Star Ocean: First Departure is a sturdy, glimmering jewel. A review of the Switch JRPG.
I’m going to dive into some context for this one. Star Ocean: First Departure on the Nintendo Switch was my quarantine 2020 shelter at home game. Actually quarantine 2020 is still going on, and I’ve moved on to other games. Blazing Heroes on Sega Saturn is currently keeping me cozy and warm at night. I don’t know what exactly it was that drew me to purchase Star Ocean. I had massive piles of unfinished and untouched games laying around me. Some kind of intuitive inkling told me now was the time for this game. And something about the thought of an english remake of a japan exclusive snes game designed to look like a PS1 game really floats my boat. It gave the vibe of something quick, flashy, yet humble and appealing. Even the name Star Ocean evokes images of something clear and shimmering.
I finished it in about 25 hours, which is a real nice length for a jrpg of some substance. It takes a damn special game to keep my attention for the normal 60–80 hours while I’m trying my best to live an actual human life. Most jrpgs are experts at wearing out their welcome and stuffing their plots with enough fluff to make a build a bear workshop blush. But at about the 18 hour mark of Star Ocean my attention did begin to fade as the game stretched itself thin in its final hours. It introduces new layers of antagonists and intrigue in its last moments, slightly wearing out its welcome.
So… why did no one tell me Star Ocean is basically Star Trek: the JRPG? I love Star Trek! Concepts like beaming, sickbay, and the Prime Directive are taken straight from Star Trek and used in Star Ocean. It kind of reminds me of that weird novel where the crew of The Next Generation meets the X-men, except it’s Star Trek meets a Tales Of game. I half expected to find a mod where starfleet uniforms are pasted onto the characters.
In a refreshing twist of old school sensibilities banal anime bullshit and in fact narrative of any kind is kept to a bare minimum. I think this is my favorite thing about Star Ocean. It is remarkably well paced for a JRPG. Plot points are quickly explained and then we’re moving on to the next dungeon within moments. Character development is mostly optional. And there are zero exposition dumps or long winded bouts of sleepy world building where an old sage recites the creaky underworkings of the world while ancient art crawls across the screen. Fantastic! for a game with bright anime portraits inane anime style chatter is non-existent. Characters say what needs to be said and move on with their lives. The plot is a curious mishmash of sci-fi stuff involving a virus that petrifies people, Starfleet, a demon dimension and the lost continent of Mu. In the middle of it all are cat people, swords and tropey fantasy gimmicks. It’s all seemingly tethered together with yarn and elmers glue. And it works. Because it doesn’t get bogged down in it’s own pretense.
Battles are zippy and look great. The AI is mostly reliable. The pixels are bright and expressive. Sounds are crunchy and clean. I found battles to be mainly slashing my sword around while tossing items at characters who need them.
But about 50% of the “game” is actually the leveling up system. You decide where everyone’s points are allocated. There’s a menu of about fifty different abilities, some more obtuse than others, and you fill these up, deciding what characters can and can not do, and how well they do them. It’s weird and vague at first, but eventually I found a groove and it became second nature.
I am in love with 32 bit era pre-rendered graphics. The artistry involved in making intentional, limitlessly detailed viewpoints of every scene, kept just beneath a low res sheen is comfy and charming. They direct your focus in a crafty way and are easy on the eyes and brain. This may be in fact be the last true JRPG made in this fashion. While the world map is a barren polygonal wasteland, and dungeons are forgettable copy-pasted nonsense tunnels, towns are where it’s at and are lovingly put together. Every shop is unique, pretty corners are tucked away for you to find, and entire rooms with otherwise no purpose are rendered just for the enjoyment of your eyes.
If I must file a complaint, it would be in the way characters are acquired. You can’t have every character. About half of the potential party members are unacquirable, depending on who else you recruit. This became a small source of stress for me, as I tried to figure out who I was willing to let go, or how I had retroactively already screwed myself over. I supposed this is meant to add replay value. And indeed I may replay it, but not in the expected way.
Becoming increasingly curious about the original Star Ocean on Super Nintendo, (this is a remake after all) I configured and patched and fired up a rom and jiggered and monkeyed with a setup on my little CRT tv and played maybe 45 minutes of it. And this might already be becoming one of my favorite games of all time. The original snes Star Ocean is so pretty and well designed in ways games simply aren’t anymore. Even games designed to tickle your nostalgia or emulate 16 bit rpgs do not look like this. The world is bristling with color and detail. It’s made with so much intention and care. The whole game is interconnected. Towns and the over-world are one seamless design. Moving through it is a joy.
I have suspended my playthrough for now and have purchased a machine that plays snes games and a translated Star Ocean cartridge. I want to play it properly and with the least amount of stress and tinkering as possible.
Star Ocean was made by ex members of the team that made the original Tales of Phantasia game, and it shows. If you ever played a Tales Of game and thought “This is nice but I wish we could just get on with it” Star Ocean is for you. The snappy pace, finely designed visuals and low key gameplay come together to form a real chill yet engrossing experience.
