Star Ocean: The Divine Force (for PC) Review

Since its debut on the Super Nintendo, the Star Ocean series has struggled to stand out among its Japanese RPG contemporaries. Space opera has a modest fan following and several successful titles under its belt, but sci-fi plays are more niche than mainstream. With the $59.99 Star Ocean: The Divine Force, developer Tri-Ace cleans up traditional gameplay his systems and uses cool new movement options and balanced combat mechanics to add some We will solve the problem smoothly. That said, some issues remain. animation The aesthetic lacks artistic flourishes, with the characters having a creepy doll-like appearance, which is exacerbated by the lofty animation. is not required.the result is energetic computer games It has nimble action, a satisfying movement and exploration system, an enjoyable (but clichéd) story, and dull visuals.

(Credit: Square Enix, Tri-Ace)

choose your own adventure

The Divine Force reintroduces the story of the two main characters from Star Ocean: The Second Story, so choose a hero at the start of the game. The plot unfolds the same regardless of which hero you choose, but The Divine Force includes some unique scenarios and party members dedicated to your chosen hero. It’s a nice way to add , but it might seem like a tall order given the 30+ hour length of the campaign. But Star Ocean has always been a series with plenty of replay value, thanks to his expansive post-game dungeon content and difficulty modes that boost enemy stats.

The center of the game is an undeveloped planet in the Aster system. The captain of the merchant ship Idas, Raymond Lawrence, was shot dead by a Pangalactic Federation warship without warning. He crash-lands on the Astor IV, where he begins searching for the rest of the crew. Here he meets Laetitia Auselius, the sovereign from the Kingdom of Auselius, who drags the reluctant Raymond into the country’s politics as he plunges headlong into war.

Star Ocean operates on the principles of Star Trek’s Prime Directive. So Raymond should be incognito he mode while stuck in Astor IV. This drops the moment Raymond and Leticia meet, and your Aster-native party picks up the high-tech Dynamic Universal Maneuver Assistant (DUMA), sprinting through fields and towns with transcendent sci-fi powers. So the idea of ​​cover-up is thrown out the window.

the story is Wasn’t Star Ocean’s strengthThat said, The Divine Force’s playable cast is surprisingly likable. None (probably except for the recurring craft NPC Welch). So perhaps it’s best that Star Ocean doesn’t lean too heavily into its plot. It’s a silly story about an astronaut who crash-lands on an alien planet full of medieval humans, followed by hijinks.Just take out your DUMA and fly around each zone to loot collectibles and defeat any monsters that get in your way. is.

In fact, The Divine Force does a surprisingly good job of exploring. Every zone and town you visit is littered with collectibles you can find. These can be healing items, figures of characters from previous games, or purple crystals to enhance your DUMA.

(Credit: Square Enix, Tri-Ace)

take up arms

Divine Force establishes basic combat mechanics from jumps and solves problems the series has been grappling with since its inception. Star Ocean has always had action-oriented combat, but how that action unfolds varies fundamentally from game to game. Feels like an improved version of All characters have access to evasive actions as well as melee and ranged attacks. Dodging with good timing grants a special slowdown effect that makes it easier to counter enemy attacks. Your moves have different effects like juggling and knockdowns, and you can customize your attacks to chain together in satisfying combos.

Completing the game’s first dungeon gives you access to the DUMA, a spherical drone that greatly boosts movement and defense. DUMA actions are mapped to dedicated buttons. Holding it creates a barrier around the character that deflects attacks, similar to the shields in Star Ocean 3 and 5. Performs a long-distance dash when used in combination with a directional input. If you dash out of sight of an enemy, you will blindside. Enemies affected by Blindside are stunned and unable to attack for a short period of time. DUMA’s actions are tied to gauges, which fill up as you land hits or dodge attacks. This prevents abuse of the shield or blindside feature.

