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Star Ocean 5: Integrity and Faithlessness |OT| Once more into the undiscovered ocean
- Thread starter ULTROS!
- Start date
tiebreaker
Member
I've been doing sidequests for over an hour, and then the game crashed. Painful
I guess I'll just go through with the main story now.....
I guess I'll just go through with the main story now.....
Now that I'm just a few trophies away from Platinum, here are my final impressions...
Story: 7/10 best story in the series
+ coherent plot
+ genuinely good cast (infinite steps up from SO4 class of offensive characters)
- unlike the rest here, I've no problems with the seamless style of story-telling but it is obvious that the budget has limited some parts of the story (not a big deal imo)
Graphics: 9/10
+ Art style is gorgeous. tri-Ace finally succeeded in mixing realism with anime after the disastrous results in SO4. I wish Tales series copy this look.
- Not a fan of the overblown particle effects that clouds the combat action
Gameplay: 7/10
+ SO-style combat with improved customisation
+ return of the elegant SO3 mechanics (light/strong/guard triangle)...
- which is largely destroyed by the permanent power armour of bosses and large enemies
All in all i enjoyed the game and hope there's a follow up. As a SO fan, it's unfortunate that SO5 doesn't match up to SO3 but well...at least it's a big improvement from SO4 in pretty much every way.
Story: 7/10 best story in the series
+ coherent plot
+ genuinely good cast (infinite steps up from SO4 class of offensive characters)
- unlike the rest here, I've no problems with the seamless style of story-telling but it is obvious that the budget has limited some parts of the story (not a big deal imo)
Graphics: 9/10
+ Art style is gorgeous. tri-Ace finally succeeded in mixing realism with anime after the disastrous results in SO4. I wish Tales series copy this look.
- Not a fan of the overblown particle effects that clouds the combat action
Gameplay: 7/10
+ SO-style combat with improved customisation
+ return of the elegant SO3 mechanics (light/strong/guard triangle)...
- which is largely destroyed by the permanent power armour of bosses and large enemies
All in all i enjoyed the game and hope there's a follow up. As a SO fan, it's unfortunate that SO5 doesn't match up to SO3 but well...at least it's a big improvement from SO4 in pretty much every way.
Beat the game over the weekend, with 99% quest completion. Just have to find some Snakeskin which I think is in the bonus dungeon and I'll get that last quest done. Hit level 98 and up to the boss of the first bonus dungeon -
. Some of these bonus bosses are tough so far, like Der'Suul which really depleted tons of items (idiots keep running into his Spicule attack!). Want to get on with this so I can grind the metal thieves!
Daril
So I just started this game last week and while I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far, the one annoyance I have is the party-based PAs. There's no way to tell when or where they'll trigger and my OCD demands I try and see as many PAs as possible. So not being able to really track those or even figure out exact locations to try and trigger them either forces me to deal with it or use a guide. Not cool, SO. Not cool.
But you're damn fun otherwise so I'll probably just suck it up and deal with it somehow.
But you're damn fun otherwise so I'll probably just suck it up and deal with it somehow.
tiebreaker
Member
Just finished the game a couple of hours ago. I clocked at 24 hours with over 50% sidequests completed. Summing up my experience with the game... it was decent.
Let me start with the presentation of the game. Graphically Star Ocean V isn't cutting edge by any mean, but it is nice to look at, and it has some excellent soundtracks.
Anyone who starts the game will notice the problem with camera in an instance. Changing the sensitivity to the lowest and zooming out helps immensely in this regard.
Storywise the game is very average. The characters are likeable and the world is quite interesting. But the problem is that they aren't quite fleshed out.
Lack of cutscenes also hurts the presentation of the story, as it makes the game less impactful and memorable. Sidequests are also pretty boring.
They could have used side quests to fleshed out the world and npcs more, but they end up just being go to bulletin board and report back after you finish.
Where this game shines is in the combat and crafting department, as per other Star Ocean games. The combat starts really slow, but it opens up later after more skills and party members are available.
