Star Ocean is a series of science fantasy action role-playing games. It was created by the Japanese company tri-Ace and published by Square Enix, which was formerly known as Enix.
Development
Star Ocean is one of the first real-time role-playing games (RPGs) that lets players change the story's ending based on their choices and actions, especially through a system called "private actions." The original Star Ocean, released in 1996 by Enix and developed by tri-Ace, included a "private actions" system where the player's decisions affected the protagonist's relationships with other characters. These relationships influenced the story, creating different paths and multiple endings. The 1999 sequel, Star Ocean: The Second Story, had up to 86 unique endings, with hundreds of possible combinations, setting a standard for the number of outcomes in video games. Inspired by dating simulation games, the system used friendship and relationship points between characters, allowing players to form pairs or "ship" any characters, including romantic or friendly relationships. This system also changed how characters acted during battles.
The developers at tri-Ace, who enjoy science fiction and space travel, designed the Star Ocean series with a sci-fi setting. They were influenced by Star Trek, which shaped the game's visuals and overall themes. While the first game included fantasy elements to attract a wider audience, later games focused more on sci-fi themes. Star Ocean: Till the End of Time was described by its producer, Yoshinori Yamagishi, as tri-Ace's "ultimate vision" of the Star Ocean universe. The long time gap between Star Ocean: The Second Story and Till the End of Time, in the game's timeline, happened because the series prioritized building the fictional world over focusing on specific characters. In Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness, producer Shuichi Kobayashi noted that the series' main theme is the idea of first contact between different societies and planets.
Games
The first game in the series was called Star Ocean. It was released on July 19, 1996, for the Super Famicom and was not released outside Japan. However, fans translated it into English using a method called ROM hacking. The game can now be played through emulation. It introduced key elements that became important parts of the series, such as a futuristic setting, real-time battles, item creation, and private actions. The story takes place in 346 SD and follows Roddick Farrence as he searches for a cure to a sickness on his planet with the help of two Earthlings. An improved version called Star Ocean: First Departure was released for the PlayStation Portable on December 27, 2007, in Japan, and later in North America and Europe in October 2008. This version used the engine from Star Ocean 2, included prerendered backgrounds and 3D battlefields, and added new character art, animated cut-scenes, and fully voiced dialogue. It also introduced new playable characters.
Star Ocean: The Second Story was released for the PlayStation on July 30, 1998, in Japan, May 31, 1999, in North America, and April 12, 2000, in Europe. It kept the features of the first game but added prerendered backgrounds, full motion videos, and 3D battlefields. The story takes place in 366 SD and follows a new group of characters, including Claude C. Kenny, the son of Ronyx J. Kenny from the first game, and Rena Lanford. Together, they investigate the Sorcery Globe, which has landed on Planet Expel and caused disasters. An improved version called Star Ocean: Second Evolution was released for the PlayStation Portable on April 2, 2008, in Japan, January 20, 2009, in North America, and in Australia and Europe the next month. It included fully voiced dialogue, new playable characters, and new artwork and animated cut-scenes from Production I.G.
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere is a direct sequel to The Second Story and was released for the Game Boy Color on June 28, 2001, in Japan. A North American version was planned but canceled. This game adapted the series for handheld devices, changing features like interactive item creation, auto private actions, 2D side-scrolling battles, and Field Actions. Random battles were removed. The story takes place in 368 SD, two years after The Second Story, and follows the return of all twelve main characters as they try to solve the mystery of Planet Edifice, which destroys civilizations every 200 years. In 2008, a Japanese-only remake for mobile devices was released with new graphics, controls, and a redesigned battle system.
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time was released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan in 2003. A director’s cut with bonus dungeons, new playable characters, a versus mode, and updated gameplay was released in 2004 and brought to North America and Europe the same year. This game was the first fully 3D entry in the series and included fully voiced dialogue. It kept most features from earlier games but added new elements like the fury and bonus battle gauge, the ability to patent items, and recruiting inventors to create items. The story takes place nearly 400 years after Blue Sphere, in 772 SD. The main character, Fayt Leingod, is pursued by Vendeeni forces across space after being separated from his family during an alien attack.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope was released for the Xbox 360 in February 2009 for Japan and North America, and in June 2009 for Australia and Europe. It was also released for the PlayStation 3 worldwide in February 2010. This game is a prequel to the series and follows the aftermath of World War III, where humanity searches for a new home. The main character is Edge Maverick, who is joined by his childhood friend, Reimi Saionji.
Star Ocean: Material Trader is a free-to-play card and item creation RPG developed by Hippos Lab and published by Square Enix for the GREE mobile phone social network in 2013. The service was discontinued in February 2014, and the application was later removed.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness was released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 in 2016. The story takes place between The Second Story and Till the End of Time, in 537 SD.
Star Ocean: Anamnesis is a free-to-play role-playing game with 3D characters and environments. Players could battle enemies in real-time with up to four players. It was released in Japan on December 7, 2016, and later worldwide in July 2018 for Android and iOS devices. Both the global and Japanese versions were discontinued in 2019 and 2021, respectively.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam on October 27, 2022. The game features two protagonists and a story that changes based on player choices. Akira Yasuda, known as Akiman, returned as the character designer from Integrity and Faithlessness and Anamnesis.
Out of the seven games in the series, six were released outside Japan. Star Ocean: The Second Story was the first game published in the USA by Sony Computer Entertainment America.
