Star Ocean: The Divine Force - Review (I REALLY Wanted To Love This!)

[@mrbuster3106]

"Double A game released at triple A game asking price" - I'm a Star Ocean fan, but I totally agree with this statement. It's extremely unfair when a good game on a budget (such as this) is forced to compete with triple A titles with near infinite budget at no fault of developers, but a publisher who wants same money for far lesser investment from their side.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

That's very nice of you as a fan of the series to acknowledge my opinion. I really appreciate your honesty there. As you can probably tell from the video, I don't hate the game at all. It just wasn't my cup of tea overall and you know, that kinda thing happens from time to time. We've all been there I think. I believe that even if the game was released at...lets say...£10/$10 less than it was, it would "feel" better. As I said, value is pretty much always subjective BUT, I think even that small discount would have helped in this case. A huge fan of the series could buy the game at full price and absolutely LOVE it, so money well spent. Then again, someone could it at a £10/$10 discount, still not enjoy it and think it was a waste of money. So yea, difficult to gauge it sometimes but that said, I think Square Enix pushed this as a AAA experience and gave that impression. I dont think developers or publishers need to be "afraid" of putting out AA games, not at all. Make those games, be proud of them, market them accordingly and sell them at an appropriate price. Anyway, thank you very much for watching and for your comment! Its always appreciated here on this channel!😊👍🏻

[@johndalquen7668]

I've never played a Star Ocean game before. But The Divine Force is something I'm really liking. Most of why I like it is because of the characters and the environments. Everything apart from the water looks really cool like someone went out there way to present the game in a good light.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

This was my first Star Ocean game as well. Its funny because I happen to agree with everything you've said there, but the game just didn't gel with me when I actually played it. I loved the demo, was very excited for the full game and then, about 1/3 of the way in, I just... lost interest. The world, the story and the characters themselves all began to feel hollow and I genuinely dont know why. That said, I see why people are enjoying it, I see what people are saying because I felt the same initially. Maybe one day I'll go back to it and give it another go, who knows. I did still recommend it though because, as you know, I can look past my own feelings towards it. Thanks for watching as always John! 😊👍🏻

[@johndalquen7668]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming I'm only 17 hours in, so I may experience what you did. I think the whole action figure/doll look is to free up resources for other things, some games have realistic faces and the detail is insane, with a budget to match. With an action figure/doll look, there would be no need to mocap faces and bodies. I may be wrong so don't quote me on it.

[@neoconker2k8]

Im addicted to this game 😍

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Haha awesome! Glad you're having with it! How far through are you?😊

[@neoconker2k8]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming Im about 32 hours in. Don't want to leave a spoiler in the comments but something big just happened story wise.

[@Sonnance]

Good video! Sorry the game didn’t click for you, but I appreciate your evenhandedness in describing why it didn’t. For my part, as a series fan, I’ve been enjoying my time with the game. Haven’t beaten it yet (trying to be super thorough) but while there is some jank here and there (not least of which base PS4 performance), I’ve found myself enjoying the themes being explored in the story, the additions to the series lore/worldbuilding, and been getting super addicted to figuring out how Item Creation works this time around. Also, regarding that sidequest you mentioned, that one stumped me for a bit as well. It turns out the “flavor text” of the dude getting attacked after eating at the inn was a clue. You need to eat there, then get to the area the quest mentioned while the food buff is still active in order to get the enemies to spawn. Whether you find that kind of thing charming or annoying can definitely depend, but personally I enjoyed it as a bit of slightly cheeky quest design.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Thanks man! Yea, it just didnt grab me like I thought it would, but its never been my style to trash something because I didnt enjoy it. I mean, I played the demo and got really interested in it. I bought a physical copy of the full game with my own money because I WANTED to play it and enjoy it. I loved everything about it at the start but as time went on, I lost interest. I'm also 100% sure that its a "me thing" and not the fault of the game. Plus, I still basically recommended it anyway lol. Ohhhh, see that's what I wondered! I originally went out to look for the monsters and couldn't find them. So I tried to think about what I was missing. I went to the Inn and had some food, thinking it would trigger some sort of marker or event, but when nothing happened I figured I had it wrong, so I didn't go out to look for the enemies with the food buff active. Makes sense now. As I said, I like games that dont hold your hand that much, Elden Ring for example, but in that game I felt like I could generally assume where I needed to go or what I needed to do. Star Oceans set up just didn't work for me and caused me to not want to engage but hey, I did the one with the cat on the roof! lol.😏 Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy your time with it and who knows, maybe I'll go back to it one day and use a full guide or something. Thanks for watching my review and for being understanding of my opinions.😊👍🏻

