Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
they would SQEXs approval to do anything anyways Id imagine.
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Star Ocean 5 : Integrity and Faithlessness - Import Impressions
- Thread starter Parakeetman
- Start date
they would SQEXs approval to do anything anyways Id imagine.
Cornbread78
Member
Figured as much. I just sent it to SEUSA and @Playstation to create avitars out of those skill menu icons... Would be awesome.
Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
haha that would indeed be awesome
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yeah really do not like how convos and camera work is handled at all really ruins the character dialog scenes. old school snes stuff sure this is how it was but now that we have 3d models and design has changed this just does not look right and cheapens the dialog scenes
this is all in regards to the non cutscene stuff of course.
on a more positive note how the characters move their eyes around really adds to giving them a bit more life
Thanks for streaming. Just hearing the menu sounds, classic star ocean is lighting me up like a Christmas tree. Can't fucking wait for this game. Love me some star ocean.
encephalon
Member
Unskippable cutscenes. : (
What.... Is this real?
encephalon
Member
The cutscene cutscenes are probably skippable. But not the most scenes are the lowest tier ones, which aren't. For example, the cutscene before the first boss fight ...
Right with you there, Star Ocean's in particular. Glad they're still in here!
ThatStupidLion
Member
good impressions - keeping hype in check. Will turn out to be a decent jrpg to scratch that itch when it gets localized.
Thanks OP
Stream is good too! Though is player OP? Hes going thru Battles like butter. Nice variety of enemies so far though.
Thanks OP
Stream is good too! Though is player OP? Hes going thru Battles like butter. Nice variety of enemies so far though.
Tetsuo9999
Member
Can you really not skip those boring, static cutscenes? That's going backwards on something that they pioneered back in 2003. I'm starting to get annoyed how even niche Japanese games like this are starting to adopt bad mechanics/decisions from Western games. Playing this game more than once would be a chore with how often they make the player stand around and watch the other characters stand in place for minutes at a time. It would be one thing if the cutscenes were actually cinematic, but from what I've seen, most of them are as boring as possible. This is made worse by the rumors that SO5 has a New Game + feature for the first time. I can't fathom playing through this several times if watching all that crap is mandatory.
Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
The private actions are pretty cool. Like the dialog in them. Esp the ones with choices. Though the problem is totally watered down due to not being able to see SHIT due to the bad idea of how they decided to leave the camera as is.
Honestly who the fuck thought this was a good idea?
Honestly who the fuck thought this was a good idea?
Tetsuo9999
Member
Yeah, I watched my friend play, and it seems like they took the worst things from Western open world games; forced walking sections every two minutes, cutscenes that consist of characters standing around and talking without even a special camera angle, and no ability to skip them. I hope the Japanese complain about this stuff, because this definitely killed any chance this game had of being played more than once for me.
Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Not sure. Though I know switching an AI to manual makes them do literally nothing unless you switch input
Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
will stop once i get fishing alchemy and cooking to lv 5 already gave the others there.
nade a better wand than i can buy already too ruby wand. fought some irritating boss in a special area. man if i wasnt lv 20 plus that would have ended in failure with how much dmg it was dealing
ok 2 more to get to lv 5 now
leveling up the roles is how you seem to unlock other ones. managed to get a few more just now. ace and saver
nade a better wand than i can buy already too ruby wand. fought some irritating boss in a special area. man if i wasnt lv 20 plus that would have ended in failure with how much dmg it was dealing
ok 2 more to get to lv 5 now
leveling up the roles is how you seem to unlock other ones. managed to get a few more just now. ace and saver
How do you unlock fishing and mining? I unlocked item creation by accident, since towns feel so barren that I don't really feel like interacting with anything more than I have to.
Finished streaming and playing for today. After ~4 hours, I have to say that I have very mixed feelings about the game. It feels very... cheap? Empty maps with enemies scattered around remind me of Zestiria, most "cutscenes" being just characters standing and talking are like many people mentioned not that great. Add to that constant clipping (their feet go through all the bridges), and weird looking animations. I bet that most of my problems with the visuals and design come from PS3 limitations, but after playing SO4 a few years ago I was expecting something on a much bigger scale, not a few corridors which I already had to run through a few times.
I'll probably keep playing, since I have a feeling that the game might become more epic later and combat now is much more enjoyable than before (currently level 22).
Combat so far is rather mindless and I completely understand the "attacking doesn't feel good" part - regular attacks have a weird lag between input and execution.
At least the last boss of a sudden secret "dungeon" (which itself felt like a joke) was finally a challenge and I had 2 characters temporarily die during the fight just because I never had to guard and step dodge before.
I really hope it gets better, because right now it feels like a Tales game with nice looking characters and less charm (PA < Skits) outside of menus.
