Customer Reviews

Star Ocean: The Last Hope International

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Star Ocean has been a long running franchise that many RPG fans appreciate; this being said how is the game overall?

-Xbox360 vs. PS3-
Notable differences on the PS3 version:
+ Do not need to disc swap, since everything is on one disc.
+ Includes Japanese vocals as an option.
+ Able to switch between menu layout Classic (Original JP Menus with the Animated dialog boxes) and the CG (NA/EU version of the menu, which was all done in CG, but lost the Anime feel and the portrait on dialog boxes).
+ Includes additional characters.

-I never played Star Ocean how does this fare with the storyline?-
Star Ocean: The Last Hope (aka Star Ocean 4) Has very minor relevance within the other three Star Ocean games, each game are not direct sequels so each game is independent of each other and you will not be missing anything at all if you haven't played the previous ones.

-How does the battle fare?-
Just like all other Star Ocean, you control the leader of the party and able to set the other 3 on auto while having the ability to switch between each character.

-Difficulty and depth of the game?-
The game itself can be challenging, since some of the bosses are rather difficult, I believe this is a good thing just because a lot of RPGs these day are just dumb downed. The depth of the game is amazing, also unlike other RPGs there are tons of character interactions and details required to achieve specific endings for the game. Yes this RPG requires you to grind a bit for levels and skills, but people tend to complain about this aspect of the game; honestly I think RPG gamers have been spoiled over the years. Back in the days when players spent hours and hours unlocking secret weapons of leveling for boss fights since they were too hard, I find that enjoyable instead speed running through the game not requiring to grind or skills. So if you like a challenging RPG, this would be a good bet (Nothing as challenging as Demon Souls of course).

-Length of game?-
If you try to accomplish all the side quests and not speed through the game. The game itself can easily be 80+ hours long.

-Graphics-
The game is done very well with nice visual background.

-Should I get this or White Knight Chronicles?-
Both game plays completely different, WKC would have a bigger replay value since majority of the game is online based versus SO is strictly offline. Both games are JRPG based, but some would argue that WKC does not have a great storyline and big character roster list, so if you are looking for a decent character roster and a well developed storyline I would go for SO.

-Conclusion-
Overall I would say that SO4 is a great game, just like the other SO games in the series. If you enjoy playing the other SO in the series I am sure you will enjoy this. Unfortunately PS3 does not have big list of RPG titles, but if you enjoy RPGs then this would be the game to buy.

So this game actually only deserves four stars...but since I know some other moron will post the obligatory "Dis here game iz alredy on teh three-six-zeeero" and give the game a low score I bumped it up to five stars. That should cancel out exactly one dipstick.

On to the game!

Beautiful game. COMES WITH A FREE $(*@)(%! MOVIE!! Holy 'effing mother of Gargonzola the game takes thirty friggen minutes to get going. I know it's supposed to be an epic tale of survival and exploration but I MADE A SANDWICH in the time it took for the game to start. Sure, people joke and say, "...man, I could have gotten up and made a sandwich in that length of time." Yeah, well, not only did I MAKE the sandwich, I ate the damn thing too. Beautiful movie...but when it came time to move my guy around I looked at the controller with slight distrust. "Hmmm..." Lo and behold the damn game was ready for me to play it! Battle tutorial! AWESOME! Ohh...nice and then I can explore the ship and then...AW F$$%! ANOTHER damn cutscene.

When we FINALLY have control for REAL, the camera is fluid, the controls are accurate (except when I "sprint". I don't know who stuck a N0S bottle up the main character's butt to make him zip forward like that but it's slightly retarded. At least make the damn sprint last longer. I have to keep having my guy make grunting noises like he's plowing the remnants of Thanksgiving dinner through his colon. *sigh*

Combat is very nifty. Again, nothing groundbreaking but this is an RPG for frick's sake, what did you expect? There's a little battle bonus board that you can add to by meeting special conditions in battle. A bonus battle feature where you can sneak around behind the enemy...the name of which escapes me at the moment. DIFFICULTY SETTINGS!!! Very very cool. It's one thing to have a difficult RPG...it's another to have to get your guys to level 27 before you can fight the first boss. The Japanese are all sadistic, I think. You get used to whacking all this little stuff and THEN comes captain octopus that absolutely spanks your monkey until bananas come out of your ears. So frustrating...and this game avoids those frustrations with an easy button.

