Star Ocean: The Divine Force review
As a long-time Star Ocean fan, I’m excited to speak about Star Ocean: The Divine Power. An extended-standing RPG collection from tri-Ace, now printed by Sq. Enix, Star Ocean is a mix of science fiction and fantasy that few builders have been capable of really grasp. Whereas there have been some trials within the Star Ocean collection, I really feel this entry into the franchise is a lot better than the earlier sport.
Gamers choose between one of many two protagonists, and no matter who they choose, they are going to be locked into an unforgettable expertise for the story and its characters. Whereas Star Ocean: The Divine Power is much from an ideal sport, it does a fantastic deal to present me hope for the way forward for Star Ocean.
Contents
Star Ocean: The Divine Power improves upon the earlier entry within the collection
Whether or not you choose Raymond or Laeticia as your protagonist, the 2 turn into intrinsically linked, and the adjustments we see come from the story’s point of interest and issues of that nature. Every character additionally has an unique occasion member that may solely be part of one protagonist or the opposite as properly. This story can be not linked to any specific Star Ocean sport.
That stated, you’ll nonetheless see plenty of references to the general collection, as Star Ocean: The Divine Power is a celebration of Star Ocean as an entire. For instance, the service provider who teaches you the assorted crafting programs within the sport is Welch Winery, a mysterious, obnoxious lady who has a employees with a gloved pointing finger on it.
The “Kenny” household additionally makes a return, as one of many occasion members is Marielle J. Kenny. Followers of the franchise will certainly bear in mind Ronyx J. Kenny or maybe his son, Claude C. Kenny.
Star Ocean: The Divine Power is primarily set on the backwater planet Aster IV, which has a fantasy look that may not look amiss in any JRPG.
A phenomenal planet, however one torn by political battle, our occasion members shortly discover themselves mired deep in a scenario they’ve little management over. Raymond, one of many most important protagonists, is the captain of a service provider vessel, the Ydas, and winds up crash-landing on Aster IV.
The opposite protagonist is the dutiful and calm Princess Laeticia of Aucerius. The story begins on a small scale and slowly develops right into a wild story that spans the celebs. The unlikely characters meet and evolve to love one another and help each other of their minor issues as issues slowly develop troubling.
Nevertheless, one drawback I’m seeing is that there isn’t any New Recreation+ possibility. Each characters have some variations in story and character interactions, so there are some minor stuff you miss out on with out enjoying each tales. Star Ocean: The Divine Power can be much more pleasurable if there have been a New Recreation+ out there. I do know it’s not one thing Star Ocean is understood for, however it will assist in a scenario like this.
A complete new world we dwell (and battle) in
Star Ocean: The Divine Power spends a lot of its time on Aster IV, an enormous, stunning world. Fortunately, you possibly can velocity round shortly with sprint, and also you even have entry to the mysterious futuristic orb DUMA. This orb will help you fly briefly and in addition glide, reaching areas which might be off the crushed path.
This helps as a result of every map is totally huge, so it will really feel like a severe chore should you couldn’t traverse the maps shortly. You additionally get into battles in actual time, using an unbelievable new fight system.
Gamers have three assault buttons, every with as much as three fight talents you possibly can hyperlink to. This helps gamers create combos of assaults fairly simply, however you possibly can put your buffs, spells, and even gadgets on these. You even have another assault button to bind, the place you maintain down a kind of buttons as an alternative of mashing by way of the combo.
You’ll be able to bind no matter you need to these with out restriction in Star Ocean: The Divine Power, which is de facto fairly good. You’ll be able to create some really unbelievable combos, and it isn’t arduous to create 200-300+ combo hits in battle. You should use DUMA once more right here, because it permits you to dive bomb and sneak assault enemies. You’ll be able to shock assault enemies and even hit Blindsides.
Blindsides briefly paralyze opponents and let you deal extra injury, making some fights comparatively trivial. It’s also possible to blindside in the midst of fight should you catch one other foe off guard and never listening to you. All occasion members can use DUMA, so regardless of who your major character is, it advantages them. Every character additionally has a particular assault to unlock with DUMA, they usually’re all fairly helpful.
You will have a kind of AP system, and every assault burns a set quantity of AP. In the event you sneak assault enemies, you achieve a lift to this, giving extra AP than regular. In the event you sprint throughout fight, it additionally makes use of AP, so concentrate on that. This implies you’ll must hit your combos shortly, wait a number of seconds and get out of the best way whereas AP shortly restores. Then, you’re proper again within the thick of issues.
