Part II: The Game in a Nutshell
Unlike Wii Music, I'm not going to do a direct breakdown of my first few hours with the game, because 1.) that'd be really spoiler-ific, and 2.) RPGs don't really need to have their gameplay explained in that way anyway. So let's begin with the most frequently used part of almost any RPG, the combat system.
Star Ocean: First Departure is a remake of a Super Famicom (aka. Super Nintendo) game simply called "Star Ocean". It's an action RPG with random encounters (ie. in many areas the game arbitrarily throws you into a fight every X number of steps, where X is roughly how long it takes to cross the screen, give or take 20 steps) where combat takes place in real time on a 3D battlefield. You have full control over your movement on the usual planes, but can only actually attack laterally (ie. from the side). It's a style that's present in a number of other action RPGs (such as the Tales series, which was not coincidentally started by the same team as the Star Ocean series; and in 2D form in the Mana series such as Secret of Mana), so you can't particularly say the engine gets points for originality in concept. It can, however, score some points in other areas, as we'll see below.
As for how combat plays out most of the time, I found that for the most part, battles were fairly satisfying. There was a tendency for fights to become little more than "mash X 'til everything dies", though to be fair, a lot of that was my fault for overleveling (an RPG practice where you spend a lot of time making your character(s) stronger than necessary for where you are in a game; usually involves "grinding", or repeating the same few tasks a huge number of times). There's a fairly wide array of techniques you can use in battle, each with its own quirks, and a huge number of playable characters (of which you can recruit up to 8 in any given play-through). So the potential for varied battles is definitely there, though it's equally possible to just powerlevel your way through the game and never really test the battle engine's deeper features.
There are a few quirks to the engine. For example, your AI-controlled allies tend to be a little on the thick side, often running straight into enemy attacks, and in particularly ridiculous situations, even running into area-based attacks all in tight formation to assure that everybody gets hit. This seems to be how the ally AI works in a lot of action RPGs, which begs the question as to why nobody can code a decent AI, but I digress. There's also this infuriating little habit that enemies have of ganging up on one character and going Ides of March on them, leaving that character to inevitably die a horrible, painful death if you don't intervene and basically babysit them (at which point the enemies will usually go and target a different one of your allies for their beloved pincer attack of doom).
That isn't to say that the quirks kill the experience, though. Even with your allies sometimes behaving badly, and with enemies showing a surprising level of strategic thinking, the vast majority of fights won't really end up being all that bad. It can be a serious crapshoot if you'll exit a battle at full health or with your party in tatters in just about any RPG, but for the most part, you won't end up with the latter happening very often in Star Ocean (or the former, for that matter). If you're willing to let it be a part of the challenge factor instead of an irritation, it can actually make the experience fun. Though I admit, that is a hefty order, and not at all reasonable to ask of any player. But Star Ocean asks it of you just the same.
Beyond the combat, there is a mostly-unique system in Star Ocean games called Item Creation. Ostensibly, this lets you create new items from existing items, with a probability of success based off of various skill levels, characters' talents, and what skill-enhancing tools you have (if any). The system works great in theory, but in practice, it can easily break the game's difficulty and make it a walk down Easy Street. That said, you'd have to know how to make the various means of difficulty destruction, which the game is quite happy to not tell you (or indeed, even explain Item Creation's nuances at all for most of the game), so odds are good that you won't break the game on your first time through with obscenely powerful Item Creation options.
Actually, as I mentioned, Item Creation is practically not talked about in-game for Star Ocean, which is quite a heavy mark against the game. The system has a lot of potential to make the gameplay experience better, though the game does an admirable job of not punishing you too badly for ignoring it. Not a perfect job of it, mind you (you'll likely feel like the game hates you at a few points if you don't engage in Item Creation), but a noble effort just the same. I would say, on the whole, that Item Creation was a very ambitious idea with a lot of promise, but alas, poorly implemented and poorly explained. It's functional, but slightly crippled by a lack of exposure to the player and a lack of restraint in what it can do.
Outside of combat and Item Creation, Star Ocean tends to be a fairly bog-standard RPG experience. You wander from plot point to plot point, progressing the story and fighting random encounters, boss monsters (stronger-than-normal enemies that are usually plot-related, but that you fortunately only have to battle once each (usually)), and so forth, with the occasional side-quest and optional character recruitment mission to spice things up. About the only things I have to complain about here are that a few of the plot point triggers are extremely obtuse, and that the plot is so very standard-issue in progression that it feels a little bit formulaic. Though the story is not anything that's been done to death on its own, the progression does not have that benefit going for it. Patience is definitely a trait you'll want going into Star Ocean. Oh yes, and they added voice acting all over the place in the PSP version, which can certainly add to the immersion factor.
Impressions of Star Ocean so Far: The game is not without its issues, but also not without its charms. I personally enjoy the game a lot, but I also have a long history with both RPGs and the game's technical successor (which, incidentally, this PSP remake uses the engine of as its base). I can see the more glaring flaws in the game's engine, but I can also see past them to find a way to enjoy the game. Whether you can or not depends on your own tastes.
Sky Render - Sanity is for the weak.