If anyone wants to watch the archive of my stream, it should all be here once YT finishes processing it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEGuXbLrGWI&feature=youtu.be
Finished streaming and playing for today. After ~4 hours, I have to say that I have very mixed feelings about the game. It feels very... cheap? Empty maps with enemies scattered around remind me of Zestiria, most "cutscenes" being just characters standing and talking are like many people mentioned not that great. Add to that constant clipping (their feet go through all the bridges), and weird looking animations. I bet that most of my problems with the visuals and design come from PS3 limitations, but after playing SO4 a few years ago I was expecting something on a much bigger scale, not a few corridors which I already had to run through a few times.
I'll probably keep playing, since I have a feeling that the game might become more epic later and combat now is much more enjoyable than before (currently level 22).
Combat so far is rather mindless and I completely understand the "attacking doesn't feel good" part - regular attacks have a weird lag between input and execution.
At least the last boss of a sudden secret "dungeon" (which itself felt like a joke) was finally a challenge and I had 2 characters temporarily die during the fight just because I never had to guard and step dodge before.
I really hope it gets better, because right now it feels like a Tales game with nice looking characters and less charm (PA < Skits) outside of menus.
If anyone wants to watch the archive of my stream, it should all be here once YT finishes processing it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEGuXbLrGWI&feature=youtu.be
OmegaDL50
Member
Well this game was developed on the PS3 and ported over to the PS4. So it would have some anchor of the PS3 development roots shown.
If the game was developed from the ground up with the PS4 in mind, I'd think these minor issues would have been addressed, but such as the nature from porting from cross gen unfortunately.
Cornbread78
Member
Wait, is there a nice opening cinematic, or does it throw you right into gameplay?
I'm aware of that. It was also the case with Zestiria. This doesn't change the fact that I was expecting something a bit more epic (maybe because that's how I remember previous SO games when they came out).
Also, the port came out earlier than the "original", which is pretty funny.
ULTROS!
People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
http://youtu.be/juSbn_jRyU8
My favorite is still 4's opening but this is fine, simple but fine... Love the music though.
Cornbread78
Member
Goodness, that music is soo Star Ocean.... Amazing.. TY
What about once you hit start, is there an opening cutscene, or did they do away that that one?
The cutscene direction seems to me rather a problem of budget and not a deliberate choice by tri-ace. It's expensive to create cutscenes with their specific animations and cinematography, so it's cheaper and easier to just have an audio clip running with some standard animations looping while the camera remains static.
Yeah. In a time when mid-budget games are pretty hard to rationalize financially, having them actually be made is going to lead to some shortcuts and compromises. If it means we get these kind of games at all, I'm on board.
Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
you just answered why you didnt learn fishing and mining.
you need to go talk to welch multiple times and she gives you more chores "quests" to do. the last one that she gives is blacksmithing.
Not as much. Id say its more poor direction rather than hardware alone. As it goes kinda past "minor issues"
Not really since they went through the trouble to do facial animations and gestures of the characters at times during these scenes but didnt bother with having the camera pulled in close or anything. Screams more poor direction by someone who has no idea what they really want to do rather than just no money.
they mentioned it was done to not take away control from the players for large periods (SO4 was ridiculous in this department, some cutscenes went on and on) and some of these cutscenes directly lead to battles, and they wanted that transition to be seamless apparently.
Also tri-Ace is pretty bad at cutscene direction, so I guess they just went 'fuck it' and made them like that
Same NPC? That's so weird, because creation is like the 5th skill on that screen, which led me to believe I missed something in the first/second town.you just answered why you didnt learn fishing and mining.
you need to go talk to welch multiple times and she gives you more chores "quests" to do. the last one that she gives is blacksmithing.
Not as much. Id say its more poor direction rather than hardware alone. As it goes kinda past "minor issues"
Not really since they went through the trouble to do facial animations and gestures of the characters at times during these scenes but didnt bother with having the camera pulled in close or anything. Screams more poor direction by someone who has no idea what they really want to do rather than just no money.
Tetsuo9999
Member
I feel like this concept would have worked better if the game had skippable cutscenes. Seamless transitions work fine until the player has had to watch the same cutscene a dozen times to get past a problematic boss, or if they're on their third playthrough and no longer care about the plot whatsoever. By having it the way it is now, it drastically damages the replay value and increases player frustration when they have to sit through cutscenes to retry a boss. It also goes against the fact that this same developer pioneered skippable cutscenes back in 2003.
Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Id just be worried about the dub / localization if any. Asides that while this game most def has jank in it from what is written in this thread by no means is it a bad game though. So with that in mind should help ease worries slightly
Thanks for the impressions! After reading your thoughts, as well as watching some streams on Twitch, I think I might pass on SO5. Maybe I will pick it up when I can get it cheap second hand in a year or so..
