Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope International Hands-On

Last year at the Tokyo Game Show, we were able to try out Star Ocean 4 for the first time. Now, just a year later, the futuristic space opera will be appearing on the PlayStation 3 with some additions that are sure to please the fans. The Last Hope International is virtually the same as the Xbox 360 version, but the Japanese language track is now included so you can choose to play the game in Japanese with subtitles if you wish. Also, as a bonus, you can switch back and forth between 2D and 3D character art, depending on your preference. The avatars that are shown at the bottom of the screen during combat can be 2D anime-style portraits or the 3D character models that you're used to seeing onscreen.

We spent some time playing through the PlayStation 3 version and found it to be identical to the Xbox 360 version in terms of gameplay. It might have been the television, but visually, it didn't seem as sharp as we expected. There was also a bit of motion blur as we played through a couple of battles. The game still looks great, though, and will likely end up being very similar to the Xbox 360 version. The Japanese version is set to come out February 4, and the rest of the world can get its PS3 copy on February 9. Check out our review of the Xbox 360 game here.