Also available on: Xbox 360 ( Review )
Developer: tri-Ace
Publisher: Square Enix
Genre: Role-playing game
The 'International version' was once a staple of role-playing games, especially in Japan, offering new characters, dungeons and tweaks to already expansive games in order to increase a run of sales, and to add features that had appeared in foreign markets. In many ways, the International version of Star Ocean: The Last Hope (which was released on Xbox 360 last summer) is the opposite of this, offering additional language options to a global audience but little else in terms of meaningful new content. What there is, however, makes it the better of the two versions.
For a start, the Blu-ray disc neatly holds everything the three-disc 360 version offered, which makes disc swapping a thing of the past. (As well as general convenience, this is especially ideal for late game backtracking.) Furthermore, the additional space paves the way for the Japanese language track, as well as a range of European-friendly subtitles. While this doesn't seem a particularly attractive feature on paper, by far one of the biggest complaints of the original was the drab and frustrating English voice work. Through this, Edge no longer sounds bored, and Lymle's annoying quirks are washed away with a rich and emotion-filled Japanese language track. It's a feature that surprisingly works within the confines of an otherwise sci-fi heavy story, serving to tame rather than enhance the quirkiness of the stereotypical JRPG cast, and makes cutscenes far more enjoyable.
As a prequel to the rest of the series, The Last Hope sees mankind explore the stars after a World War ravages the Earth, teaming up with other alien species to explore new planets for a new home and to uncover an ancient evil secret in the stars. As enticing as the set up is - our heroes are part of this first voyage into deep space - the game is keen to expose its worst features in the dozen or so hours; the story is a slow burn and leaves its more intriguing aspects of time travel and evolution until later planets, and the occasionally scrappy visual style is an unsightly one in the busy opening environments, which is particularly obtrusive for its exploratory nature.
Regardless, you quickly gain a sense of its later riches through the battle system. Although not a feature exclusive to this franchise, the ability to choose your battles from wandering enemies is always favourable, and allows you to gain an initiative bonus for that upper hand. The battles themselves are real-time in nature, having you focus on a single character and dish out damage using sword swipes or long-range projectiles. It's one that manages to handle button mashing and complex strategy with ease: some encounters can mostly be dispatched with standard attacks, while others require you to find weak points, dodge attacks and learn blindsides, a technique which can place you at an instant advantage if you can pull it off, and is a system that always engages you throughout.
While it wasn't necessarily a notable issue with the original, the International Version now gives you the ability to choose targets (which was remedied before by moving towards your enemy of choice) making fiddly bonus tiles easier to obtain. Even though the battle system is enjoyable in itself, perhaps the game's greatest strength is the meta-game assigned to it, in which you must try to hold up a winning streak across encounters for a bonus, or earn battle trophies by landing specific combos or using characters in certain ways. For those that want to chase down these tasks - which can add up to hundreds of hours in additional content - this subtle addition makes the International version particularly ideal in making things go more smoothly.
Other additions and changes are few and far between. The frame rate and loading times are largely the same as the 360 release, while the Japanese extras add the option for a colourful menu scheme with cute anime character portraits, which are instantly more favourable than the CGI offerings already in place. While some players might scoff at the lack of tangible additions for this release, you won't complain at what is in there; the Japanese voice track is almost invaluable at making certain cutscenes enjoyable to sit through, while the small tweaks in the battle system and convenience in disc swapping ensures that, for the more dedicated, side activities are far easier to handle.
So while this International version lacks any overwhelming changes - it's certainly nothing that 360 owners will lose sleep over - there's little doubt that this version is the better of the two. And as a result, The Last Hope is just as recommended as it was before: despite its glossy science-fiction sheen, it is a very traditional Japanese role-playing game, and although it comes with plenty of presentation and pacing issues in its opening stages, it's one that soon blossoms into a very pleasing old-fashioned adventure. Which is something that this generation of consoles - especially the PlayStation 3 - has been sorely lacking.
