Star Ocean: The Last Hope (Released as of 2-24-09!) INTERNATIONAL VERSION 2-4-10!

[sakuraZaKi]

JP BOXART:

NA BOXART:

Title: Star Ocean 4 (JP) Star Ocean: The Last Hope (NA)

Developer: tri-Ace

Publisher: Square Enix

Release Date: February 19, 2009 (JP) February 24, 2009 (NA) SPRING 2009 (EU)

Platform: Still Xbox 360 Exclusive?, 3discs (DVD-ROM)

Rating: NA: "Teen", JP: "CERO:B"

MSRP: Most likely $59.99, (8,500円-8,925円 in JP)

Fan of JRPG's like Eternal Sonata, Lost Odyssey, Tales of Vesperia, etc.?

I've been wanting this game ever since it's been officially mentioned, and I say that it looks spectacular gameplay and graphics-wise. This is definitely a must for those who love this type of genre, well, I think so. For now, it's exclusively for the XBOX360.

"Star Ocean: The Last Hope (スターオーシャン4, Sutā Ōshan 4?) is the next installment in the Star Ocean series for the Xbox 360. Famitsu has revealed that the battle system will now feature 4 party members, and be more team-oriented. The hero's name is Edge Maverick, while the heroine is named Reimi Saionji. The game will also feature more of a sci-fi emphasis than past titles with the ability to control your own ship. It's been said this ship is quite large, and will be able to land on at least 5 planets or other space-based destinations. One will be able to travel through the "star ocean," jumping across planets. The game will also take place a few centuries before the original Star Ocean (around S.D. 10, or approximately 2097 AD)." -Wikipedia

Story in a nutshell:

"AD 2064. Humanity made its third and most costly mistake. World War III. Weapons of mass destruction deployed with complete impunity, razed the land in the blink of an eye. People believed it was the end of the world...

Planet Earth was dying. So humanity began to search for a new home in space."

"AD 2074 first contact. SD0001 first warp. SD0010 -- first official SRF mission. The first official SRF mission ventures forth into the great Star Ocean."

Basically, this game is the prequel to SO1(SNES)/SOFirstDeparture(PSP). A lot of games have been going back lately...

Websites:

WIKIPEDIA: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php...pe&diff=255289662&oldid=255001032#cite_note-4

MAIN WEBSITE: http://www.eternalsphere.com/so4/index.html

IGN INTERVIEW w/ STAR OCEAN DEVELOPMENT TEAM: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/943/943546p1.html

"DESTRUCTION" TRAILER (JP): http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/903309/star-ocean-4/videos/starocean_tgs08trailer_100908.html

"DESTRUCTION" TRAILER (ENG): http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/903309/star-ocean-the-last-hope/videos/SO4_111408.html

(Eh... English dub isn't TOO bad, actually not bad at all... My biased self prefers Japanese, though, but w/e, both is fine.)

"GAMEPLAY TRAILER": http://jp.youtube.com/watch?feature=channel_page&v=czRZ0moKIu8 (<--- this trailer is teh $4!T/smexy, seriously...)

Miscellaneous:

There are also 7 revealed characters, 4 of them seem to be the main characters. There were 8 revealed character slots in the TGS demo of Star Ocean 4, meaning that there is either one more character left to be revealed, or there are several characters one can get by use of the "Private Action" system:

-Edge Marverick
-Reimi Saionji
-Faize Beleth Sheifa
-Lymle Lemuri Phi
-Bacchus D-79
-Meracle Chamlotte
-Crowe F. Almedio
-Myuria Tionysus
-Arumat P. Thanatos
-Sarah Jerrand

UPDATE 9-15-2009:

International version of Star Ocean 4 will release on 2-4-2010!

http://www.siliconera.com/2009/09/1...e-international-is-extremely-import-friendly/

Source: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-...009m9d14-Star-Ocean-4-coming-to-Playstation-3

Update Taken From Gametrailers:

Confirmed by this week's Famitsu (SOIV International):

Updates includes:
- Both Japanese and English voices
- Improved targetting in battles
- Improved menus and interface
- New Characters

AD:

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6043/viploader1163950.jpg
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/3196/viploader1163958.jpg

Index:

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/1566/501950.jpg
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6952/514910.jpg

New Update:

On top of that, this scan from Famitsu says players will be able to choose French, German, and other text options from a menu. You can also choose either English or Japanese voice acting. And since the PlayStation 3 is region free Star Ocean: The Last Hope International is probably the most import friendly Japanese RPG to date.

Source:http://www.siliconera.com/2009/09/1...e-international-is-extremely-import-friendly/

 

[Minato]

Yeah, I'm excited for this game as well.

I hope the story's paced well this time. SO 3 was good and all, but Disc 1 was a little boring.

I'll be picking this up March.

