Star Ocean: The Divine Force review - A return to form for the classic JRPG franchise

As a long-time Star Ocean fan, I’m excited to talk about Star Ocean: The Divine Force. A long-standing RPG series from tri-Ace, now published by Square Enix, Star Ocean is a blend of science fiction and fantasy that few developers have been able to truly master. While there have been some trials in the Star Ocean series, I feel this entry into the franchise is much better than the previous game.

Players pick between one of the two protagonists, and regardless of who they pick, they will be locked into an unforgettable experience for the story and its characters. While Star Ocean: The Divine Force is far from a perfect game, it does a great deal to give me hope for the future of Star Ocean.

Star Ocean: The Divine Force improves upon the previous entry in the series

Whether you pick Raymond or Laeticia as your protagonist, the two become intrinsically linked, and the changes we see come from the story's focal point and things of that nature. Each character also has an exclusive party member that can only join one protagonist or the other as well. This story is also not connected to any particular Star Ocean game.

That said, you’ll still see a number of references to the overall series, as Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a celebration of Star Ocean as a whole. For example, the merchant who teaches you the various crafting systems in the game is Welch Vineyard, a mysterious, obnoxious girl who has a staff with a gloved pointing finger on it.

The “Kenny” family also makes a return, as one of the party members is Marielle J. Kenny. Fans of the franchise will surely remember Ronyx J. Kenny or perhaps his son, Claude C. Kenny.

Star Ocean: The Divine Force is primarily set on the backwater planet Aster IV, which has a fantasy look that would not look amiss in any JRPG.

The World of Star Ocean: The Divine Force is truly a stunning one (Image via Square Enix)

A beautiful planet, but one torn by political conflict, our party members quickly find themselves mired deep in a situation they have little control over. Raymond, one of the main protagonists, is the captain of a merchant vessel, the Ydas, and winds up crash-landing on Aster IV.

The other protagonist is the dutiful and calm Princess Laeticia of Aucerius. The story starts on a small scale and slowly develops into a wild tale that spans the stars. The unlikely characters meet and evolve to like each other and assist one another in their minor problems as things slowly grow troubling.

However, one problem I’m seeing is that there is no New Game+ option. Both characters have some differences in story and character interactions, so there are some minor things you miss out on without playing both stories. Star Ocean: The Divine Force would be far more enjoyable if there were a New Game+ available. I know it’s not something Star Ocean is known for, but it would help in a situation like this.

A whole new world we live (and fight) in

Star Ocean: The Divine Force spends much of its time on Aster IV, a vast, beautiful world. Thankfully, you can speed around quickly with dash, and you also have access to the mysterious futuristic orb DUMA. This orb can help you fly briefly and also glide, reaching areas that are off the beaten path.

This helps because each map is absolutely massive, so it would feel like a serious chore if you couldn’t traverse the maps quickly. You also get into battles in real time, utilizing an incredible new combat system.

Players have three attack buttons, each with up to three combat abilities you can link to. This helps players create combos of attacks quite easily, but you can put your buffs, spells, and even items on these. You also have an alternative attack button to bind, where you hold down one of those buttons instead of mashing through the combo.

That strange, hovering orb is the helpful DUMA (Image via Square Enix)

You can bind whatever you want to these without restriction in Star Ocean: The Divine Force, which is really quite nice. You can create some truly fantastic combos, and it isn’t hard to create 200-300+ combo hits in battle. You can use DUMA again here, as it allows you to dive bomb and sneak attack enemies. You can surprise attack enemies or even hit Blindsides.

Blindsides briefly paralyze opponents and allow you to deal more damage, making some fights relatively trivial. You can also blindside in the middle of combat if you catch another foe off guard and not paying attention to you. All party members can use DUMA, so no matter who your primary character is, it benefits them. Each character also has a special attack to unlock with DUMA, and they’re all quite useful.

You have a sort of AP system, and each attack burns a set amount of AP. If you sneak attack enemies, you gain a boost to this, giving more AP than normal. If you dash during combat, it also uses AP, so be aware of that. This means you’ll have to hit your combos quickly, wait a few seconds and get out of the way while AP quickly restores. Then, you’re right back in the thick of things.

