In recent years, JRPGs have taken a second wind and many franchises have risen from a seemingly eternal slumber. we could already play Valkyrie Elysiumwhich decided to turn its origin around to become a more dynamic game at the expense of its legacy, and now it is the turn of Star Ocean: Divine Force, another title distributed by Square Enix that seeks to please fans of role-playing games in their purest state. I must say that this is exactly what we can expect: a dive into the golden age of RPGs that remains there, in the past.
If you are new to this franchise, we will tell you that the trigger and the story in general part of space travel in a science fiction world. Star Ocean: Divine Force It follows that path and puts us in the role of 2 heroes that we can choose to start the story. Raymond Lawrence, a space merchant who lost his companions and prefers to be called Ray, and Laeticia Aucerius, a warrior princess searching for a powerful wizard. These characters with strange and difficult-to-pronounce names will meet after Ray’s ship loses control and crashes on the planet Aster IV. From that moment the characters will try to fulfill their objective in a story full of conflicts that becomes more or less interesting as you continue playing. We must add that the humor and the interactions between characters save the plot of the game a bit.
That an RPG doesn’t grab you for its story is a bad thing, but in the case of Star Ocean: Divine Force It’s not entirely the script’s fault, there are other factors involved. The most important thing is the art direction and the character models. Most of them look like the ones in games Square Enix made over 15 years ago, and I mean more than just the tousled hairdos. Although they are attractive at first glance, when the characters try to gesticulate or show some sensation, they look like porcelain dolls trying to feel something. I want to clarify that my problem is not with the aesthetic part, it is with the fact that the lack of expressiveness prevents empathy with the heroes, especially in a game where the dialogues in cinematic cuts are constant.
As if this were not enough, to find out everything that happened, we will have to play as Ray and as Laeticia, since despite the fact that their stories are connected, at the beginning of the game we will choose one to part ways at some point in the game. The intention is that you live each side of the story up close and, if you want to find out everything, you will have to play it one more time with the other character. Something that surely not many are willing to put up with. The game has the option to choose Japanese or English language with subtitles, but does not include Spanish.
Now let’s go with what keeps afloat Star Ocean: Divine Force: the battle system. If this is your first time with the franchise, we can describe it as an action RPG. That is, you can move freely, meet the enemies in front and attack them as long as possible. The only rule is to have action points to keep fighting without stopping. Play Star Ocean: Divine Force It is simple: you will only have to press buttons without rest to use your entire arsenal. You can change characters whenever you want but this does not change the formula. Just mash buttons to finish off the hordes of enemies. The other option is to dodge, and if you do it correctly you will gain some advantages and your points will be reset.
Something to take into account is that you will not be able to do combos like in a hack and slash, in Star Ocean: Divine Force you must choose the order of your chains previously. So you assign different attacks as you want, and it is not limited to actions that deal damage. For example, Nina, a support character who can heal or put buffs on her teammates. If you want you can put together a combo where a designated attack is one of these skills. That is, there is no extra menu with more abilities or a huge list to choose from, what you assign is what you get. To assemble the arsenal of the characters we will have a map of abilities per character. There is nothing new here, you follow a path and you unlock stat improvements or new attacks. Once available, they must be equipped to use them.
Finally, there is the system introduced in this new installment, DUMA. This robotic device similar to a drone with arms will allow us to fly and hit enemies. Its function is not as important as it seems; in fact, it remains as one more option within our attacks that varies a bit depending on the warrior we use. Later on it will have defensive qualities, which will give it more value in battle.
In general you will have little to worry about, the medium difficulty does not represent a challenge. The battles will go by like water, everything happens very fast and you will only find yourself in trouble if you face big enemies without being well prepared. The thing changes when you face bosses, each enemy has powerful patterns and attacks that can put you in trouble but you can overcome after a few deaths. If things get too complicated you can always change the difficulty.
Another aspect that leaves a bittersweet taste is exploration; It doesn’t seem like a waste to me, but it could be better. It’s nice to move at full speed through the scenarios while looking for items and running into enemies. In fact, the spaces have good proportions and a certain degree of verticality. This is achieved thanks to DUMA, which allows our characters to propel themselves freely through the air. In this way we will be able to reach high places without the need to climb or another type of skill. This action seemed very comfortable to use outside of battle, it even allows us to glide through the air and it is easy to calculate the distance of each impulse. At times I got lost walking in search of items or DUMA points, necessary to improve some of the robot’s passive abilities. The problem is that this incentive is not that great and after a while I decided to go on my way to continue the story. Fortunately, the path to follow is indicated at all times, so it will be impossible for you to get lost.
Talking about the technical section is complicated, especially since the effort of the developer tri-Ace to deliver a quality game is noticeable. I mean that Star Ocean: Divine Force It’s pretty, but the choice of colors and settings becomes a burden after a while of advancing non-stop. On the other hand, the characters have a good design but everything changes when you see them speak. If something is worth highlighting, it is the work on textures and particles that look good at times, such as boss battles. As for the sound section, although it is suitable for a fantastic world with science fiction elements, there is no theme that has surprised me.
As for performance, for this review I played the PlayStation 4 version and the experience was pleasant. Star Ocean: Divine Force It has 2 modes: one with priority in the animation frames and another in the graphic quality. From the start I opted to prioritize image fluidity and overall I noticed good performance with occasional quality drops. In graphics quality mode there wasn’t much of a change, it was barely noticeable, although with camera movement the screen slowed down with each change of direction.
Star Ocean: Divine Force It’s like trying a great role-playing game from 15 years ago adjusted to today’s standards and the benefits of this generation. Although the franchise is still in the dark far from the fame of great representatives of the genre, it is a good effort to keep the franchise alive. Star Ocean: Divine Force It is a game that will keep you busy for hours and a good first step to immerse yourself in JRPGs.
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