There is essentially no loading getting into combat and it's snappy.
And lastly, I enjoyed the game for what it is. The game could have used some quality of life improvements, like a side quest tracker pop up or teleportation actually being available.
But overall, I'd recommend the game to any JRPGs fan looking for that Star Ocean experience. Star Ocean V: Integritiy and Faithlessness isn't a bad game.
Let me start with the presentation of the game. Graphically Star Ocean V isn't cutting edge by any mean, but it is nice to look at, and it has some excellent soundtracks.
Anyone who starts the game will notice the problem with camera in an instance. Changing the sensitivity to the lowest and zooming out helps immensely in this regard.
Storywise the game is very average. The characters are likeable and the world is quite interesting. But the problem is that they aren't quite fleshed out.
Lack of cutscenes also hurts the presentation of the story, as it makes the game less impactful and memorable. Sidequests are also pretty boring.
They could have used side quests to fleshed out the world and npcs more, but they end up just being go to bulletin board and report back after you finish.
Where this game shines is in the combat and crafting department, as per other Star Ocean games. The combat starts really slow, but it opens up later after more skills and party members are available.
There is essentially no loading getting into combat and it's snappy.
And lastly, I enjoyed the game for what it is. The game could have used some quality of life improvements, like a side quest tracker pop up or teleportation actually being available.
But overall, I'd recommend the game to any JRPGs fan looking for that Star Ocean experience. Star Ocean V: Integritiy and Faithlessness isn't a bad game.
6 of the major locations.
Just west of Myydock on the entrance the plains. Just east of Myddock climbing the hill. Just north of Santarule not to far from the first battle.Coast of Minoz near the savepoint passing to the cliffs. Central Resulia town path heading to Sohma. Myddock the west side of the bridge on the east side of town.
It feels like a lot of fleshing out especially of the characters is done through PA's which are easy to miss if you just blow through the story. It feels like there are probably 200+ voiced PA's in the game. Anyone who has an actual count I'd love to know the actual number.
As for as teleporting.
In the late game you can do it by using the the com to teleport to the ship and then teleport where you need to go. However I agree it is limited in that the way to use it quite clunky needing to go to menu then ship then where you want to go, Also the locations you can go are quite limited. Aka basically just outside of town in any field connected to a town. And just outside of a few select dungeons.
tiebreaker
Member
I'm aware of the teleportation,
but it is locked for most of the game.
You are right about PA. You know the character better doing PAs, like Miki being a glutton, Anne being a cat lover, etc. But it feels superficial....
We heard that Victor comes from a Village in Sohma, but the game never delves into it more or about how he became a soldier. What about Fiore? All I know is that she is a genius in signeturgy and she has a (dead?) mentor she looks up to.
Miki is probably the most fleshed out character, and she is my favourite of the bunch
Miki is probably the most fleshed out character, and she is my favourite of the bunch
or I probably haven't done enough PAs as there are tons of them.
theofficefan99
Junior Member
It's only going to get more and more apparent as you go on. It actually shocked me how low-budget the game was.
IMO, if they didn't have the budget, they shouldn't have made Exist Archive and just used the money they spent on that for this game, or... they shouldn't have made it at all.
Victor there is quite a bit.
Dead? Lover.. Implied he might of had feelings for Daril. Hana from the same village but he doesn''t see her as a girl... Interactions with trying to make friends with Relia. What he wants to do now he is a knight. So many people making fun of his apparent lack of interest in anything other then swordsplay.
Fiore
She loved her teacher who left her to do some research somewhere might be dead... Also possibly likes somene in the group as she is constantly shopping for someone. I might have missed the one in which it is revealed if there. Surprising is the homemaer type... Swears to be there for you after Daril dies... Is't worried about ghosts. Lots of talk about her mentor. Joking with Emmerson that she has an outfit like hers for him to wear etc..
