Square Enix unveiled footage earlier today from a new entry in tri-Ace’s best known JRPG franchise, Star Ocean. Subtitled Integrity and Faithlessness, this new fifth entry in the series is set in the time between Star Ocean: Second Story and Star Ocean: Til the End of Time, the PS1 and PS2 entries in the series, respectively. However, very little of the footage shown featured story elements, opting instead to focus on the gameplay. The producer of the game, Shuichi Kobayashi, introduced the game and highlighted the emphasis on “seamlessness” in combat and cutscenes. This emphasis on the break away from JRPG trappings of long cutscenes disjointed from the experience is refreshing, even for those of us who really like those long cutscenes (like yours truly).
In any case, the transition from travel to combat is as seamless as can be, with the transition being as quick and engaging as games like Kingdom Hearts and Xenoblade. This transition is supposed to be as seamless for story elements as well, though that remains to be seen. Still, seeing six party members at a time running around in the world and engaging in battle is exciting, since most JRPGs only allow access to three or four party members at a time in battle. Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is to release in Japan around the holiday season this year, and will come to both Europe and North America in 2016 for PlayStation 4. Check out the trailer below:
So what do you guys think? Are you looking forward to traversing the stars once more? Sound off in the comments below.