The voices...ugh. The obligatory cute asian-looking girl with perky...er...attitudes and tight pants is entertaining for the first five minutes. Then you want to go and grab that stick with a hand on it from the concorde grape-jelly character who runs the item making machine and strangle her with it. The main character dude says the same...damn...thing...every...friggen...battle. You can switch them over to the Japanese voices and laugh at them for awhile...but then it starts to feel like you're in an airport and you've gotta switch back.

Menu can be changed from modern to classic. Modern being what I have heard was available on the 360 and classic being a bright anime/cartooney style. I prefer the anime style personally.

In the end, if you didn't try this on the 360 then I say give it a go. I LOVE RPGs and this one has already provided me with hours of pleasure. Seriously, don't be afraid to buy the game. It's pretty damn good.

I had never played the original Star Ocean game so I cannot judge based on that issue. However being an Old Guy (53) my desires are different than the younger generation. This is pretty good actually. I like games that make me want to move forward. Find out what is around the next corner. Hot babes maybe, who knows. I rated this a 4 for being fun and 4 overall. I like the interface, (buttons). and the fact it lets you pause in the middle of being destroyed to change your tactics at certain parts of the battle where I DIE!! because some enormous monster destroyed my party and had a good lunch. I like the mapping system to a certain degree. It has repetitive ending battle cut scenes however with these it lets you know how you did during the battle, gives me some numbers. There are lots of fun little things to do on the ship you fly between planets with. Sleep, make meals, etc. (Other than that folks if you like RPG's I don't think you will be disappointed at all. I recommend you buy the strategy guide. STAR OCEAN THE LAST HOPE: INTERNATIONAL Signature Series Strategy Guide (Bradygames Signature Series Guides) Your going to need it to help you plot and plan your strategy throughout the game. For me anyhow the game is worth buying new.

...I'm forced to average the two. I commiserate with another reviewer about the "This was on the X-Box, so it's worse here by definition!" reviews, but I can't co-sign on grade inflation.

And honestly, while this game has a lot going for it, it's flaws can be severe. The average player probably wouldn't notice (i.e. the one that plays the game one time through), but I would guess that most people buying this game are hardcore (and the developers believe the same - look at all of the postgame extras, and the ridiculous PSN trophies associated to the game).

So anyway:

The Good:

- I really like the battle system in this game. There is one major flaw (targetting), but all in all, I've enjoyed fighting (which is good for a game of this length). The "blindside" and "rush combo" systems are magnificent, IMHO. The characters clearly have different personalities on the battle field (including the fighters - Faize's rapier combos act much different than Edge's, e.g.).
- The story. While the cutscenes are a major pain (they are too long, and poorly written), I'm a sucker for a space exploration story. No, this isn't "Mass Effect 2," but I think the plot synthesizes much of what is good about various Japanese sci-fi animes (ridiculous science, absurd character interactions, a universe-threatening enemy, etc.)
- The extras. Tri-Ace has ALWAYS given the player more for completing a game, and this is no different. A huge battle arena, two long and rewarding post-game dungeons, billions of battle trophies to test your skills and patience (OK - there are only 900, but it will feel like billions by the end). SO:TLH delivers. However, there is one major flaw here, as I will state below.

The Bad:

