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FOAMGaP pt 10: Star Ocean: The Divine Force
2 years ago
General
i can also be found at:
https://www.deviantart.com/bardicdragoon
So I feel like it shouldn’t be a surprise that I am a fan of the Star Ocean Series, what with going off on a tangent about SO2R in an earlier one of these and one of the few pieces of personal fanart of a game that I have drawn/posted being of a Star Ocean Character, but I’m not sure how much people pay attention to these or my non-NSFW drawings. Unintentionally depressing commentary aside, I am a fan of the Star Ocean Series and have (now) played all the main entries and have to say this 6th entry is… good.
I don’t want that to come across as the game being ‘bad actually, but’ because it is a really good game and is hopefully a sign (alongside Second Story R) that Star Ocean is Back. That said this Star Ocean is not the ideal form of star Ocean Being back to me; particularly with a combat series that while fun and legitimately good in its own right loses some core ideas and mechanics that have stayed and defined Star Oceans particular flavor of Combat for the whole series even with each game having its own combat system, and a return to Crafting returning to a ‘rank up skills and pray to RNJESUS’ format but with some things that arguably make it almost worse then the 2D games on the RNJESUS factor. So this is going to be a long one so grab some blueberries (but not blackberries those don’t exist anymore) and kick back
So I’ll start with the combat, since as I said it is legitimately good and a lot of fun just not very ‘Star Oceany’. The basic idea of Combat is that characters can learn various abilities as they level up which can be equipped in what are called Chain Combos (basically you have three attack buttons and you can assign buttons to these buttons as steps in an up to three part combo or to trigger when the button is held for a second instead). These attacks are visually interesting and fun to perform, and have secondary mechanics (e.g. invincibility during startup, counter stances, etc.) that add depth to the combat. The characters also have some very unique play styles; the obvious example being Nina, the party healer who cannot target enemies and her few attacks can (and are arguably designed to) be used against party members, but even the less extreme examples still have somewhat distinct play styles such as Raymond being a high damage and slow hitting attacker with some invincible attacks to push through enemy attacks whilst attacking Vs. Laeticia who is a speedy multi-hitting character with strong aerial combo options. And we haven’t even mentioned D.U.M.A; being able to do a high speed dashing attack across the battlefield to reach a target is fun, the return of Blindsides is definitely great, and then a little over half way through the game you unlock the ability to freely swap between these options and defensively buffing your party.
The one thing I can see being contentious is the AP system as there are static parameters for AP that never change over the game. The minimum AP level can often only leave you doing one to two attacks before having to stop for a second and recharge leaving combat feeling unsatisfying, you can expand this by blindsiding enemies or just-defend blocking attacks up to a much larger level that will let your inner combo fiend have fun. however getting hit will decrease your AP and there are some enemies with multi hitting attacks that can really chew up and spit out your AP very quickly. There is a flow to combat that isn’t too hard to catch onto, but with some enemies not being able to be blindsided and blocking being a little finicky if you ask me it isn’t exactly the smoothest experience. Some times. However the worst part is that loading a save sets your AP back to minimum, which turn the solid checkpointing the game has into a double edged sword against bosses; as you can restart the fight but since its loading a save you go into to fight with minimum AP, and most if not all bosses are immune to blindsides…
So the combat is fun, if not without issue, so far so Tri-Ace, but what makes it not feel ‘Star-Oceany’? whilst from the first game on SNES star ocean has always had context sensitive positional commands; normal attacks would change if you used them at closer vs long range and depending on the game special attacks could be assigned at various ranges as well. This was mostly a novelty and visual wow factor in the 2D games (1 &2) buy with the jump to 3D attacks started having more effects, like launching and knockback, that allowed for some interesting combos and depth all with a distinct pace to things. Now the series notoriously tends to fall into Special attack spam in the late game making this depth kind of pointless but star Ocean 6’s solution is to throw the baby out with the bath water and completely change things rather than try to fix this reoccurring balance issue; though I suppose after 3-5 games without having successfully done that maybe that was the smart move but I still miss that unique feel of old Star Ocean combat.