[@Sonnance]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming No problem! Everybody’s got their preferences, so no game’s gonna hit everyone the same way! And yeah, if you do decide to revisit the game/series, it might be more fun with a guide (there are some spoiler-free/light ones for the older games at least, haven’t checked on this one yet.) Star Ocean is kinda notorious for hiding half the game behind optional systems and events, so it’s easy to miss some of the really interesting stuff your first time around (I certainly did.) Stuff like Private Actions go a long way towards fleshing out the cast, but the games don’t push you to engage with them so it’s easy to forget about the system, which results in an experience not unlike if you played a Tales game without watching any skits. (SLIGHT ITEM CREATION SPOILERS FOR THE NEXT PARAGRAPH, don’t wanna ruin anything for anyone who hasn’t played the game and YT doesn’t have spoiler tags.) Item Creation as well is super obtuse. I think intentionally so, as it is fun to figure stuff out, but still easy to forget about. To use this game as an example, it actually gives reason to hold onto older gear as you eventually get the ability to transfer passive abilities between gear, which can lead to some super busted stuff. You also get to the point where you’re able to craft gear several tiers ahead of anything you can buy in shops, which have customizable passives like flinch resist, AP saving/boosting, autocast spells when knocked down, and much more. (END OF SPOILERS) It’s kinda something I both love and hate about the series. I love it now that I know to look for it, as I’m rewarded for trying to dig deeper. But I hate how easy it is not just to miss, but to not even know there’s more to look for if you’re new to the series. Of course, even then nothing is for everyone. Can’t guarantee you’d like the series more if you dove deeper into its subsystems, might be you’d just find it uninteresting. But I can say that if you felt like something was missing, or the game was light on content, these areas are where it’s been hidden.

[@jigzyonline2]

Thank you for your review. I will probably pick this up during the Christmas sale once I've finished S&F7 and Guijian 3. Gives me Phantasy Star online vibes.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

No problem! Thank you very much for watching! Yea, its not a bad game in my opinion, it just didnt tick my boxes so to speak. Well worth a try though if you like RPG's. S&F7 is great as well, I was lucky enough to get a review copy of that game and I really enjoyed it. Star Ocean definitely gave me Phantasy Star Online vibes as well but only from some of the visuals. To me, actually playing it didnt feel like PSO at all sadly.

[@vilvethope]

whoever was working on Nina’s kit was high af😭😭😭😭😭😂😂😂☠️☠️

[@Particle_Ghost]

I'm about 10 hours in, the game is not that bad, it also has a modest budget for a company that don't make much. My favorite JRPGs are Tales of Vesperia, Persona 4 Golden and Dissidia 2. This is not going to come close to the Crisis Core remake, but it's a good game. My biggest complaint is the text is too small, and it's shocking it hasn't been patched yet. I had no FPS drops like you stated, and I picked the favor graphics over FPS option, but I'm on the Series X.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Its cool that you're enjoying it and to be honest, I do basically agree with you. Its not BAD at all, in-fact its probably great for lots of players out there. I found it to be decent and I dont regret playing it. I think the graphics over FPS option locks the framerate to 30fps which is probably why you didnt have any drops. The FPS over graphics option targets 60fps and in general it hits its mark. Later in the game though, some specific areas were awful in that mode. Dropping from 60 down to 30s and below in some cases. I usually go for FPS over graphics because I've pretty much always been a gameplay over graphics kinda guy but that's a personal choice. That's why we have the option I guess lol. Anyway, thanks a lot for commenting on the video and of course, for watching it in the first place!😊👍🏻

[@ShadowCthulhu]

Great video as always are you considering Evil West, Gungrave GORE or Samurai Maiden?

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Thank you sir! lol. Very nice of you to say😊. As a matter of fact, YES! Gungrave is on preorder, I've ordered a physical copy of Samurai Maiden from Play Asia and I think I'm probably going to get Evil West as well. Considering that I've moved to a 1 longer video per week schedule, I'm going to have to work out some kind of review order. I mean, this very video shows that you guys are watching my reviews even a week after the game actually releases so yea, I'll see what I can do. I've also got about 8-10 other games on my list from now until Jan 1st so um....yea lol. Thanks for watching!