-Battle targeting is atrocious. The computer NEVER fixes on the proper target; your character will often run the length of the battlefield to attack another enemy, instead of the one in front of him. In order to change targeting, you have to use the start button (who in the world thought of that?)...but this is a pain in the heat of battle against an enemy such as, say, Kokubei (who has about 10 other small enemies constantly circling her). Ugh.
- Where are the save points? It takes FOREVER to get to one! I've heard that autosaving doesn't work in JRPGs (with citations of other 360 RPGs as evidence). I don't buy it. There HAS to be something better, and if we ARE fixing ourselves to this archaic system, at LEAST make it reasonable. At time, you will find yourself going an hour or more between save points in dungeons. At the end of the game, adding together the cutscene time, the credit time, and the battles, it took over 2 hours before I could save my game! That's ridiculous.
Also, when you finally do save, the game asks you, "Do you want to keep saving?" The default answer is "YES" the first time this question is asked. What the heck? I guess even the game realizes that saving is a luxury that you never want to end. :-P
- While battle trophies carry over to different playthroughs, battle trophy progress does not. What are you thinking, Tri-Ace? So, if I kill 29,999 enemies with Edge in one playthrough, and don't get the trophy, I STILL have to kill 30000 in the next playthrough. All I can say is, if you care about these things, keep your old save files intact.
- The cutscenes. They are WAAAAAY too long. Now, I'm not a fan of cutscenes in general, but when the writing is as bad as it is for these, it's particularly atrocious. In fact, I would suggest just skipping them entirely (the game is nice enough to provide you a synopsis of any scene you skip, and the synopsis is both short AND well-written).

The unforgivable:
- Missable trophies. OK - I can accept that some games should have PSN trophies that require work. But this is ridiculous. For example, there is one trophy for completing all the quests in the game (and there are hundreds, plural, by the way). The catch? Near the beginning of the game, some quests simply...disappear. Forever. There is nothing telling you that this might happen, but it can. Later on, other quests disappear. Forever. So, what do you do? YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE ENTIRE GAME AGAIN. Clearly, this is implemented solely to sell strategy guides. There are other egregious examples (what, I can't make every item in the game because one of my party members left permanently?), but you get the point. Everything about the trophies is meant to anger you. I kid thee not.

Anyway, there you have it. If you are going to play through once, I would rate this from 4 to 5 stars. It's pretty fun. But if you are like so many others that requires that platinum trophy, expect lots and lots of frustration. Happy gaming!

The Star Ocean series really seems to just keep improving. Although the second in the series was my personal favorite this game is long, enjoyable, and has a lot to keep you hooked. It has a very fun fast paced action combat system, multiple worlds to discover, 8 playable characters and much more. The PS3 version is even better with no disc swapping, additional voice acting, and a button to switch between enemy targets.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope (TLH) International is the fourth installment in the Star Ocean role playing game (RPG) series. The developers of this game, tri-Ace, are fans of science fiction and it shows in every iteration of Star Ocean. The fourth entry is no different in this regard. Microsoft is trying to buy their way into the Japanese gaming market by luring away titles or having time sensitive exclusivity. Therefore, Xbox 360 had this game for a year before their agreement with Square Enix ran out. Nevertheless, the game sold well on the Xbox 360 in Japan where their presence is about 1/5 of Sony's. Now, PlayStation 3 owners get to enjoy it under the "International" moniker. There are several differences with this version, aside from needing only a single disc instead of three on the 360, such as different language tracks, alternate anime portraits, better balancing of items, and bug fixes.

Story: Star Ocean has always had interesting, if not cliched, stories. Typically, they often involve a seemingly normal protagonist who becomes the savior of the universe. Along the way, there will be people who guide this hero and alter the course of events. Star Ocean TLH is no different and, at times, takes a slightly darker course from the previous games. You will travel to several new planets, space stations, other dimensions, and even 1957 Earth in this game.

Although Star Ocean TLH is the fourth in the series, it is a prequel to the other titles. In this title, humans on Earth were not living a peaceful life, the world government often had clashes with other states. This led to electromagnetic pulse weapons being used, however, there was glitch or error in the devices and nukes were launched instead. This was the beginning of World War III and lasted only a week before what remained of humanity signed a treaty and went underground to escape the contaminated environment. Left with a barren, toxic world, humanity looked to the stars (The star ocean, as it is called in-game) and developed faster-than-light drives, fitting them to several spacecraft whose mission is to find a suitable home for humanity. The mission started off well, but then the problems began. This is where the rest of Star Ocean TLH's story picks up.

