->R sequences for a combo either. You can do things like L->R->R->L to mix things up. This should be really awesome with mages, since you can just put faster spells first, then let instant cast kick in for the more powerful (and slower) spells.

BEAT System

BEAT (or Battle Exalted Action Type...) is a new system created for you to customize characters to your style, and make up for a character's weak points. By participating in numerous battles with your BEAT type, your rank will go up. This will allow you to get new actions and increase your abilities.

One BEAT type is BEAT S, which specializes in the Sight Out system. It's a style that focuses on the enemy's blind spots with the Sight Out System and stats like Evasion and Attack. It's a technical style that ignores defense in favor of attack. As you can see in the pic, his stats go up with your BEAT ranks increases as well. You also gain new actions like "Sight Off" from it, which is an upgrade of Sight Out from repeatedly using it, and increases damage to the enemy when performing it.

[trobinson97]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Wow, that's looking so good it almost brought a tear to my eye. The combat looks GREAT. I still have a coupld of rpgs to get through before this is released, but I can't wait for this one.

[jfsolo]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

There are no games on my purchase list(not counting the DLC for Fallout 3) until this and MLB 2k9(maybe) comes out in March, so I'll be chomping at the bit to have a new game to play, especially a traditional story RPG.

[Candyman5]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

So how have the others been? I only played Star Ocean: Till the End of Time and I eventually got stuck early on. Good game but I got lost easily. I think there was a part where you had to cross a desert or something?<!-- cancelled or not (game and US only)--><!-- end of cancelled or not -->

[Spectre]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

I'm gonna pick this up definitely, as an RPG fan this generation just keeps getting better and better

I also have to get Tales of Vesperia soon... still have to finish Bioshock, Fallout, Fable, and Gears first LOL

[bcruise]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

So how have the others been? I only played Star Ocean: Till the End of Time and I eventually got stuck early on. Good game but I got lost easily. I think there was a part where you had to cross a desert or something?<!-- cancelled or not (game and US only)--><!-- end of cancelled or not -->

If you can deal with the graphics, you should really give the first two a try if you can find them - they're both great games. if you played TTEOT you'll pick up the battle systems right away, and I think the item creation processes were way better in 1 and 2.

I hated that desert....that was the first time I really had to level grind in an easier area. General rule of thumb - if the Bonus meter starts out at over 100% rate in a non-boss fight, it means you're underleveled.

[Flawless]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Release date moved up a week. Now releasing on the 24th of February.

http://na.square-enix.com/starocean/

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[Jasong7777]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Release date moved up a week. Now releasing on the 24th of February.

http://na.square-enix.com/starocean/

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Can't wait!!!!!!!!!

[Flawless]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Star Ocean: The Last Hope Reader Interview

Will players have the option to listen to the Japanese voice acting instead of the English one?

Star Ocean Dev Team: Unfortunately, this option will not be available.

How many playable characters will there be? Is it just 7 characters? Also, do inactive characters continue to level with the characters you play often (similar to Eternal Sonata) or do you have to play with every character in order to increase level?

Star Ocean Dev Team: There are over seven playable characters. They will not level up unless actively used in battle, and since you can only have up to four characters in your party at a time, it is necessary to switch party members for the rest of the characters to level up.

If I never played any of the other Star Ocean games would I be able to follow the story in this one?

Star Ocean Dev Team: This title portrays the origin of the Star Ocean series, so you should have no problem following the story even if you've never played the other games.

How long will the game be and how many discs?

Star Ocean Dev Team: The game is about 40 hours long and spans three discs. However, there are many bonus features and hidden elements, on top of which we have created the game to accommodate multiple playthroughs, so I think players will be able to get many entertaining hours out of it.

Will this game have the exact same battle system as the last star ocean? Please revive the Seventh Saga series......

Star Ocean Dev Team: The basics of the battle are the same, but the system has been enhanced. Compared to the previous version, in which the motion was two-dimensional, now with the option to jump, a sense of depth is added to the battle movements in Star Ocean: The Last Hope. Other than that, new systems such as Rush and Blindside are now included, adding to the overall battle experience.

How big of a role will synthesis play throughout the game if it's present at all?

Star Ocean Dev Team: Synthesis will definitely be a feature of this game. As with previous Star Ocean titles, utilizing synthesis and item creation to your advantage will enhance the gameplay experience.

Will there be a Dictionary like in SO3? The Dictionary added a lot of backstory and, in my opinion, gave the story more depth as things were explained. I really hope it returns in SO4.

Star Ocean Dev Team: The Dictionary system is present in this release as well.

tri-Ace is known for using characters from their other games and placing them as optional bosses towards the end of the game, Can we expect to see characters like Gabriel Celeste and Ethereal Queen, as well as Lenneth from Valkyrie Profile?

Star Ocean Dev Team: Gabriel Celeste, Ethereal Queen, and other familiar characters will definitely make an appearance, but these characters are originally from the Star Ocean series. There are no plans for characters from outside of the series to make an appearance.

[highheatkingsb]

Re: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Star Ocean: The Last Hope Reader Interview

40+ hours sounds good to me. Can't wait for this game. I'm sure it will take me alot more than 40 hours though, as it looks like it's going to take me awhile to level up, seeing you have to switch characters to be in your party.