[@ShadowCthulhu]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming I plan to order a copy of Samurai Maiden shortly myself and I am considering Evil West and Gungrave. More partial to Evil West at the moment between the 2 but both look really good. God of War is on the back burner I am in no rush to get that one.

[@d_shuffles]

I’ve bought three star ocean games and never made it past the opening hours. As much as I love the concepts of the sci-fi meets fantasy worlds. The core game itself never feels like it hits where most classic JRPG do.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Yea, I think that's understandable. This was my first one and I was very interested in it inititally but then it just slowly dropped off until the credits rolled. I didnt hate it by any means but yea, didnt really do it for me. As you said, the concept is really cool but for whatever, I couldnt get into it. Still, thanks a lot for watching my review!👍🏻

[@bojangler9685]

Idk guys, as someone who hates todays JRPG's and think its all trash... besides like maybe dragon quest 11.... I enjoyed Star ocean divine force.... it had that video game magic. Clearly there budget went into making a fun game first. No fashion sim, no pointless weeby fan service. Level design felt very PS1 and i loved it. Its a shame you guys didnt like it..... Its a shame. Im in my late 20s so im not too jaded yet but something about todays JRPG's suck ass and its crazy.... something tells me you guys like todays games like Tales of arise, or the post gacha-type jrpgs of todays era and whatever trash square puts out these days. But the fact that this game was made by tri-Ace who is a company puts out a game once every 5-10 years... and is in many ways stuck in the old ways of game development. Its design/story and systems really are something unique and you dont see it. It screams PS2 and PS1 and is a love letter to the oldschool player. Also the fact that the ystill use a in house engine and havent moved to Unreal or Unity shows that they care about what they are making. This game truly felt like something that is not on the market right now. Im sorry but your wrong about this one.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

@greg wilhide That's perfectly fine if you feel that way. Honestly, I have zero issues with people such as yourself enjoying this game or any other game for that matter. I mean, I basically recommended the game even though I didnt personally enjoy my time with it. Aside from my personal feelings, I can tell that its a good game and I think it'll please a lot of people. The things you've said in your comment are well thought out so you must understand that opinions on video games are personal to the individual player? That goes for ANY review that you'll ever see/ hear. An example would be: I think that The Divine Force is a good game, just not for my personal tastes. It seems very odd to say "I'm sorry but you're wrong about this one". Everyone in the world seems to love God Of War: Ragnarok, but I have zero interest in playing it. To call those people wrong for enjoying it OR not enjoying it doesn't track logically. You said: "I enjoyed Star ocean divine force.... it had that video game magic". I'm not doubting that at all BUT you must understand that "it had that video game magic" is your opinion and your feelings? To me, the game didnt have that video game magic but I can see how it would for others, its a simple as that. I want you to know that I'm NOT saying that The Divine Force is factually a bad game. What I'm saying is that its a good game and I get why people like it, it just didnt gel with my personal tastes. I'm not trying to change peoples minds or stop them from buying it. I understand that you really like the game and that's awesome, I genuinely hope that you continue to enjoy it. I have no issue with you at all, I just wanted to let you know where I'm coming from.

[@d_shuffles]

@@bojangler9685 dude you got me on the tales of arise, my GOTY last year 😅😂 I despise gotcha mechanics though. I really liked your thought out comment, tons of respect. Perspective is very important, the lens we view and experience things with can vary so much across people. I’m going to be 30 next year actually, I had the Nintendo systems growing up and missed a ton of the classics. Having your perspective on the ps1 feel isn’t something I had and it peaked my interest! Actually I haven’t played the divine force yet, I installed the demo but didn’t play much as the progress didn’t carry over. Waiting for a fully formed review is what brought me here to this video. At the moment I’m planning to wait for a sale on The Divine Force and then pick it up! By the way in reference of the games I tried playing integrity and faithlessness, first departure R and The Last Hope.

