Square Enix and tri-Ace have just announced that a new Star Ocean game is in development. It was thought “The Last Hope” was going to be the final instalment in the series, but now we are set to head out into the great star ocean once more… But first let’s look back how the series has evolved.

The Star Ocean series began on the Super Nintendo and featured real-time battles with an interesting space travelling story. It allowed different characters to be recruited on different play-throughs and debuted the “private actions” system which revealed additional backstory for characters the player chose to engage with. The first game wasn’t released outside of Japan until it’s remake on the PlayStation Portable some 10 years later.

Next came “The Second Story” released on the original PlayStation, again using the action-based battle system the series is known for allowing full control over the playable characters in combat. Taking place 20 years after the first Star Ocean, this game allowed the player to choose between two different main characters that affected the way the story played out. The series was making a name for itself moving into the PlayStation 2 era.

Set hundreds of years after the second game, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time moved the series into 3D and also featured fully voiced dialogue. The use of 3D graphics elevated the battle system to new heights and is seen now as the main drawcard of the series. Like the other titles it also has a vast item creation system and a compelling soundtrack.

Most recently the fourth Star Ocean game was released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and was actually a prequel to the entire series as humanity faced the aftermath of World War III. It added new facets to the battle system, like Blindside attacks and a four-character party and allowed the player control over their own spaceship.

So why am I excited for a revival of Star Ocean? Well the developers have stated that they are trying to capture the spirit of Star Ocean 3, from the logo design, to the art style. Hopefully this means more that just superficially and actually means they aim to harken back to the PlayStation 2 era of design for RPGs. More than a few RPG series fell in quality during the last generation and some have been completely missing in action. So if Star Ocean 5 can come back strong it might lead the way for other games to do the same.

Either way, I’m excited to take another Sci-Fi quest, travelling to unexplored planets and battling enemies in a fantastic new Action-RPG adventure!