Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness returns to its roots while promising something new for fans.
[dropcap size=small]W[/dropcap]hen Shuichi Kobayashi approached Square Enix about making a sequel to 2009’s Star Ocean: The Last Hope and Square Enix happily gave him the go-ahead both parties were making a risky gamble on producing another game in the Star Ocean series. Star Ocean: The Last Hope was the least popular Star Ocean of the previous four games in the series among both critics and fans. Knowing that a lot was on the line, Kobayashi made sure to balance themes classic to Star Ocean with trying new things.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is about a young swordsman by the name of Fidel who gets involved in intergalactic events after he defends his own village from a crew of bandits. Fidel and his friends are soon whisked away on a journey filled with magic and adventure among the stars, quickly learning that they are to play a bigger role in an even larger story. Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness‘ is a perfect balance of science fiction and fantasy that will surely leave you awestruck.
If everything that has been described to you so far reminds you of Final Fantasy you’re not far from the truth. Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness has a seamless battle system that allows players to jump directly into combat when they run into enemies while exploring in the same location that they were before without the hassle of a loading screen. In addition to this, you can have up to seven party members at one time and your party size will grow as the game progresses.
On the surface, Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness has a fairly simplistic combat system. Switching between weak attacks, strong attacks, and blocking, the three actions force players to monitor their enemies’ strategy of attack and respond accordingly. Star Ocean‘s combat system doesn’t end here however, there are also Special Arts (physical skills) and Signeturgy (magical skills) that must be learned by reading books that you will discover and acquire throughout the game. Each character in your party can have a total of four Special Arts and Signeturgy and they can be leveled up as you use these skills more and more often. The last portion of Star Ocean‘s combat system is the Role system which can quickly turn the tide of battle in your favor by attacking your enemies or healing your party members significantly.
Like most RPGs Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness promises to keep players busy for hours on end with an in-depth story line that will leave them emotionally attached to the characters they meet and large, open world system that holds secrets and stories just waiting to be uncovered. Thanks to Shuichi Kobayashi’s dedication to the Star Ocean series, Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness might just be what Square Enix needs to save the series.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness will be available for Playstation 3 and Playstation 4 on June 28th.