Attacks use Action Points (AP) which determine the length of combos. AP is basically a stamina gauge. By default he has 5 AP, which limits the number of skills he can land in a row. If you don’t start attacking or dodging any more, AP will regenerate after 1-2 seconds. This forces you to play more methodically as you need to take adequate breaks. Successful blindsides add AP to your gauge (up to 15), allowing you to unleash longer combos and attack actions. However, if you take too much damage or get KO’d, your AP total will decrease. AP will never go below his 5, but it’s good to be mindful of dodging whenever possible to keep your AP stock high. Overall, Star Ocean’s combat is simple but fun.

(Credit: Square Enix, Tri-Ace)

shortcomings in combat

Friendly party members are controlled by the game’s AI when not directly controlled by you. Unfortunately, they’re limited by the same AP limit and aren’t particularly smart, so they can’t attack for long periods of time before taking a break. You can play defensively or spread out and attack multiple enemies. The AI ​​isn’t good and tends to get killed in encounters with stronger enemies and bosses.

You can hard lock onto enemies by clicking the right stick, but dealing with highly mobile enemies often breaks targets. Similarly, scrolling between targets is cumbersome and rarely works. Force unlock and reselect target. Manually pointing a character in the right direction often makes the fight easier.

Combat can be too simplistic, requiring no strategy or rethinking attacks. Unleash a combo, defend or evade accordingly, and unleash another combo endlessly. It lacks the complexity and diversity found in Final Fantasy VII Remake others action RPG.

Divine Force makes good use of many systems, especially compared to previous games in the series. Unfortunately, melee characters are indistinguishable and ranged characters are tricky. For example, mages never feel fun to play because of their long casting times and easy interruptions. Still, what it offers isn’t bad.

Can you run Star Ocean: The Divine Force on your PC?

Star Ocean: The Divine Force requires at least AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or Intel i7-7700 on your PC to play CPUAMD Radeon RX 580 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPUs, 16 GB of RAM, 70 GB of space, and a 64-bit Windows 10 operating system. These specs allow you to play games at 720p resolution and 50+ frames per second. For our recommended specs, we bump up the processor requirements to either an AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Intel i7-8700k CPU, and the graphics card to an AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT or Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070. With this hardware, you can play Star Ocean at 1080p resolution. at 60fps.

On my desktop PC with a Ryzen 5 3600 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080, and 16 GB of RAM, Star Ocean The Divine Force performed well at 1440p resolution. The game ran at a fairly solid 60 fps and the graphics settings were maxed out.This game is available on Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud, Steam Trading Cards, and controllerUnfortunately, The Divine Force is no longer available. steam deck Verified and works well with decks without tinkering.

visual highs and lows

Visually, The Divine Force uses realistic lighting and assets, and cartoonish anime-style character models. The character’s illustration was created by Akira “Akiman” Yasuda of Final Fight and Street Fighter fame, but the model doesn’t exactly match the artwork and his 1:1. In fact, it’s a recurring series problem. The Divine Force is an improvement on the flashy models of Star Ocean 4 and 5, but the realistic visual direction combined with the puppet-like characters is sometimes jarring.

Compound, the stark, emotional animation that appears when characters speak, makes the interaction look like it was lifted from Star Ocean 3 on the PlayStation 2. Story scenes, on the other hand, unfold with dynamic camera shots.Static, lifeless camera mostly used for dialogue and explanation star ocean 5 scene.

Why you should game on your PC

Should I buy Star Ocean: The Divine Force?

Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a step in the right direction for a troubled series. Engaging combat, excellent exploration, and excellent replay value make it an RPG worth considering, especially if you’re a fan of action-focused adventures like Bandai Namco’s. Tales of AriseHowever, wacky character designs, clunky animations, and a terrible targeting system have to be tolerated. If you can live with these failures, you’ll find Star Ocean The Divine Force to be a good way to explore distant worlds.

Click here for more PC game reviews and previews PCMag’s Steam Curator Page(opens in new window)Want to talk more about video games?visit PCMag’s Popoff YouTube Channel(opens in new window).