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When it comes to the gameplay, first of all, it is worth mentioning that I played this game in easy. Why? Well, it’s because I knew this was going to be a long game and I didn’t want to spend forever getting stuck at a certain part. Also, this is a story game primarily, and therefore I wasn’t too worried about the other aspects of it. So, I was devastated when I realised that the fighting was pretty poor. Star Ocean uses the real-time battle system which I have enjoyed in other titles, but due to dodgy camera angles and being slightly too fast-paced, I couldn’t quite work them out. The battling itself is relatively easy. you have two main moves, plus a few extra attacks which will knock more stuffing out of your opponent. When you have other characters, you can switch between them and this is seamless and, impressively, the AI isn’t atrocious, although sometimes you will think they run off in random places.
The biggest problem is, that half the time I couldn’t even really work out what I was doing. Basically button bashing X and O. Sometimes, I held it for a little longer and performed a slightly stronger attack, but I couldn’t often see that one as I was being swarmed by enemies which intruded upon my vision. I understood how you could use the square button to block and counter, but again, never could really see what was happening, so every time I did counter, there was definitely an element of flukiness. The buttons itself are well organised and are very responsive, and this game feels and plays just like an RPG should in that sense.
I have already mentioned a brief outline of the story in this game and I don’t want to give any plot spoilers away but it is just a little underwhelming. In fact, it’s a little boring. I mean, I gave this game a lot of hours – about 20 for the main story, but at least double that if you want to do a majority of the side quests. I was just completely uninspired throughout. At no point did I find myself desperate to find out what was going to happen next or did I ever have butterflies in my stomach because I was worried for a character (they aren’t that likeable). This is a big blow for the game because you can put up with a lot of mistakes in a Sci-Fi RPG but you can’t put up with it not having a thrilling story. Sorry guys, but this could have changed my whole outlook on the game.
Despite all the things I have said negatively about this game, I did find myself enjoying it. I played a fair bit of it and will probably play a little more. This is a weird phenomenon which I cannot really explain, as the only part of the game I really loved was the music. Maybe this is due to there not being a great amount of new games being currently released that I am overly excited to play. But whether I really liked this game or didn’t, I have to say that I enjoyed it. I know this will sound odd to some, however, other will really understand what I mean. I can’t really explain why but I did. For my enjoyment score of 7, below, I feel this is higher than it should be but it had me… somehow.
At a time where there isn’t much to play then this could be worth a go, however when No Man’s Sky comes you will need to put this far away.
Finally, note that this game was developed by Tri Ace, who have been involved with all of the Star Ocean games and also work on the Valkyrie series. Developed by Square Enix, my honest opinion is that I miss the games they released when they were just Squaresoft. Anyway, I suppose we must move forwards.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is out now on PS4 and PS4 Limited Edition which includes a Steelbook. Click on the packshot for the full-size version.
Important info:
- Publisher: Square Enix
- Players: single player
- HDTV options: up to 1080p
- Sound: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
|
GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
5 10 4 7 |
| OVERALL | 6.5 |
Director: Hiroshi Ogawa
Producer: Shuichi Kobayashi
Music: Motoi Sakuraba
Voice cast:
Fidel Camuze: Max Mittelman
Daks: Ray Chase
Fiore Brunelli: Aimée Castle
Victor Oakville: Crispin Freeman
Gunter: Anthony Hansen
Thoras: David Holcomb
Pavine: Corey Krueger
Ted: AJ LoCascio
Emmerson: Christopher Corey Smith
I have been a video game player since 1993 and a music fan since I can remember. I studied Film and Journalism at university and ended up becoming a Primary School teacher. Video games changed my life and sent me on the right track and have stayed with me ever since.