So as for Item Creation? I can’t say its bad, a bit obtuse and heavy on RNG, but not bad. If you’ve played any version of Star Ocean 1 or 2, its like that, but with less creation types (7 compared to 10 in SO2) and the fact that Equipment crafting (engineering, Smithing, and Crafting) can generate random effects on equipment and you can move these around using synthesis. Whilst I prefer the more deterministic recipe driven crafting of 4 and 5 (though it took the wind and fun out cooking if you ask me), I won’t say this one doesn’t work its just not how I would prefer to see it done. There are even some quality-of-life features that make it easier to deal with such as retrying a creation, allowing to try for a different result up to 2 times when crafting an item without consuming additional materials (only more money), assuming your skill in said IC type is high enough. However the money aspect is a big issue high level/late game crafting is extremely expensive and money while far from rare is not easy to come by in the amounts needed and I say this as someone who took advantage of the hidden book publishing mechanic in the game which is one of the better ways to make money in game. Maybe this is less of an issue once you hit post-game (haven’t gotten into it yet, with the final boss beaten I’m taking a brief break from the game before jumping into that) which if so is annoying but not problematic since keeping at a comparable power level through the main game just from buying/finding equipment rather than crafting it is very doable (though I might have been a bit over leveled as I never turned down a chance to engage with he combat and spent a decent amount of time farting around with side quests) so IC might be more a post-game (or break the main game at any cost) thing all but exclusively.
Besides these the story Is pretty cool on paper and the characters are fun and interesting, though it does feel a bit aimless for the first 1/3-1/2 of the game (the plot sees you are traveling from town to town trying to find some people getting involved in local affairs or otherwise getting side tracked along the way) but once you get to the main plot gets started your dealing empires fighting, double crosses, governmental corruption, familial legacy, and the march of evolution and progress. Honestly in the moment to moment it can get a bit anime tropes and melodrama, but since my favorite Star Ocean Game is 4 (aka anime space opera melodrama with an optional side of harem anime bullshit and a plot point taken almost full cloth from a Futurama episode) that almost makes it better. This probably has the best character from the Kenny lineage in the form of Marielle Kenny (and not just because she is solid Waifu material but without going into details that familial legacy bit I mentioned leads to some great moments with her). Also the games big game long optional Mini Game, Es’owa was surprising to me: from what I knew going in I expected Fantasy Chess with a TCG element and instead got Fantasy Go with TCG elements; which feels like it shouldn’t be a game changing improvement but damn if I didn’t enjoy it.
I suppose the fact ive been going for two whole pages about this game kind of gives it away, but my thoughts on this game are very mixed but less in the quality (its really good and if you like Action JRPGS like Tales of Series or prior Star Ocean Games it gets a strong recommendation from me and you should play it) and more in that its not the game I would have wanted for Star Ocean 6. But ultimately if the series goes forward like this I’m not going to be too upset but if the series goes back to something like 4’s gameplay but with this level of quality… lets say you might not be able to pry me off the ceiling.
So if you have played any prior Star Ocean Games you’ve likely come across this stuff in game as a food item. Well, since in SO6 I came across it more so then in prior ones I started looking into it, wondering if there was some background lore to this reoccurring in game food item across the series only to learn it’s a real Japanese snack food. So I ordered a variety pack off of Amazon and have to say its good shit. Its basically a big corn puff covered in flavor dust; think Cheetos but instead of a bag of small corn puffs it’s a large individually wrapped one (which also makes it easier to eat without getting flavor dust all over your hands). It also comes in a variety of flavors (though since SO 6 has options like Salami, Shrimp and Mayo, Natto, and veggie salad i suppose that’s not too surprising). Personally I think nmy favorite has been the Tonkatsu sauce flavor but to be honest they’ve all been good (also my Japanese wasn’t the greatest at its best and I’m rather rusty so I’m not entirely sure what a lot of the flavors are supposed to be)
https://www.deviantart.com/bardicdragoon
So I feel like it shouldn’t be a surprise that I am a fan of the Star Ocean Series, what with going off on a tangent about SO2R in an earlier one of these and one of the few pieces of personal fanart of a game that I have drawn/posted being of a Star Ocean Character, but I’m not sure how much people pay attention to these or my non-NSFW drawings. Unintentionally depressing commentary aside, I am a fan of the Star Ocean Series and have (now) played all the main entries and have to say this 6th entry is… good.
