Being a JRPG, you can assume the following: you use swords and magic, you lead a band of plucky androgynous teenagers and "old" battle-hardened thirty-somethings against an "ultimate evil," the main protagonist has a ridiculous name (Edge Maverick), and you possess mysterious powers that you don't yet fully fathom. And although you try to blend in on the planets you visit, none of your characters can be bothered to change out of their gaudy space suits, put on different clothes, or hide their fancy space swords. But clichés and gaping plot holes aside, the story's twists and turns are engaging -- especially with the extensive in-game dictionary to help sort out the details. And if things get too convoluted (which they frequently will), you can always check the synopsis, which highlights everything you've experienced up to that point.

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Unfortunately, the narrative gets bogged down by ham-fisted voice acting and the fact that you spend the first 10 hours jungle crawling and reading character introductions. Line by line, the localization is well written, but it takes too long for characters to get to the point in the game's rambling monologues; cut-scenes can drag on for up to 45 minutes. The characters keep repeating themselves, pounding basic plot points into the ground. No audience would tolerate such heavy-handedness in a movie or TV series, and there's no reason they should in a game.

The flora and flauna don't add much to the game's overarching interstellar theme either. No matter where you go, you'll find chests sitting around filled with blueberries. A game needs consistently named restoration items, but this makes the separate planets feel more connected than the light years of distance separating them would indicate. And the creatures on each world are mostly palette-swapped doppelgangers.

Click the image above to check out all Star Ocean: The Last Hope International screens.

The enemies might not be too exciting, but the combat system keeps the game from feeling like a chore. You can freely switch between any of your four characters on-screen (or swap anyone out with other characters in reserve) on the fly. So if you get tired of Edge's melee combat, there's always a ranged fighter (or a spellcaster) with a completely different set of abilities, one button click away. Combat can get button-mashy, but you can pre-set combos so your character pulls of their most devastating moves one after the other.

You only control one character at a time, but your allies are pretty good at taking care of themselves. The game lacks a gambit system like in Final Fantasy XII, so you're limited in your leadership choices to basically "fight" or "don't fight." But as long as you keep everyone leveled up, they use their attacks well, stay out of enemy fire, and use healing and support spells to keep help keep you alive. I experienced a few close calls in my battles, but for the most part, the A.I. acted accordingly. Most importantly, you can turn off character combat voices. Like in other JRPGs, everyone in your party constantly repeats the same stock phrases ad infinitum during combat, but here you can turn down their annoying voices while still enjoying the game's exciting battle music.

Star Ocean contains an interesting plot buried in its depths, but it's incredibly demanding of your time and your patience. The long-winded, poorly conceived dialogue, and formulaic cut-scene, dungeon crawl, cut-scene, dungeon crawl design isn't getting any fresher. I still enjoyed the game and its comforting, monster-slaying grind, though. Anyone picking up this title probably knows what they're getting into, and there's always room for another decent (if not altogether memorable) JRPG. If you're in the mood for a Japanese space opera, Star Ocean can fill that void.