In this game, you are joined by a number of companions you will adventure with throughout the game, the badly-named Edge Maverick, who is you, your childhood friend, Reimi, who is excellent with a bow, the Eldarian, Faize, who is a Spock-like character with impeccable manners, the traumatized 15-year old girl who speaks in a monotone voice and looks eight, Lymle, who also has a pet demon, the emotionless cyborg, Bacchus, who is also a rocket-launching scientist, the cat girl, Meracle, who is always hungry, the seductive sorceress, Myuria, who, as Meracle points out, has "Really big thingy's," the flightless featherfolk, Sarah, who possesses a kind heart but is ditsy and very naive, and finally, the battle-hardened solider, Arumat, who calls himself death incarnate. This is very much a motley crew of individuals who each bring their own unique perspective to the game.

Star Ocean TLH's story is very interesting, it can have a very cliched moment right night to a moving one followed by humor. Indeed, there are some truly moving moments in this game where I found myself becoming misty-eyed and others where I laughed out loud. For the most part, it is a typical Japanese RPG in how it presents the story. Story progression and the final resolution of it is set and cannot be altered. However, given the large number of characters, you can change how their stories end. Throughout the game, there are a series of private actions where you can alter your relationship with your team mates, and, if you get their affection for you high enough, you can see their specific ending. These private actions form over half of each character's back story and should be viewed. Like the rest of the story, it can be moving, such as helping a character deal with the loss of another, or funny, such as walking in on Reimi in the shower or watching Faize and Lymle argue constantly.

Audio/Visual: The Star Ocean franchise has usually had graphics on par with games that are launched around the same time. The art style of Star Ocean TLH is similar to that of Xenosaga I, only more colorful and, obviously, better. This is a game deeply rooted in Japanese anime, thus, the characters do not look at all like those in Xenosaga II or even Final Fantasy XIII. The characters and many of the environments look highly detailed and it is obvious that care was taken to make the game very sci-fi. However, not all is great on the graphics front, the environments, though large and detailed, are muddy or out of focus, and, I'm not sure if this is a limitation of the console or the port from the Xbox 360, but this game needs at least basic anti-aliasing as jagged edges are everywhere in confined environments. During battles, the game's graphics do shine nicely, but the character models look like anime porcelain dolls. Star Ocean TLH runs at 720p and occupies most of the game disc. This is a vast game with a long story and many interconnected towns, field screens, dungeons, and CGI cut scenes, tri-Ace may have simply run out of space putting all three Xbox 360 discs onto one Blu-Ray and have been unable to increase the graphics.

In regards to audio, this game can be a bit of a mixed bag. Musically, the game follows the same path all of the other Star Ocean's did, classical music during key moments with progressive rock at others. This fits Star Ocean quite well with exciting tracks when needed and sweeping orchestral music at pivotal moments. This blend gives the game a distinct science fiction feel, some of the music even sounds like it belongs in Star Trek. This is all probably due to the abilities of Motoi Sakuraba who wrote the tracks to every Star Ocean. As for the voice acting, it is also mixed in terms of quality. Unlike Final Fantasy XII, which used theatre actors for voices, Star Ocean TLH used anime actors. This leads to average voiceovers, as a whole, but there are some standout characters. Reimi is perhaps the best voiced of the cast and is performed by Laura Bailey who voiced Serah in Final Fantasy XIII. One of the more infamous voices is that of Lymle. Because of the trauma she experienced, she sounds, and looks, unless you unlock one of the game's endings, emotionless. At first this was annoying, but as I listened to her, the monotone nature of the voice leads to several emotional moments where she tries to summon emotion but just can't, unable to overcome the mental block, making the scene more impactful. I strongly suggest anyone who plays this game and finds the voices, at the very least, tolerable, to go into the settings and turn off battle voices as they say the same things constantly. Alternatively, since this is the international version, you can listen to the Japanese audio tracks. While playing the game, you will notice the lip-syncing is off. The movies were not redone from Japanese and still retain their Japanese lip movements.

Gameplay: All of the Star Ocean games are large with plenty to do, this one is no different. There are a great number of quests, shop item creation orders, races, and gladiator matches. Most of the quests are typical "Take this there" or "Kill this" but there are some more involved quests that require puzzle solving or going to the ends of map to complete. There are also 100 or more item creation or delivery quests you receive from shops. These either involve venturing out into the field to hunt down hard-to-find items or going back to your ship to use the item creation system to fashion an item.

