Star Ocean
| Star Ocean | |
|---|---|
 |
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| developer | tri-ace |
| Publisher | Enix |
| First title | Star Ocean (1996) |
| Last title | Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness (2016) |
| Platform (s) | Super Nintendo , PlayStation , PlayStation 2 , PlayStation Portable , Xbox 360 , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 |
| Genre (s) | Computer role playing game |
Star Ocean is a computer role-playing game series distributed by Enix and developed by tri-Ace . Some elements of this series were carried over from Star Trek , such as the warp drive , a federation, and some kind of Supreme Directive that forbids interfering in matters of less developed civilizations.
Star Ocean
| Star Ocean | |
|---|---|
| |
| Studio | tri-ace |
| Publisher | Enix |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
July 18, 1996 |
| platform | Super Nintendo |
| genre | role playing game |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | SNES controller |
| medium | 48 megabits - plug-in module |
| language | Japanese |
The first part was published in 1996 for the Super Famicon ( SNES ) in Japan .
Star Ocean offers brilliant graphics, surround sound and partial voice output for the SNES. The opening sequence - which is very reminiscent of that from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Land - has z. B. a continuous voice output. Besides Tales of Phantasia, Star Ocean is the only game for the SNES with a plug-in module size of 48 Mbit. Nevertheless, the graphics still had to be compressed using the S-DD1 chip .
An innovative idea was the emotion system between the individual characters. This emotion system ensures that characters help other characters in battle or become enraged when those with whom they have a high emotional relationship die and characters they do not like die. In addition, it is decided on the basis of the individual relationships among each other which of the more than 60 ends comes into force. These emotional relationships are influenced by how often they fought together and by private actions that can optionally be initiated when entering cities.
The combat system is more strategic than in many other role-playing games for the SNES. The fights take place in real time and you can also specify a formation in which the characters begin the fights. In addition, the fight does not take place from fixed positions, but you have to run across the battlefield to the enemy or he has to be intercepted so that he does not reach the users of the coat of arms - magic is called coat of arms technology in Star Ocean - because this only occurs at large Can conjure up distances. Moving freely across the battlefield is also important because the individual combat techniques can only be used at short or long distances from the enemy. The fighting techniques themselves can also be coupled with each other so that several techniques and special attacks can be carried out at once with just one touch of a button.
After a fight you get skill points that can be put into certain knowledge , sensory , technical and combat skills , as well as secret techniques, in order to improve them. The first 3 types of skills do not have a direct influence on the characters, but are used to learn and improve certain skills . How well the skills can be executed in the end depends not only on how well you master the skills, but also on whether the character has the talent .
Star Ocean has the ability to cook to produce food that restores HP (health points) and MP (magic points). In order for the preparation of high-quality dishes and drinks to be successful, the skills kitchen knife , recipe and good eye must be learned and the character should have a talent for taste . Each character even has a certain favorite food or drink whose HP and MP are completely restored when taken.
When Star Ocean was released in Japan on July 19, 1996 , the PlayStation was already two years old and the successor to the SNES - the Nintendo 64 - had been on the market for a month. This created time pressure for the developers, as the SNES lost its market share to the Playstation, the N64 and other game consoles. So the developers tightened the game a lot in the last third to speed up completion. There are also some bugs that can "freeze" the game in certain seldom used activities.
action
In Star Ocean is about the "Fell pool" - a race that look like people, but also have animal characteristics - Ratix Farrence , in the village Clatos on the planet Roak lives. Together with his friends Dorn Marto and Milly Killiet , he forms the Clatos Brigade , which protects the village from robbers and bandits. One day they receive a message that a plague is raging in the northern city of Cool , which is turning all residents to stone. Thereupon the healer of the village - Milly's father - sets out to help the people there. After a few days, a carrier pigeon brought a message from him stating that there was nothing he could do about the disease and that he had infected himself. Then Milly is worried about him and also goes to Cool, with Ratix and Dorn following her, and then to Mount Metox to look for a miraculous medicinal herb that could help him. When they reach the top, a man and a woman suddenly appear out of nowhere. They introduce themselves as Federation Captain Ronixis J. Kenni and his first officer Iria Silvestoli . On board their spaceship - the Calnus - they explain to the three that they are at war with another race - the Rezonians - and that this is responsible for the plague. Shortly afterwards, Thorn also turns to stone, which became infected because of the carrier pigeon whose letter he received. They are later contacted by the Rezonians, who tell them that neither an antidote nor the first host to be infected 300 years ago still exist. Thereupon the captain decides to fly to the planet Stream , on which there is a time portal - very similar to the also speaking Guardian of Time from a spaceship Enterprise episode - which transports them into the past, but where they arrive separately.
The game begins with this very long prologue, and the player takes over the group again to find the first host.
Star Ocean: First Departure
On December 27, 2007, the remake Star Ocean: First Departure was released for the PSP in Japan . This includes a revised character design and new cut scenes from Production IG , new characters and voice output. On October 1st, 2008 an English localization appeared in the USA and 3 days later it was also published in the EU.
Star Ocean: The Second Story
Star Ocean: The Second Story was first released on July 30, 1998 in Japan and on August 6, 1999 in the USA for the PlayStation . On April 12, 2000, Part 2 was also published in Germany .