 

[KosukeKGA]

http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/1220112_1407.html - Look at how stupid Edge's picture is when he's attacking, lmfao

And now that the BEAT system is in Japanese I can read it:

The BEAT system is a new system that allows the player to change the way they fight based on their personal playstyle. You can choose any things within a BEAT (style), and depending on your choice battle actions can be strengthened. In say, "BEAT S" you can have more technical fights through playing around with the Sight Out system, or in "BEAT B", which specializes in strength.

Find your own playstyle!

Oh yeah, I heard the 7th character is going to be a human that looks like Asch from TotA and he uses an axe. The game I heard will also have 3 DVDs.
---
You don't know how excited I am for this game...

But the story is the same again. The two main characters, Reimi and Edge, will land on an uncharted planet AGAIN but with good intentions this time. LOL

 

[Minato]

Hopefully the BEAT system will involve other things rather than just stats. It would be great if you could choose which techs to learn first, or something like that.

But the story is the same again. The two main characters, Reimi and Edge, will land on an uncharted planet AGAIN but with good intentions this time. LOL

LOL.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Well, that's Star Ocean for ya, lol.

 

[KosukeKGA]

Seven characters are now revealed!

-Edge
-Reimi
-Faize
-Lymle
-Bacchus
-Mericle
-Crow

Information on Crow: http://www.gamekyo.com/newsen29403_star-ocean-the-last-hope-new-screenshots.html

Apparently I was right with the Asch look, but instead, he uses two sabers (like Phantasy Star Online saber).

Honestly, though, only Edge and Reimi look appealing. >_>

The TGS 2008 featured 8 spots open in the Camp Menu though. The game is not limited to seven characters like the Eternal Sphere website suggests.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Sweet! I'll add this to the first post, if you don't mind...

and yeah, I think the only attractive ones are the four first revealed characters...

And the game will have 3 DISCS (DVD-ROM)

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Updated with current boxart. (JP)

 

[Minato]

I saw the boxart on the official website. SO likes their boxart bland, don't they?

I'm hoping SE releases a demo for this before the game's out. That'd be sweet.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Me too -.-

They didn't do one for Infinite Discovery though...

 

[KosukeKGA]

Lol. That looks so boring... >.>

At least SO3 had Fayt doing some weird movement...But, come on. D:
---
They will probably release a demo like the one in TGS 2008.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

SO1 and 2 did the same thing xD, boring covers
Yet people still play it

Most likely only the people who know the game will get it.

 

[Minato]

At least SO3 had Fayt doing some weird movement...But, come on. D:

I've only borrowed SO3, but I thought the boxart only had the logo in space?

Unless the game had two covers or something.

 

[KosukeKGA]

Yeah, NA/EU cover had Fayt dancing on the cover.

All other versions, I believe had just a logo floating in space, lol

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Yeah, if your SO3 cover is the logo with a red light behind it... yeah thats some other cover.

 

[Minato]

How come the the logo cover is the only one I'm seeing in my area?

 

[DMan1000]

im gonna try to save up money for this game and get it when it comes out and this will probably be my first star ocean game

 

[sakuraZaKi]

I think it's because it isn't a greatest hits.

The cover with Fayt on it is the Greatest Hits cover...

 

[Minato]

New trailer's out.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?feature=channel_page&v=czRZ0moKIu8

Make sure you click HD.
Looks like we're going back to Roak!

 

[DMan1000]

New trailer's out.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?feature=channel_page&v=czRZ0moKIu8

Make sure you click HD.
Looks like we're going back to Roak!

the game looks like a must buy

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Updated with NA boxart.

Also, theres a chance that this may be multi-platform for Xbox 360 and PS3, since there isn't any "ONLY for Xbox 360" logo in the boxart. (but there was one in the Last Remnant case, though...)

Only time will tell... so it's still pretty much undecided. It's hard to assume that it'll be multi or not.

BUT NO FLAME WARS ABOUT "oooh noz, PS3 thar bestest consolez" or "i wish it vas 4 teh ps3" or "they shouldn't make it multi-platform, the xbox is kicking it up a notch!)

 

[sakuraZaKi]

That gameplay vid shows some sexy stuff, lol.

Edge has a voice too! And I htink they changed Faize's voice... he sounds different compared to the Japanese Destruction trailer.

 

[Minato]

So let's see...
The new trailer revealed a new character name Crowe. Do you think he'll join the party? There's no proof yet.

Also, SO1 has 10 characters. (Technically 11 but one of them doesn't count.)
SO2 has 12 characters.
SO3 has 10 characters just like the first one.

6 characters are show playable in The Last Hope. Crowe would make 7 if he is indeed a playable character.
I'm guessing the SO4 will at least 10 characters. I sure hope so, since that's one of the cool aspects in SO.

So how many characters do you think there will be total?

 

[sakuraZaKi]

I hope a lot xD

Add some variety!

and I want an option where you can change Japanese and English voices... I want Japanese, lol.

 

[OmegaXXII]

God, how I want to play this game so bad considering it's a game published by Square Enix which I'm a huge fan of, I'm considering getting a 360 solely to play this game.

Terror of Death FTW!

