Introducing the characters, world, and battle system.
Famitsu has gone up with its debut online preview of Star Ocean 5: Integrity and Faithlessness, providing our first onslaught of direct-feed (albeit Famitsu-quality) screenshots.
Centuries after leaving Earth, after a multitude of trials, with the creation and spread of the ‘Galactic Federation,’ humanity was on the verge of unified order and peace.
But the embers of conflict have begun to burn again.
Over 6,000 light years from Earth, on the unsettled planet, ‘Faykreed.’
Just as so many times before, the waves of history begin from a remote planet.
■ Setting
Star Ocean 5 is set during Space Date 537. Here’s the full timeline:
Space Date 10 – Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Space Date 346 – Star Ocean
Space Date 366 – Star Ocean: The Second Story
Space Date 537 – Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness
Space Date 772 – Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
■ Characters
Fidel Camuze (voiced by Kaito Ishikawa)
“I don’t care if you fail. I’ll always be there to support you. So trust me back and stand up!”
A 23 year-old man who inherited his sword skills from his father, the Leslia Kingdom’s most prominent swordsman. As the kingdom’s unstable situation persists, he uses his sword skills to protect the village’s public order.
Miki Sauvester (voiced by Nao Toyama)
“I can be of use, too! I helped Fidel just yesterday!”
A girl who grew up with Fidel and loves him like an older brother. She always depends on Fidel, but is reliable at heart. In her village of Stahr, she is a mage with a rare healing ability.
Lilia (voice actor unknown)
“I wanna know more about myself. I wanna remember more.”
A young girl who lost her memories and emotions. Fidel and company run into her during their adventure. Unable to leave her alone, the group chooses to protect her. Regardless, Miki grows attached to her, and Lilia loves her like a mother.
■ Areas
Leslia Kingdom
Resides on the planet’s largest continent, Vestiel, which has half of the entirety of the human population. The kingdom itself enjoyed piece and prosperity for over 300 years, thanks to the royal family. The kingdom has fallen into hard times in recent years, however, in a period known as the “Dark 7 Years.”
Stahr Village
Sits on the southern edge of Leslia and home to Fidel and Miki. Even the village isn’t spared from the effects of the Dark 7 Years. Technology-wise, though the world in general is roughly at the equivalent of the 1400s or 1500s on Earth, but with the help of special magic incantations, every city and village is able to progress on their own terms. Stahr Village specifically depends on wind energy by way of large windmills and its proximity to the ocean makes it a major fishing hub.
■ Seamless Real-Time Battles
Real-time battles have become seamless. Events will sometimes switch directly to battles, making the scenarios more engaging. Additionally, you’ll battle against a number of enemies at once, so the nature of battles is more strategic. Cooperation with your allies is the key to victory. Players can also freely switch between characters.
Each character’s attack method varies depending on their distance from the enemy, and combos can be triggered by consecutively pressing buttons. Various skills will have different effects depending on whether they’re triggered at short or long distances, and you can use them in combination with standard attacks. This is all that’s been announced about the battle system so far, however it’s clear there are a variety of battle styles, such as cooperating with allies, consecutively striking single enemies, and attacking multiple enemies at once.
In an interview with Weekly Famitsu No. 1376, producer Shuichi Kobayashi said: “Allied party members run on an AI and attack automatically. The core combat is still the same, with the player-controlled character and their targeted enemy squaring off 1-on-1. But for boss fights, it’ll be the whole party against the boss, lending those a different flavor from normal encounters.”
■ Event Scenes
During the story, players will be able to enjoy a variety of situations through events. Player reactions in specific situations, such as party members being captured in an ambush, can cause branching paths, with different actions taken therefore potentially leading to different ways a given event can end.
■ Staff Comments from Weekly Famitsu No. 1376
From Lead Programmer Yoshiaru Gotanda
Regarding the fact that this is the first new Star Ocean in six years: “We’d talked before about making another Star Ocean game on multiple occasions, but things never progressed to actual development until fall of 2013 when [producer Shuichi] Kobayashi said we should go out and actually make it happen, at which point work began in earnest.”
Regarding the subtitle: “There are multiple meanings behind the subtitle for this game. It’ll make sense by the end once you play the game, I think.”
From Producer Shuichi Kobayashi
Regarding what makes Star Ocean 5 a Star Ocean game: “The Star Ocean games are a series that I feel should be about enabling the players to enjoy what’s going on comfortably. Over the years, the games have always had action game elements in their combat systems, but they’re otherwise definitely not action games in the truest sense. For Star Ocean 5 as well, we’re making a game that’s not so dependent purely on player skill to be enjoyed so that our audience can focus on taking on the world and characters that we’ve created here.”
Regarding protagonist Fidel’s age: “It’s worth pointing out that Fidel, the protagonist, is 23 years old. Star Ocean fans are becoming adults and the type of people who own PS3s and PS4s are going to skew a little older, so we made Fidel as old as he is to better enable those players to more readily project themselves into him. There are other reasons why his age is what it is, but you’ll have to play the game to find out.”
Regarding the Star Ocean 3-esque logo: “Star Ocean 5 is about bringing a sense of reassurance back to longtime fans, which is why the game’s logo is reminiscent of Star Ocean 3‘s.”
Regarding the future of the Star Ocean series: ““I’d like to be able to keep putting these games out. By the end, when it’s all finished, we hope we have a game that draws in series fans and new players alike.”
From Director Hiroshi Ogawa
Regarding the return of other popular Star Ocean series mechanics: “The rules for how they work will change, but popular gameplay systems like Private Actions and item creations are set to return.”
Find our previous coverage of Star Ocean 5here and here.
