Star Ocean First Departure

[Pic0o]

As I mentioned in our Holiday Topic, Kat scored me Star Ocean The First Departure for PSP. I have about 2 hours of play in, and I really like what I have seen so far.

 

For anyone who is looking to pick this up, be ready for the $40.00 drop, as the SquareEnix tax looks to be in play.

 

Since I'm so early in, I'll drop some quick assessments I noticed:

• Random Battles - I average 2 encounters per walking on the world map to a village. You can get Skills to decrease Fight Encounters too
  
• Real-Time Combat - I'm not a huge fan of menu driven combat, so when I can run and hack the shit out of mobs, I'm happy.
  
• Special Arts / Spells - You can bind these to your triggers and do some fancy attacks to clean up that aggro.
  
• Characters - While I don't know a ton about them so far, I don't have a problem with any I have encountered.
  
• Detailed Stats - Want to know how many Fights you were in, or how many times you used a certain Special Art? It's all in the Status screens.
  
• Subtitles - Thank You, I feel every game should have these as an option, especially for Cut Scenes.
  

I just got a few skills available and I'm spending my points on them to tighten up my crew. From what I recall, you can have 4 people in your party @ a time, I have only encountered 5 (including me) so far, and I have yet to get the other 2 in my party. Also while playing, I really enjoy the story so far. Luckily, this game does not suffer from excessively slow progression @ start, so it does well to keep my attention. ;)

 

There is also a Skill system, that is more a less Crafting. Combining these skills gives you various abilities from Cooking, to Damage Modifiers. Once you have a certain amount of Skills, you can use Specialties to make items and abilities. Each Specialty has one or more Skills required to unlock the Specialty use, you can view these by pressing 'Triangle' in the Character Menu.

 

From my playing so far, this Universe is more swift and enjoyable then a Final Fantasy game IMO. Please keep in mind the main story of the game, is more Sci-Fi then Fantasy, so that's also a little refreshing for me. I'm comparing Final Fantasy III for DS to this Game, and so far, I love the pace and world, much more then Final III, that I have yet to finish, mostly due to boredom. :lol:

 

Random Note for the 360 Star Ocean Prequel hitting in March, Check These Screenshots. The combat system of First Departure on a 360 sold me alone. :afro:

 

I'll update this post and topic as I progress.

 

2008-01-29 Edit:

I'm Level 32 and just shy of 11 Hours of Play on my status display. I now have a White Mage and Black Mage, so Killing stuff is super more efficient. I'm due to do some more grinding, as I believe the Cap is 50, and I'm moving pretty well into a Big Boss fight it looks.

 

I can Verify now that I have 5 people in my Party that Combat is capped @ 4 in a battle, with the other (4 slots) as backup. I dunno if they pop in when someone dies, but you can adjust your Party config in the Character Menu, and put said less useful members in your backup list. My Party is currently Roddick (Sword User), Monk, Whm, Blm. I'm trying to give feedback of my play, without mad spoilers :bunny:

Edited January 29, 2009 by Pic0o

[Pic0o]

Currently I'm in the Pirate's Hideout, wreckin Shop. I learned that I need to level up more after going there. :o

 

I have my Danger Radar Skill @ Level 5, and with that I have Scouting Specialty, that lets me Increase or Decrease the Rate of Enemy Attacks. This Specialty is awesome. :)

 

I'll use some Italics and Bold for in-game terms and straight up eye-pleasing as I proceed. Bold for Menu or Game Terms, and Italics for Abilities, Items and so on.

[Pic0o]

I am Level 37 currently and have been stuck in an area, and I finally found out I missed a Party Member. :o

 

GameFaqs to save the day.

 

Details in Spoiler for nice-ness;

 

'Yep, need to get Millie. That might be why Foster isn't showing up either. Ioshua should mention visiting him as you leave Eckdart. If he didn't, he might once you recruit Millie.'

 

[Afronomicon]

I will save you some hassle, as I went back to each town to no avail. The 2nd stairs in Van are between the 2 trees on the 2nd screen.

 

Yeah, the shit that looks like a wall = stairs. I may proceed in the story again :roflmayo:

 

I got much playing in today, as my Main Char. is 56 with the other 3 @ 54, with 23 hours playtime.

 

I am lined up to rock thru the last zones to Boss it up :yar: For now, :zzz:

Edited February 8, 2009 by Edward

[Pic0o]

I finished this game on Sunday night and got my fancy Credit Roll. Fun game and interesting storyline. ;)

 

Funds prohibit me from getting Second Evolution, especially as the Prequel 360 title hits on 2/24. :o

 

I need to start scrapping or something. :lol: In Reality though, I'll wait to get the 360 title, as I have many a games, RPGs included to knock off. I point to Lost Odyssey in my RPG backlog. :P