When Chemists Attack

[Break Time! is a series of posts about video games that Rick has spent entirely too much time with over the years.]

Introduction

The current generation of game consoles has not been very kind to gamers who enjoy Japanese-style role-playing games (JRPGs). If you like JRPGs, you’re better off having merely a Playstation 2 rather than the current offerings from Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo.

Finally, some of the big names are coming to the current generation of consoles. Star Ocean: The Last Hope is here.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the fourth major Star Ocean game from Tri-Ace. (So, I’ll call it SO4 from now on.) Since the previous game (Star Ocean: Til the End of Time) ended rather strangely, Tri-Ace decided to make this game a prequel to the previous three games. The game is set shortly after the third world war has made Earth practically uninhabitable. Earthlings are using newly developed “warp” technology to find a new planet to live on. I should also mention that the Earthlings have made contact with an older spacefaring race who look like humans but wear things on their ears that give the earlobes a pointy appearance. If that last bit sounds somewhat familiar, that’s because the Star Ocean universe is what you would get if you took Star Trek and dressed it up with magic (“symbology” or “heraldry” in Star Ocean) and swords.

Read my spoiler-free review of the game below the jump.

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