Star Ocean: First Departure

Star Ocean: First Departure Overview

Star Ocean: First Departure is a remake of the original Star Ocean game, but with a new engine. The original games were extremely popular and Japan and this game was no exception. In this game the player takes on the role of Riddick Farrence, a young hero who is trying to save the world from destruction. The game’s new engine and updated graphics make this game much more enjoyable to play compared to the original and the new content keeps the game fresh for returning players. Overall if you are a fan of JRPGs then Star Ocean: First Departure has a lot to offer.

Star Ocean: First Departure Screenshots

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Star Ocean: First Departure Featured Video

Full Review

Star Ocean: First Departure Review

Star Ocean: First Departure is the remake of the first Star Ocean for the Super Nintendo. First Departure is on the PSP. You begin in the town of Kratus on a planet called Roak. You are a young fellpool named Roddick. Part of the Defense Force, you protect the village of Kratus from anything that could harm it or take jobs from the people. One day, a group of bandits appears and you begin your first fight.

The combat is in real-time. You and your party of three are put on the right side of the box. The enemy is put on the left side, but there are a few exceptions. The camera follows whoever you are controlling. Depending on where your target is, the camera will be closer or farther. I didn’t like this because you couldn’t see the rest of what your party was doing if they weren’t melee characters or spell caster. If the radar wasn’t at the top right of the screen, battles would have been exceedingly harder. The radar is great because it shows all the enemies and your party. The one you are controlling is shown with a circle around a blue dot. The blue dots are allies and the red dots are enemies. You can also see your allies, health and mana at the top of the screen, which can help you decide what action to take next.

During combat, the second you push the attack button or use an art or spell, you can‘t control them until they executed that attack. You can stop it, however, by pushing the square button, which I really loved, and it did help in most situations. During battle, you can also switch who you want to control with the circle button. Once you have chosen, just press the circle button again. I really liked the switching because you can control what your ally does. Anyone that isn‘t under your control uses a strategy that you can choose. Spell casters can choose “Attack with all your MP,” or “Focus on healing friends.” Melee characters can choose “Attack with all you’ve got,” or “Protect your friends.” Items can also be used in battle, but there is a time limit to using another one. I haven’t played many games that gave you a time limit in battle to use another item, making it challenging, which I like. Characters that are not in battle won’t gain experience, which made me disappointed, so choose who you want to fight carefully.

There are two types of characters you can choose from – melee or spell caster. If you are controlling Roddick, you are a melee character. If you are controlling Millie, you are a spell caster. My favorite type is the melee characters because they don’t take time to cast spells like spell casters do, and they can easily interrupt the enemy faster than spell casters. I was disappointed in the spell casters because it was easy for them to get their spells interrupted, and the enemies tend to go after them. If you are casting a spell and get attacked by an enemy, the casting will stop and you will have to start over again. Spells tend to take a long time to cast, especially heals, but they can be shortened with skills.

Spell casters are completely useless at close range combat. They have weapons, but it just doesn’t do much damage, and if a spell caster is the only one left, there is a high chance that you will be wiped out. Melee characters are very strong against physical attacks and can dish out damage very quickly (unlike spell casters), but they can be killed easily, as well, if they are caught off-guard. Melee characters don’t have spells that can heal, but they have special arts that can do damage, like Roddick’s Thunderclap Blade. Thunderclap Blade does a lot of damage to any enemy that has a weakness to the element of thunder. Even if the enemy doesn’t have a weakness to thunder, it does a high amount of damage to them. Enemies can also have resistances to elements and can even absorb some. Thunderclap Blade isn’t my favorite art because of how slow it is, but it does help at the beginning levels.

What I love about games where you level up and gain spells is that every character is different. First Departure, however, doesn’t have that. Melee characters have all the same special arts depending on their weapon, like Roddick and Cyuss who both use swords. They share Firestorm Blade, Thunderclap Blade, Lightray Blade, Double Slash, etc. Roddick does have some arts that only he can have, but that is at the later levels. Spell casters are different, depending on what kind of magic they use. Ronyx is a spell caster that has spells that hurt opponents. Millie has spells that can cure status ailments or heal allies. Ioshua is also a spell caster that can use curing magic, but has spells that can also hurt the enemy. Ioshua’s and Millie’s healing spells are the same, but Millie has status ailment cures, where Ioshua has the attacking spells along with the healing.

There are many characters that you can have in your party, but the limit is eight. In all there are around 10 characters, and depending on what you do, one may decide to leave or you may not get that character. There are four main characters – Roddick, Millie, Ronyx, and Ilia. Roddick is a young fellpool and part of the Defense Force in Kurik. He uses a sword and has high defense. Millie is also a young fellpool and part of the Defense Force. She uses a staff and is a healer. Ronyx is a human who is sent to Roak on a reconnaissance mission as captain. He uses a bow along with damaging spells. Ilia is a human and Ronyx’s second in command. She uses knuckles and is a fast attacker. When you get characters, you can change their first names.

Star Ocean has a humongous arsenal of skills that every character can learn and can help you in combat and more. There are four types of skills that you need to buy, each with three levels. They are knowledge, sense, technical, and combat. Knowledge contains skills that can increase your stats, the amount of healing done by items, or an increase in the amount of fol you gain from selling items. Sense contains a lowering of experience needed to level, raising all stats, or increasing special stats that will help in certain combat situations.

Technical contains high increase to strength or knowledge of using machines. Combat contains everything that will be useful in combat like decreasing the time to cast a spell or the ability to counterattack. I love the skills because they make combat a whole lot easier, especially against bosses, and you can even create food, weapons, or armor. Crafted weapons or armor are always the most powerful at the time they are made. The only backdrop to creating is that you need the materials, which you may not be able to find right away. You can also use skills to increase or decrease the chance you will fight enemies, making it easier to train in any area.