Superior battle system and epic story is held back by infuriating cast of characters and flawed narration.
Star Ocean 4 The Last hope (SO4) fits in the Star Ocean time line in the year Star Date (SD) 10, which is far before the events of Star Ocean 1, 2 and 3. It is a prequel so to speak, but many will not understand certain events in this game without having completed earlier installments. There are direct and indirect references to earlier games. The appearance of Kenny however threw me off as he is a young man in SO1 which is dated SD 346.
While perfecting the battle system in each installment the story and narration suffered more with every release. Many claimed that, since SO1 acquired somewhat of a cult status, that star Ocean 3 was the worst in the list. That was of course before SO4 was released. Star Ocean 4 has by far the worst cast and narration of every Star Ocean. In fact it is the worst of all of Tri Aces earlier creations.
SO4 blasts off by giving you a run of the mill outline of what happened to earth to invoke its people to seek life in space. However irrational and ridiculous its premise it is what we will have to deal with. Meet Edge Maverick. A 20 year old boy who manages to be more childish and unprofessional than our friend Fayt from SO3, and Fayt wasn't even a star ship captain. As opposed to America's "pretty people save the world" concepts, the Japanese have a preference for the " Annoying kids save the world" concept. Those of you who watch anime or have experienced other JRPG's will understand quite well what this means. Edge gains control of a star ship early in the game together with two other characters and leaves on a mission to explore space and find out what happened on their first trip. It never occurred to its previous captain (man of over 40 years old with a crew of at least 20), that telling a 20 year old boy, with no experience and his child hood friend to command, pilot and maintain his ship with only 3 people is probably the most retarded thing ever.
Oddly the story in SO4 is actually not bad at all. If you take all the elements and formulate them chronologically you have an epic tale worth telling. SO4 also displays impressive graphic prowess with superior and lush planet designs, a multitude of beautiful towns and dungeons and fantastic character designs. So where does it go wrong? Well, creating combat systems, writing a plot and designing things to look beautiful is all well embedded in Tri Aces repertoire. What is not embedded is script, narration, character personalities and animation.
While the characters look absolutely stunning, they are also absolutely lifeless. Their facial expression hardly ever changes which makes them look like dolls. On top of that, their movement in cut scenes are erratic and unrealistic. Many game fabricators put little effort in moving hair and clothes and for a very good reason. Clothes and hair in SO4 are designed to move more natural, but Tri Ace seems to have forgotten that long hair doesn't actually move much if a person moves their head. Long hair defies gravity in SO4. Also Tri Ace seems to have forgotten that weapons and such actually have weight. The way Edge moves his blade in cut scenes is like he's not actually holding anything at all. Least of all a 4lbs weighing long sword which takes a normal person considerable effort to swing.
There are a few party members in SO4 worth having around, but there is also a multitude worth shooting in the head. Unlike previous installments SO4 gives you all available party members in one single play through. There are no optional characters, nor secondary outfits. Edge, our main character, is agreeable enough until about a third into the game, where he becomes erratic and acts like he suffers from bipolar disorder. He will either not show any emotion or simply scream at someone for no apparent reason. His emotions are incomprehensible and many times while playing the game you will ask yourself: "What is wrong with this idiot?" Overacting is written all-over this guys resume.
Reimi is one of the more likable and realistic characters. Her model is beautiful and her voice actress well chosen. Her constant bowing is a Japanese reference, but I found it to be out of place.
Lymle is a freak of nature. Game lore states her to be 15, but she looks and acts like she is 6 at most. This makes for a few disturbing scenes in-game. Her character is most likely one of the most annoying in video game history, kay.
Faize is not unlikable, but he is a useless character in battle so you will find not much use for him.
There are a few more party members added to the roster later in the game. A very adorable and powerful cat girl, a sexy sorcerer, an android, a man with a scythe (yeah!) and last but not least a retarded feather folk. The game comes with a whole bundle of private actions, some of which are disturbing, mind numbingly annoying or plain awful to watch. Some are funny though, it all depends on the characters involved. Most private actions take place on board your ship. Private actions no longer take place in towns, nor can they be activated before entering a town as was done in SO1 and SO2. Your party members stay with you wherever you go. however badly executed some of the voice acting is, it is not completely theirs to blame. The person who wrote the script probably did so from a mental institution.
