Star Ocean: Till the End of Time E3 2003 Preshow Report

The science-fiction-oriented Star Ocean series has spanned multiple platforms in its fairly lengthy career--the game has appeared on the Super NES, the Game Boy Color, and the PlayStation--and the newest game, subtitled Till the End of Time, will be appearing on the PlayStation 2 this fall. The newest Star Ocean was recently released in Japan, and Square Enix will be showing a localized English version of the game at its booth at E3.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time places you in the role of Fate Linegod, a genetics student and member of the Galaxy Federation. Fate has traveled with his family and his childhood friend and fellow student Sophia to Hide, a resort planet. Alas, the group's vacation is rudely interrupted when an unidentified alien force attacks the planet, and Fate is separated from Sophia and his family. He'll have to undertake a quest of galactic proportions to locate them and set things right.

Till the End of Time is the first Star Ocean game to appear in full 3D, and the game will take full advantage of this new freedom in its presentation. Square Enix bills the game as a cinematic RPG, and indeed it sounds like it will live up to this claim. Star Ocean will feature expansive 3D environments to explore, a fully 3D combat engine, extensive CG cinema scenes, and Dolby Pro Logic II support.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time is being developed by tri-Ace, the group behind the original games, and it looks like it will provide a satisfying RPG experience for fans of the genre. We'll bring you more information on the English version of the game as it becomes available.