Anne
Loves cats and cute things in general. Is terrible at housework and cooking. Doesn't get a lot of stuff. Is her first offworld mission. Is really really scared of ghosts. So many comments about Emmerson's womanzing. Was teased growing up cause of her intellect.. Her grandmother who she looked up to and all the outrageous stories she told about her.
Just some many little things that really make the characters seem interesting and alive. And I'm sure I missed a few a of the PA's as I got one that was a story that was Part 1 and I never saw the other parts...
Baloonatic
Member
Couple of hours into this, it seems alright. Can't say that I mind the lack of cutscenes because they have always put me off finishing SO games in the past. Not Tri-Ace's strong point in my opinion.
I did like Infinite Undiscovery quite a bit actually, played through it a couple of times. I might give SO4 another go one day as I didn't get far into it, the beginning was just really dull to me.
I did like Infinite Undiscovery quite a bit actually, played through it a couple of times. I might give SO4 another go one day as I didn't get far into it, the beginning was just really dull to me.
That's not how it works. It's the publisher that sets and gives the budget, and Exist Archive is by a different publisher so the money still wouldn't be there even without Exist Archive.
theofficefan99
Junior Member
Oh my b, I was under the impression that EA was under SE.
Don't really know what SE was thinking with SO5. No one believed me when I said the game will probably have a similar budget to Drakengard 3 after the initial trailer but look where we are
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
THIS
FIGHT IS GONNA MAKE ME BLOW A GASKET
PROTECT ANNE
MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
Those are all trash, just use reserve rush
Cornbread78
Member
So, I'm wondering if I should just finish this up tonight or not:
I just
Is that the final mission?
I just
rescued Relia and now they want me to go get her sister
rayman1900
Member
What about Fiore's green/blueish mark on her legs? The bio for the character was stating that she wears that revealing outfit to draw attention to her body, but also that she wants people to see that mark. However, I don't think I saw a PA with her that talked about it. Anyone have a clue to what this mark represents?
Yeah the game will tell you when you are at the point of no return. It's a longer mission though so don't expect to wrap it up in 30 mins...
It has to do with Signeturgy. To use it you need to reach a certain age then have a Signet imbued on their body.
It's brought up that the kid leader of the institute is too young to have it and that Miki's is on her back during a PA I think. Also with Relia and Feria and the differences between symbology and Signeturgy
Cornbread78
Member
Oh, alright then. I'll play until I get to that point then decide if I want to bother with the rest of the missions or just play some Neverwinter.
theofficefan99
Junior Member
Honestly just grind. It's super easy in this game.
You can do the mission during the post game apparently even though I finished them all before then. Only thing I really recommend doing is the Cathedral's of Oblivion's as you will get what is probably the strongest weapon you can have or each of the characters till the postgame from them...
I wouldn't even call it a grind. With 200%-300% built up in the reserve rush gauge I was level 99 at the end of the game with everyone without even trying.
Cornbread78
Member
MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
I'm on the final floor of the post game dungeon and I just barely beat the first boss. he kept going for Miki and killing her in one hit. it took like 30 minutes and I almost wiped twice, thank God for Dead Man Walking + Berserker.
But I dunno if I can beat the Ethereal Queen and I don't want to grind so I may just give up
But I dunno if I can beat the Ethereal Queen and I don't want to grind so I may just give up
Got to the point where Metal Scumbags appear and I forged the Scumbag Slayer. Got nearly all of the Roles maxed out, now I'm grinding experience levels, before I march onward to the depths of the bonus dungeon. At level 105 now, hopefully it won't take too long to get as high as I need to.
MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
I'm like level 115 and I can't beat the final level bosses
I beat EQ at level 104 and never got close to dying.
Dead Man Walking + Princess + Berserker + whatever attack role you want on Fidel or Victor. Assassin + all the healing-centric roles on Miki.
Take all spells off of Miki except Ex Healing and Faerie Star, including resurrections.
Control Fidel/Victor and just spam your abilities on the bosses. If your allies die, they die. They don't matter except in the very beginning of the fight as bait so you can gather all the agro.
