While Star Ocean First Departure R may seem like a somewhat generic fantasy RPG at first glance, it was actually atypical for the genre at the time of release because of how it presents a more traditional fantasy experience through a sci-fi lens. Still, I can get past the lack of significant improvements because the base game is such a hidden gem and this port does not actively worsen that experience in any way. Fortunately, these scenes were rare, but they are emblematic of the fairly low-effort port that Star Ocean First Departure R is. They feature the mediocre First Departure designs too, so it doesn't always mesh with the new art. Even though Star Ocean First Departure R only contains about 10 minutes of these, they weren't converted over from PSP well and don't look great. Nowhere does this hurt more than in the anime cutscenes. Locations and characters are all still well-designed, but they can look quite muddled and pixelated when blown up on a large HD screen. Though things do look a bit better, HD also highlights the rougher edges of this PSP remake. Other than that, the game is obviously in HD now. Those changes are all good but fairly minute. Like the voices, these illustrations can be switched on a whim via in-game menus for those who may prefer the previous ones more. Finally, all of the character portraits have been redone by illustrator Katsumi Enami, which is definitely appreciated as the original First Departure portraits are pretty rough by modern standards. Traversal can now be sped up at the press of a button, which is helpful as the basic movement speed in Star Ocean is definitely slow. All three can be toggled on and off at all times, so the game does give players the tools to find their favorite. While the English localization is spotty and mostly held up by a strong performance from Yuri Lowenthal, both Japanese voiceovers are good. Both versions of the PSP voiceover as well as a new one with the original cast from the SNES release days are included as well. Some minor game balancing has been done, but it is negligible, especially to those who have never played the game before. The improvements in First Departure R are mostly minor. As a port, Star Ocean First Departure R falls somewhere in the middle. On the other hand, you have the PC port of Chrono Trigger that carried over many problems from the mobile version of the game and had to be improved via patches for months. On the one hand, you have the solid, if overpriced, Collection of Mana with ports of the first two Mana games and a localized version of Trials of Mana. Ports and re-releases from Square Enix tend to be a mixed bag. "The original Star Ocean still remains a great game in 2019 and First Departure is a very good remake and way to expose the series to new people." As a result, Star Ocean First Departure R is definitely worth checking out if you are interested in the series, though the transition from PSP to home consoles hasn't really enhanced that much. That's a good thing too, as the original Star Ocean still remains a great game in 2019 and First Departure is a very good remake and way to expose the series to new people. Star Ocean First Departure R, an enhanced re-release of a 2007 PSP remake of the first game in the series, is now giving PS4 and Nintendo Switch players the chance to get into the series with the entry that started it all. Over just this past year, the publisher has re-released some Romancing SaGa games as well as localized and announced a remake of Trials of Mana. That being said, the series may have a second chance to gain a western audience as Square Enix has been paying a bit more attention to its classic properties. Even though Square Enix's Star Ocean has been an ongoing series since the early 1990s, it has failed to catch on in the west like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest or even Mana.
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