So, it has been five years already
since we had the chance to play a new Star Ocean.
And with me, i mean … moi, probably. But! I have been craving a new animu clichee-ridden JRPG for a while, but to no avail. The studio (triAce) has been gobbled up by some mopho developer, and it is unlikely that there’ll be another SO again… so far, so bad.
Good for us then that there has been a second series that never felt like it can match SO, but rather carved out its own niche - tellingly named Tales of [title].
Well, what can you do, Motoi doing (some bits of?) Soundtrack, there’s a new engine and partially new team … and i finally carved in and bought my first Tales of Title.
I’ve played ToS, which my brother bought for the gamecube, and tried one inbetween that was releases for the PS3, for ~ 20 minutes. Felt like it was ToS Reloaded, dropped it quickly. Now, almost two decades later, back again, woohoo.
Three hours in, do I regret that purchase?
Kinda not!
There are def not stormtroopers with Spaceships and (proper) swords, a lady that can kill people by striking Friend (and Foe) with lightning, rebels, ancient building with futuristic treasure chest, twin planet in the sky, cat ears (and a dog’s tail) and our hero is called iron mask (Kamen something in the japanese sub. no french dub, sorry … ).
Well, random encounters have been over too quickly so far, Mademoiselle Lightning (not her of FF13 fame) has tried cooking for the first time, and we’ve went to ancient ruins to get her a dress, so…
… this game ticks all the right boxes atm, I am more than surprised and enjoyed my time with it so far.
If anyone else bought this, share your love/impressions/the hate!
Will report back with better pixxx next time.