[@luizfib]

I think your criticism on this pretty on point. But when you said you liked that piece of massive garbage Valkirye Elisium way better than this one I thought you are absolutely crazy lol.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Haha well thank you and um...thank you again...I guess? lol. Nah its all good, we all see things differently and that's normal. I loved Valkyrie Elysium but just couldnt get with the program on The Divine Force. I can see its a good video game and I understand why people would like it but I just fell off of it. These things happen sometimes, you get excited for a game, buy it and then, for whatever reason, you simply dont enjoy it. Its weird but you know, it happens lol. I'm sure you understand. I mean, I for one really don't like Football (or Soccer if you're in the States) I cant stand the sport or the paper thin pretty boys that play it lol. I think they'e awful role models and a lot of the fans are just lunatics BUT MILLIONS love the damn thing lol. I cant explain why but it is what it is. I also love the Michael Bay Transformers movies, all 5 of them. Pretty much my all-time favourite movies (except Bumbleebee which was good for the first 15mins lol) and loads of people HATE them so much lol. I judge EVERYTHING I play/ watch/ listen to, on a case by case basis. I kinda always have. I can usually tell pretty quickly if I'm going to like or not like something. I just sit down with the media in question and see how I feel, sometimes I end up on the side of the popular opinion and sometimes not. I literally cant explain it, like at all lol. I dont know why I like Elysium a lot more than Divine Force....I just do lol. I'm aware that you were probably joking around (due to your "lol") but I wanted to put this out there so people know what kinda weirdo I am HAHA🤣😊👍🏻

[@redcronojm]

I only played 2, 3, 4 and that 5 which is most one I regret gettin. So I’m waiting for a sale on this game.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

The Divine Force was my first one but a few people have told me to try out the 4K remaster of The Last Hope. I'm not sure which number that is but if you've played it, would you recommend it? Cheers for giving my review a look by the way!

[@redcronojm]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming SO4 Last Hope it’s alright game, if you don’t mind cringing voice acting. SO3 Til End of Time i like that one more but it’s old school ps2 game that’s on psn it’ has a great story.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Ah, OK then, thanks for the info. I don't mind mind cringe voice acting really, I usually watch dubs over subs anyway so I'm used to it. I'm also a huge Power Rangers fan so my cringe/cheese tolerance is very strong haha. I'll check both games out at somepoint, thanks😊

[@jamberrycloud]

Not gonna watch this now, since I like to go into games as blind as possible these days. The demo sold me enough to keep this on my "might play eventually" list. I don't want tri-Ace to die... but I'm not exactly playing my part either (I did buy Exist Archive and Resonance of Fate (twice) though 🙈).

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

No problem my friend. I appreciate you clicking on it and leaving a comment either way. I hope you enjoy it when you do get around to playing it!😊

[@mfntonberry]

I absolutely love it so far

[@Ock_mantis]

Eyy, good see you still kicking bro. Flaws aside, I really enjoyed this. Felt much better then the previous game. And I like the main character. Also the party members are cool too. It has it's issues. But feel it's a step In The right direction. I'll also add, I 100% agree with your dislikes. And that's why, imo. You are so good with reviews. They are rational. I can totally dislike a load of aspects of a game. But still enjoy it for what it is.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Hey man! Hows it going? Yep, still playing games and putting out reviews lol! Channel is still growing slowly so all happy on that front, would love to be at 10K subs right now but hey, gotta pay my dues right!? Yea, I absolutely felt like this was a "me problem" and that lots of people would really love this game. Maybe even consider it a bit of a hidden gem as its kinda niche. I dont know the reason behind it but I struggled to connect with anything within the game and subsequently lost interest as time goes on. I wanted to love it but it just work out that way in the end. I think we've all had a game that we were excited to play not click with us. (and not in the "the games is broken and unplayable" way). Just in the sense that you didnt enjoy it like you thought you would, if you get my meaning? Thanks a lot for the kind words, its always appreciated here. I just dont want to be another person who trashes everything because I didnt enjoy it. All it does is annoy and provoke the players who DID enjoy it, and I dont want to do that to them. Thank you for noticing my intent, it means a lot.😊

[@Ock_mantis]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming @Consoles Only soo many games Turned out that way over the years, I know the feeling, and that's okay. We're not going around trashing games just because it's not for us. It's the grown up thing to do lol. And It's okay if you got some games that are just..absolutely garbage to you, we all do lol. But still understand, people are gonna like things you don't..never understood why that's so hard to except for some people. You know? Lol. I know you will reach you're goal. You keep putting out that good energy it will come back to you.