One of the biggest issues many had with this game was the lengthy cutscenes that seemed void of substance to the games progression. It is indeed true that a lot of the cutscenes are long, but they can be skipped and replaced by a short summary of events. Long cut scenes are not an issue when the events you witness add something to the story, but many of them simply have your characters talking about irrelevant things. Many, many times will you look in amazement while your characters engage in a ten minute philosophical discussion at the level of a two year old when important things must be done right away. I also found it odd that no one found it insulting that people talk about others while they're standing next to them. Many times characters will interrupt people they are talking to to make remarks about their behavior or initiate mind boggling conversations about irrelevant subjects with other party members. Also, Edge and his troupe also enjoy the "kill first ask questions later" strategy. "Look it's a dude in a dungeon, attack him."
Item creation returns with some improvements over SO3. No longer is a luck factor involved when creating an item. An item is always created when item creation is initiated. In fact when creating an item there is even a chance that a duplicate item, or an enhanced version (R01) of the item is created. All item creation types are present including synthesis. Synthesis has also been improved. Items have multiple slots allowing you to integrate up to 16 items into a single base item. Synthesis can now also be applied to armor and accessories next to weapons. Refining items is no longer allowed though. A +7% attack factor will always remain a +7% attack factor. Item creation is initiated from the ship where ever present Welch, in service of SRF command, will assist you. Welch has her own set of private actions. No clue to her origin is given in this game however and as Tri Ace has claimed this is Star Oceans final installment we will never know who she is, what she is or where (when) she came from.
SO4's battle system is a system built on SO3's earlier combat system. Once you engage an enemy on the field (which can be avoided) a new screen is activated where upto 4 characters engage a group of enemies in real time. A character can initiate combat with normal attacks, special attacks, combo's, rush combo's or symbology. New are rush combo's which are actually not explained well enough and I wager that several players will complete the game without actually using one. A rush combo is a special attack combo that is not executed in real time, but turn based while time is frozen. Two characters can attack a single opponent this way without the opponent able to react. Massive damage can be dealt this way so it is perfect against bosses or powerful enemies. Battle bonuses also return, with the same annoyance as in SO3 where, when you get hit by a critical hit the bonuses disappear. Unlike in SO3 the bonuses are set into a "bonus board" with several tiles representing specific battle achievements and its corresponding bonus. Killing an enemy with a critical hit for instance will add +10% exp to the battle. Bonuses are cumulative and can be easily added. Still getting hit by a critical hit will destroy the board, or parts of it, requiring the player to recreate the board with achievements. This means that playing a ranged fighter is preferable when playing at optimal efficiency which is a shame. It's fun to shoot arrows at first, but your other party members melee attacks are a lot cooler to watch and play with.
The player is allowed to switch controlled characters in battle or even exchange them with members not currently in battle. Weapons cannot be changed however, so going in battle unprepared is still an issue. The biggest quirk with the battle system is probably the targeting. A character cannot change an active target. Each target is acquired automatically until it is killed and a next target is automatically chosen.
As is the case with all Tri Ace games, magic users are duped. Symbology users can never achieve the same damage output as their physical damaging counterparts. Magic also requires a long time to be cast and the strongest spells cannot be used in combos or rush combos. They are however the only characters able to buff your characters and to heal and revive them without relying on your limited stock of supplies.
Last but not least the blind side system is added to avoid damage and attack an enemy from behind. While building up your rush gauge pressing left or right while an enemy is targeting you allows the player to move away and end up behind the enemy. While it is disoriented the player can attack with boosted chance for critical hits or even engage combos. This is a great addition to the already exciting battle system. The rush gauge which is used in the blind side system is also used for "rush mode" which allows even more critical hits and prevents the character from flinching, effectively having the "no guard" status.
Music in SO4 is gorgeous as it was in previous installments. Each scene, environment and dungeon is accompanied by thrillingly exciting or epic music and fits seamlessly to whatever is happening on screen.
In terms of story delivery and characters SO4 is by far the worst in the series. In terms of graphics and combat system it is vastly superior to earlier installments and perhaps vastly superior to most other RPG's out there. While combat is a major chunk of the game, it can never be its single driving force. SO4 is a beautiful and addicting game once you get into it, but the childish presentation, annoying characters and events will ward off many players. It has all the elements of an epic game, it has all the elements of a Star Ocean game, but never have I experienced any of these things and that is a shame. Since it is most likely the last in the series I feel slightly disheartened. Not because there will be no more Star Ocean games for me to power-level in, but because this last installment lets down in far too many ways.