Game Revolution writes: "With a name like "Star Ocean", there are endless possibilities (hence the name, I guess) as to how this game might turn out, especially since its parent company Square-Enix is capable of releasing some stellar, Grade-A titles - Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, and new IPs like Kingdom Hearts and The World Ends With You.
Then there's Star Ocean, a proud member of the Square-Enix "B Squad".
Star Ocean: First Departure is a remake of the original Star Ocean game from 1996 that never managed to make it to the States. And even with this being a "remake", it's obvious what time period it's from as the whole package feels like an early PS1/late SNES-era RPG. The character models look like they were ripped straight from the SNES (complete with basic animation), forgetful music drips through the tinny speakers, bland environments are to be explored (though instead of "Mode 7" or static maps 16-bit maps, they're in beautiful jaggy polygons!), and the "edgy" characters are just as annoying... only this time, you can actually hear them speak. How nice!..."
+ Well-drawn backdrops
- . . .that make the overwrold look crappy
+ Deep leveling system
- . . .but every character levels up the same traits
+/- Classic but old
- Characters feel generic and predictable
+/- First time in the States
