Star Ocean: First Departure R (Switch)

Science and Magic

Looking through the e-shop I found this little game when it was released and the design caught my eye so got it and started playing. Apparently a snes game originally, then ported to the PSP and then remade to this game. It opens with an anime sequence of a space ship on patrol encountering an attack on a planet that completely destroys it. So a science-fiction game. And then we meet Roddick, a militia guard together with Millie and Dorne that protects their home from bandits, until one day a strange plauge that turns people into stone. When Millies own father, the healer of the town is himself affected trying to treat the villagers so Dorne, Roddick and Millie climbs a holy mountain to find some herbs. And finds a shining light teleporting down captain Ronyx and science officer Illia. They inform them that the plauge is caused by an unknown power from another planet and that Ronyx decided to interfer with this underdeveloped planet. So they are allowed upon their space ship where they can do some test since Dorne have been infected as well. He can't be cured and after a conference with the enemy of the federation (of course there is a federation) reveals that there is some power behind them that scares even them.

Dorne is returned to his bed as he is turned to stone and Roddick and the others take action by travelling to a gate that take them back in time... sci-fi, fantsy and now time travel. It has everything. So back some 400 years or so to find the demon king that apparently is the one that has the blood that can be used as a vaccine. But first Roddkick and Illia gets separated from the others and have to reunite. On the travels they meet Cyuss, a wandering swordsman that aid them crossing the mountains and turns up to be the son of the Highlands mightiest warrior, Ioshua, a featherfolk (angel like people) that looks to seek revenge on some knight for kidnapping his sister. Mavelle, an amnesiac girl and Pericci, a cat-girl. They go on to reenact the legend Roddick and Millie learnt about the destruction of the demon king and it's pretty much that.

The twist is that the planet that Ronyx and Illia thought was underdeveloped actually houses some very advanced technology. Apparently the ancient kingdom of Mu (on earth where Ronyx and Illia comes from) had an accident that opened an interdimensional portal and they ended up on the planet Roak. The demon king apparently was some genetical enhanced human that was trapped in a portal when the muans (the name of the ancient people of Roak, and incidentely I guess the name of the people of Mu) tried to go home, but instead ended up on a third planet (the planet being the unknown force behind the plauge). They open the gate to hell and finds the demon king, and as they kill him some soldiers teleport in, gets some dna-sample and gets out. Order is restored in the past and the people of the future travels back to their own time and cure Roaks from the stone-infection. Meanwhile the federation have located the planet where the muans ended up. Apparently now run by a genetic engineered dictator that are intent on conquering the universe. So you are allowed to get the warriors from the past and be the strike team.  In and kill. Game over.

Now, much of the plots and twists I actually like. The problem with the game is the gameplay. To often during battle I got cornered and just slaughtered without being able to react to the attack. On the other hand the stun/lock method worked in favour for me as well... but I really wished it was balanced better. It really made the game slog in the end and I don't want to play it again. It's a bit sad since the game in parts want to be replayed since you can have different characters instead of those I had. And it's not that long with akin to 20-30 hours... with the exception of the endgame where I have to grind to something like level 100 and above to finish of the boss. And we shall not talk about the idiotic system in place where you can't go back to Roaks past to finish up side quest like the arena after travelling to the last planet. Apparently worked in SNES version. Stupid game. All this combined really soured the game for me.