Star Ocean: The Last Hope International

I was about a year late to the party with this one. I had just finished clearing Final Fantasy XIII and was looking for another RPG to sink some time into. I read some good things about this and decided to give it a go. Aside from the awesome intro movie, it started out slow, but after a few hours I really started to enjoy myself. This is classic JRPG style with "next gen" polish. If you like exploring maps, bumping into an enemy and it cuts to a fight - this is definitely for you. Not only that, the fights are very hands-on. You can switch between characters while you fight, using their skills as appropriate for the situation, and the AI will back you up with your other guys (and you can configure how they will battle from one of several AI settings). So far - and I almost unlocked all the characters now - there's been very little to slow the pace. There are TONS of side quests and trophies to unlock. The characters are cute and nice to look at. There's a good variety of enemies - you won't see the same kind for very long. You can level up your abilities and battle skills, find and equip any number of awesome weapons, armor and accessories. There's chests to loot (don't miss picking up the Treasure Sense ability!), decent cut-scenes, and I'm always looking forward to see what happens next. The International version comes with both English and Japanese voice.. I'm playing through with Japanese and subtitles for my first run to get a solid feel for the characters, and then I'll play on a harder difficulty with English. This will surely become one of your favorite JRPGs in the collection. Highly recommended.

Most games nowadays have the notion of just trying to look pretty and leave the gameplay behind (FFXIII anyone?). Not this game. If you enjoyed older Star Ocean games like Till the End of Time, then you will certainly enjoy this game as well. It is basically Till the End of Time on the PS3/X360 - fun and intense combat system, comical characters and a lackluster story with its own funny moments. The game also has very good pace, slowly teaching you the basics while testing you at the same time. The user interface is also very well done. The voice acting is terrible just like the previous games, but thankfully the Japanese audio is available to bail this one out. This is the definition of a JRPG, something that next-gen consoles have been missing dearly. It has all the elements of a generic RPG - items, weapons/armors, towns, sidequests, leveling up, gain new skills, etc. Again, what makes this game very fun is its battle system. You will not find a more intense, challenging and fun combat system as this one. If you liked Star Ocean games and Final Fantasy games, give this one a try. And obviously if you're into CoD-type games or Uncharted, this is a hard knock for you, but this game is also a good choice for people interested in trying out the JRPG genre.

+ One of the best, if not the best, combat systems in RPGs
+ Incredible amount of content will make you come back for more even after beating the game
+ Japanese voice acting is great
+ The pacing is very well done
+ Some fanservice is present for those who are curious :P

- Lackluster story with some pointless dialogues
- Some characters can be annoying
- English voice acting is horrid

The game's characters and storyline are great. Environments are beautiful. As well, it's great how the Star Ocean games don't feel like every RPG you've ever played. A breath of fresh air into a genre that's anything but fresh.