Star Ocean 4

[DamageCity]

Aside from Square Enix recently and Namco, most companies do not change major things for American audiences.



Pull your head out of your rear.

[hibiki_takami]

Getting back on topic...

I haven't touched this game since the last time I posted and I'm not sure when I'll be playing it next. I basically gave it to another editor to review. Does the story get better? It seems like the game's just an orgasm of cliches one after the other, with both the characters and the storyline.

[xHaseox]

Well, you can't blame people for being a little bit cautious about a machine like the Xbox 360, what with all the stories out there.

I've never really understood the Playstation 2's problems. I'm still on my launch unit and I've never had a single problem with it, and I would play games for up to 12 hours straight.

[Flußkönig]

Does the story get better? It seems like the game's just an orgasm of cliches one after the other, with both the characters and the storyline.
Lol, have you never played a Star Ocean (or pretty much any tri-Ace/ jrpg) game before? Of course it doesn't get better. I for one am just thankful that the cutscenes aren't as dull and lifeless as the ones in SO3.

SO is pretty much the epitome of average jrpg storytelling. Although honestly I don't think the storyline/characters are much worse than those in many of the jrpg's I have played.

[hibiki_takami]

Lol, have you never played a Star Ocean (or pretty much any tri-Ace/ jrpg) game before? Of course it doesn't get better. I for one am just thankful that the cutscenes aren't as dull and lifeless as the ones in SO3.

Actually, no I haven't - I've somehow managed to avoid all of Tri-Ace's games. I thought I indicated that in an earlier post in this thread ;). Not a good first impression from Tri-Ace.

I do know the twist at the end of SO3, which allegedly angered many people.

[Flußkönig]

Lol, have you never played a Star Ocean (or pretty much any tri-Ace/ jrpg) game before? Of course it doesn't get better. I for one am just thankful that the cutscenes aren't as dull and lifeless as the ones in SO3.

Actually, no I haven't - I've somehow managed to avoid all of Tri-Ace's games. I thought I indicated that in an earlier post in this thread ;). Not a good first impression from Tri-Ace.

I do know the twist at the end of SO3, which allegedly angered many people.
Well, the emphasis of the SO games (and most other tri-Ace games) are the battle system and the technical aspects of the game. Most fans of the series enjoy it for the awesome battle system, the smooth 60fps combat, unlockable difficulties, collecting battle trophies and challenging the post game dungeons/ uber bosses.

SO really isn't the series to look to if you are looking for an awesome story. But really, I feel that way about most jrpgs.

[hibiki_takami]

Lol, have you never played a Star Ocean (or pretty much any tri-Ace/ jrpg) game before? Of course it doesn't get better. I for one am just thankful that the cutscenes aren't as dull and lifeless as the ones in SO3.

Actually, no I haven't - I've somehow managed to avoid all of Tri-Ace's games. I thought I indicated that in an earlier post in this thread ;). Not a good first impression from Tri-Ace.

I do know the twist at the end of SO3, which allegedly angered many people.
Well, the emphasis of the SO games (and most other tri-Ace games) are the battle system and the technical aspects of the game. Most fans of the series enjoy it for the awesome battle system, the smooth 60fps combat, unlockable difficulties, collecting battle trophies and challenging the post game dungeons/ uber bosses.

SO really isn't the series to look to if you are looking for an awesome story. But really, I feel that way about most jrpgs.

Sometimes, I think gamers should write the liner quotes on the sleeve. This should've been on there damnit! Good summary (maybe edit the Star Ocean series wikipedia page with this? haha)
Added:
I think flub you brought it up in the other thread when someone called DDS "demonic power rangers from the future".

[Hitoshura]

Aside from Square Enix recently and Namco, most companies do not change major things for American audiences.



Pull your head out of your rear.

How about citing some examples then, instead of talking out of your behind? Hmm?

[Vincent Alexander]

Aside from Square Enix recently and Namco, most companies do not change major things for American audiences.



Pull your head out of your rear.
Mrmmm...butterscotch.

[Olethros]

^ LOL. I almost forgot about that! :lol:

[Hitoshura]

^^ Oh lord... ahahahaha.

[ViolenceJack]

Sei have you even played SO4? Just Wondering.

[unknown]

The Red RE5 Console looks nice. Not nice enough for me to buy one though.