I don’t want that to come across as the game being ‘bad actually, but’ because it is a really good game and is hopefully a sign (alongside Second Story R) that Star Ocean is Back. That said this Star Ocean is not the ideal form of star Ocean Being back to me; particularly with a combat series that while fun and legitimately good in its own right loses some core ideas and mechanics that have stayed and defined Star Oceans particular flavor of Combat for the whole series even with each game having its own combat system, and a return to Crafting returning to a ‘rank up skills and pray to RNJESUS’ format but with some things that arguably make it almost worse then the 2D games on the RNJESUS factor. So this is going to be a long one so grab some blueberries (but not blackberries those don’t exist anymore) and kick back
So I’ll start with the combat, since as I said it is legitimately good and a lot of fun just not very ‘Star Oceany’. The basic idea of Combat is that characters can learn various abilities as they level up which can be equipped in what are called Chain Combos (basically you have three attack buttons and you can assign buttons to these buttons as steps in an up to three part combo or to trigger when the button is held for a second instead). These attacks are visually interesting and fun to perform, and have secondary mechanics (e.g. invincibility during startup, counter stances, etc.) that add depth to the combat. The characters also have some very unique play styles; the obvious example being Nina, the party healer who cannot target enemies and her few attacks can (and are arguably designed to) be used against party members, but even the less extreme examples still have somewhat distinct play styles such as Raymond being a high damage and slow hitting attacker with some invincible attacks to push through enemy attacks whilst attacking Vs. Laeticia who is a speedy multi-hitting character with strong aerial combo options. And we haven’t even mentioned D.U.M.A; being able to do a high speed dashing attack across the battlefield to reach a target is fun, the return of Blindsides is definitely great, and then a little over half way through the game you unlock the ability to freely swap between these options and defensively buffing your party.
The one thing I can see being contentious is the AP system as there are static parameters for AP that never change over the game. The minimum AP level can often only leave you doing one to two attacks before having to stop for a second and recharge leaving combat feeling unsatisfying, you can expand this by blindsiding enemies or just-defend blocking attacks up to a much larger level that will let your inner combo fiend have fun. however getting hit will decrease your AP and there are some enemies with multi hitting attacks that can really chew up and spit out your AP very quickly. There is a flow to combat that isn’t too hard to catch onto, but with some enemies not being able to be blindsided and blocking being a little finicky if you ask me it isn’t exactly the smoothest experience. Some times. However the worst part is that loading a save sets your AP back to minimum, which turn the solid checkpointing the game has into a double edged sword against bosses; as you can restart the fight but since its loading a save you go into to fight with minimum AP, and most if not all bosses are immune to blindsides…
So the combat is fun, if not without issue, so far so Tri-Ace, but what makes it not feel ‘Star-Oceany’? whilst from the first game on SNES star ocean has always had context sensitive positional commands; normal attacks would change if you used them at closer vs long range and depending on the game special attacks could be assigned at various ranges as well. This was mostly a novelty and visual wow factor in the 2D games (1 &2) buy with the jump to 3D attacks started having more effects, like launching and knockback, that allowed for some interesting combos and depth all with a distinct pace to things. Now the series notoriously tends to fall into Special attack spam in the late game making this depth kind of pointless but star Ocean 6’s solution is to throw the baby out with the bath water and completely change things rather than try to fix this reoccurring balance issue; though I suppose after 3-5 games without having successfully done that maybe that was the smart move but I still miss that unique feel of old Star Ocean combat.