[@Makoto03]

Great video. It does sound like a mixed bag but happy its still better than the last Star Ocean (Integrity and Faithlessness). There not being quest markers for side quests is a huge bummer. Thats terrible game design and i'm curious if the will even bother adding that in patch or its intentionally like that.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Thanks a lot Mercury, glad you enjoyed it. Yea, I found it very difficult to gel with the game and I felt like I grew more distant from it the more I played it. I haven't played the older games but I'm considering giving them a try in my spare time. Maybe Last Hope 4K/HD or something. The quest marker thing baffles me, was it like that in the older games? I mean, I don't need games to hold my hand but SOME direction would be nice lol. It felt like every side quest was a cryptic riddle and I just wasn't up for that. I believe its intentionally done that way in this particular game. Another viewer told me how that side quest I mentioned in the video was supposed to go, and as far as I know, there's no updates or guidance at any step of it. Very odd choice to do things that way in my opinion. I'm sure some people will enjoy the set up but its not for me. Anyway, thanks very much for watching!👍🏻

[@ifrit1937]

Just played all 5 previous games this past year and at about midway or beyond for 6 for my first (Ray) run (just got the 8th party member) and will say it is easily the best in the series imo when it comes to combat and more or less on par or better than the series best story which was either 2 or 4 depending on the person...2 has the more interesting story but also has some issues with execution due to all but Claude and Rena being optional characters thus the dialogue seems to randomly choose or has a specific queue of choices from a preset of dialogue depending on which characters you recruit which leaves some severed character building issues in the main story or little to no involvement as well at times...on top of that the second half of 2 felt a bit rushed with how they handled villains (at the same time this was SNES era story writing which while solid is, imo, weaker than nowadays in regards to character development for all characters (playable and villains...especially villains who were mostly one-note villains tbh). As for 4 while the story itself is a bit weaker it was able to develop it's main characters better in the main story due to them ALL being mandatory and not optional so each had some limelight in the story...granted 2's characters were a bit more likable (granted imo 1 had the best characters before 6 which imo has better characters than ALL past games so far with only maybe Cliff from SO3 and Illia from SO1 being as good or better than 6's characters)...though the actual story subject matter was bland in comparison to 2's even though the premise (exploring multiple planets in an effort to find one to colonize as Earth was more or less becoming inhabitable) was better than 2's. Some people may say SO3 was the best story in the series but imo it's the worse....the series defining twist imo was horrible and ruined the series and all that happened before and after was no better if not worse than that in SO 1 and 2 tbh...hell I even consider SO5 to be a better written story (actual subject matter (what goes on in the story just in case someone has no clue what that means) of the plot may suck worse though but the actual events had actual better logic in how they connect than SO3 imo and like 4 the entire party was mandatory so they incorporated all playable characters into the main story better). Biggest issue I'd say 6 had was how boring the side quests were (basically hunt or fetch quests only with little lore/character building quests) however I can't even use that as a criticism for just SO6 as jrpgs seemed to have been handled this way more and more over the last decade or so to the detriment of the genre. Now as for one comment you made I can't agree with: the idea it's a AA game for one, it's not...at best it's an A game, worse a B or B+ tier game and as for a AAA price point: no it's not, that's just the industry standard period for any game outside of Indie games or remasters (not remakes which are fully re-creations from the ground up of a game). Outside of maybe a very small hand full of a few dozen or so games at most over the last few decades almost every single game (95%) releases at the $60 price point regardless of if they're B or AAA tier games...oh and if there was a AAA price point it'd be $70 as that's what EA, SE, Activision, etc are trying to/are selling some of their own games for and trying to push it as the series standard now.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