Unknown, if your system does die it's covered for a year and you can ship it for repairs for free and check up on its status fairly easily, I got mine back a couple days after SO4 came out. If you get an extended warranty at GameCrazy if it breaks after a year they'll replace it for free on the spot. If mine breaks again though I'm gonna upgrade to an Elite (which I'm told doesnt break down much).

I'll look into the extended warranty thing at GameCrazy, if it's not that much, I'll probably pick one up there. Thanks for the info ViolenceJack.

Right now the 360 is the cheapest current gen console on the market. An Arcade SKU costs the same amount as PSP bundles, and $30 more than the DSi. $50 more than a PS2 with a memory card for a system that is heads and shoulders above it technically. $50 less than a Wii, which is also far beneath it technically, and half the price of a PS3. If you're complaining about the price of the system, then you should complain about other systems that cost more and offer less. Also I don't see people bringing up DRE every time someone mentions buying a current model PS2... because just like the RROD, it's not a problem anymore.

uh I just want another price drop, the prices of the other consoles don't have anything to do with it.

[SlaughterX]

Yeah that makes a lot of sense, complain about the price of a console, then pay more for an in store warranty when it comes with a 3 year one that you most likely won't need to use anyway.

[unknown]

When did I exactly complain about the price? My main complaint was with the faulty hardware.

Wanting something to be even cheaper and complaining about how much it costs are two different things.

[SlaughterX]

What don't you understand about recent consoles being much more reliable than the old ones that you're most likely referring to? Aren't you aware that there have been several hardware revisions, and that the RROD stopped being sucha big problem since the Falcon systems were released over a year ago? Even if you buy a store warranty, unless there's another major console revision you're still going to be trading it in for another system with the same hardware. Things break, but the fact of the matter is, far less of the more recent more 360s are breaking compared to the pre-Falcon models... but whatever, back to the game at hand...


I really hate the ####ing camera.

[Moé]

Nope, I understood just fine. What you want to play IS the Japanese version, not the English version. That's what importing is all about. If you want to play the game in English but have absolutely nothing else changed, then we're talking about a pure translation, not a localization anymore. As far as I know, most places aren't in the strictly translating business. Maybe you could start the first one?

Um...

Aside from Square Enix recently and Namco, most companies do not change major things for American audiences.

Why is it so much to ask for a company not to change stupid #### like this? It's not like I'm whining about the JP voices or anything, because that's silly, and I support dubs 100%. I'm just expecting the same localization quality most companies have been giving for years, Square Enix included.

i mean YEAH LETS REWARD SQUARE ENIX FOR SCREWING OVER THE WEEABOOS, YEEHAW PEOPLE SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO PREFER THINGS UNAMERICAN

:/
>CGI Models
>Amurikkan

[ViolenceJack]

I think the extended warranty was either $40 or $50. I cant rem.

[Kakizaki]

Things break, but the fact of the matter is, far less of the more recent more 360s are breaking compared to the pre-Falcon models... but whatever, back to the game at hand...Yeah, things break and the recent 360s have been better, but come on dude. Things don't breakdown with the frequency that 360s did / do. I can understand being frustrated, but you are a noted MS apologist and the Falcons still had a fairly robust failure rate.

Some reports have stated that the failure rate of the first few waves of 360s were around 68%. That is unacceptable and goes beyond the "hey, everything breaks down now and again" mentality. Even if the newest versions have many of the kinks finally worked out, you can't blame people for being gun shy.

[SlaughterX]

All that is completely beside the point because he wouldn't be getting either of those older hardware revisions. The point that I was trying to make is that regardless of the 360's old failure rate, other consoles break too. At least with the 360 you're covered for 3 years, but saying something like "but I need another price drop to convince me to go buy a console that might die on me" then thinking that paying $50 more for an in store warranty makes everything ok when the console is already covered is just pretty stupid to me. Also I don't know where you got that number from, but I doubt it's true, the rumored numbers were around 33%, which is still high.

[Kakizaki]

^It isn't besides the point. I was simply stating how past performance can influence someone's decision despite supposed improvements. It really isn't hard to comprehend.

