After forty-five hours, just a few smiles, and one or two frowns, we walked away from Star Ocean: The Divine Drive with a shrug. It’s a middle-tier Japanese position taking part in recreation that at no level, ever, threatens to get promoted to top-tier standing nor sink so low that it finally ends up sandwiched between Hyperdimension Neptunia and Limitless Saga. Mid-table mediocrity. The Crystal Palace of JRPGs.
Given the tumultuous historical past of the Star Ocean collection, The Divine Drive being merely okay might be a step in the proper path. And whereas this recreation wouldn’t make our greatest of 2022 checklist until we’re doing 100 video games every this 12 months, among the enhancements made right here, and among the techniques put in place imply it’s conceivable the following Star Ocean recreation might genuinely be good. It would even be nice.
However we’re within the right here and now. The 12 months of our Lord 2022 and we’ve received a job to do. We crammed over forty hours of this recreation into 5 days simply to get up to now and now that we’re right here: yeah, it’s alright. What’s there to say? There’s no attention-grabbing speaking factors or incisive critiques we will make. No jokes. No good jokes, anyway. If it was actually dangerous a minimum of we may make snide remarks however as it’s we will merely shrug and get on with it.
Star Ocean: The Divine Drive lets you choose one in every of two characters to play as throughout your journey all through area and stuff. There’s Raymond who’s a kind of anime Han Solo with one of many worst haircuts we’ve ever seen in a online game, after which there’s Laeticia, a blue haired princess of the realm who fights on the entrance strains in excessive heels.
We performed as Raymond as a result of we couldn’t take our eyes off his bizarre, golden area mullet, however for the hour or two that we tried as Laeticia it’s mainly the identical recreation, simply when the social gathering splits up often all through the journey you see what she was doing as an alternative of him. Additionally you’re carrying excessive heels. So your alternative is between trying fabulous and searching like an fool. And we picked fool for some cause. What had been we pondering?
Raymond is the captain of a spaceship. It’s like Star Trek, kinda. There’s even an android tapping away on a console like that one in Star Trek, solely as an alternative of being designed by Gene Roddenberry this one was designed by Russ Meyer, apparently. For those who’re too younger for the Russ Meyer reference then he was an auteur who made camp, smutty films within the sixties and seventies about scantily clad, prime heavy girls. We’re simply saying that the android is a sexbot, okay?
Anyway, Raymond crash lands on a pre-spaceflight planet and shortly meets Laeticia and her squire they usually quickly set up that they each need assistance getting someplace and so in the event that they work collectively it’ll profit each events. Raymond needs to search out different survivors from the crash after which get off the backwater rock he’s landed on, and Laeticia is attempting to cease a conflict breaking out between her Kingdom and a rival Empire.
Alongside the best way our two heroes meet and be a part of up with a solid of principally tropey characters, like a cranky previous man and the compulsory annoying kooky woman, they usually uncover that there’s a sinister hyperlink between their two quests, and the very destiny of the universe. Everyone knows the place that is going, proper? You’ve performed a JRPG earlier than. And should you haven’t then this shouldn’t be the one you begin with. Persona 5 is true there ready for you.
The story begins gradual however it does get extra attention-grabbing within the again half. It’s not significantly deep or thought frightening however it a minimum of poses a few philosophical and moral questions on issues, like synthetic intelligence and the perils of a complicated civilization assembly an underdeveloped one, even when it doesn’t discover them totally. Much less meals for thought, then, and extra of a Tic-Tac for thought.
Cutscenes have some fantastically questionable animations in them and there’s been zero try made to lip-sync the characters to the voice performing. Cutscenes are additionally overnumerous in direction of the top of the sport as all is being revealed, and there’s one stretch of the sport specifically through which it appears you do nothing however stroll from one room to a different so the particular person telling the story can inform it with a unique décor for about two hours.
Fight is quick and versatile. It is enjoyable at instances, too. You play as one character in actual time whereas your three social gathering members are managed by AI. You possibly can arrange combos in your social gathering to make use of in battle by choosing what assaults they’ll do in what order, and as you degree up you’ll unlock extra assaults. You can even add objects to heal or buff into your combos, and later help actions, too.
For those who spend a little bit of time experimenting with the arrange of your squad you’ll discover that you would be able to flip them right into a well-oiled machine, therapeutic damage social gathering members or reviving unconscious ones with out a lot supervision from you. This leaves you to focus on the D.U.M.A. system which is likely one of the finest issues in regards to the recreation.
D.U.M.A. is an AI floaty ball factor that helps you in battle and it elevates what would in any other case be principally humdrum encounters. With a faucet of R1 you possibly can zip to an enemy, or you possibly can choose to slip round their again and assault from behind. Generally, again assaults will stun an enemy leaving them open to large harm. You possibly can even use D.U.M.A. outdoors of battle that can assist you traverse the world, climbing to excessive ledges or flying throughout ravines. Thanks, D.U.M.A.
Conclusion
Star Ocean: The Divine Drive is sort of a comfy pair of JRPG slippers. For those who’re within the temper for a Japanese position taking part in recreation and you have performed all the good ones then you possibly can relaxation assured that this one is okay. It is okay. It is consolation meals. that feeling once you simply want Netflix would make one other season of Mindhunter and so you find yourself watching Prison Minds? That. Solely in area.
