Review for Star Ocean: First Departure R. Game for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 05/12/2019
JRPG is definitely a genre capable of instilling such a fascination and involvement as to push its fans to recover every chapter of a saga; it is no coincidence that various ports and remakes of this genre periodically appear. The one of Star Ocean is a saga that has never managed to break through in the West, unlike the more famous Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and the like but it seems that Square Enix has no intention of leaving its lesser known series in oblivion by bringing them to the attention of lovers Japanese role-playing games, old and new, to enable them to rediscover some pearls of the past.
After releasing the Collection of Mana, it is now time to rediscover the origins of the Action RPG saga that was the debut of the Tri-Ace studio.
The very first Star Ocean came out for SNES way back in 1996 and was never released outside of Japan. Only in 2008 did Western players recover it thanks to the PSP remake. This Star Ocean: First Departure R finally, it is the remastered version of that remake, created to be recovered by all those who have missed it on the first Sony portable console. Although more than a remaster we could talk about an upscaled port with some small additions.
One of the most distinctive features of the saga is to present a setting that combines fantasy and sci-fi elements. Star Ocean: First Departure R takes us to the underdeveloped planet of Roak, where the main protagonist Roddick and his two faithful friends Millie e Dorne they spend their days defending their peaceful village. The tranquility, however, is destroyed by a mysterious plague that turns all the inhabitants into stone. While trying to figure out what is going on, the three companions come across the interstellar travelers Ronyx e Ilia who reveal to him that the only hope of saving the village is to take a blood sample from the Archdemon Asmodeus; as if the name itself wasn't enough to make the task seem difficult, there is another problem that complicates matters: Asmodeus was killed 300 years ago.
Fortunately, Ronyx knows of a Time Door that can be used to travel back in time to when the Archdemon was still alive. As risky as it sounds, friends have no choice but to embark on this venture across space and time.
Although the general story is all in all simple and linear, progress in the game is less obvious. During their journey through Roak the protagonists will come across various events and characters, and it will be up to the player to choose whether to get involved in their sub-missions. Depending on our decisions we will be able to meet some characters rather than others who could be added to our party. It is these side characters that infuse the life of the adventure. To complete Star Ocean: First Departure R, 25-30 hours of gameplay are also sufficient, but it will not be possible to recruit all the units present with a single run.
You can then restart the game and choose to interact with other characters, thus unlocking different side stories. It is no small thing when we consider that this title was released for the first time more than 23 years ago.
From a gameplay point of view, players with some experience with Japanese-style Action RPGs will immediately find themselves at home. It just so happens that the tri-Ace founders who started Star Ocean are former employees of Wolfteam, which created the ultra-classic Tales of Phantasia for Namco. The indirect is evident, given that also in this case we are faced with a battle system in which the player controls a single character in real time while the others are controlled by the AI, even if it is possible to switch the controlled character at any time. Unlike Tales of Phantasia, however, the battles take place in three-dimensional arenas with an isometric view.
In this version only a few changes have been introduced compared to the past. The game has been slightly recalibrated to alleviate some unusual difficulty spikes. Much more evident is the feature that allows you to run at double speed, which will make traveling and consistent backtracking through Roak much faster.
However, it is on the graphic side that the tweaks of Star Ocean: First Departure R should be sought the most. The game has been transposed to HD, but obviously the transition could not be painless. The backgrounds have been upscaled and inevitably betray the age and portable origin of the title, while the sprites of the characters shine of excellent quality and are not affected by that "smooth" effect that is occasionally found in re-releases of this type. The overall look is still nice, especially thanks to the game's exquisite pixel art.
Gods have been added to adorn the dialogues new artwork of the characters by the illustrator Katsumi Enami (which you may know for "Baccano!" or "Vamp!"), which are well made and manage to give a touch of freshness to the game. For those who prefer the artwork of the previous version there is however the possibility to change them. Too bad that the new illustrative style has not been extended to the animated cutscenes, which therefore remain the same as the PSP version; even if they are few and will total around ten minutes, the gap between the styles is inevitably noticed.
As for the dubbing, there are three audio tracks: the two of the PSP version, Japanese and English, and a new Japanese one inserted for Star Ocean: First Departure R. Also in this case it is possible to switch the tracks easily. Despite the great freedom of choice for the player, we would have liked to have also had an option to disable voices altogether; not so much for the dialogue, but because in battle every time a character performs a special technique he does so by shouting his name, and in the long run it can be quite annoying.
The first Star Ocean remains a classic of the past, with some great insights for its time, but which may not impress that much nowadays. This First Departure R is a minimal and perhaps a little lazy conversion, but it is also true that it is sold at a certainly low price. For only € 20,99 you can rediscover this little pearl that will delight fans of the saga eager to recover its progenitor, or lovers of classic Japanese role-playing games. It goes without saying that if retro gaming isn't your thing or you've already played the PSP version you won't find many reasons to buy.
► Star Ocean: First Departure R is an RPG-Adventure game developed and published by Square Enix for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 05/12/2019