Articles citing 68% failure rate with 360s manufactured in China:

http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/report-xbox-360-failure-rate-was-as-high-as-68/?biz=1

http://venturebeat.com/2008/09/05/xbox-360-defects-an-inside-history-of-microsofts-video-game-console-woes/

[SlaughterX]

GameSpot (http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/starocean4/review.html?tag=topslot;thumb;3) review is finally up.

[xHaseox]

KAY?!

*headdesk*

I was watching some videos of gameplay and private actions on Youtube, and I wanted to strangle that little girl, kay?

Gameplay looks great, cutscenes look awkward. If I ever cave in and buy an Xbox 360, I'd probably grab Lost Odyssey or Tales of Vesperia over this.

Until a price drop hits, at least.

[raum215]

I am 19 hours in, and while Lymle (pronounced: Limmel), the K-girl, loli-witch, is actually fairly accurate, sadly. In modern day, she would likely be diagnosed with Developmental Trauma Disorder.

She has encountered a traumatic event and is basically a child inside her mentality frozen at the moment of the trauma; even though her body is 15. I haven't seen if she ever revisits the episode, but such is not always the case. I knew a girl who had this, after a horrible auto accident that was fatal to some and left her in a coma. She was awesome, gorgeous, but mentally vulnerable to episodes of childhood regression.

More than that, in game, Lymle kicks ass. Buy her a first aid manual and duck some points into that, (set her voice to off if you need to) and set her BEAT to burst and tactic to "stay out of trouble" and she is a powerful support asset on the field on her planet. At higher levels, she is a great way to play certain colors on the bonus board.

Personally, Lymle *could* be odd if you have never known a person with that level of trauma, and it is a very complex characterization to portray in a video game, but it seems to be familiar to me (Though my highschool friend Julie could *probably* not throw fireballs, wind blades, or summon a somersaulting hellhound.)

Also, I liked the story of Tales, but Star Ocean is showing promise (if just good Sci-Fantasy JRPG promise) but I am enjoying Star Ocean way more for the gameplay alone. Still, You really couldn't lose with either game!

[ViolenceJack]

Nice, raum, I was thinking that too.

[SlaughterX]

I wonder how the hell I always end up in surprise attacks even though I'm running head on into tthe enemy...

[raum215]

slaughterX = "always end up in surprise attacks "

That is odd. I *occasionally* get suprised, but it is because i am running at the enemy, and sort of overstep them. As far as i can see - enemy detection seems to work well for me.

[SlaughterX]

So I finally made it to the second disc... and after a long cutscene the game freezes! I installed the 2nd and 3rd discs to my HDD, and I am running the game at 1080p, which I hear is a bad combination (my 360 has been set to 1080p for over a year now and I've never had a game freeze up on my, including SO4 so far, but the first disc I never installed to the HDD). So yeah, guess I will be deleting both discs off my HDD.

[Flußkönig]

From what I have seen it seems like you run the risk of the game freezing just by running it at 1080 resolution.

From my own experience I played the whole game with it installed at 720 and never had any problems with freezing.

[SlaughterX]

Yeah it just froze again on a particularly long dungeon and now I don't think I will be playing it for a while.

[PFV]

I remember there being an issue with two of the spells (Silence and one other that I can't remember off hand), where if they failed (with a permanent "MISS" above an enemy's head), the game was guaranteed to crash during the battle results.

Wouldn't be the first time a Star Ocean game has had crashing bugs within its battle system.

[SlaughterX]

So I've been dying at bosses pretty often lately. Right now I am stuck at the horde after horde of Phatom ship clones or whatever the hell they're called... how many of these damn things do you have to fight in a row? I also died a lot at the boss in the Purgetorium. I wish there were more options on the team AI settings, it seems very basic.

[Haderach]

Game finished. Veredict: Star Ocean 4 aka game that fuked up the series :(

[Manly Biceps]

So I've been dying at bosses pretty often lately. Right now I am stuck at the horde after horde of Phatom ship clones or whatever the hell they're called... how many of these damn things do you have to fight in a row? I also died a lot at the boss in the Purgetorium. I wish there were more options on the team AI settings, it seems very basic.

It's 10 rounds. And yes, you do actually have to beat them all, no tricks. I forgot how I did it, though. As a precautionary word, the last boss has something like 3.5 million HP.

[rainking187]

Game finished. Veredict: Star Ocean 4 aka game that fuked up the series :(


Did you skip the third game or something?

