Star Ocean: The Last Hope Review: An equally fun and frustrating experience

Welcome to our review of Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope, an action RPG that boldly ventures into the realm of sci-fi adventure. This game promises a blend of high-octane combat, deep customization, and a sprawling universe ripe for exploration. Developed by tri-Ace and published by Square Enix, Star Ocean 4 takes players on a journey through a post-World War III world where interstellar travel and alien encounters are just part of the daily grind. But does it live up to its ambitious promises? From its intricate battle system to its often uneven storytelling, we’ll dive into what makes this title stand out—and where it falls short. Buckle up as we explore the highs and lows of this sci-fi RPG adventure!

Battle System - 9.5

While this game certainly has its issues, the battle system is not one of those issues! First of all, there are nine wholly unique playable characters! There's' the main character, who has fantastic sword comboing abilities and low-level healing spells, making him a sustainable fighter and master of single-target damage. There's his childhood friend, an absolutely broken physical fighter who has an absurd critical hit rate, the game's best multi-target damage, and, of course, also attacks from range with a bow (making her only weak point her lack of a good dodge). There's their new alien friend, a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none character who has physical and magical prowess but doesn't excel at either. There's a little kid orphan who joins the team, a sage-like character with offensive magic and support skills, as well as the ability to summon various abilities with her Cerberus familiar. There's the cyborg, the team's off-tank, who also has ranged attacks and AoE damage, but to a lesser degree due to his already superior tanking skills. There's the cat girl (JRPGs and their cat girls, am I right?), the speedy, fragile glass cannon of the group, being the best melee fighter at the expense of a decent health pool. There's the fan-servicey anti-hero with the best offensive magic capabilities and extraordinary support abilities but at the expense of not having any summon abilities. There's the angel-human hybrid who (shockingly) is the main healer of the group. Last but certainly not least is the demonic endgame character who has absolutely insane physical damage with a nice side of offensive magic (because he wasn't broken enough already). These diverse characters make each character fun and different to control!

Second of all, the game has two systems that innovate on the standard Action RPG Linear-Motion Battle System: Blindsiding and Rush Mode. Blindsiding allows you to execute a perfect dodge, stunning the enemy and swerving behind them to deal tons of extra damage with guaranteed critical hits. Each character has a unique way of doing so, just like how they have unique dodges! Rush Mode can be used in two ways: normal or combo. Normal Rush Mode gives the player a bunch of buffs for a duration of time, and Combo Mode, which executes a mighty multi-combo chain of techniques that does a ton of damage. This makes for an interesting question: which is more valuable at the moment? A burst of damage or an extended period of a stronger you? It's cool!

Third of all, there's the Bonus Board, a nifty feature that allows you to get extra rewards after the battle! If you kill an enemy with only skills? You restore HP/MP after battle. You kill an enemy with a critical hit? You get extra experience. You kill multiple enemies at once? Bonus currency. If you ambush numerous enemies at once, you get bonus SP (points you allocate toward leveling up your skills). Ultimately, this game may have issues, but it really excels in its combat!

Customization System - 9.5

This game has a lot of fun customization options! With a plethora of skills to learn and upgrade, BEAT styles (normal, Rush-focused, and Blindside-focused), crafting, and more, this game's customization isn't going to blow your mind, but it'll certainly keep you hooked throughout the games! This customization perfectly complements the combat gameplay, and for that, it deserves a high score.

Story - 5

The story in this game starts incredibly strong with the aftermath of World War III and an epic opening, but it all goes downhill from here. Nothing really happens in the plot until the last couple of hours after the opening, except for the random shenanigans with random characters. While some moments here hit hard, none of it really amounts to anything. However, in the end, the lore really carries the story here, as the sci-fi lore and context make everything feel so unique. Ultimately, while the grand sci-fi adventure here is incredible, the narrative doesn't do it for me.

Characters - 7.5

The characters here are so goofily stupid that I can't help but love every single character in this game! Sure, a lot of them align with anime tropes and have awful voice acting, but that is part of what makes the cast so memorable for me! They suck, but they all have the most zany chemistry and I can't help but love this trash heap of characters. But that is just my opinion... kay?

Sidequests - 3.5

There are a couple of decent bonus dungeons here, but there are way too many sidequests that are just fetch quests. While the fetch quests give you tons of SP to upgrade your skills, making them feel worth completing and satisfying, the actual process of completing the quests is so tedious. The biggest problem with the sidequests rests in the hands of the game's quality-of-life issues... let's cover those now.

Quality of Life - 1

This game has no fast travel for the majority of the game, and when it does, it is too little, too late. It also has far too few save points, which made me leave my console on for extended periods of time and rack up them electricity bills. Also, to participate in crafting, you have to return to your ship, which, again, makes for egregious backtracking. While the running speed in this game is surprisingly decent, it doesn't make up for how furious I was at the lack of fast travel. Also, to get all the content in this game, you have to play three full playthroughs and do tons of absurd things to unlock every Battle Trophy. These trophies require obscure objectives, such as defeating certain enemies without equipment or doing precisely 55 damage. This game is beyond irritating at some points, so, unfortunately, it needs a low score.

Music - 8

While the music here isn't always too memorable, not a single song is annoying, and practically every song oozes perfect sci-fi vibes, making for an above-average RPG soundtrack.

Art & Graphics - 9

While the graphical integrity isn't the absolute best, Star Ocean 4 has a very distinct art style. While many people didn't jive with it, I loved the anime-realism fusion vibe the game had—especially in the cutscenes!

Locations - 7

This game does a decent job with its planetary exploration, but it is underwhelming for a game that only has the plot as a vehicle for exploration! The game doesn't do enough to hook me in, and yet again overutilizes the medieval planet. However, while the planetary exploration was weaker, the dungeon and town design were surprisingly decent. In the end, this game needed more time in the oven for better planetary exploration, but it wasn't the worst sci-fi experience and was still adequate for the series.

The Verdict

Fun Factor: 7
Overall Score: 67%
Letter Rating: B

This game is a mixed bag, but if you are a fan of sci-fi or action RPGs, this game will be right up your alley! If you love those genres, you'll likely find that the good outweighs the bad with this game. However, both genres are packed with phenomenal games, and, unfortunately, this is not too phenomenal. It is great as a filler game between big releases and is certainly a "good enoguh" game, but it certainly had a lot of missed potential.

Primary Version: Star Ocean: The Last Hope (PS4)