Star Ocean: The Divine Drive Overview (PS5)

After forty-five hours, a couple of smiles, and one or two frowns, we walked away from Star Ocean: The Divine Drive with a shrug. It’s a middle-tier Japanese function taking part in sport that at no level, ever, threatens to get promoted to top-tier standing nor sink so low that it finally ends up sandwiched between Hyperdimension Neptunia and Limitless Saga. Mid-table mediocrity. The Crystal Palace of JRPGs.

Given the tumultuous historical past of the Star Ocean sequence, The Divine Drive being merely okay might be a step in the precise path. And whereas this sport wouldn’t make our greatest of 2022 checklist until we’re doing 100 video games every this yr, a number of the enhancements made right here, and a number of the programs put in place imply it’s conceivable the following Star Ocean sport could genuinely be good. It would even be nice.

However we’re within the right here and now. The yr of our Lord 2022 and we’ve received a job to do. We crammed over forty hours of this sport into 5 days simply to get thus far and now that we’re right here: yeah, it’s alright. What’s there to say? There’s no fascinating speaking factors or incisive critiques we will make. No jokes. No good jokes, anyway. If it was actually unhealthy at the very least we might make snide remarks however as it’s we will merely shrug and get on with it.

Star Ocean: The Divine Drive means that you can choose one in every of two characters to play as throughout your journey all through house and stuff. There’s Raymond who’s a type of anime Han Solo with one of many worst haircuts we’ve ever seen in a online game, after which there’s Laeticia, a blue haired princess of the realm who fights on the entrance strains in excessive heels.

We performed as Raymond as a result of we couldn’t take our eyes off his bizarre, golden house mullet, however for the hour or two that we tried as Laeticia it’s principally the identical sport, simply when the celebration splits up sometimes all through the journey you see what she was doing as a substitute of him. Additionally you’re carrying excessive heels. So your alternative is between trying fabulous and looking out like an fool. And we picked fool for some cause. What had been we pondering?

Raymond is the captain of a spaceship. It’s like Star Trek, kinda. There’s even an android tapping away on a console like that one in Star Trek, solely as a substitute of being designed by Gene Roddenberry this one was designed by Russ Meyer, apparently. For those who’re too younger for the Russ Meyer reference then he was an auteur who made camp, smutty motion pictures within the sixties and seventies about scantily clad, high heavy girls. We’re simply saying that the android is a sexbot, okay?

Anyway, Raymond crash lands on a pre-spaceflight planet and shortly meets Laeticia and her squire and so they quickly set up that they each need assistance getting someplace and so in the event that they work collectively it’ll profit each events. Raymond desires to seek out different survivors from the crash after which get off the backwater rock he’s landed on, and Laeticia is attempting to cease a warfare breaking out between her Kingdom and a rival Empire.

Alongside the way in which our two heroes meet and be a part of up with a solid of largely tropey characters, like a cranky outdated man and the compulsory annoying kooky woman, and so they uncover that there’s a sinister hyperlink between their two quests, and the very destiny of the universe. Everyone knows the place that is going, proper? You’ve performed a JRPG earlier than. And if you happen to haven’t then this shouldn’t be the one you begin with. Persona 5 is true there ready for you.

The story begins gradual however it does get extra fascinating within the again half. It’s not notably deep or thought frightening however it at the very least poses a few philosophical and moral questions on issues, like synthetic intelligence and the perils of a sophisticated civilization assembly an underdeveloped one, even when it doesn’t discover them completely. Much less meals for thought, then, and extra of a Tic-Tac for thought.

Cutscenes have some fantastically questionable animations in them and there’s been zero try made to lip-sync the characters to the voice performing. Cutscenes are additionally overnumerous in direction of the top of the sport as all is being revealed, and there’s one stretch of the sport particularly wherein it appears you do nothing however stroll from one room to a different so the individual telling the story can inform it with a special décor for about two hours.

Fight is quick and versatile. It is enjoyable at occasions, too. You play as one character in actual time whereas your three celebration members are managed by AI. You’ll be able to arrange combos to your celebration to make use of in battle by choosing what assaults they’ll do in what order, and as you degree up you’ll unlock extra assaults. You too can add objects to heal or buff into your combos, and later help actions, too.

For those who spend a little bit of time experimenting with the arrange of your squad you’ll discover which you could flip them right into a well-oiled machine, therapeutic damage celebration members or reviving unconscious ones with out a lot supervision from you. This leaves you to focus on the D.U.M.A. system which is without doubt one of the finest issues concerning the sport.

D.U.M.A. is an AI floaty ball factor that helps you in battle and it elevates what would in any other case be largely humdrum encounters. With a faucet of R1 you possibly can zip to an enemy, or you possibly can choose to slip round their again and assault from behind. Generally, again assaults will stun an enemy leaving them open to huge injury. You’ll be able to even use D.U.M.A. outdoors of battle that will help you traverse the world, climbing to excessive ledges or flying throughout ravines. Thanks, D.U.M.A.

Conclusion

Star Ocean: The Divine Drive is sort of a snug pair of JRPG slippers. For those who’re within the temper for a Japanese function taking part in sport and you have performed the entire good ones then you possibly can relaxation assured that this one is okay. It is okay. It is consolation meals. You realize that feeling if you simply want Netflix would make one other season of Mindhunter and so you find yourself watching Felony Minds? That. Solely in house.