WOW, thanks for such a detailed and thought out comment!😊 I've read through it all but unfortunately I dont have much of a frame of reference with Divine Force being my first Star Ocean game. What you said seemed to make sense though and I have to thank you for watching my review and for voicing your opinions. In regards to the last thing you said: I think it may just be a misunderstanding. I've personally never heard a game be referred to as B or B+ in 30 years of gaming. I usually sort games into 3 camps. Triple A, Double A and Indie. Divine Force isn't Triple A in my opinion and its definitely not Indie so it falls into Double A territory and believe that's how most of gaming industry would see it as well. In regards to the price: I'm in the UK so prices might be a tad different but $70 is not industry standard yet, not by a long shot. Not many games get released at that price comparitively so I, like many others, still consider $60 to be full price for the vast majority of releases. If the overwhelming majority of games were $70, I would 100% agree. Full price here is usually £50 (or £70 if its a PlayStation first party title) but a lot of games I tend to buy are generally around £30-£35 which I think is around $40-$45, something like that. I suppose it all depends on what you buy. But yea, in terms of the stuff you couldn't agree with, its all a matter of how you see it. I would 100% class The Divine Force as Double A (due to what I mentioned above) and it released at £50 here which I still consider to be full price (due to most games releasing at that price point outside of the bigger greedy publishers). Still though, I do wanna say that I'm not trying to argue the point or anything. We're all friends here, just wanted to put my side across so that you can see what I said what I said. Appreciate you watching my video and also for leaving such an awesome comment.

[@ifrit1937]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming Ya No prob...while you do with say A to AAA I go more Indie then C (Low/generally using graphics from 2 to 3 generations behind or say PS1/2 era or badder Vita graphics nowadays), B (budgeted or early to mid PS3/higher Vita graphics), B+ (well budgeted/mid PS3 to early PS4 graphics), A (larger budget than most/late PS3 to modern PS4 graphics), AA (highly budgeted/PS4 graphics), AAA (massively budgeted/PS4 or can only be done with PS5 (which is something no game really did yet imo) graphics) with the focus more on how much the game likely cost to make + the size of the company that developed it itself rather than the final price at the end of the day. So as for SO6 the obvious mid tier graphics/performance as well as the fact that Tri Ace themselves are a company on a Smaller size with only SE's backing being remotely AAA put's the game around B+ or A for me. If I was to think of games lower or higher than this than Tales of Arise would be AAA (while Berseria would be more A or AA) while a game like Dusk Diver would be B, borderline C tbh, most Falcom games would fall into B to B+ max even if the story and combat easily hits the AAA tier imo as the budget obviously isn't on par with Tales of Arise or a FF or Dragon Quest game. The size of the franchise may also play a role as well in cases like say Madden, FIFA, Battlefield, Call of Duty, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, etc where I'd consider it AAA more so due to the size of the franchise as the actual graphics, performance, and all are honestly kinda pathetic half the time or they're ridden with glitches however most of the cash is likely going into licensing deals with players in the sports game or paying for high paying voicework by high paying VAs or actual celebrities (Keanu Reaves in Cyberpunk 2077 for example probably cost an arm and leg for CDPR) so the budget for these games get crazy for those reasons instead of actual game related stuff...not to mention said games also likely have a BS marketing budget.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Yea definitely, I understand what you were saying now. I've never sorted the games like that before so I think me saying AA might have given the wrong impression lol. Its all good though, I get ya. I completely understand your "Tales" example but I would generally say: Tales of Arise - AAA Tales of Berseria - AA Dusk Diver - AA Falcom games - AA That's just because I broadly use AAA, AA and Indie which is a really common way to sort games. I suppose it doesn't leave much room for gradients or nuance though lol. That said, after reading your comments I see exactly what you mean now. Dusk Diver probably WOULD be lower than Berseria but for me, they sit in the same bracket due to how I sort them. Yea, all makes sense now! Thanks again for the detailed explanation! 😊👍🏻

[@wingn3849]

Tri-Ace needs to go back to basics. Don’t try making a AA game on a shoestring budget. Prioritize gameplay/story and downgrade graphics. I’d rather have So2 style graphics.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

This was my first SO game but, from what I've played, I think I'd hve to agree. I feel like I would enjoy the old games a bit more than I did this one. Its not terrible by any means. In-fact, the game itself seems pretty good, I just wasnt enthralled by the characters or story. I've been told to try The Last Hope 4K/HD, would you recommend that one?

[@wingn3849]

I haven’t gone past SO3, so can’t really comment. For me, Tri-Ace’s Golden Age was the PSX era. Then, they kept going downhill. I like their PS2 games well enough and haven’t played anything after.

