Star Ocean: The Last Hope International (Sony Playstation 3, 2010)

hi,im here to give you my review on this last title from the Star Ocean franchise.


Story: a tipical j-rpg story line save the world crap
this is not the game strongest point,but sure is fun all together.


Gameplay:
6 diffrent "game worlds[planets]" will have you alwayes want to keep on going to the next town/dungeon/cave.

manu system is brillient not to easy and not to hard to get adjust in to,and the harvesting and mining points are a cool new editions to this title.

seen the enemies on the field map is great also.


Battle:
One of the most addictive battle systems EVER.this is by far the strongest point of the game its freaking awesome.
the combos are beautiful,
so as the magic and the special moves,but 2 new things took the prize in my opinion,the rush mode and the blindside,you havent play anything like this before.


Extra Content:
this is the second strong point in this game,battle arena,bunny racing,tons of side quests,battle trophies,monster data,item creation,extra bosses to kill,and 2 extra insane dungeons.
ive never before played a game with so many things to do besides the the main story put all of this stuff together you got 150+ hours of game time but if you are not insane[like yours truly]you can complete the main story line in about 35-40 hrs.


Graphics:
characters are abit lifeless becouse they dont have expressions but the envierments are stunning and the CGI is a blast.


Music:
the voice acting in englesh is terrible but you can switch to japanese in the ps3 version.
the sound track of the game on the other hand is memrable and epic,another masterpiece by motoi sakuraba.
my fevorite music was 2 battle thems,the 1st one is "blood on the keys" an the hook battle theme,and the second one is a remaster of a battle theme fron the second game "stab the sward of justice" in other words great musical score.


In conclusion:

Story:7/10
Gameplay:8/10
Battle:10/10
Extras:10/10
Graphics:8/10
Sound:8/10
Overall score:8.5/10


I hope you find my reviwe halpful,
so,untill Star Ocean 5 come on...
just keep on fighting kay? ;]
peace.

If you like role playing games, then this is the game for you. It is the crème de la crème of role playing games. Arguably better than the final fantasy franchise. Although they are both produced by square-enix, Star Ocean was originally Enix's brainchild while Final Fantasy was that of Squaresoft. Bottom line: amazing storyline, entertaining and engaging battle system, and overall superb game mechanics in general make this one of the ultimate RPGs,

graphics - they look great. no problems at all. environments are large and fun to explore. character models look pretty good.

story- sci-fi type story. the story is a bit long and with lengthy dungeons you may forget what is going on. otherwise it is pretty good. it is your typical jrpg story where teens with crazy hair save the world and yada yada yada....and if you don't like the story you can skip the scenes and the game will tell you what happened in a paragraph of text.

gameplay- this is where the game shines. excellent real time battle system. can control any character during battle. frame rate is steady. if you enjoy the battle system then the game is worth buying. ***slight learning curve involved but not that tough once you get the hang of it. also there are different difficulties if you want to take the easy route.

voice acting- english- there are some high pitched female voices that may annoy you. also there is a little girl that has verbal tourette syndrome and says the same word at the end of every sentence which is kind of annoying. you can play the game with japanese voices but its only worth it if you know the language. subtitles in 6 different languages also available.

extras- item creation, battle arena, bunny racing, monster data completion, battle trophies(not ps3 trophies, in game trophies that benefit you if you collect them all) and lots of optional quests available. the extras make the game last a lot longer if you get them all.

ps3 trophies- it would probably take you over 100 hours to get them all. so yeah...they're not really worth it

graphics- 8.5/10
story- 6-8/10 It's not bad but also not for everyone
gameplay- 10/10
voice acting- 7/10
extras-9/10

pros-if you like a game with good graphics, decent story, and great battle system then you should buy this game.

cons- story can get lost at times, voice acting may bother you but i believe you can turn it off if you really need to. very time consuming; main story will take a good 40+ hours to beat. so if you don't have free time and patience then this game is not for you.

I am about 20 hours into the game, and very satisfied thus far. I like this game more than Final Fantasy XIII overall. Item creation and the battle system are my favorites so far. Character models are very "cute" and the graphics are beautiful. Story is actually good and not cheesy which is uncommon in games of this type. Reminds me a bit of Rogue Galaxy on the PS2 in that you travel to different worlds to solve said problems. Voices so far are good, I haven't met all the characters yet but no one annoying so far. Star Ocean is also packed with side quests to immerse you further. If you like to complete games 100%, this one might take you a WHILE as there is so much to do!! If you are a lover of anime, fantasy, space, or all 3, this is a game for you.

I played the previous Star Ocean games on PS2. It's been a few years, but Star Ocean 4 definitely serves memory well, and the gameplay has minute yet important changes to the way items are used. Battling is not as boring as in previous RPGs, however, it can get tedious after playing the game through more than once. Bosses are a little more difficult than you might expect them to be, so be prepared before entering into a boss fight.
Square Enix may have started off with Final Fantasy, but for someone that wants to play an RPG that has an extremely truthful scientific nature to it, this is it. Thank you Square Enix, I hope there are more Star Oceans on the way!