BudokaiMR2
Member
I played for a couple of hours last night.
It definitely feels like it is being held back by the PS3 version when it comes to stuff like sparseness on the field and overall graphic fidelity. It doesn't look bad but it does look a bit lower budget in areas than I expected, and I wasn't going in with high expectations on that front anyway.
The combat still feels good to me and I think the variety of characters will keep it fun to play throughout the adventure. The MC's attacks do seem a little bit too slow animation wise, but its not a dealbreaker. I rarely use the MC character in these games anyway.
Looking forward to playing more tonight and unlocking more options and skills.
I don't really understand the camera complaints. It felt a little awkward with how quickly it followed you over staircases and such but there are settings in the options which seem to have toned it down enough to at least not bother me.
I am actually looking forward to where the story will go as I progress. It is being told from the opposite perspective compared to most Star Ocean games. Outside of the Rena playthrough in SO2, I think every one has focused on a starfarer having to deal with primitive worlds (being stranded there etc.)
I have always loved how the plots in each game revolved around the Prime Directive idea, and the fact that this time you will experience that conflict from the eyes of an inhabitant of an undeveloped world should make for some interesting interactions. Should make for some good scenes going forward I hope!
Overall it is about what I expected. Would have preferred if the PS3 version was dropped to focus on bettering the PS4 version, but it still seems like a solid product.
Will probably post some more detailed impressions after I progress farther and unlock more content and get a better feel for where the game is headed.
It definitely feels like it is being held back by the PS3 version when it comes to stuff like sparseness on the field and overall graphic fidelity. It doesn't look bad but it does look a bit lower budget in areas than I expected, and I wasn't going in with high expectations on that front anyway.
The combat still feels good to me and I think the variety of characters will keep it fun to play throughout the adventure. The MC's attacks do seem a little bit too slow animation wise, but its not a dealbreaker. I rarely use the MC character in these games anyway.
Looking forward to playing more tonight and unlocking more options and skills.
I don't really understand the camera complaints. It felt a little awkward with how quickly it followed you over staircases and such but there are settings in the options which seem to have toned it down enough to at least not bother me.
I am actually looking forward to where the story will go as I progress. It is being told from the opposite perspective compared to most Star Ocean games. Outside of the Rena playthrough in SO2, I think every one has focused on a starfarer having to deal with primitive worlds (being stranded there etc.)
I have always loved how the plots in each game revolved around the Prime Directive idea, and the fact that this time you will experience that conflict from the eyes of an inhabitant of an undeveloped world should make for some interesting interactions. Should make for some good scenes going forward I hope!
Overall it is about what I expected. Would have preferred if the PS3 version was dropped to focus on bettering the PS4 version, but it still seems like a solid product.
Will probably post some more detailed impressions after I progress farther and unlock more content and get a better feel for where the game is headed.
Here's a soundrack list:
http://vgmdb.net/album/57310
It seems like they've reused A LOT of music. Kind of weird. Well Mission to the Deep Space is back.
http://vgmdb.net/album/57310
It seems like they've reused A LOT of music. Kind of weird. Well Mission to the Deep Space is back.
Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
after i get back from the hospital time to progress a bit more to get new party skills lol
still wonder what the max lv is
im guessing it must be fairly high since still for mining at 5 getting nothing is more common than something. still get cash exp and sp though
still wonder what the max lv is
im guessing it must be fairly high since still for mining at 5 getting nothing is more common than something. still get cash exp and sp though
Gathering & Mining max is 8.
encephalon
Member
You can skip the cutscenes (not talking about the "small talk" breaks, but the real cutscenes) but I'm not sure you have the option on cutscenes you never saw before.
had to cut the screen since it was a bit spoilerish.
If I missed this, I'm a dummy. @_@
Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
that is surprisingly low
considering getting to 5 isnt to bad and this is early into the game.
more like still very early into the game.
So far, I gotta say I am really enjoying this game. To be honest, I haven't played much of the previous games, so I am kind of going in completely blind, i just needed a good JRPG for the ps4 to play when Dark Souls 3 crushes my soul.
From someone who isn't a vet, here are a couple impressions.
Sound
Music and sound are all really good, i get the feeling of Xenoblade sometimes, and the sound effects are very reminiscent of an old school rpg, really nice. There is an option for battle music to reset or just continue in the menu which I adore, think of all those games where the same 15 seconds keeps playing!
Graphics
It does look like an upres'd ps3 game, it's not bad, but not super beautiful, it's more than serviceable, but small details are wonderful, like the characters eyes moving and rolling soo naturally, they have life to them. The camera is really distracting, it does move too much for my liking, but I will mess around with settings tonight, might help with it. The lighting is nice, especially when the days cycle, it's quite beautiful.