Never even got close to dying on any boss.
MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
I'll give this a try.
I had a little trouble with
Daril with that setup. Dude could use Ethereal Blast and wipe out most of the party...
Cornbread78
Member
Damn, I wasn't expecting a 30-45 min. boss battle against the
in the cathedral. I managed to cheese my way through it, but damn.
Now, I got a GREAT weapon for Emmerson as a drop, which was great, but is there a similiar weapon out there for Fiddy?
storm dragon
Now, I got a GREAT weapon for Emmerson as a drop, which was great, but is there a similiar weapon out there for Fiddy?
Freezasaurus
Member
Yeah, you can find that one in the Cathedral's final evolution in the last dungeon. It's significantly harder.
Hope you like Storm Dragons, m8.
Cornbread78
Member
Freezasaurus
Member
Honestly, I gave up on that one. It seems to require major level ups.
I stopped at the fight where they make you fight 3 storm dragons simultaneously
Exentryk
Member
Started this tonight. The combat seems to have a lot of elements that can keep it interesting for a while to come, and the large amount of characters only increase the variety. The camera has been a bit too bumpy. Had to change the sensitivity to low, but I still need to get used to it.
The writing seems really weak though. And some characters are completely insane with the way they interact, like Welch. That mayor of the place where Fides lives is also really bad. I've only gotten to Central Resulia or something, but I think I'm going to have to turn off my brain and just enjoy the combat and gameplay elements.
The graphics, varied areas, and some textures in towns look nice. Guessing the cross gen held it back a little. The music has been average to poor so far.
The writing seems really weak though. And some characters are completely insane with the way they interact, like Welch. That mayor of the place where Fides lives is also really bad. I've only gotten to Central Resulia or something, but I think I'm going to have to turn off my brain and just enjoy the combat and gameplay elements.
The graphics, varied areas, and some textures in towns look nice. Guessing the cross gen held it back a little. The music has been average to poor so far.
Drillary Clinton
Banned
I'm about 20 hours in and this is not a good game.
It has so many dated issues like the save system, lack of fast travel, skippable cutscenes, world design, and the list goes on. The story is terrible and 9/10 of the voice actors are abysmal and you couple that with the Saturday morning kids WB cartoon script. Then, on top of all of that you have these horrible side-quests that are something out of a B level JRPG from 2006. It's all bad Greg.
The game can be pretty at times but then you look at the characters and it just throws everything off. Why the fuck does Mikki look weird as hell, like her eyes are trying to run away from each other? Why is Fiore dressed like some terrible hentai poster model? The male characters look bland and generic as hell. Fidel is probably the only person in the game who looks alright, maybe Anne too.
It's a shame it has these issues because the combat is excellent as well as most of the other RPG systems like the crafting etc. Those are the reasons I keep pushing through the game. But even they aren't perfect. The biggest gameplay issue is probably that the AI is absolutely in love with eating AOE attacks.
One thing that is kinda neutral is that once you get your team ironed out they can perform like a well oiled MMO raid machine. The downside is the game becomes so easy. 20 hours in and I have only died once.
It's a shame Star Ocean has to go out like this. If this game had come out around the time Infinite Undiscovery or The Last Remnant did it would probably be a decent JRPG. However, it's 2016, bro. Maybe SE should have given it a bigger budget. Maybe TA just didn't care enough about this game. Who knows? We probably won't ever see another, at least not stateside and honestly I'm perfectly OK with this.
It has so many dated issues like the save system, lack of fast travel, skippable cutscenes, world design, and the list goes on. The story is terrible and 9/10 of the voice actors are abysmal and you couple that with the Saturday morning kids WB cartoon script. Then, on top of all of that you have these horrible side-quests that are something out of a B level JRPG from 2006. It's all bad Greg.
The game can be pretty at times but then you look at the characters and it just throws everything off. Why the fuck does Mikki look weird as hell, like her eyes are trying to run away from each other? Why is Fiore dressed like some terrible hentai poster model? The male characters look bland and generic as hell. Fidel is probably the only person in the game who looks alright, maybe Anne too.
