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Drakken's First Impressions: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:19 am
by drakken22
Hello, im Drakken22, and you are...you. At least, I can only hope you are.

Today's Review: Star Ocean 4.

I have to admit, this is my first Star Ocean game. I played a wee bit of the Playstation 2 entry "Till the end of Time", but nothing that really peaked my interests. Overall, it seemed like your run-of-the-mill RPG. go here, fight that, go up your level for the next hour and a half cause you have nowhere to go on a friday night, that sort of thing.
So, when I downloaded the trailer for SO4, I wasn't expecting much. THEN I PRESSED START.

The story was engaging, the cinematics were gorgeous, the colors were rich, and the music? Just stunningly gorgeous.
The story, a prequel to the entire series (lucas ripoff) is set in the near future. After the nations of the world are done bombing the everloving crap out of each other, they suddenly realize that the world is an even CRAPPIER place to live now and mankind must now venture out into space to save the species. All joking aside though, it is a great idea for a story, and I jumped aboard.

so, for the past few months I have been DYING to get this game. I was surprised that there were 3 disks that came with the game. This is an Xbox 360 game for cryin out loud! Am I in over my head? More then likely, but my money is already spent, so too bad.

My initial reactions were positive enough; the story is immersive, the setting is intriguing and there's plenty of stuff to do.
However, there are a few things that irked me.
1. Girly looking men.
Ok, so we have come to expect this kind of crap from Japan, but C'MON! I almost shat myself when I saw a pretty girl talking like Spike Speigel, only to realize it was a dude. damn you Japan and your methods of sexually confusing young Americans...

2. The CGI.
Now, this is not a widespread problem, however there are a few scenes in the game that made me think that I was using my PS1 again. nothing really to gripe about, but make me nostalgia bomb in a bad way.

3. The controls.
The controls can be good at times, however, there are moments when the controls feel very gimicky and loose. you amost wish you could twist the joystick and tighten the range or motion.

overall, its a good game, has a few faults, but worth a playthrough at the very least.

i give it 4/5 stars.

Re: Drakken's First Impressions: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:33 am
by Edminster
HARDKORE wrote:This is a nice game. It has the same battle style as the others. Graphics are awesome. Story that i seen so far is good.

One bad side, the menu screen looks like crap. You open it and the dark text blends in with the background picture. I dont see any way to set what the picture u is either.
I think we all know which review is superior.

Re: Drakken's First Impressions: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:38 am
by drakken22
Edminster wrote:
HARDKORE wrote:This is a nice game. It has the same battle style as the others. Graphics are awesome. Story that i seen so far is good.

One bad side, the menu screen looks like crap. You open it and the dark text blends in with the background picture. I dont see any way to set what the picture u is either.
I think we all know which review is superior.
Ed, have I told you I love you recently?
lol. thanks.

Re: Drakken's First Impressions: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:41 am
by Cirtur
drakken22 wrote:
Edminster wrote:
HARDKORE wrote:This is a nice game. It has the same battle style as the others. Graphics are awesome. Story that i seen so far is good.

One bad side, the menu screen looks like crap. You open it and the dark text blends in with the background picture. I dont see any way to set what the picture u is either.
I think we all know which review is superior.
Ed, have I told you I love you recently?
lol. thanks.
Get off my man!

Re: Drakken's First Impressions: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:43 am
by drakken22
Cirtur wrote:
drakken22 wrote:
Edminster wrote:[I think we all know which review is superior.
Ed, have I told you I love you recently?
lol. thanks.
Get off my man!
OH NO YOU DI'INT!

Re: Drakken's First Impressions: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:44 am
by Edminster
I'm going to stop this right here. Drakken, while I am flattered by the attention, I am betrothed to Cirtur. Please stop your flirtatious advances,

Re: Drakken's First Impressions: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:47 am
by drakken22
Edminster wrote:I'm going to stop this right here. Drakken, while I am flattered by the attention, I am betrothed to Cirtur. Please stop your flirtatious advances,
Well, not the first time I've been issued a restraining order...

Re: Drakken's First Impressions: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:52 am
by Sahan
Try to set a record for the most restraining orders by a single person without resulting in a jail sentence. Live life to the max!

Re: Drakken's First Impressions: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:54 am
by drakken22
Sahan wrote:Try to set a record for the most restraining orders by a single person without resulting in a jail sentence. Live life to the max!
Challenge mode: get all the people you have orders on in a group and walk beside them, only 500 yards away.
bonus points if you have a megaphone to talk to them with.

Re: Drakken's First Impressions: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 1:47 pm
by Avalant
I need to get this game. Star Ocean 2 is still my favorite RPG of all time. (I think the PS1 era produced the best JRPGs, the market has shrunk a lot since then) SO3 I played in Japanese, battle system was fun but I can't really comment on the story.

Re: Drakken's First Impressions: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 4:12 pm
by Frostbite
Sahan wrote:Try to set a record for the most restraining orders by a single person without resulting in a jail sentence. Live life to the max!
Curse you and to your maxedness! I do not have that trophy in RE5 yet...

Re: Drakken's First Impressions: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 4:19 pm
by mountainmage
It's been 19 days, I bet Sahan already has the record.

Re: Drakken's First Impressions: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope.

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:26 am
by LordRetard
Frostbite wrote:Curse you and to your maxedness! I do not have that trophy in RE5 yet...
Maan, video games are so fucking expensive. It's still like $60 around here and that is bullshit.I just want to fuck some zombies up*!

*Ooh ra rah.