Flammie reviews: Star Ocean: First Departure R

                                    Star Ocean: First Departure R is an action RPG originally released on SNES then PSP if I undersrand correctly, the graphics are notStar Ocean: First Departure R is an action RPG originally released on SNES then PSP if I undersrand correctly, the graphics are not significantly improved but the pixel art is decent and the bad 3d is not too bothersome. The battle system is not very exciting, 95 % of the game it is easy button smash with approx. few boss battles and a difficulty spike at the end where you might need to manually use items or cast a spell or two. The battle is also very slow, and gets interrupted for most spells, and there is no fast-forward feature or turbo button so you have to keep button smashing and waiting. The plot is one of the strongest part of the game, it is good enough to carry through. The crafting systems, all umpteen of them are super boring and random luck nonsense, I did not bother with most of it and the game really makes you not want to by destroying most stuff you are trying to craft even at full skill levels. The music is nice, but the sound effects are annoying and the voice acting is quite bad as was usual back in the days, it doesn't help that in the battle the characters shout out every move they do which easily means same move 3 times a second with head exploding screachy voice.  Get it from discount at most if you have nothing else to play.… Expand

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ (6 out of 10)

(A version of this review was submitted to metacritic)