Star Ocean: The Divine Force Reviews
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
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.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force isn't a bad game at all. I enjoyed my time with it thanks mostly due to the D.U.M.A. mechanic. The experience of playing this game makes me reminiscent of my memories of playing PS2-era JRPGs. A lot of them weren't polished or even that great, but I still had fun playing them.
Star Ocean The Divine Force wears the undeniable merit of bringing back a franchise that had been derailed after the disaster of Integrity and Faithlessness six years ago.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force admittedly has a number of issues. A poor interface, a main story which isn’t all that interesting, and certain character designs that just look bad. For me, however, its strengths more than overcame those issues, with a truly charming cast of characters, intense and enjoyable combat, and a novel twist in D.U.M.A. who makes moving around both in and out of combat a joy. It won’t be for everyone, but fans of the series or genre who have spent years waiting for a Star Ocean game worth their time will find this is exactly the sort of B game they don’t make enough of anymore.
It almost feels like Star Ocean: The Divine Force’s existence is some sort of miracle. Even more so because, while there are some elements that can feel a bit dated and it isn’t exactly perfect, it’s generally a joyful and solid experience.
From the way the storytelling really takes advantage of its genre hybrid to the distinct and action-packed combat system, this is an excellent JRPG that hits its targets far more often than it misses.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force has a terrific battle system, a variety of unique exploration possibilities with a lot of vertical mobility, and a solid cast of characters, but the game's pacing can be a problem, and the writing is somewhat weak.