Star Ocean 5 brings back several elements of the series, such as intergalactic spaceships and a magical 15th to 16th century-based planet; however, the upcoming title may be a little different when it comes to the main character and his relationship with the heroine. Key developers recently shared a few details in an interview with Dengeki.

Dengeki points out that Star Ocean 5 protagonist Fidel Camus is 23 years old, which is a little bit on the older side when compared to other RPGs. They ask if there’s any kind of reason for this.

“Fidel is 23, and that is indeed a little older in comparison to the norm,” says producer Shuichi Kobayashi. “That said, there’s in fact a reason behind this.”

“Yes. The 23-year-old Fidel isn’t quite a youngster with no knowledge of the world, but at the same time, he isn’t an adult that has experienced the taste of the sweet and bitter things [in life],” adds lead programmer Yoshiharu Gotonda. “He’s beginning to establish himself, but he’s still in a growing process.”

“He’ll mature to a degree, and the Fidel with his own thoughts and feelings at the start will experience various encounters and farewells in the story of Star Ocean 5, as he grows. This will be one of the highlights of the game’s story,” Kobayashi says.

Dengeki also mentions that as Fidel grows, he’ll be supported by the heroine named Miki. They say that it’s very Star Ocean-esque to have two childhood friends together as part of the setting.

“It really is,” responds Kobayashi. “Star Ocean 1 had Roddick and Millie, Star Ocean 3 had Fayt and Sophia, and in Star Ocean 4 we had Edge and Reimi as childhood friends. However, we still don’t know whether Fidel and Miki’s relationship will be the same as these characters’ in Star Ocean titles up until now.”

Dengeki asks if he could share a little more on that front.

“Please do ask Gotonda-san about that, since I don’t know,” Kobayashi responds with a laugh.

Gotonda replies, “Wait! That’s not right! Kobayashi-san, you’ve already inspected all of the story!”

Unfortunately, neither of the two developers go beyond that, but Dengeki points out that judging by what we’ve seen from the pictures, it looks like they’ll either share a sibling-like relationship, but that they wouldn’t rule out the possibility of pairing the two as a couple, either.

Star Ocean 5: Integrity and Faithlessness is in development for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3.