Star Ocean: The Second Story is very similar to the first part in many ways. Well-tried has been expanded, e.g. B. There are more skills and abilities, more results that can arise from these skills. The emotion system has been expanded to include some features. For example, if two characters with a good relationship are casting a spell at the same time, they can absorb each other and become a much stronger one.
In this part there are the two different main characters Claude C. Kenni and Rena Lanford , from whom the one from whose perspective you want to play has to be selected at the beginning.
action
Star Ocean: The Second Story takes place twenty years after the first part. The game starts with a strange ball hitting a planet. The spaceship Calnus , which is under the command of Commodore Ronixis J. Kenni , notices during a routine investigation of the dead planet Milocinia that a certain area cannot be scanned . The Commodore then beams down with a few officers and his son, Ensign Claude C. Kenni , to investigate this area. They come across a strange dome which they enter. Claude does not listen to his father's warnings not to stray too far and encounters a strange device that activates immediately when he appears. Claude tries to run away, but is held in place by this device and disappears, together with part of the device, in a glistening light. When he wakes up, he is in a forest clearing and meets a girl named Rena Lanford , whom he saves from a monster with his laser weapon ( Phase Gun ). She then tells him that she comes from the village of Arlia on the planet Expel . Because of his laser weapon, she considers him to be the legendary "warrior of light" who is supposed to save the world from increasingly frequent catastrophes. These have happened since a strange object called a witch's ball (in the PSP remake Sorcery Globe ) struck . At first he refuses, but ultimately agrees to examine this object as it could help him return home. Rena wants to accompany him because she is looking for her birth mother. But also to find out more about herself, because she is the only one who masters healing spells.
Star Ocean: Second Evolution
On April 2, 2008, the remake Star Ocean: Second Evolution was released for the PSP in Japan . This includes a revised character design and new cut scenes from Production IG, new characters and a new voice output. An English localized version appeared on January 20, 2009 in the USA and this on February 13 also in the EU.
Manga and Anime
Mayumi Azuma wrote a manga series on Star Ocean: The Second Story and Moroe Yoshida on Star Ocean: Second Evolution . The former was also filmed as the anime television series Star Ocean EX .
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere was only released in Japan in 2001 for the Game Boy Color . It does contain the characters from Star Ocean: The Second Story but is not the third part, but rather a side story.
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time was released in Japan in 2003 for the PlayStation 2 . An extended Director's Cut version from 2004 then served as the basis for the following releases in the USA and on September 30th in Europe . Although the content is identical, the western versions lack the title "Director's Cut".
The Japanese version of the original Star Ocean: Till the End of Time struggled with serious bugs that often caused the game to crash. As a result, a recall campaign was started on March 11, 2003 and copies of the first pressing were exchanged for error-free versions of the game.
Prices
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time won Sony's Gold PlayStation Award in 2003.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Star Ocean: The Last Hope ( Xbox 360 ) was released in Japan on February 19, 2009 and in North America on February 24, 2009. The Last Hope was released in Europe on June 5, 2009. In Japan, the title sold 131,000 times on the first day of sales. This is currently the highest number for the first day of sales for an Xbox 360 game in Japan. Not only Star Ocean: The Last Hope even that appeared in Japan bundle, but also the game with the Xbox 360 made sure that the Xbox 360 hardware sales figures for the competitors Nintendo in the first week after the release of the game Wii and PlayStation 3 outdo was able to do what Microsoft rarely manages in Japan.
An implementation of the game for the PlayStation 3 went on sale in Japan on February 4th, in North America on February 9th and in Europe on February 12th, 2010. This version, titled Star Ocean: The Last Hope International , contains both Japanese and English voice overs and English, Japanese, German, Spanish and French subtitles thanks to the large capacity of the Blu-ray Disc . Furthermore, the menus and the combat system have been revised and additional exclusive content has been integrated.
action
In 2064 AD, humanity made its third and greatest mistake: World War III. The weapons used this time are so powerful that the planet threatens to be completely destroyed. People have to look for an alternative habitat in space. For this reason the Universal Space and Technology Administration (USTA) was founded. In 2087 AD, Professor Trillas Bachtein finally had success with his experiments and the hope of mankind rests in the missions of the organization and the two main characters of the game, Edge Maverick and Reimi Saionji.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness ( PlayStation 4 ) is the fifth and newest installment in the series. In Europe, the game was released on July 1, 2016. This part of the series received mixed or average ratings.
Web links
- Official website for Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (English)
- English product page of the developer tri-Ace
- Official site for Star Ocean: The Last Hope (Japanese)
- Star Ocean at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Star Ocean: Till the End of Time Director's Cut ( Memento of the original from November 12, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on TheLegacy
- ↑ Star Ocean: Till the End of Time Director's Cut
- ↑ Sony ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 38 kB)
- ↑ Star Ocean: The Last Hope - European release on June 5, 2009 ( Memento of the original from May 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Star Ocean: The Last Hope - Sales figures from the first day of sales in Japan ( Memento of the original from February 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Star Ocean: The Last Hope - Xbox 360 Bundle in Japan ( Memento of the original from June 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Star Ocean: The Last Hope - Xbox 360 thanks to The Last Hope at the top ( Memento from February 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness. In: Metacritic. Retrieved January 11, 2017 .
