Star Ocean: The Last Hope International for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

You can read many of the ratings between 7-9 and even a few undeserved 10's to understand what you are going to get into. However, allow me to restate the important downfalls on this game that appear as constant problems throughout and be assured that much of what others have said in praises are true.

English voice acting is atrocious. There are two voice actors who work well for their roles, everyone else however brings the game down significantly. Luckily you have the option to change the dialogue to Japanese which brings me to my next issue.

I am not Japanese so I can't tell you if they share the same feeling as westerners on overstating everything. This holds true with nearly every JRPG game and you tend to get used to it, it doesn't make it any easier on your ears however. This was the glory of the alternate voice actors. Put the dialogue in Japanese.

In short, if you like JRPGs, this is still a little over the top. Also switching the visual style will put you more in the frame of mind for the world it takes place in.

The battle system is addicting but difficult. A thing with Star Ocean games in general is that they are brutal and merciless when it comes to tutorials. You begin this game with a 1 hour long tutorial on everything about fighting, then it's good luck. There is no gradual learning of combat over time. Which is actually awesome for second and third plays.

On a closing note: the story is strong, but it gets a lot of it watered down by poorly timed JRPG moments, which is just on the fault of the director. This is a problem when you are trying to get drawn into the willing suspension of disbelief. It is hard for one to accept that a band of kids and stereotypes are going to save the galaxy when the atmosphere keeps bringing you out of the feel of the game.

Ending note: Turn on Japanese voice acting, change the visual style of the menu, endure the JRPG parts (they had the best intentions in mind)

Having played the previous star ocean and being well aware of Square Enix style of games, this game comes just as expected. The battle system is unique and a great 3d version of the previous style. There is plenty of gameplay so I was not easily bored and this game could be bought becuase of its value. (a game you play less then 10 hours and never play gain should never be bought.) I have played over 30 hours and am maybe half way. So many people are comparing this to the FF series. This game belongs in the Star Ocean category and it is the first refreshing JRPG on the PS3. Not to burst anyones bubble out there, but FFXIII is also going to be melodramatic. That is just the JRPG and Square Enix's way. I think many of you will be dissappointed om march 9th. I won't because I know what to expect and I enjoy all of it.

Star Ocean The Last Hope is a beautiful game. It has a story line that could run parallel with any Star Trek. The battle system is fun and encouraging. The characters are...colorful... and that's where the problem lies.

I understand that this is a JRPG and maybe some things are lost in translation. The sense of humor may be different between cultures. I just cant get around how a band of kids is entrusted with the fate of mankind. They then try to complete said quest by bounding around the galaxy picking up annoying cat girls, and spell casting toddlers to help them out.

There are a few strong characters that they meet along their sojourn for humanity's sake. Unfortunately they seem to take the back seat, or are uncomfortably involved in many unneeded jokes that seem to be everywhere in this game. Awkward moments, underlying perversion, and the difficulties of male/female communication seem to the norm written in to keep the otherwise heavy story light and approachable. Sad to say, it comes off misplaced.

If you are willing, or able, to get past the clumsy dialog, and gestures of the antagonists then your in for a great game. The graphics are excellent. Item collecting and creating system can get you hooked easily. The battle system will keep you involved and always trying to unlock more battle trophies. A story line that, like I said earlier, could be mistaken for a Star Trek movie. Then this could be the game for you.

I was not expecting much from this game because of the low rating it has but I was pleasantly surprised because this is probably the best jrpg out right now (note FF13 is not out yet). Square-Enix may have made a bad choice in originally making this originally exclusive to the xbox 360. When this game had finally been released for the PS3 it was mostly unnoticed.

Graphics - 7 = good character design and landscape variety but the land scape was a bit choppy at times.

Story - 7 = The first thing about the story that comes to mind is star trek meets anime. The characters talk more then they really need to and the voice overs can be bad at times but the overall story is interesting.

Battle system 9 = This is the games real strength. There is plenty of level grinding and customization for anyone that is familiar to rpg's to appreciate additionally the battle sequences are set in real time but still allow all the options you'd expect of a rpg

Overall 8 = This game has a lot of classic jrpg elements from the ps1/ps2 era. This is good because most rpg's out today on the PS3 are either western based (which are good but not the same as a classic jrpg) or experimental. While this game is not perfect, there is no denying that it is true to its title jrpg.