In Star Ocean TLH, item creation is often the only means to get the game's best equipment and to complete many of the quests. The previous Star Ocean did not have a deep item creation system and it was often unnecessary to use it. However, in this installment, the item creation system is a little better. Before you can make an item, you must either research to or find a "Recipe Memo." Researching can be an interesting ordeal, you place one to three of your team mates in a group and tell them to go and research. As they research, they use party skill points (SP) to come up with new items. Since each character has a specialization and certain positive or negative stats, certain items require the use of specific characters to unlock them. Once you do this, you simply gather the needed materials and build the item. Shops can have some needlessly infuriating orders. You have an inventory limit of 20 per item and if an order requires seven items but the recipe requires five items during item creation, you have to go back to your ship several times with your inventory maxed out to create the item and go back out to buy or hunt down more ingredients to complete the order. Thankfully, with few exceptions, none of the shop order quests are time sensitive and you can wait until the end of the game when it becomes easier to travel to all planets for those particularly troublesome items. In Star Ocean TLH, there are hundreds of possible recipes spanning a number of fields.

Star Ocean TLH is an RPG with some interesting options for character development. Each character has special arts, symbols (Magic), and other abilities that increase stats or allow for special actions to be taken on the field. You, naturally, level up, but you also gain skill points (SP) for each character to level them up. There is also party-wide SP which comes from quests or harvesting materials which is used for item creation or to help level up a critical skill when a party member has run out of their own SP. Almost all skills require the use of SP to level up. Battle skills also require SP and provide valuable bonuses to stats or abilities such as auto-heal, often reaching extremely high levels when fully leveled up. However, to keep a character from becoming overly powerful, you can only have two active battle skills at any given time. There is also the BEAT system which grants stat bonuses based on an overall play style for a character. One BEAT is more defensive and grants stat bonuses and abilities to defense whereas the other goes towards offensive stats. The defensive BEAT (B) also affects the rush gauge. The rush gauge fills as you either take or cause damage. If it reaches full capacity, you can enter rush mode where certain attributes are increased. If you activate rush mode while in the vicinity of another character and press the trigger button, you enter a quick time event. If you complete this perfectly, you can cause a tremendous amount of damage in a very short amount of time since standard special arts and symbols with both characters are drastically increased in power. Each of the two BEATS have 20 levels and there is a third BEAT which uses both BEATs simultaneously but cannot level up either while active.

Star Ocean has always had an innovative battle system, it is similar to Grandia's battle system only fully real time. Battles themselves do not take place on the field screen and you can avoid enemies, once you come in contact, you are taken to an arena where you fight. You are able to field up to four characters at a given time and one remains under the direct control of the player. This allows the player to select which one to play, though they may jump between characters at any given time, based on their play style. Personally, I preferred Reimi since she uses a bow from the distance and rarely comes under attack unless she takes direct offensive action. The other characters are all under the control of the AI and their actions are set by tactics you choose. These tactics aren't very specific, but you can change them during battle and turn off any symbols or skills you don't want used. Although the battles are in real time, you can access the battle menu at any time to use items, launch certain attacks, adjust tactics or BEAT's, swap out characters, or add and remove equipment. In battle, you can also chain special arts and symbols together to trigger them immediately after initial use and increase their damage potential. Star Ocean TLH uses something called the blindside, which, if performed correctly, causes the character to avoid damage, swing behind the enemy, and attack them from the rear, often granting a critical hit. Using a blindside does have its risks, not all enemies are vulnerable to them and some will attack you with a critical hit if you attempt to use it. Some characters can do blindsides better than others. Another unique feature of this game is the bonus board. If you defeat an enemy in a certain way, you get a colored gem added to the board. This gem grants special post-battle bonuses such as restoring a certain amount hit points or increasing experience. It is possible to double the amount of experience you receive from battle using the board. The board will carry over from battle to battle unless you load a saved game. However, if an enemy scores a critical hit against the player-controlled character, the board breaks. This leads to an interesting risk/reward system in battle, do you perform the blindside or perform the lengthy and very damaging symbol and risk an enemy critical hit, or do you find a safer location or alter your tactics to better keep the bonus board intact? The battle system is quite fun and I was never bored with it.