[@joshuaknox2724]

when you see how awesome the cover/box art for this game is and then see how the game actually looks its...upsetting :( the main male character in the art shows him with a lot more muscle and definition with veins and such and the characters didn't look like dolls but in the game he's skinny and flat with no emotions booooring the cover art was definitely a way to trick kids

[@Elayzee]

For me, I feel like "Star Ocean 3: Till the End of Time" killed any enthusiasm for any Star Ocean game ever again. It even managed to retroactively make Star Ocean 1 and 2 worse, by trivializing the plots. "Star Ocean" has never lived up to its potential by relegating the sci-fi element to the most minimal possible. Although "Star Ocean: The Divine Force" seems to attempt to correct that, it's way too late for me to get on board. Considering that "tri-Ace" as a studio was named after the self-proclaimed 3 Aces of Namco's"Wolf Team," I believe the REAL talent stayed with "Namco" and has outdone "tri-Ace" in every way possible.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Hmmm, that's an interesting thing to hear. I've heard SO many different points of view and it seems like each one I hear has so many nuances to it. Its actually intriguing to try and understand what each person likes. I thought The Divine Force was OK/decent for my tastes, but I can absolutely see some people hating it and some people loving it. Most gaming opinions depend entirely on the player but I feel like this is a somewhat extreme example of that. As I said, very interesting. Anyway, thanks a lot for watching my review and for your comment.😊

[@Elayzee]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming You made a very great review video here :) I do have personally have an extreme opinion on the franchise. And I pinpoint it to "Star Ocean: Second Story." For me "Star Ocean: Second Story" was the closest thing to a classic SNES "Final Fantasy" at the time and showed so much promise for the series. It still didn't deliver on the sci-fi element, but the game and story was so damn GOOD, that when the 3rd entry came out, it (narratively) felt like such a slap in the face. However, it still does have its fans. And one element that I do genuinely think DOES still manage to impress every time though is Matoi Sakuraba's soundtracks he produces for the franchise. :)

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Well thank you😁. I'm a small channel and I'm definitely still learning, but I'm doing the best I can with what I have at the moment haha. That's a very good point actually, the music in the game overall was excellent and I think I may have missed that in the review. The epic music throughout the game is VERY high quality in my opinion and I know its completely different, but I REALLy like the intro/ opening movie for this game. I don't know if you've seen it but its by a band called HYDE. Its on KZbin if you're interested. Its kinda sounds Nu Metal-like and its literally played at the game itself, I wasn't expecting it when I loaded up the game lol. I listen to Metalcore pretty much exclusively these days so I was very happy with it even if it doesn't really work thematically.

[@Elayzee]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming I just looked at the opening, and completely agree. That really IS a great song. I'd listen to it while working out, actually :D May actually have to download that song right away. :D I'm subscribing to you right now, too. I like your enthusiasm 😎

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Haha, yea why not! Sounds like a plan! Also, thanks very much, that's really nice of you!😊. I started nearly 2 years ago and I've been improving my content and learning on the fly so its really nice when people such as yourself take the time to chat with me, watch my stuff and then subscribe. I've always wanted to review games and write about them so after nearly 30 years of gaming experience, I decided to give it a try! (got my first console at 5 years old in 1993). So yea, its great when people enjoy my stuff. Always happy to talk and discuss as well, even if people dont agree with me. Everyone's welcome here and so are their opinions. Thanks again my friend and welcome to the channel👍🏻😊

[@joshuaknox2724]

most of these jrp's are so outdated it feels like the only franchise that has progressed is final fantasy everything else is just stuck in time....

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

I see what you mean. I dont mind some games feeling/being old school as I've been playing video games consistently since 1993 but its always a case by case basis. Plus I guess it depends on what you're looking for, I'm some people will love the older style and that's cool. This game didnt really do it for me unfortunately but I know there's a lot of people who love it so I try to consider that. Still though, thanks for watching my review and just so you know, I did read your other comment as well👍🏻

[@joshuaknox2724]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming i appreciate your two sense as your really good at what you do, but old school is always being used as a cover up for dated mechanics and uninspired visuals old school is ff7 or street fighter 2 and diablo 1 NOT a 2022 game on next gen

[@His0ka]

game is awesome

[@creatorsfreedom6734]

sadly every sience - Last Hope ST O - most of the story are - we have crashed on a back yard world - gameplay on a budget - and a odd story were we must stop the other from doing something

[@mrbuster3106]

Outside of horrible english, your accusations don't make much sense. Game taking place in medieval fatasy planet with some sci-fi elements is core identity of the series. Bashing it for it is like complaining that every Mortal Kombat game features fatalities.. Gameplay on a budget? Come again? While it's no secret this game had a tight budget indeed, gameplay has always been the best part of the series. You can see budget issues in the engine, possibly story, but last place that can be accused of being skimped on is the gameplay if you ask me. And which jrpg story is not about stopping someone from doing something?