 

[Minato]

God, how I want to play this game so bad considering it's a game published by Square Enix which I'm a huge fan of, I'm considering getting a 360 solely to play this game.

Terror of Death FTW!

To be honest, it was one of the reasons for me to buy a 360.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

God, how I want to play this game so bad considering it's a game published by Square Enix which I'm a huge fan of, I'm considering getting a 360 solely to play this game.

Terror of Death FTW!

Lol you talkin' about me?

Anone find any new info on SO4? D:

 

[Minato]

Anone find any new info on SO4? D:

Well, I found this on GameFAQs.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k106/Lhi-Ng/Featherfolk2.jpg
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/533/so4pf5.jpg

2 new characters that were hidden in the trailer. One's a feather folk and the other is a girl.
You can read the thread here:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=946860&topic=47161132

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Oh yeah, I've heard of that already

I'll go update the first post.

Got some new screens, btw:

(lol Edge gets slapped in this one for looking at Meracle, Private Action scenes ftw!)
AND A ROOMMATE FEATURE!!!!!!!! (look at bottom of page) *dirty thoughts*
http://img145.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=38661_so4-4_122_622lo.jpg

(new revealed character: Mi-yu-ri-a Tei-o-ni-se-su) *Myuria Tionisesu*
http://img169.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=38660_so4-3_122_649lo.jpg

quite the hottie in 3D, heh heh. Turns out that this is the one with the staff.

Did you check the new main page of SO4? It's awesome! Features 4 different songs from the game and voice-acting for each character. I think "Like the Wind" is the battle theme, and not "Blood on the Keys". Whatever comes first.

Oh, and it says Edge's last name is "Marverick" not "Maverick" <_<

Turns out you can jump in battle o.o

This game seems to be easily becoming one of the most attractive and content-filled JRPG's of this generation...

 

[DMan1000]

Oh yeah, I've heard of that already

I'll go update the first post.

Got some new screens, btw:

(lol Edge gets slapped in this one for looking at Meracle, Private Action scenes ftw!)
AND A ROOMMATE FEATURE!!!!!!!! (look at bottom of page) *dirty thoughts*
http://img145.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=38661_so4-4_122_622lo.jpg

(new revealed character: Mi-yu-ri-a Tei-o-ni-se-su) *Myuria Tionisesu*
http://img169.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=38660_so4-3_122_649lo.jpg

quite the hottie in 3D, heh heh. Turns out that this is the one with the staff.

Did you check the new main page of SO4? It's awesome! Features 4 different songs from the game and voice-acting for each character. I think "Like the Wind" is the battle theme, and not "Blood on the Keys". Whatever comes first.

Oh, and it says Edge's last name is "Marverick" not "Maverick" <_<

Turns out you can jump in battle o.o

This game seems to be easily becoming one of the most attractive and content-filled JRPG's of this generation...

cool and what,s that fire dragon dog thing that looked like it was going to eat that girl in one scene

 

[Minato]

SO4 is looking awesome.

And poor edge getting slapped.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

cool and what,s that fire dragon dog thing that looked like it was going to eat that girl in one scene

Looks like Lymle's pet xD

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Main website updated. NEW LOOK!

Features Crowe F. Armedio.

http://www.eternalsphere.com/so4/index.html

 

[Minato]

It looks like you might be able to swap characters in battle.

http://www.the-magicbox.com/0812/game081215c4.shtml

It's not confirmed though.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Actually, you can xD It is confirmed by Famitsu.

You can switch characters during battle in real-time.

 

[Minato]

Hm... I hope that doesn't make the difficulty easier. I doubt it will, considering how hard the other SO games are.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Since we can just switch members during play, I'm thinking that they'll make the game more balanced in a way that it'll work together.

and yeah, the SO games have never been really easy when you get on with the game

 

[KosukeKGA]

Information Thread on the game: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=946860&topic=46988200

I have a feeling it will be like SO3 again. 10 characters to choose from, 6 of them are permanent, but you only get to choose the last two from the remaining four.

There ARE 8 character slots.

 

[KosukeKGA]

This game's horribly ugly game design never fails to surprise me.

Welch Vineyard:

http://img258.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=13774_09_122_126lo.jpg

Agh, what the hell is wrong with tri-Ace...

At least the fighting will be 100% awesome.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Eh, I like the characters. Well... the four ones that were first presented.

In Japan, an Xbox360/SO4 Bundle will be released, and on the face plate, theres a new character that has been revealed (on the left). I dunno who it is though. Here: http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/131/131591/img.html

Also, Item Creation has been revealed to have 4 lines of 3 people. This generally hints that there is probably 12 characters in the game. Here: http://img190.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=59801_02_122_683lo.jpg

Oh, and it seems that SO4 has a new NA release date, as shown on the NA Square-Enix website here: http://na.square-enix.com/starocean/

It's scheduled for release on 2.24.09, for now, I guess.

And you know what? That's my frikkin' birthday xD. Now I know what I want as a gift