I feel that the combat and leveling systems of this game are very addicting. They really make the game worth playing, imo. Graphics are average but do not distract from the gameplay.

However, the cast of characters and their english voice-overs are highly irritating, and the storyline is mediocre at best.

I'd reccomend this game to you if you are a combat junkie or a JRPG fanboy. If you are neither then stick with Mass Effect 2 or FFXIII for your RPG fix.

Star Ocean seems like it would be a wonderful game. It is set in space and the graphics are bright and colorful. The Earth is dying and it is up to you (and a ship full of expendable crew members) to find a new home. This game is from Square Enix, makers of fine JRPG games.
The downside is the very last gen game play. I've played all of what Star Ocean has to offer before.
Save points? Closed off battle arenas?
Sorry. No thank you.
If Final Fantasy XII on the PS2 could figure out how to make battles part of the regular map, then this retooled XBox 360 game should too. Plus, I swear I saw menu elements and heardmenu sound effects reused from Kingdom Hearts.
This game is for fans of very old school JRPG games. Everyone else should pick up Final Fantasy XIII.

On one hand, Star Ocean: The Last Hope has all of the characteristics that make for an epic JRPG. On the other hand though, it's held back by a lot of missteps that have plagued JRPGs for years now.

Star Ocean is set in the future and has a very science fiction feel to it. The game starts in the future, after World War 3. Man has destroyed the Earth and if forced to look onward to the sky. It's a really interesting set up. It makes for a great overall story ark and it's a great excuse to explore the universe, hopping from planet to planet.

The story has you moving from planet to planet, which kick off minor story arks along the way. Most of the subplots are pretty good, but some are a little weak. Changing the location every few hours helps to keep things from becoming stagnate. Each location looks and feels differently and they each feature unique enemies.

Typically you will be gaining a new character at each planet you stop at along the way. A lot of the support cast feel a little tired and cliche. And there are even few party members that are annoying enough to grade on you after time ('kay?).

Although most of the story is pretty good, the dialogue can be atrocious at times. Like many JRPGs, the dialog reads like it was written by a 10 year old. It's bearable for the most part, but you'll find yourself rolling your eyes every once in a while.

The real time battle system works pretty well, but it has some flaws. The flaws typically aren't noticeable until you fight a tough battle. The hit detection seems off. Also the parameters for using items and spells during battles, is never made clear. It makes sense that you can't use an item in the middle of an attack, but there seems to also be some sort of hidden criteria. I found myself running around the battle field hitting triangle every few seconds, to see if the game would let me use a healing item. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

All in all, it's a great space epic, with some annoyances.

I am not sure if this happens every time but, when you save it automaticaly updates your system data. DO NOT turn off you system even if the auto update has yet to start it will screw up the trophies and you wot be able to play without having to reset the system ( This is more to keep others from making this same mistake)
The good chunk I got to play before I made the mistake though was purely breath taking and my only regret is that it got cut short.

Star Ocean the Last Hope brings us the very start of the Star Ocean Universe. It is a prequel to all three games and it was brought off quite well.

I played the 360 version first but I disliked how you had to change disks when you want to do the special dungeons at the end so I ended up getting the PS3 version. It has faster load times and you don't have to change disks. Very well done.

This is definiately one of Tri-Ace's better games, I just hope Square-Enix's Final Fantasy XIII can be just as good as FFXII was a let down at the time I played Star Ocean 3.

The story is very solid and keeps you interested, especially if you are into astronomy believe it or not. Mixing Space Travel with an RPG really hits the mark in my book, the only other games that ever did this was Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic's 1 and 2.

Sometimes the characters can be annoying but I liked them overall, and people can finally shut up about the voice acting because they have the option of making the voices Japanese.

The Graphics are as beautiful as they were in the 360 version.

The gameplay is solid too.

Overall, if you want to give this game a try then give it a rent first before buying if you are not a hardcore Star Ocean fan.

A little background. I am in general a huge RPG fan, but I am not a fan of this one. I think the game was extremely repetitive, the fights felt like I had little control and in general not too much fun.

Number of hours played: 18 hrs

Characters: Annoying for the most part. I found them way over dramatic and the kids were just plain annoying to me.

Story Line: Marginal. it seems interesting, but since I had a hard time connecting with the characters it really marginalized it.

