This is as very short review, quick and straight to the point. I review games with 1 to 5 stars, 1 being a turd and 5 being a masterpiece.

The game in question is called Star Ocean the Last Hope. It's a game published by Square Enix and developed by some company whose name I can't be bothered to search for.

Story: Horrible, it is a Sci-Fi story presented to you by some pitiful characters. They seem to take deep stares into the abyss and talk with no expressions at all. You can't feel for the characters as there is no emotions driving them. The voice acting is horrible too. It's full of cliches and the main character sucks. That's all you need to know.

Gameplay: It's an Action RPG, kinda like the Tales of series, but implemented in a horrible way. You can use skills in the battle by pressing one of the hot keys. The problem is that it feels slow and sluggish, you also have a blindside mechanic that is used to counter attack enemies and bosses.Some bosses have a ridiculous amount of HP and tend to make the fights really long.

Sound: It's good, it has some nice remixes of old battle themes from the first games but nothing too incredible. It's a good soundtrack but not something I would enjoy lsitening to all day long.

Value: There is value to be had. The game has optional bosses and trophy support. The trophy is one of the most difficult to get as you have to complete the game 100%. And by that I mean 100%, all weapons, all items, all bosses, all battle trophies, all everything. It's demential.

I have a funny moment that I will treasure for the rest of my life though. I was at one of the later bosses in the game and I was taking too damn long. I fought him for about 3 hours until my brain reacted and told me: "Anfebious, there is something... wrong". And there it was, I was blindsiding the boss, like the rest of the bosses in the game. But turns out that each time you do that with this one, you only make him heal himself all his HP. I turned off the game and I never touched the game again.

Yeah I never finished the game and I'm making a review (I do know I was next to the final bosses). Sue me if you want.

Well so much for a short review right? Don't worry I know you didn't read a damn thing that is why I have this:

TL;DR: The game sucks.

2 Stars

Not as good as SO3, but I still found it enjoyable.

I found it to be the worst of the series! Hence the harsh review. I still managed to get to the end of the game so I found some kind of "enjoyment". But whatever it was, it didn't last long.

Oh I played the PS3 version, I put that tagged game bacause it was the first one I found.  The problem with the characters wasn't only the voices, it was their expression, or well lack of it. They felt so... not belivable. The Anime portraits are a cool addition but it doesn't really change a lot.

Well the price you bought it at is reasonable. I paid full price for the game as I was actually really hyped. I LOVED the series, the first and third game are one of my favourites games. I think my harsh review has more to do with the failed expectations I had with it.

You should try the first game, it's on the PSP. WAY better! Also the third game is for the PS2, if you still have it, give it a go, I'm sure you will end up liking them a lot more.

I approve.

LOL, I couldn't get through 3 hours of this game.

I was 3 full hours. It was late though, so maybe I don't remember correctly but I was a lot of time in that fight.

Anyway boss battles where kinda long, well at least compared to other Action RPG games. 15 minutes for a boss is a lot of time, or maybe I played too much tales of games.

I never tried post game as I didn't finished the game. I was too fed up with the overall experience to give it a go :/. And now that you mention all that backtracking, I think I have less desire to try the post game xD.

I agree with the teleport part, it is essential. In SO4 defense, it was fairly early in the gen when it was released right? So that might explain why it didn't have a good fast travel system.

SO3, SO1 and SO 2 are better and that is what might make me give the game a harsh score. The other ones where so good that I had high expectations for this game. It let me down... And the sad part is that we will probably never get another Star Ocean game

The first hours of the game suck. It gets a litte bit better but it's usually a rather mediocre experience. There is also a very negative point... the maps. They are HUGE and with little things to do, they feel kinda empty. Gosh, I'll stop because I can throw shit to this game all day long xD.

Looks like someone lost a bet.

I never complain about voices too, but DAMN... that little annoying girl. The combat system seemed fine, but yeah, it was too empty. I probably gave up on it too soon, but whatever.