It's a shame it has these issues because the combat is excellent as well as most of the other RPG systems like the crafting etc. Those are the reasons I keep pushing through the game. But even they aren't perfect. The biggest gameplay issue is probably that the AI is absolutely in love with eating AOE attacks.
One thing that is kinda neutral is that once you get your team ironed out they can perform like a well oiled MMO raid machine. The downside is the game becomes so easy. 20 hours in and I have only died once.
It's a shame Star Ocean has to go out like this. If this game had come out around the time Infinite Undiscovery or The Last Remnant did it would probably be a decent JRPG. However, it's 2016, bro. Maybe SE should have given it a bigger budget. Maybe TA just didn't care enough about this game. Who knows? We probably won't ever see another, at least not stateside and honestly I'm perfectly OK with this.
Cornbread78
Member
uggh, I literally walked around in circles with Miki for the one dragon already and that was boring an annoying to fight... but going against 3 of them? uugghh How are the other really top tier weapons gained? I just got the "point of no return" Sat. night, so I stopped and started doing side missions again like a fool. I think it just may be time to finish this bad boy up and move on to another game because the 100% completion trophies just all seam like a pain. The only part I really want are the last 2 specialty skills that won't unlock...
Yup. Personally I'd have preferred a Star Ocean 3 remaster over this.
I can't recall ever fighting 3 Dragons at once and I got all the weapons for each character from the portals. As for Specialties that last one you get after you complete the game. The other ones your missing is either notice board sidequest or Welch.
Drillary Clinton
Banned
Not good but at least decent
Honestly, I think the biggest issue I have with the game is the battle system. It's much too chaotic, there are opaque special effects flying off constantly making it nearly impossible to tell what's going on, the camera frequently spins around, and spamming Double Slash (one of the first attacks you get) make most of the game pretty trivial. It's a shame since combat is one of my favorite things about the SO series.
All one planet?
Still crazy that they sold the story presentation as a feature.
Edit: I don't even know why I WANT to play this... I loved SO2, but hated 3 and 4 and quit them very early in.
Cornbread78
Member
Ok, I'm way madder than I should be, but I decided to go ahead with the story and kept a save file prior to the point of no return so I coukd do the side stuff later.. Good deal, right? Well, I just saved over it because it was reordered with a newer save... FUCK
Ouch what were you still planning to do? Depending on what it was you can still do it post game.
Since the game is out for a while now, I'd like to ask you guys a question:
I have been interested in this game for a while, and have liked what I have seen of the gameplay. When the reviews dropped, though, issues with the story were widely brought up. As someone who like the type of stories the Tales Of series produces, will this story bother me or will it be acceptable enough to justify a purchase on the basis of the gameplay? I'd love to try it, but am afraid a horrible story will ruin the experience for me, so that's why I am a bit hesitant to buy the game.
I have been interested in this game for a while, and have liked what I have seen of the gameplay. When the reviews dropped, though, issues with the story were widely brought up. As someone who like the type of stories the Tales Of series produces, will this story bother me or will it be acceptable enough to justify a purchase on the basis of the gameplay? I'd love to try it, but am afraid a horrible story will ruin the experience for me, so that's why I am a bit hesitant to buy the game.
The story is very tales like but in space. There is nothing horrifyingly bad like 4 or it's a very straight forward cliched story.
Thanks, that alleviates my fears. I am gonna check the game out sometime soon.
Exentryk
Member
Man, the cutscenes are so bad. Most don't even have any camera work and scene framing. And the dialogue is so poorly written and so stilted. There is a gap of like 5 seconds after every sentence. You don't even know if the conversation is over or not. Then there are the characters that act like 8 year olds...
I'm still early game (Taking
), but this might end up being the worst RPG I've every played if this continues on. At least the gameplay seems good so far.
I'm still early game (Taking
Relia to Resulia
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