First Star Ocean 4 Details Revealed
09.06.07 - 6:14 PM
The newest addition of Weekly Famitsuu featured a lengthy article about Star Ocean 4. Series producer Yoshinori Yamagishi and assitant producer Hajime Kojima sat down with Japan's leading magazine to talk about the newest installment of tri-Ace's flagship series. While the game has been confirmed to be in development for quite some time now, the target platform had been the subject of a lot of speculation. Sadly, the Famitsuu article does not put an end to this speculation, as tri-Ace has yet to make a decision regarding the target platform. Kojima only said that the game will be released for a platform (or platforms) capable of displaying beautiful visuals. This most likely means either PlayStation 3, or Xbox 360, or both.
The game's development has progressed to the point where the basics of the battle system are up and running. The development team still has to add "interesting" features, adjust the balance, etc. Once completed, the battle system will support up to four active party members. Compared to its counterpart in Star Ocean 3, it will have a different feel to it. The developers describe it as an "orthodox progression" of the prequel's battle system with new features.
Meanwhile, work on the game's story is already finished. Yamagishi was unwilling to give away any details regarding the era, in which the game takes place, saying only this bit of information would be revealed in a surprising fashion at Tokyo Game Show. Kojima, however, assured fans that characters and races from previous installments would appear in Star Ocean 4 and the world would be the same as well. He went on to explain that previous installments did not really have a "star ocean" feel to them, but in Star Ocean 4 it would be possible to travel through space in one's own spaceship. There will also be events centering around spaceship battles. tri-Ace is promising a huge world, as there will be a lot of planets, not just two or three. That being said, the game will not be entirely science fiction-oriented, but also offer a fair share of fantasy elements.
The game's protagonist is a blonde-haired young male named Edge Maverick, the heroine's name is Reimi. The two are apparently childhood friends. Private action events will also make their return in Star Ocean 4.
At the end of the interview, the tri-Ace representatives briefly touched on the subject of the Star Ocean and Star Ocean: The Second Story remakes for PlayStation Portable. The new Star Ocean will be a complete remake, featuring new scenario and gameplay elements. As for Star Ocean: The Second Story, tri-Ace was not so forthcoming with information. It was only stated that the game will offer a new experience, even to those fans who have already played the original game on PlayStation.
Star Ocean 4 has yet to receive an official release date.