Misc.: I enjoy science fiction and I also enjoy Japanese RPG's. You can imagine my joy when Xenosaga came out. Star Ocean Till the End of Time was also released and I liked it, but I believed that Xenosaga was the best with the way it blended sci-fi and RPG's together. Then, the six-part Xenosaga got cut to three and the game's developer came under the direct control of Nintendo cutting all hope I had for a high definition follow-up to my beloved Xenosaga. I then went back to Star Ocean and was excited to see Star Ocean TLH coming to a modern console... the one I did not have nor wanted to buy. Several months following release on the Microsoft console, I was overjoyed to see it returning to a Sony system. Although I was disappointed to see it on the Xbox 360 first, I do believe the PlayStation 3 received the best version of the game given the audio and increased capacity of the Blu-Ray disc.

Star Ocean TLH is a game you can enjoy if you already like Japanese RPG's. If you do not like that particular genre, stay away from this game at it is very much part of it. This game is compared very frequently to the newly released Final Fantasy XIII and it is easy to see why. Star Ocean TLH doesn't have all of the polish FF XIII has and can stumble in places, but it is also a much longer game. Critics who did not like FF XIII because of the shortened game and lack of towns, will find many of those issues resolved since there is plenty to do in this game. For me, I had my main battle party (Reimi, Edge, Myuria/Sarah, Arumat) at level 60 and completed 60 to 70 percent of the quests clocking in at 64 hours. Still, this game does not have the name recognition of the Final Fantasy franchise and given the demographics of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners in Japan and North America, I doubt it will be anywhere near as successful as most of the titles in the other franchise. It will still sell reasonably well with already over one million sold in all territories, but with the ridiculous year-long exclusivity on the 360 and gamers moving on to other, newer games on the PS3, I believe that sales of this game will not be as high as they could have been if this title had been released simultaneously on both systems worldwide.

As for the trophies, only the most dedicated, extreme completionists, or gamers with obsessive compulsive disorders, should even try to obtain the platinum trophy for this game. The trophies take completion to a whole new level. For example, you must complete every single quest in the game, some of which vanish permanently due to unfortunate events. You must also complete the game three times at progressively harder difficulty levels. The most insanely difficult one involves obtaining 100% of the in-game battle trophies. These are awarded as you complete certain battle objectives, such as "Land five critical hits in a row," or "Defeat 30,000 enemies," but some are very specific, such as "Deal 1,111 points of damage." Each character has their own battle trophies, about 100, and they can only be obtained while you are directly in control of that character. In short, you must have limitless patience if you want to even bother with getting the platinum. There are also no gold trophies for this game. Overall, I suggest Star Ocean The Last Hope International to gamers who enjoy long Japanese RPG's. With its fun battle system, a multitude of quests, and customization options, this is a very well-rounded game for most RPG fans, but the Japanese quirkiness and occasional rough edges may put off some gamers.

Where to begin? Ahh, I know, the one thing that will immediately turn off gamers! Before you get into this game, be advised that it IS a JRPG and the acting follows that of the typical japanese anime dub over by american actors who just don't cut it. There is however the option to turn on the original japanese dialog track, which may be easier on the ears. I love JRPGs and crappy anime acting (why I don't know) so it doesn't bother me one bit, but sometimes it can take away from the serious overtones the game should have.

That aside, be prepared for a HUGE world. Be prepared to run back and fourth between towns on different planets and be prepared to use the square (dash) button a LOT. The atmosphere that Star Ocean has created is immensively huge, and sometimes it feels as though things are lacking. Don't get me wrong, it is an absolutely beautiful game and looking around will keep you more than entertained while you explore. You can also encounter enemies, harvest materials and mine for materials on the "world map", if that's what you want to call it.