Pacing: uneven. At times I really got into the story and felt it moving and really enjoyed the game, then it would go into a drudgery of a dungeon spending way too much time in there. The game would slow to a crawl then get a burst and slow right back down.

Crafting: Kinda interesting method, but you couldn't get alot of supplies if you haven't been stocking up on them. You would then invent the next item, and learn you needed to pick up x,y,z from the last town to make it. So then you debate if you want to fly all the way back to get them... and decide that its not worth it and try to push on with the story

Overall: semi-enjoyable if you are a big JRPG fan, but not much if you aren't. Even being a huge fan of the FF series, I had troubles enjoying it.

First, I've noticed many appluading Square-Enix for this game, and I am saddened by that. Tri-Ace are the ones who developed this game, and while Square-Enix may have had some work in it, they're not the ones who made this amazing JRPG, which I consider the best next-gen JRPG so far.

Graphics : 8.5
The graphics are an interesting sort, most of the time they are decent, comparable to an early PS3 game, but at other times they are comparable to FF13! It's very strange. It's also a great addition to have the 'classic' menu styles as they really add a unique flavor to the game.

Music : 9.5
The music is actually done really well, and fits the situation admirably. I was really impressed with how the battle music changed in the different areas. That is something that a lot of JRPG's are quite lacking in.

Gameplay : 10.0
The battles run very smoothly, never leaving me with the feeling that I wanted to skip battles because they were 'monotonous'. On top of that, there is quite a bit to do outside of combat, with the synthesis system being one of the more interesting features. There are also tons of sidequests. This is definitely the strongest point.

Story : 9.8
This would have been the single best thing about this game, but there's one point near the end where it gets a little too silly. But, the rest of the story is very 'down to Earth', and feels very realistic giving you a large attachment to the characters, and really helps you to feel the emotions that the characters are experiencing.

Voices : 8.0
Whether it's Japanese or English, there are problems and achievements. I will say that with the exception of two characters, both dubs were done amazingly well. For those two characters, it's one or the other.

Overall : 9.16
This is an amazing JRPG that Tri-Ace (not Square-Enix) brought us, that has been sorely underrated. Part of this high score has to do with this being the International version, but the 360 version would still get a fairly high score. Get this one.

Wow this sure is a jrpg.

All in all it was a fun game and very nice to look at, some of the character voices can get annoying at times, especially the little girl, she sounds like shes on downers all the time

Being a long time fan of the star ocean series, I'd have to say that I was quite surprised at the last hope.

Great animation and battle system. Sticks to the old school star ocean feel and adding in some great new battle systems.

Great cast of characters and the PS3 version has the ability to switch in between english and japanese voices since the English voice acting is terrible.

Probably the only annoying thing about the game is whenever you win in battle, they usually say the same thing over and over, so it does get a bit old after "I was just getting started! Bring it on!" x 1213213123123.

Only other thing that bothered me was how exactly similar and predictable the story is. Especially after playing the first 3 star ocean games, they all start off EXACTLY the same.

Highly recommend for gamers new to the star ocean series and dedicated star ocean fans.

This game is pretty much perfect. Great aspects have been developed in this game due to the previous Star Ocean game. This game may have a little bit of climatic stories in it, and you may want to get to the action more, but the stories are what help build up the game and wanting to beat it. Now thats what I call vintage Square Enix development style! Of course, this game (for right now) is to hold us off until the release next month of FFXIII. But this game is really great! You can expect this game to be a must buy product, at least thats in my opinion. Buy the game if you like, I wont yet, cause I want to save up for FFXIII. This game is a must have though. Expect the developers from Square Enix to step a notch up for FFXIII, and the soon upcoming KHIII, just like star ocean =]

Fans of the series never got tired of Star Ocean 3: Till The End Of Time...

The game was a representation of gaming perfection, but somehow they found a way to make us spend hours and hours infront of the screen again, im not a harsh critic, i dont bother with games that dont shine, but the great ones i review, and this game is definately something to buy, as soon as im done with this ill go buy my own copy, but for now, im 34 hours gametime in, i have had the game 3 days, i love it, but the trophy system was not very good, once you look past the actual game, toward trophies, you need a guide to get 100% on everything, i will just play the game over and over about 10 times, bottom line is this game itself is perfect to those with the taste, and if you dont have the tastes, get your brain checked, square enix are GODS! i love those people! i love these games more though, no offense, so rent your own copy now, cause im going back to play now that my ps3 has gotten time to cool down....

