Published: Wednesday, 5th November, 2008 09:30
Star Ocean: First Departure
By Narin Bahar
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PSP
Some things are never as good as you remember them being. Like Wagon Wheels (they're a bit sickly actually), long childhood summers (not actually that hot, and actually quite boring) and games which left you obsessed back in the day but actually if you replay them haven't aged well. The worry would be that Star Ocean falls into that category.
The original scifi themed RPG came out nearly 10 years ago now and back in the day I spent many hours slumped in front of my PS1 obsessing over how best to spend my XP. And while I doubt I'd have sat so keenly in front of my 360 (especially with Fable 2 on my to play pile) as a PSP title this is actually a little gem.
Don't get me wrong. In game play terms it's really really dated. But the game play is still great fun - and the crafting which sees you composing music, writing books and cooking delicious feasts to buff your stats is so engrossing I actually missed my stop on the train I got so caught up with it all. Everything is to play for. Your relationships with other characters can cause massive differences in your party combinations, which in turn has ramifications for all the quests.
The main premise is a simple one. The starship Calnus beams down to the planet of Roak, which has been decimated by a mysterious plague. While a galactic war rages on, the crew race against time to save the Roakians and raw peace across the universe.
The battle is not turn based, which means if you're a fan of the button mashing this is quite fun. You can flip between characters as you need and take out your enemies using special attacks using the shoulder buttons. It makes a change from the minutiae of the RP elements of the game and breaks things up nicely.
Four stars
* Star Ocean: First Departure is out now on the PSP.
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