[ViolenceJack]

LoL.

Phantom Soldiers are pretty tough against Physical Attacks, you need Spell Casters and someone to distract their attacks. Doing the side quest prior in Roak's Astral Caves helps you grind a few levels as well.

[SlaughterX]

Finally beat that damn big ass bug boss, man that #### too forever. Now finally on to Ein II or whatever the hell it's called!

[ViolenceJack]

EnII is fun. I got all the way to where the boss was, then left and went back to the ship. lol

I hope you got the Ability in the Aeos Caves that lets you make charges for the rings on the fly.

[SlaughterX]

Ok how the hell do I find the Wind Ring? I've talked to to the guy at the item shop, went to the grave yard and talked to that guy, foudn the note adn talked to the unyeilding man who wants a vase but I have no idea how to create it, of if I even need to for the ring. This #### is annoying.

[ViolenceJack]

Its near the tree.

[ViolenceJack]

The Vase he wants is the Japanesque Vase, should be able to make one by now but its not needed for the ring.

[SlaughterX]

The end of this game is complete bull####, 4 long ass boss fights in a row with no save points inbetween. Whoever thought that was a good idea deserves to die from cancer of the butt.

[Flußkönig]

^Are you going to try out any of the post game content. I get the feeling you wouldn't like it all that much as it is just multi floored dungoens with no save points and hard enemies.

[Manly Biceps]

The end of this game is complete bull####, 4 long ass boss fights in a row with no save points inbetween. Whoever thought that was a good idea deserves to die from cancer of the butt.

Here's my experience with that game. It's midnight on Saturday/Sunday. I get to that start of that last dungeon. I'm not quite tired yet, but I figure I'll probably need to grind some before I beat the last boss. So I want to save right before the last boss, and get my grind on tomorrow.

7 hours and 25+ levels of unintentional grinding later, I'm watching the credits roll as the sun rises. Not because I got hooked, no, simply because there are no save points, and the last dungeon features an (basically) invisi-maze with puzzles that force you to backtrack.

I started hating that game from Disc 2, and it just built into this huge katamari of hate. A "hatamari" if you will. That final dungeon was me rolling up the Earth.

(Disclaimer: This is not to be taken as "OMG! Atlus hates Star Ocean!" This is simply one guy at Atlus's personal opinion/experience with the game.)

[Olethros]

^ :surprise: OMG! Atlus hates Star Ocean! :o

[Manly Biceps]

Damn You, Olethros!

There Are Four Lights!

[SlaughterX]

So is there any way for me to buy more items now, as I don't see myself beating this final boss with out more revival items. Is Serrah the only one that learns restoration (or any type of revival spell)?

Also yeah I sure as #### didn't plan on playing it for as long as I did last night. I started reinstalling Windows on my sister and cousin's laptops and while I was waitign decided I might as well play it since it was going to be a while. i was about to go mad running around in circles in the final dungeon, to the point where I was just going to try to back track to make it back to a save point, but after hours I finally figured it out. Anyway I don't plan on touching this game again after I beat it, I jsut want the #### to end.

[Olethros]

Damn You, Olethros!

There Are Four Lights!

LOL! ;)

On topic, while I did like the game overall, I also remember getting really frustrated by the stretch at the end without being able to save. I was really, REALLY late getting somewhere important because of that ####!

[ViolenceJack]

Nice, glad I decided to grind elsewhere and finish all the side-quests before continuing to the final dungeon, guess I'm just lucky.

[SlaughterX]

Finally beat it, but how do I continue with my cleared data, do I have to start a new game?

[ViolenceJack]

I dunno, I know that you can start a new game anytime for some carryover data. Could try loading the clear save file. I havent beaten the game yet, just got as far as the last dungeon and lost interest, might pick it up now that I can read wtf they are saying now.

[Flußkönig]

Finally beat it, but how do I continue with my cleared data, do I have to start a new game? Do you mean the extra bosses and bonus dungeon? You don't need to do anything special although I think you have to fight a boss that is behind the door you couldn't open at first in order to get into the first bonus dungeon.

I don't really remember though, so maybe you don't.

I don't think much actually get carried over in a new game other than the monster and weapon list.

[ViolenceJack]

I think Battle Trophies might.