Star Ocean: The Divine Force Reviews
I don’t want to take anything away from this game, though. I have enjoyed Star Ocean: The Divine Force more than any game in the series since the third one. The developers have calibrated just about everything about this game perfectly, from the classically entertaining JRPG plot and characters, to the incredible aesthetics and superb pacing. The Divine Force is by no means a short game, but it has a way of making the hours fly past so that it never feels like it’s dragging on your time. Yes, the combat is a little unrefined and too pacey for its own good, but it’s still very playable, and totally worth dealing with to enjoy the most exotic JRPG of 2022.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force successfully reinvigorates the RPG franchise with an interesting story and characters as well as beautiful settings. D.U.M.A. also makes it fun to zoom around the map and fly through the air on the battlefield. Although the graphics are hit and miss and there are some quality of life improvements needed, Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a JRPG that's definitely worth your time.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a JRPG with a grandiose tale and fun combat that's heavily weighed down by poor pacing, technical issues, and design flaws.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force is an improvement from the previous game; Integrity and Faithlessness, but this is not a return to form to games like Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, or The Second Story. tri-Ace, to me, could do no wrong during the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 era. I would love to see tri-Ace return to greatness with a higher quality new Star Ocean title, but with this one I'll have to settle for average.
What a disappointing way to dive in head first into a new series. Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a stain on the history of a franchise that has a pretty solid cult following. While it does feature some decent combat, that alone doesn’t make up for its myriad of issues, such as the lacklustre story, bland world and incredibly poor visuals that look like they are from the PS2 era at the very best. It could have been great if more care had been put into it. As it stands, I just simply cannot recommend it.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force is absolutely the return to form I so desperately wanted for the series, and it’s a game I legitimately, whole-heartedly adore, but it’s also held back by some baffling design decisions and outright unacceptable performance issues. The music is fantastic and the cast even more so, with strong performances across the board. The story is serviceable and does a fair job at touching on some fundamental philosophical questions about governance and humanity, though it lacked the “wait, what?” surprise factor I expect from SO titles. The world is lived in and warm, and benefits from the addition of D.U.M.A. for faster and more vertical exploration. It’s also gorgeous, from detailed locales to beautiful character designs.
A delightful RPG in its own right, rather than just a good retro-like experience.
There’s a solid narrative foundation that can be built upon in The Divine Force, but this foundation is weakened by the many gripes with the execution.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force presents us with a game that may have once been a stellar JRPG title 20 years ago, but those standards just don't hold up in 2022. When compared to its contemporaries, it's just not on the same level, in any way. It's always been a B-Tier Square Enix franchise, but once upon a time, Star Ocean was an essential title. It's a shame that more effort has not gone into modernizing and revitalizing a beloved franchise.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force delivers fast paced combat and a great setting that allows it to tell an engrossing tale but a number of visual choices heavily damper the experience.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force is the new game in the series. The revamped gameplay will take some getting used to for fans of the series, but it has a lot to offer. The mix of Fantasy and Sci-Fi provides a perfect entry point for newcomers. In any case, you are assured of hundreds of hours of fun.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
An immersive, agile, beautiful and extremely fun JRPG. If you are fans of the genre, Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a fantastic gateway to the saga.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Star Ocean: The Divine Force is an excellent addition to the franchise, giving its gameplay a new lease of life. Despite its problems, the plot manages to maintain a consistently serious tone throughout the main events, and the relationships between the characters are well established. Here's hoping that future games can expand on what went well in this one, and explore elements of the Star Ocean universe even further.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Quite fun and adictive although there are several flaws in the technical aspect that could influence in the global game experience. The exploration factor and the story (well written) are two of the key points of this game that will be quite enjoyable for the JRPG fans.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Star Ocean: The Divine Force might not set the world on fire, but it’s well-made and thoroughly enjoyable. Everything from running around to fighting is a blast, and though it looks a bit odd and can feel a little repetitive at times, the unique premise, snazzy soundtrack, and voice acting make The Divine Force worth any JRPG fan’s time.
One positive point: the game is really of a higher quality than its predecessor. I had a lot of fun in my Star Ocean: The Divine Force journey and I believe that is the ultimate goal. Granted, the game is far from perfect but this series never was. If you stick with the story, you will definitely enjoy it as well as the personality of the characters, because the writing is so good. Unfortunately, I've also strained my eyes more often than I care to admit. For the role-playing enthusiast, I believe it deserves your attention.
Review in French | Read full review
Star Ocean: The Divine Force is not a memorable game, but it is a more than worthy new installment of a saga that had fallen out of favor. Its style reminiscent of the typical PlayStation 2 JRPG is one of its strengths, but also, despite the success of DUMA as a mechanism to energize combat and exploration, it acts as a limit that prevents it from reaching more memorable heights.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
There’s still a layer of jankiness the series can’t escape in terms of visuals and tropey writing. But the compelling characters and gameplay mechanics overshadow the rough edges. If this is the last Star Ocean game, Tri-Ace has gone out with a bang.
Star Ocean The Divine Force is therefore at the end of the day a solid new entry in the saga, one that maintains its action jRPG soul thanks to gameplay that is both frenetic and tactical. A title that would certainly have benefited a lot from a bigger budget, see for example for a graphic technical aspect that is not up to the mark, but that nevertheless manages to entertain and give everything one could have expected. In short, if you love the genre and the series, don't underestimate it.
Review in Italian | Read full review
I admittedly haven’t played any of the older Star Ocean games from back at the peak of its popularity, so I can’t say for certain whether Divine Force is a return to form. But for fans disappointed with the previous entry, there’s plenty here to make a dive back into the franchise worthwhile. Here’s hoping tri-Ace gets another shot with a bigger budget next time, because I believe they’re on an upswing.