However, while the combat of Star Ocean: The Divine Force is fast and exciting, I do worry it’s a bit too fast. There are lots of flashy particle effects and movement, making it hard to make perfectly timed dodges. It also takes away from terrific enemy designs since you’re constantly moving and attacking.

The combat in general was one of my favorite parts of the game, though. Each character has a unique look and playstyle, and they all serve a useful function in the squad. It’s also nice to be able to swap characters in and out of battle on the fly.

In addition, each character in Star Ocean: The Divine Force has huge, sweeping Skill Trees to explore. It’s worth noting that you can’t undo any decisions, so really take the time to look at them. You can also unlock your attacks, stat buffs, and passives here. You can only equip so many passives at once, so don’t be like me and forget that you have to equip these for them to take effect.

There’s plenty to do in Star Ocean: The Divine Force

While I enjoyed the main story of Star Ocean: The Divine Force a great deal, the optional content is a bit of a mixed bag. For example, Es’owa is incredible. It’s a game that’s similar to Chess or Go. It uses pawns that have several excellent references to classic Star Ocean characters. You can also equip these to acquire many powerful effects.

Welch Vineyard is eccentric, but she's ultimately quite helpful in Star Ocean: The Divine Force (Image via Square Enix)

It’s such a fun game, and it’s easy to find NPCs that play it. This was another significant aspect of Star Ocean: The Divine Force. However, one trend hasn’t entirely gone away with me - the loathing I have for this franchise’s crafting system. The NPC that unlocks it, Welch Vineyard, is terrific. However, while there are eight crafting systems and each character specializes in one, it’s all random!

It certainly feels that way. Item combinations are supposed to unlock specific medicines, equipment, and more. However, you aren’t guaranteed to have the desired result. I unlocked a side quest in15 hours to craft specific engineering items from Welch.

Fast forward around 35 hours, and I still have not completed it! I have to hope and pray that I eventually get the items I’m looking for. It’s still better than previous games’ crafting systems, but that’s not saying much.

You also have a few side quests to unlock, but I wish the map would highlight some of these goals. You occasionally get a general area to go through, but many quests are pretty cryptic. This isn’t the worst thing in the world, but I’ve grown accustomed to knowing where I’m going and where I need to search.

While visually gorgeous, there are some flaws worth noting

I adore the visuals for Star Ocean: The Divine Force, and that’s no lie. It’s an absolutely gorgeous game, but then the character models in cutscenes/discussions show up, and they all look so lifeless. There’s virtually no emotion to the characters. They resemble dolls, and I’m not that crazy about that part.

I also noticed a few graphical glitches. King Aucerius, for example, goes to sit on a bench, and instead of sitting on it, he’s hovering above it, feet planted on the bench. Hilarious, but weird. The character designs are great, but they look lifeless when talking.

While unfortunate, there were a few visual errors in Star Ocean: The Divine Force (Image via Square Enix)

I also enjoyed both protagonists having their own unique battle music in Star Ocean: The Divine Force. The music in general felt so uplifting and light. It was very soothing, I have to say. I did notice some issues with the English dub, though. While most of the dub is quite good, they often say “Ger’rard” in two different ways. It was incredibly distracting, though it only happened in a few places.

I detected that some of the background dialog was drowned out by the music. The game's presentation was quite stunning; it just fell apart in a few places.

In Conclusion

I genuinely enjoyed my time with Star Ocean: The Divine Force. Knowing what I do now, my second playthrough, as Raymond this time, will be far more efficient. It’s a brilliant game and fun for me, but some minor issues all stack up to become quite frustrating.

The combat’s great, and the characters themselves are memorable. But I was pretty let down by the quality of the cutscenes, and the battle, while enjoyable, might be just a little too fast.

The Divine Force may not be the greatest Star Ocean game of all time, but it’s an amusing story and one worth experiencing. Star Ocean: The Divine Force is enjoyable in so many ways, but with a bit of polish, it could have been truly fantastic.