With the release of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time for the PlayStation 2, Square Enix aimed to attract more gamers, especially in the United States, where the franchise had not been very popular. A Director’s Cut version with more playable characters, additional games, and new storylines was released in North America. By July 2005, Till the End of Time was included in Sony’s Greatest Hits line, showing it had done well in North America.
In 2008, Square Enix released an improved version of the original Star Ocean for the PlayStation Portable called Star Ocean: First Departure. This was followed in 2009 by an improved version of The Second Story for the PlayStation Portable called Star Ocean: Second Evolution.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope was released in
Common elements
The characters in the series were designed to look like action figures. A feature that would have changed the characters’ appearance based on their equipment was planned but not used because there were too many characters to design. In the later game Star Ocean: The Last Hope, the characters’ looks did change to match the weapons they used.
A common gameplay element is that some story choices and endings are hard to find. Players do not see details like "affection points," which affect story outcomes. This has upset some players who feel they miss choices they are unaware of, while others enjoy replaying the game to discover new story paths.
Star Ocean games include a wide variety of items. Characters can make new tools or improve old ones through activities like metalworking, alchemy, writing, painting, and cooking. The most powerful items are usually only available through crafting. Other items can be sold for money or used for other purposes, such as books that teach new skills or meals that help manage inventory limits.
Star Ocean games are known for their real-time battle systems, which were among the first of their kind on consoles. Battles happen on a separate screen, and all characters move freely in three dimensions. They can dodge enemies, chase them, and use spells or attacks even while being attacked. In earlier games, magicians used spells, and fighters used special attacks called "Killer Moves." These abilities are learned after reaching certain levels or completing specific tasks and require health or magic points to use. In Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, all characters can use both spells and Killer Moves.
Music
The first Star Ocean game was composed by Motoi Sakuraba. It included music from real instruments, such as flutes, and also had recorded sounds of battles. Sakuraba created the music for Star Ocean and First Departure. Music critics praised his unique style of progressive rock and the way he used creative musical ideas in these games. Some songs from Star Ocean: The Second Story were added to the First Departure album. These songs included both well-known themes and less familiar tracks. Some music pieces were not on the original album but were added in the remake. The First Departure remake included the theme song "Heart," performed by the Japanese group Asunaro. This song played during the game's opening and ending scenes and was part of the official soundtrack released in 2008. Later, the song "Atarashī Ippo" ("The First Step") by Yauchi Keiko of Shadow of Laffandor replaced "Heart" in the First Departure R version.
The music for Star Ocean: Blue Sphere was also composed by Motoi Sakuraba. He created the soundtrack using a PC-9801 computer. Composing music for the Game Boy Color was difficult because of limited sound quality and the number of sounds that could be used. Sakuraba especially remembered the battle theme "Hand to Hand," as he tried to show the excitement of battle despite the hardware's limits. He also composed the music for Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. The soundtrack was released in four parts. A special version of Volume 1 included a box to store all four albums. When the game was updated to the Director's Cut, Sakuraba added new music and released an album with these new pieces. The song "The Small Bird That Forgot How to Fly" by JPop singer Misia was used for the game's ending credits.
Sakuraba also composed the music for Star Ocean: The Last Hope. The soundtrack was released in two parts: the first was a 3-CD set with 71 tracks and included a DVD with an interview with Sakuraba, videos of his workshop, and performances of his original music. The second part was an arranged version of the soundtrack with remixed tracks. Sakuraba is a key composer for the Star Ocean series and created a "synth-rock" soundtrack for Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness. As with other games in the series, the music for Star Ocean: Anamnesis was also composed by Motoi Sakuraba.
Manga and anime
A manga series created by Mayumi Azuma based on Star Ocean: The Second Story was left unfinished. This manga inspired an anime series titled Star Ocean EX, which was also incomplete. The anime was released in the United States by Geneon Entertainment. The series includes 26 episodes that follow events from the first disc of the PlayStation game. After the anime ended, the story was continued through drama CDs.
Reception
By 2013, the game series had sold more than 4.2 million copies. In a 2009 review, Nintendo Life praised the technical quality of Star Ocean, calling it "one of the best-looking Super Nintendo games ever created" and saying the soundtrack "never ceases to amaze." Famitsu reviewed Star Ocean: The First Departure, a remake of the original Star Ocean, noting that the animation and characters were well done and the story was "charming." However, they mentioned that players could only save their progress at certain points, such as the world map, which they felt was too large and had a limited field of view. Star Ocean: The Second Story is one of the most popular games in the series. Most reviewers gave positive feedback, but some thought the game was only average. Jeff Lundrigan, reviewing the PlayStation version for Next Generation, said the game had some good points and some not-so-good points, but ultimately called it "average." Star Ocean: Blue Sphere became popular in Japan because of its story and gameplay systems. This led tri-Ace to create a new version for mobile devices. The remake included redrawn graphics and a remastered soundtrack.
At first, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time received mixed reactions in Japan. Some parts of the game had technical issues, and it did not work on older PlayStation 2 models. Enix said Sony was responsible because they used features from updated libraries that were not backward-compatible. Star Ocean: The Last Hope was reviewed by IGN, which said the story moved slowly but that the game held together well with action-packed gameplay. One small problem was the need to switch discs if players wanted to travel between planets later in the game.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness was noted by IGN for having graphics that ranged from very high quality to low quality, similar to the game Minecraft. The review also mentioned there were no cutscenes, so the acting had less emotional impact. However, they praised the game's music and characters. Star Ocean: Anamnesis was described by Kotaku as "exploitative but charming," meaning it used old game ideas but was fun. However, they criticized the "blandness" of its free-to-play format, which they said was not very exciting.