New Star Ocean screens reveal new characters
Square Enix announces new PSP model for Star Ocean
Square Enix has not yet revealed what the design looks like. Stay tuned.
TGS hands-on: Star Ocean First Departure
Yes, it's a remake of a decades-old RPG, but the in-game graphics lack the life seen in other PSP RPGs. Even Square Enix's own Final Fantasy remakes on the system added shiny new graphical effects, like brand new lighting. At the very least, the game runs at a silky smooth framerate that looks really eye-popping. Navigating the overworld was easy, and we were pleased by the incredible production values: voice acting was aplenty and much appreciated (even though we couldn't understand what they were saying!).
The battle system is where we found ourselves less enamored with the game. In a similar fashion to Namco's Tales series, the three characters run around a field in real-time. Players can attack in real-time with their lead character, although the experience felt somewhat simplistic. Sure, we had a limited amount of time with the game, and it was in Japanese. However, the game simply didn't have the flair that its animated cutscenes do, and the battles were less than engaging. Hopefully, more time with the game will change our opinion, but for now we're not too enthusiastic about Square Enix's latest effort.
Plenty of Star Ocean 1 & 2 screens
The only issue we can see from the screens is that the heroine of Second Story, now Second Departure, looks a lot younger than her initial drawings. Well ... maybe it's not really a problem, but it does make us realize that we have gotten older since we first played this game. Either way, they'll be a great addition to the PSP library and we can't wait to check them out at Tokyo Game Show!
The Star Ocean remakes are coming along smoothly
The first game gets a new battle system that better resembles the action-oriented ones found in the latter two titles, along with updated sprites and backgrounds. The second title gets similar upgrades, but will also feature facial pop-ups when a character talks (just imagine any anime or Gust-inspired RPG). Sadly, the story in the second one will still suck. Yes, we said it. The second disc was a killer for momentum -- too many fetch quests and sidetracking before the final battle, if you ask us. Regardless, the games were very good, so we'll definitely try these out. Perhaps we'll get a hands-on at Tokyo Game Show. Perhaps not.
[via Siliconera]
Star Ocean remakes to feature extensive voice work
Star Ocean: First Departure
Ratix Farrence - Mamoru Miyano
Milly Kiliet - Hitomi Nabatame
Marvel Frozen - Houko Kuwashima
Fear Mell - Megumi Toyoguchi
Claude C. Kenni - Daisuke Namikawa
Rena Lanford - Nana Mizuki
Dias Flac - Tomokazu Sugita
Precis F. Neumann - Rie Kugimiya
Star Ocean 1 and 2 destined for PSP rerelease
During a recent press conference in Japan, Tri-Ace (in conjunction with Square Enix) have revealed that they will be remaking Star Ocean and Star Ocean: The Second Story for the PSP. Originally on the SNES and the PSX, respectively, these titles should get some decent spit-and-polish treatment before their release. Though from the look of the presentation slides, I wouldn't expect any Final Fantasy III style 3D-ification. But that's ok, 2D better suits the anime style of the game.While the short blurb is beyond my limited Japanese knowledge, there is mention of the 30th of May. I'm doubtful that will be the release date, though there's the possibility that we'll see some more information being released on that day.
Though there's little more to say than that, we'll let you know of any developments. Be sure to check out the slides captured from the conference over at Gemaga 1985. With Dissidia and now the first two Star Ocean games on the way, it looks like RPG fans are going to have a tough time putting their PSPs down.
PS3 owners, be sure to check out this post over at PS3 Fanboy for more Square Enix news.
[Via GamesAreFun]
