Suddenly there’s a petrifying plague, suddenly you meet Space Captain Ronyx J. You start off on planet Roak where you meet the main character Roddick and his friends. As much as Star Ocean 1 can provide on a simple and sweet experience with sprinkles of the Star Ocean flavor, truthfully it lacks the substance necessary to be a filling meal.Ī problem that sticks out on this game all in all is the story, it is a textbook case of being cobbled together. Alongside my purchase, I also had a Final Fantasy 9 waiting in the wings, and I’m thankful that I did. (Note, I also tried picking the “wrong” option in every Private Action, as well as using the Pickpocket skill on every party member and NPC I could, so it’s quite possible that my jerk behavior also contributed to the mediocre ending.)Īs a fan of the Star Ocean franchise, I was happy to have another opportunity to play an earlier entry in the franchise since I’ve played Star Ocean 3, 4 and 5. I finished the game and got what I believe is the standard ending, without any optional scenes. Want a second healer to keep everyone alive during a tough boss? Want a full-melee party to finish off the basic enemies quickly? Too bad, you’ll have to make do with what you have. There’s also far fewer options in combat - Roddick, Ilia, Millie, and Ronyx provide the roles of main attacker, backup attacker, healer, and black mage respectively but there’s no option to adjust the party composition based on the battle. Far fewer Private Actions were available, certain subplots were left unresolved, the potential romance between Ronyx and Ilia never went anywhere, and I’m pretty sure Mavelle got herself killed since my party wasn’t there to help her. As it turns out, this made for a somewhat lonely experience. I just finished my first playthrough, where I tried out what would happen if I didn’t recruit any of the optional characters. Star ocean first departure r skills psp#I fully intend to play FDR several times, just like back in the PSP days. Star ocean first departure r skills license#The opening cutscene is also a bit different and has a different song - maybe they couldn’t renew the music license from the PSP game? I’m not sure which of these I like best - fortunately you can switch between the different voices and art styles at any point during the game. In addition to the English voice cast from the PSP version, you also have access to two Japanese VO options. Unfortunately the new artwork doesn’t match the FMV and sprite designs, so it’s a bit of a trade-off between detail and consistency. There’s new artwork for the character portraits, which – once I got used to them - I actually prefer to the original artwork, which looks a bit simple and unfinished in comparison (see Roddick’s armor design, for example). There’s an option to run faster which makes exploring towns easier. Star ocean first departure r skills tv#The two games are largely the same - the Switch one is a bit visually sharper (though sadly the FMV cutscenes don’t seem to have been upgraded and look a bit fuzzy on a TV screen). Getting all possible endings is a huge time investment and you’ll likely require a guide to get every one.Īlright, now let’s move on to the differences between First Departure on the PSP, and First Departure R on the Switch. The Private Actions and the character relationship system have an effect on the game’s ending, thus encouraging multiple playthroughs. The cutscenes contribute in a major way to developing your player characters, and you often get a choice in how the scene plays out, which in turn can cause your party members to become more or less friendly with each other. Which PA’s are available depends on which town you’re in, what party members you have, and which PA’s you’ve already done. Basically, a Private Action is an optional cutscene you can initiate in a town. This ties in to my favorite part of First Departure - the Private Action system. Not only does each character fill a different combat role, but the party composition will affect certain story beats. In fact there’s more options than you can get in one playthrough. It has charming music and sprite work, an in-depth crafting system that could probably break the game if you knew how, a real-time battle system that’s a lot swifter and more action-heavy than traditional turn-based battles, and there’s also a bunch of cool optional characters to recruit. Second Evolution, also on the PSP and Till the End of Time on the PS2), I believe that First Departure is my favorite out of them. Having played the first three Star Ocean games (incl.
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