[@creatorsfreedom6734]

@@mrbuster3106 did you play , star ocean last hope ? Engrish ish muh second languist i apologize but i did not feel life editing my comment

[@ZerosGameInn]

its a amazing game, like all the other SO games

[@creatorsfreedom6734]

would like to agree but i need an example

[@ZerosGameInn]

@@creatorsfreedom6734 Dont have to agree, as long as someone likes them, thats what matters

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

@SorceressKnight Its awesome that you're enjoying the game! How far through it are you at the moment? You're right about not needing to agree and thank you for being so level-headed in regards to my opinions. The thing is, I dont think the games bad (as I said in the vid), it just didnt do it for me and that's fine. I still paid for it and basically recommended it, so its all good😊. My saying on the channel is "Not everything is for everyone, and that's OK". I also never trash a game because I dont personally enjoy it. Thanks very much for watching my review! Its appreciated!👍🏻

[@ZerosGameInn]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming i beat it last night, was fun

[@ZerosGameInn]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming im not trying to argue, i just see some videos full on shit on a game for no reason, not saying you did, as i honestly havnt watched the vid, i just commented so people know that are others who like the games that get hate

[@Supramedical68]

I owned the first five main entries in the Star Ocean franchise. Star Ocean 4 and 5 were so underwhelming that I lost interest in the franchise and seeing this game does nothing to renew that interest.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Yea, its a shame when you lose interest in a series. Doesn't matter if its games, music, films or whatever the case may be. These things happen unfortunately. Of the first 5 Star Ocean games, which one(s) would you suggest that I try out? Some people have said to play The Last Hope 4K/HD remaster, what do you think? Thanks a lot for watching by the way!👍🏻

[@1hourloopmusic]

I really like it ❤

[@calvinmatthews1527]

To be honest, I think Star Ocean is full of ambition but ultimately fails because Tri-Ace has been in a state of fluctuation since the 2000s. SO3 was where the problems started with its divisive gameplay & infamous ending. Then came SO4 which is where a lot of people dropped off with its problems. Lastly there was SO5 which was a rushed mess that made the series into joke. Now we're at a point where fans are willing to accept something below the bar, especially for this game's price tag.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

As someone who joined the series with The Divine Force, I don't have much of a frame of reference. That said, your comment do make sense. From what I've heard/ read and seen, the series as a whole seems to be super divisive. Everyone seems to have a different view of which games were good, which ones were bad and the point where things started to decline. I've been recommended The Last Hope by a lot of people but at the same time, some people say its bad. I guess I'll have to just try them and see what I think of them on a case by case basis. I found The Divine Force to be OK. I didnt hate it but it didn't enjoy it that much either. I do feel like it should of been released at a slightly dicounted price but having said that, I can see why a lot of players are enjoying it. It just wasn't for me I guess. Thanks a lot for watching and for your comments, its appreciated.👍🏻

[@JD-dm1uj]

I liked the break away combat from the previous games, much more up-close and immersive. This looks mediocre at best!

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

I haven't played the previous iterations but I'm actually kinda interested. I was thinking of trying out Integrity and Faithlessness or perhaps The Last Hope 4K/HD. Would you say its worth givingo one of them (or both) a try in my spare time? In terms of The Divine Force, for me it sits a little above mediocre but yea, definitely didn't click for me overall. Cheers for watching J D, its appreciated!👍🏻

[@bojangler9685]

@@ConsolesOnlyGaming Play star ocean second story/ evolution then go play divine force. 3 -4 actually are hated by true SO fans. First departure and second story is where its at

[@JD-dm1uj]

@@ConsolesOnlyGamingThe Last Hope was the best in the series, IMO, if you’re going to pick a game up in the series, though there’s a ton of of other games I would rather invest my time with. Thanks for the outstanding review!

[@kagepoker]

I'd rather have this than the cash grab and brain dead games we have now. I totally appreciate the effort they put with the limited budget they had.

[@ConsolesOnlyGaming]

Yep, I completely agree with those statements. I think the game's fine as it is but if people can really connect with the characters and the world, then it'll be amazing game for those people. Thanks for watching my review, I appreciate it.👍🏻