TGS 07: Quick & Dirty With Star Ocean: First Departure
Okay, this is the last bit of Square Enix goodness that can be wrung out of the thoroughly used bukkake towel that is my brain. (Note to self: next year, bring more than one writer...) The original Star Ocean game, released eleven years ago here in Japan, is finally coming to North America. It's been completely rebuilt from the ground up (We can rebuild him. We have the technology.) and slated to arrive on the PSP as Star Ocean: First Departure sometime in... well, sometime.
The game looks unbelievably crisp and detailed on the PSP - I almost wished I had a bigger screen to enjoy all of the artwork. The 2D sprites are clearer and more modern-seeming than they have a right to be, and the 2D backgrounds take me back to, of all the strange but beautiful places, Baldur's Gate II in terms of a beautiful but flat picture that manages to overcome its flatness and live.
I wandered around town for a bit, blocked at every turn by pop-up dialog in Japanese, because I was playing the very beginning of the game, which funnels you toward what I assume is the story. Eventually I managed to stumble into a random encounter. I controlled the aquamarine-haired hero while the rest of my team (we all had tails, go figure) followed my lead with AI - the combat took place in real time and was over quickly, which can be a nice trait in game with random battles.
That was about the extent of my interaction with Star Ocean: First Departure during our whirlwind tour of the Square pavilion, but it was enough to jazz me up for yet another quality RPG coming to the PSP in the upcoming months/years/generations. What with the new, thin, light, faster PSP out and the PSP catalog finally growing the way it ought to be, things are looking up.
tiny dancer
Posted to Video Games on 24 September 2007
· Comments (1)
Other stuff like this: psp, sony, square enix, star ocean first departure, tgs 07, tokyo game show
whoo-hoo! can't wait!
loved Star Ocean 2 for the original PlayStation but never got a chance to play the original.
here's to hoping it looks good when i connect my PSP to my TV....