"Star Ocean: The Last Hope International", the latest RPG from Square Enix, starts off promising enough. A mission, after World War III nearly destroys the Earth, takes off to explore the stars and find worlds suitable for human habitation. Naturally, something goes wrong and the crew of the Calnus crash lands on Aeos, the first of many planets you'll explore with main character Edge Maverick in the game. The story, combining exploration with searching for the other missing ships in their expedition, is serviceable enough. Cut scene graphics are decent, typical of most Square Enix titles. The voice acting is fair (most characters) to downright annoying (the character of Welch). Upon reaching Aeos is where the game's flaws begin to surface. The camera veers wildly, sometimes being too far out or in an unhelpful position to see enemies. The in game map can't be scrolled, meaning you have to refer to it frequently to figure out where to go to your next objective. Save points are inconsistent: plentiful on ships and bases, few and far in between on the planets themselves. Combat too can be inconsistent and is fairly unsatisfying, and the menus can be difficult to read. I had higher hopes for this game, but it just doesn't live up to its potential. At least it's only a few more weeks until "Final Fantasy XIII"....

I think the gameplay is fun however, the story did not really grip me. I found myself skipping cutscenes and just reading the recap they offer. In the end, I returned the game without beating it, having lost interest. Fun game at first, but overall disappointing.

Based on previous titles of the same name, I really really wanted to like the game.

Unfortunately I was too busy vomiting because of the psychotic motion sickness inducing camera. If it isn't spinning wildly at the slightest touch of the analog stick, then the camera has finally settled on the angle that guarantees you'll never see what is right in front of you. It literally makes the game unplayable turning the most wildly simple actions ( walk across the room ) into irritating nightmares that never end.

i have been playing this series since i can remember with the japanese version of snes star ocean 2. and the series never stops to amaze me, the graphics of this one is amazing especially since they made the ps3 version, it is, in my opinon, 10x better graphics than the 360. The story line is amazing and gettes deeper as you continue through out the game. The humore that square enix puts into the mix of it all is somtimes adult humor but not to adult, and with others who have played the series from the snes times knows how they continue to suprise otheres with there inovative thinking. with audio that can make the voices Japanese and makes it a more enjoyable game play. this version of Star Ocean: The Last Hope, has been injected with "gamer staroids" which makes it a great replayable game continuing to amp up the difficulty and keeping what you already have earned in the game to go and find what you missed in the first run. I will and have deffinantly recomended this game and the series to ppl who never played or even heard of the game or sieres and the ppl that i have gotten to play the games have nothing but great comments on it.

i rented this game i had it for a month and still didnt beat it. its very long its a classic rpg for sure it has some strong points in the game that make it fun not as classic as me standing there and pressing a button to attack this system is like gow3 but better cause you get stuff and build your team to a take out the aliens. its a way better game then gow 3 and if you dont know by now the people across the sea own the game making
next time you in school learn about school instead of mary rotten crouch and we can take back the game a great game to buy get this one for sure

My rating isn't based on anything but the freezing glitch that is reoccurring in this game. Because who cares about battle systems and replay value when a half hour to 45 mins just gets systematically wiped out multiple times. I've checked forums and this problem is far from isolated to my system. Save yourself the aggravation and just play the next rpg on your list.

So, I received game, and after a few hours, I was getting into it. I liked the characters, good story, fun to play. However, I reached a point in the game that I apparently wasn't ready for, and I died. And, due to the fact that THERE IS NO AUTOSAVE, I was given the sole option of restoring my game to a save I made 2 hours prior to my death. I promptly ejected the disc and returned the game.

I really enjoyed star ocean:till the end of time, however, this one did not live up to my expectations. The gameplay is great as it was in the previous, but the story is so poor that it hurts the whole game. I find myself skipping every cutscene because they move so slow and are so redundant. You do not get involved in the characters as you do in other rpgs either, which makes it difficult to want to play on. The battles are really fun and addicting as I love the real time fighting like an arcade game. I feel strongly that if you played till the end of time, then you have already seen what this game has to offer and I would strongly encourage you to skip this title and try another game.