Sprawled throughout the game are specific quests that you will come across, as well as the main story line. The quests are NPC specific and require you to talk to specific NPCs at certain times in the game to get the quests. They are usually simple in nature and are similar to quests in an MMORPG (gather materials, get items from enemies etc). The most rewarding benefit of these quests are the skill points you will aquire, which allow you to level up certain skill sets each character has.

The main story line I will let the amazon description fill you in on, but alas it's alright. I'm not rivited by the story or sucked into the game because of it. All in all the atmosphere and the fun level of gameplay keep me entertained and the story is an added bonus. It's not to say it's a bad story, it's just lacking any real oomph. However, there are aspects of it that are excellently presented that make you wonder if at some point the remainder will be just as good as the scene you just witnessed.

To put things into perspective, I am aiming for getting everything in the game, I am 68 hours into it and only a third of the way through. Probably about half of those hours were spent traveling between places to complete quests. There is no easy warp option, it's you against the world.

If you love good RPG games star ocean is one of the best. I played the last one for ps2 and loved it so I had high hopes for this. Turns out it lived up to everything and more. I played this for xbox but recently purchased a ps3. The Major difference that I see is that this game is all on one disk unlike the xbox version which you had to keep switching disk. That alone is enough for me to purchase this game for ps3. Gameplay wise this game is too good from its active battle systems to the very likeable characters and its quest and storyline. Any person who enjoys RPG's as much as i do should love this game. 5 stars all the way!!

Star Ocean: The Last Hope is a prequel to the Star Ocean Saga. If you have not played any of the previous games then you won't be left behind with the storyline. This makes this installment of Star Ocean very friendly to both die hard fans and new-comer's to the saga.

Gameplay:
Star Ocean has always been a great franchise that gave RPG's a nice twist for me. This was the first RPG saga I played which had a really good sci-fi edge to it. This installment is no different having you blast around the galaxy exploring planets, meeting new aliens and cultures etc. Combat in Star Ocean is extremely enjoyable. Battles are encounter based where you have to run into a mob. When you trigger the mob you go into the battle screen w/ almost no load time. Depending on how you ran into the mob (did it hit you from behind? did you run into it from behind, from the side etc) determines the battle mode. Is it a surprise attack by you? by the mob? Perhaps two mobs were close by and the second the first battle finishes you get jumped by more mobs. There is some variety to the battles. Ontop of that, you can earn "bonus" tiles during combat which boost XP, Item drops, SP earned etc. Combat is also real time . Once you are in combat you can control 1 of 4 characters, able to switch toons on the fly, and pretty much map skills and attacks to buttons on the controller. I kind of see the combat system as like RPG meets Hack n' Slash without the button mashing. The nice Sci-fi elements and storyline mixed with a very fun combat system make for a great adventure!!

Story
Without ruining the plot, pretty much humanity is just starting to venture out into the galaxy. This is the first trip being taken by Humanity so a bunch of ships are sent off into deep space to explore and either find planets to colonize / harvest or perhaps even meet some aliens! no shocker, along the way some evil force exposes itself threatening the galaxy! The storyline is a tad cliche but enjoyable . There are also elements in the game that will influence the storyline.. kind of little side events that will gain favor with your crew. More favor you have the more chance you have at viewing certain cut-scenes and getting their true ending. It also adds to their back story a little.

Sound / Graphics
The graphics are not bad at all. This game came out for the 360 originally and was then remastered for the PS3. All in All both versions look identical from the standard view... if you zoom in on objects you'll notice the PS3 has more colorful, detailed map design but the characters themselves are a little faded (especially the eyes). The audio is actually very good in this version. Unlike the 360 version where you had English Dub, this version contains multiple languages including the original Japanese. The English voices weren't bad but... *shiver* some characters were just down right ANNOYING. I played it using Japanese w/ English Subtitles and found the voice acting to be very high quality compared to the English.