So as for Item Creation? I can’t say its bad, a bit obtuse and heavy on RNG, but not bad. If you’ve played any version of Star Ocean 1 or 2, its like that, but with less creation types (7 compared to 10 in SO2) and the fact that Equipment crafting (engineering, Smithing, and Crafting) can generate random effects on equipment and you can move these around using synthesis. Whilst I prefer the more deterministic recipe driven crafting of 4 and 5 (though it took the wind and fun out cooking if you ask me), I won’t say this one doesn’t work its just not how I would prefer to see it done. There are even some quality-of-life features that make it easier to deal with such as retrying a creation, allowing to try for a different result up to 2 times when crafting an item without consuming additional materials (only more money), assuming your skill in said IC type is high enough. However the money aspect is a big issue high level/late game crafting is extremely expensive and money while far from rare is not easy to come by in the amounts needed and I say this as someone who took advantage of the hidden book publishing mechanic in the game which is one of the better ways to make money in game. Maybe this is less of an issue once you hit post-game (haven’t gotten into it yet, with the final boss beaten I’m taking a brief break from the game before jumping into that) which if so is annoying but not problematic since keeping at a comparable power level through the main game just from buying/finding equipment rather than crafting it is very doable (though I might have been a bit over leveled as I never turned down a chance to engage with he combat and spent a decent amount of time farting around with side quests) so IC might be more a post-game (or break the main game at any cost) thing all but exclusively.
Besides these the story Is pretty cool on paper and the characters are fun and interesting, though it does feel a bit aimless for the first 1/3-1/2 of the game (the plot sees you are traveling from town to town trying to find some people getting involved in local affairs or otherwise getting side tracked along the way) but once you get to the main plot gets started your dealing empires fighting, double crosses, governmental corruption, familial legacy, and the march of evolution and progress. Honestly in the moment to moment it can get a bit anime tropes and melodrama, but since my favorite Star Ocean Game is 4 (aka anime space opera melodrama with an optional side of harem anime bullshit and a plot point taken almost full cloth from a Futurama episode) that almost makes it better. This probably has the best character from the Kenny lineage in the form of Marielle Kenny (and not just because she is solid Waifu material but without going into details that familial legacy bit I mentioned leads to some great moments with her). Also the games big game long optional Mini Game, Es’owa was surprising to me: from what I knew going in I expected Fantasy Chess with a TCG element and instead got Fantasy Go with TCG elements; which feels like it shouldn’t be a game changing improvement but damn if I didn’t enjoy it.
I suppose the fact ive been going for two whole pages about this game kind of gives it away, but my thoughts on this game are very mixed but less in the quality (its really good and if you like Action JRPGS like Tales of Series or prior Star Ocean Games it gets a strong recommendation from me and you should play it) and more in that its not the game I would have wanted for Star Ocean 6. But ultimately if the series goes forward like this I’m not going to be too upset but if the series goes back to something like 4’s gameplay but with this level of quality… lets say you might not be able to pry me off the ceiling.
BONUS ROUND: Umaibo (umi-bo?) food review.
So if you have played any prior Star Ocean Games you’ve likely come across this stuff in game as a food item. Well, since in SO6 I came across it more so then in prior ones I started looking into it, wondering if there was some background lore to this reoccurring in game food item across the series only to learn it’s a real Japanese snack food. So I ordered a variety pack off of Amazon and have to say its good shit. Its basically a big corn puff covered in flavor dust; think Cheetos but instead of a bag of small corn puffs it’s a large individually wrapped one (which also makes it easier to eat without getting flavor dust all over your hands). It also comes in a variety of flavors (though since SO 6 has options like Salami, Shrimp and Mayo, Natto, and veggie salad i suppose that’s not too surprising). Personally I think nmy favorite has been the Tonkatsu sauce flavor but to be honest they’ve all been good (also my Japanese wasn’t the greatest at its best and I’m rather rusty so I’m not entirely sure what a lot of the flavors are supposed to be)
