Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness (2016)

Strong premise, mediocre execution

This game tries to hitch a ride on the nostalgia train without paying the due fees first. For hardcore Star Ocean fans only.

It seems Star Ocean fans are let down once again, with another mediocre entry for the series. This is hard to recommend, even to hardcore JRPG fans. Stale combat, and other gameplay issues ultimately prevent this game from being able to stand up with previous, more enjoyable Star Ocean titles.

Wiping away the Star Ocean part off of Star Ocean : Integrity and Faithlessness, this is actually pretty decent. It's a standard fantasy RPG that tried out some new ideas, did well in some, faltered at others, but came out easily on the fun side. However, remembering what series this title is actually in, it feels more like the development crew tried to read off of the Tales' series homework notes, but didn't manage to fully copy them down. Their competence saves it from failure, but it feels like they were trying to copy from another series and didn't really try to give it the distinct Star Ocean feel it should have. Decent, enjoyable, but not a "true" Star Ocean.

Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is the kind of game that is full of potential but needed a lot more development time. The final product is about one-third of the game that it needs to be. The lack of environments, weak combat and bizarre pace makes it difficult to recommend even to die-hard RPG fans. There are a lot of strong individual bits, but they don't gel into a cohesive whole. It might be worth a shot once it comes down in price and if you're aware of the flaws going in. Even fans of the franchise will find this to be a step backward.