Replay Value / Length
The game itself easily kept me occupied well over 50 hours. It was a lot of fun, and once things kicked into high gear I began bouncing between planets to do side quests and all sorts of bonus objectives. Crafting, optional bosses etc. There is plenty of side and end game content to keep you busy for an insane # of hours. I beat the game at level 73; however the level cap is 255 that should tell you just how much stuff is to do on the side (getting to 255 will take quite some time) However, once you beat the game and run through the content there is virtually no reason to revisit this game except if you want to get a Platinum Trophy (might need 2 or 3 runs of the storyline for it). However with well over 50+ hours of gameplay in a single playthrough you are getting great value here.

OVERALL (86% 8.6/B+)
I give Star Ocean: the Last Hope International an 86% (8.6 / B rating) This isn't anything new as the game came out on the 360 a year before this released.
If you never played this game before, or don't own a 360 it is worth picking up now. If you own a 360 and a PS3 the PS3 version is the better version to own actually as I will list below. If you are big into Sci-Fi themed gamed and also love a good RPG this game is def. for you. It will make you feel like you are traveling to distant worlds and exploring the galaxy.

360 vs PS3 editions
the versions are visually identical for the most part (the differences are not worth arguing over) HOWEVER the PS3 version contains many additional perks the 360 version will not
1. Multiple languages (english and japanese) w/ multiple subtitle options
2. Additional content by having new playable characters
3. No need to disk swap (360 requires a disk swapping)
4. New UI layouts. You can pick between a more anime style or CG style. I actually liked the new style over the original as it organized better and text was more legible in my opinion.
5. Revamped crafting system (Fixed exploits in the crafting system and added a few new recipes.... also changed the recipes of the best armor and weapons to avoid being able to craft them really early on)

There are not a tremendous number of options when it comes to RPGs on modern consoles. In my opinion, Star Ocean is the best one available on PS3, and perhaps XBOX 360 as well. If you've played previous Star Ocean titles, then buy this one right now. If you've never played one more, just know that you will buying an action packed RPG that blends fantasy and sci-fi seamlessly and beautifully.

The worlds and environments are incredibly designed. The landscapes are beautiful, each planet has its own unique style and atmosphere. The monster design is great, and bosses are menacing. Spell effects are varied and fun to watch, but since battles are real time they do not break the flow of the game.

The voiceover work is done well, but not amazing, and often mouth animations are out of sync with the audio. But overall the game is aesthetically pleasing.

But since this is an RPG, the most important elements are the story and characters. There is a good number of characters, each with their distinct personalities and conflicts. You interact with them between major game phases through "private actions", which are brief cutscenes that expound upon a character's story and relationship with the main character. By exploring all of these actions you will unlock bonus ending cutscenes.

Overall the character design is great. There are plenty of struggles and conflicts that bring life to each of them. On top of that, they all individually add to the overall story and plot. No character is just thrown in out of nowhere. By including them all in the overall story it gives them more life.

The story itself is well done. For the most part everything is explained and concluded. There are very few random "wtf" moments. Since it's sci-fi and takes place in space and on alien worlds, there is a refreshing sense that it is not just another recycled "save the princess story".

On top of the main story, there are many sidequests and collection tasks given to you by shop keepers. These all award you money, experience, and party skill points that are used to boost your skill levels.

The gameplay is very fun. There is a fairly extensive crafting system and a basic gathering system. You can take advantage of these to create truly powerful weapons, but you can also ignore it altogether.

Battles happen in real time. You directly control one character at a time but can switch who you control with the press of a button. Some battles require you to skillfully take advantage of the blindside system, which allows you to dodge attacks and gain a tactical advantage over enemies. There is also a combo system that causes you to do more damage as you string attacks together.

One criticism I have is with the sometimes unpredictable AI of characters you aren't directly controlling. For instance, your entire party may be on the verge of dying but your characters with healing spells will ignore the fact and keep attacking enemies. Often, you need to directly control healers to get through moments of high damage.

For the most part though, fighting never seems to get old. Also, as you fight monsters you gain knowledge of them, which can later be used to convert monster stones into items you can equip. These collections of information will be fun for any perfectionists that must 100% complete any game.

In the end, Star Ocean is a wonderfully made RPG that mixes traditional elements with modern technology, blends sci-fi and fantasy, to deliver a 70+ hour masterpiece.

[...] this is a steal. Buy this game right now.