Gameplay
Since I haven't played other games, but many RPGs, this is interesting. It feels like a real time action game, but with the MC, his actions feel more like I am loading up actions into an invisible command list, not sure if he is just slow, but will try other characters soon. I think the battle system is interesting, but I still don't understand it completely.
The core mechanics of the game are wonderful, i love being able to gather and gain experience and gold, sometimes I just want to run around a field and collect stuff, in this game, you can actually level up solely by doing so if you wanted, it's amazing. The side stuff really feels like an addition to the game, not as an afterthought or something, especially crafting and gathering.
Story
I'm not far at all, literally just got to the second town, but have played like 3 hours, but so far, nothing has happened but I like the characters so far, MC isn't angsty or anything, Miki is pretty cool, the way she speaks and manipulates MC is really realistic.
Overall, I am really enjoying it going in fresh, if you haven't played a Star Ocean game like me, don't be afraid, it's still completely enjoyable, you might just have a bit of a time trying to wrap your head around the battle system, which is a fun thing to do with any RPG anyways.
Those were just my 2 cents, hopefully no one will tear me a new one for being a noob, ww.
From someone who isn't a vet, here are a couple impressions.
Sound
Music and sound are all really good, i get the feeling of Xenoblade sometimes, and the sound effects are very reminiscent of an old school rpg, really nice. There is an option for battle music to reset or just continue in the menu which I adore, think of all those games where the same 15 seconds keeps playing!
Graphics
It does look like an upres'd ps3 game, it's not bad, but not super beautiful, it's more than serviceable, but small details are wonderful, like the characters eyes moving and rolling soo naturally, they have life to them. The camera is really distracting, it does move too much for my liking, but I will mess around with settings tonight, might help with it. The lighting is nice, especially when the days cycle, it's quite beautiful.
Gameplay
Since I haven't played other games, but many RPGs, this is interesting. It feels like a real time action game, but with the MC, his actions feel more like I am loading up actions into an invisible command list, not sure if he is just slow, but will try other characters soon. I think the battle system is interesting, but I still don't understand it completely.
The core mechanics of the game are wonderful, i love being able to gather and gain experience and gold, sometimes I just want to run around a field and collect stuff, in this game, you can actually level up solely by doing so if you wanted, it's amazing. The side stuff really feels like an addition to the game, not as an afterthought or something, especially crafting and gathering.
Story
I'm not far at all, literally just got to the second town, but have played like 3 hours, but so far, nothing has happened but I like the characters so far, MC isn't angsty or anything, Miki is pretty cool, the way she speaks and manipulates MC is really realistic.
Overall, I am really enjoying it going in fresh, if you haven't played a Star Ocean game like me, don't be afraid, it's still completely enjoyable, you might just have a bit of a time trying to wrap your head around the battle system, which is a fun thing to do with any RPG anyways.
Those were just my 2 cents, hopefully no one will tear me a new one for being a noob, ww.
Join me for the second Star Ocean 5 stream! Will probably play for a few hours. 3,5 hours in! https://youtu.be/EWCIdwILT0I
Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Yeah she asks you to go collect crap and whatnots.
The skills are not all perfectly lined up it seems.
Yeah, I got everything aside from the last one? Requiring you to get 2 key items. I went out the city through the East exit and since there is no way of checking location names aside from the one you're currently in, I'm not sure if I the area I need to go wasn't on the West side (where I currently can't go). I really hope that there's some kind of fast travel later in the game, because running between towns if you want to backtrack would be very tedious.
Anyway, break in the stream since I was falling asleep in fron of the TV. Will be back after a nap!
Thanks for the write up! Nice to see more impressions from someone who hasn't played star ocean before as I'm planning on it being my first star ocean when it gets localIzed. Sounds like it is pretty solid!
That battle music option sounds nice. Not sure that I've seen that option in other games before.
Parakeetman
No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Am glad I leveled up my crafting as made a good sword storm seeker or something and last night the ruby wand.
Seems like most of the mats for it came from that ? challenge mission mark in the field from either killing the boss / harpies or those stupid goblin looking humanoids, who usually drop metals.
Need to lv up mining to 7 as still am getting nothing on occasion. But might want to lv up blacksmithing to 6
Time to progress on after clearing out these new quests if I can.
Seems like most of the mats for it came from that ? challenge mission mark in the field from either killing the boss / harpies or those stupid goblin looking humanoids, who usually drop metals.
Need to lv up mining to 7 as still am getting nothing on occasion. But might want to lv up blacksmithing to 6
Time to progress on after clearing out these new quests if I can.