Incorrect. You unlock both UNIVERSE and CHAOS difficulties by clearing the game once.
Excellent.
Incorrect. You unlock both UNIVERSE and CHAOS difficulties by clearing the game once.
I played SO2 for ~30 minutes ages ago and SO4 for a few hours a few years ago.
The story was rather basic, but not too bad. I liked characters a lot - sure, tropes all around, but at least they were well made and not annoying, which is rare in JRPGs.
"why dont AA developers make AAA games anymore with the budgets they dont have!?"
A lot of people seem to be living in a dreamworld
A Star Ocean game with good characters?!?! Now that's a first.
I don't think it's a matter of it simply being an AA game. This is probably going to be one of the shortest/smallest JRPGs I've ever played. I've played a lot of JRPGs.
I do want to clarify that my opinion of the game is not that it's "bad," for those looking forward to the game. But it's going to be a mixed bag.
I think your problem is more that your attitude has changed toward JPRG's rather than cut-scenes equating a "slice of life anime". Truly a ridiculous comment.
Scale has always been an issue for SO. There's a reason why the series was known for getting stuck on some backwater planet for most of the game. SO4 tried to go a bit grander but the rest of the game took a massive hit. So I like the idea that they recognized this and built a small scope game instead. I don't think folks should be too concerned about game length either because as Aeana points out, some of the most highly regarded JRPGs aren't more than 20-30 hours in length. It's more important if you enjoyed that time playing it rather than the actual lenght.
I'm pretty excited reading some of the impressions. I also played Exist Archive so I know what I'm getting into with tri-Ace's output this generation.
How was Exist Archive?
I'm surprised there's no localization announcement yet.
Yeah but some games manage to be good and long.
I don't like when they are too long (70 is too much for me) but it's true that 20/30 is a bit short.
I'm still looking forward to play it, and at least we know it already so it's not a surprise like for the first players.
How was Exist Archive?
I'm surprised there's no localization announcement yet.
Scale has always been an issue for SO. There's a reason why the series was known for getting stuck on some backwater planet for most of the game. SO4 tried to go a bit grander but the rest of the game took a massive hit. So I like the idea that they recognized this and built a small scope game instead. I don't think folks should be too concerned about game length either because as Aeana points out, some of the most highly regarded JRPGs aren't more than 20-30 hours in length. It's more important if you enjoyed that time playing it rather than the actual lenght.
I'm pretty excited reading some of the impressions. I also played Exist Archive so I know what I'm getting into with tri-Ace's output this generation.
Some of the most revered Japanese RPGs come in under 25 hours: FF4, Chrono Trigger, Suikoden, Suikoden 2 (though 25 hours is probably a baseline length for this one), Parasite Eve (this game is 7 hours at best), DQ4, Earthbound, Secret of Mana, Illusion of Gaia. Ys 1 is a one-sitting game. Ys 2 is slightly longer. Lunar comes in about that length. It isn't until the tail end of the SNES era where RPG lengths started ballooning, and the average length stopped being so average. Within this series, Star Ocean 1 is about 20 hours long itself.
But I don't really think length is what people are complaining about. It's scope. It's variety. That's fair. They wanted more locations, they wanted more variety. But a short game alone is clearly not bad considering how the games that always come up at the top of the lists of RPG rankings tend to be just as short.
Kind of. To be honest I half expected the game to "open up" at one point, but the 6 fields you visited during early-mid game are almost all there is.I guess I never realized a few of those games were as short as they were. But I included "smallest" for a reason. I think you're right that it's not about length, it's about execution. But that's really the problem here.
some of the most highly regarded JRPGs aren't more than 20-30 hours in length. It's more important if you enjoyed that time playing it rather than the actual length.
To be fair, the only way for such franchises to keep going is for their budget to be inline with their sales.When you see all the shit they are doing for FFXV it doesn't surprise me this game was made on a shoestring budget.
Kind of. To be honest I half expected the game to "open up" at one point, but the 6 fields you visited during early-mid game are almost all there is.
Pretty sure I said as much, but changing attitudes don't make criticism irrelevant.
I get that this isn't "for me" and some people enjoy it, but it's the same tropes, same bullshit rewound again and again and again. Moving into motion-captured cutscenes only served to exaggerate the indulgence of this kind of shit rather than focus on the plot/lore/whatever.
And I'm all for 20 hour games. It's a rarity when I play a single player game that averages 60+ hours that it hasn't already worn out its welcome around the 30 hour mark.
A Star Ocean game with good characters?!?! Now that's a first.
You didn't like the Star Ocean 2nd Story characters?
I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion but FF13 being one of the "most acclaimed" just shows the level of the previous generation. I haven't played NnK myself, but most complaints I've heard were that it was too long and got boring somewhere in the middle. As someone who recently played through most FF games, they aren't as long as I though and it's not really a bad thing.Everyone will have their own opinion, but I think the Quality > Quantity argument needs to be quashed. Developers should aspire to deliver both, especially with a RPG.
It seems generation upon generation the trend is that games are becoming shorter with no real justification other than the casual gamer is becoming more impatient.
Looking at the most acclaimed RPGs of last generation (based on Metacritic / How long to beat)
Valkyria Chronicles - 32 hours
Ni No Kuni - 46 hours
Final Fantasy XIII - 50 hours (how?!)
Now the only other (j)RPG I've played for the PS4 is Tales of Zestiria, and that only took 24 hours or so to beat.
Maybe growing up in the golden age of RPGs where 40-50 hours was the norm, but now I'd be content with 30-35 hours
If a team can deliver a concise story which doesn't feel like they ran out of money halfway through, that's great.
What makes you think it's his call how many tracks he gets paid to deliver, and at what budget?I figure something had to give sooner or later. It simply amazes me how he manages to do so much all at the same time. So if it comes at the cost of him reusing a few tracks from his previous SO work, I don't see that as a bad thing.
Probably makes his work load easier, while I do agree entirely new tracks might be preferable to some.
Sorry, haven't found him in there. (Hurry up and get to the credits! I must know if Suguro is anywhere in there...
One of the main reasons for Fiore being fine is the fact that she isn't called attention to in cutscenes all the time. It's kind of like how in SNES RPGs, a character could have a ridiculous design and it didn't really matter because you couldn't really focus on it. As a character, Fiore is a coolheaded and pretty mature character. I enjoy her presence in the group.So, wait, the game has okay characters and writing even with the Witch (Fiore?) I have to see that. One would think they'd be mutually exclusive.
Maybe it had the highest words count of scenario text he ever wrote. Doesn't have to mean the resulting game is long.The short length seems at odds with Gotanda saying SO5 was the longest SO scenario he wrote...
Seems the characters (and by extension the writing) are a marked improvement on SO4? Good to hear.
Maybe it had the highest words count of scenario text he ever wrote. Doesn't have to mean the resulting game is long.
How many of the SO games did Gotanda write himself? I know he did 1 by himself, but I know 4 was farmed out. I haven't paid much attention to the credits for 2 and 3.
A Star Ocean game with good characters?!?! Now that's a first.
Sorry, haven't found him in there. (
How many of the SO games did Gotanda write himself? I know he did 1 by himself, but I know 4 was farmed out. I haven't paid much attention to the credits for 2 and 3.