Nevertheless, whereas the fight of Star Ocean: The Divine Power is quick and thrilling, I do fear it’s a bit too quick. There are many flashy particle results and motion, making it arduous to make completely timed dodges. It additionally takes away from terrific enemy designs because you’re continuously transferring and attacking.
The fight normally was one in every of my favourite elements of the sport, although. Every character has a singular look and playstyle, they usually all serve a helpful perform within the squad. It’s additionally good to have the ability to swap characters out and in of battle on the fly.
As well as, every character in Star Ocean: The Divine Power has enormous, sweeping Talent Timber to discover. It’s value noting which you can’t undo any selections, so actually take the time to take a look at them. It’s also possible to unlock your assaults, stat buffs, and passives right here. You’ll be able to solely equip so many passives without delay, so don’t be like me and neglect that you need to equip these for them to take impact.
There’s loads to do in Star Ocean: The Divine Power
Whereas I loved the primary story of Star Ocean: The Divine Power a fantastic deal, the elective content material is a little bit of a combined bag. For instance, Es’owa is unbelievable. It’s a sport that’s just like Chess or Go. It makes use of pawns which have a number of wonderful references to traditional Star Ocean characters. It’s also possible to equip these to amass many highly effective results.
It’s such a enjoyable sport, and it’s simple to seek out NPCs that play it. This was one other vital side of Star Ocean: The Divine Power. Nevertheless, one pattern hasn’t completely gone away with me – the loathing I’ve for this franchise’s crafting system. The NPC that unlocks it, Welch Winery, is terrific. Nevertheless, whereas there are eight crafting programs and every character focuses on one, it’s all random!
It actually feels that manner. Merchandise mixtures are supposed to unlock particular medicines, tools, and extra. Nevertheless, you aren’t assured to have the specified consequence. I unlocked a aspect quest in15 hours to craft particular engineering gadgets from Welch.
Quick ahead round 35 hours, and I nonetheless haven’t accomplished it! I’ve to hope and pray that I ultimately get the gadgets I’m on the lookout for. It’s nonetheless higher than earlier video games’ crafting programs, however that’s not saying a lot.
You even have a number of aspect quests to unlock, however I want the map would spotlight a few of these objectives. You sometimes get a normal space to undergo, however many quests are fairly cryptic. This isn’t the worst factor on this planet, however I’ve grown accustomed to figuring out the place I’m going and the place I want to look.
Whereas visually attractive, there are some flaws value noting
I like the visuals for Star Ocean: The Divine Power, and that’s no lie. It’s a fully attractive sport, however then the character fashions in cutscenes/discussions present up, they usually all look so lifeless. There’s just about no emotion to the characters. They resemble dolls, and I’m not that loopy about that half.
I additionally observed a number of graphical glitches. King Aucerius, for instance, goes to sit down on a bench, and as an alternative of sitting on it, he’s hovering above it, ft planted on the bench. Hilarious, however bizarre. The character designs are nice, however they appear lifeless when speaking.
I additionally loved each protagonists having their very own distinctive battle music in Star Ocean: The Divine Power. The music normally felt so uplifting and light-weight. It was very soothing, I’ve to say. I did discover some points with the English dub, although. Whereas many of the dub is kind of good, they typically say “Ger’rard” in two other ways. It was extremely distracting, although it solely occurred in a number of locations.
I detected that a number of the background dialog was drowned out by the music. The sport’s presentation was fairly beautiful; it simply fell aside in a number of locations.
In Conclusion
I genuinely loved my time with Star Ocean: The Divine Power. Understanding what I do now, my second playthrough, as Raymond this time, will likely be much more environment friendly. It’s an excellent sport and enjoyable for me, however some minor points all stack as much as turn into fairly irritating.
The fight’s nice, and the characters themselves are memorable. However I used to be fairly let down by the standard of the cutscenes, and the battle, whereas pleasurable, could be just a bit too quick.
The Divine Power might not be the best Star Ocean sport of all time, but it surely’s an amusing story and one value experiencing. Star Ocean: The Divine Power is pleasurable in so some ways, however with a little bit of polish, it might have been really unbelievable.
Star Ocean: The Divine Power
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Sequence X|S, Home windows
Builders: tri-Ace, Sq. Enix
Writer: Sq. Enix
Launch Date: October 27, 2022
