Star Ocean: The Divine Force Reviews
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 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 it will certainly not be the triumphant return that fans hoped for. The game is full of clichés from another time and stereotypical characters, the plot is forgettable and nothing stands out visually. Its super nervous and messy combat system raise the bar however.
Review in French | Read full review
An improvement on the last Star Ocean game but Square Enix's veteran sci-fi franchise still feels stuck in the past, rather than exploring new frontiers.
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.
I wanted to like Star Ocean: The Divine Force a lot more than I did. It has a lot of interesting ideas and concepts, and I'm a prime target for Star Ocean 2 nostalgia bait. The game didn't have the time or budget to do what it wanted to do, and what we have is a half-baked title that does very little well. The story is dull, the combat is repetitive and poorly balanced, and the unique features fall by the wayside as the game progresses. There are glimmers that something great could have been created, but it isn't the game that we ended up with. It's difficult to recommend The Divine Force to even die-hard JRPG fans, since the game's few strengths are eclipsed by its many flaws. Wait for a sale if you're curious, but otherwise, there are plenty of other better JRPGs to play this year.
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.
While it might not keep up with the mega JRPG franchises, Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a big leap forward over previous entries, and has a fun combat system and just enough charm to recommend.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force feels drained of life.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a competent game in the Star Ocean franchise but it is hindered by some in game decision with menus, quest logs, and the party member AI. It isn't the best transition to 3D from the art, but playing and fighting enemies is very enjoyable.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force has exciting combat mechanics and a fun traversal system, but it's hampered by poor performance, bland cutscenes, and questionable pacing.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force is like a comfortable pair of JRPG slippers. If you're in the mood for a Japanese role playing game and you've played all of the good ones then you can rest assured that this one is fine. It's okay. It's comfort food. You know that feeling when you just wish Netflix would make another season of Mindhunter and so you end up watching Criminal Minds? That. Only in space.
This long-running series returns to classic roots with this new entry, but I doubt whether this is a correct choice or not.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Star Ocean's 25th-anniversary title celebrates its beloved PS2 classic with a spiritual remake, but its adherence to archaic series' design will ward off new players
Due to a myriad of issues both big and small, Star Ocean: The Divine Force feels less like a step in the right direction but instead, a stumble towards the goal. Still, the excellent combat and a more enjoyable story shows that there is still life amongst the stars and I sincerely hope that the series will continue and improve even further.
I would only recommend this game to forgiving action JRPG fans and series veterans. This sucks because I adore the story and the flight mechanics. Unfortunately, the game’s iffy presentation ruins a lot.
Star Ocean The Divine Force is a much better effort than Integrity and Faithlessness was, and with it the Star Ocean franchise goes back on track six years after. tri-Ace revamped the combt system and added new features, now it's up to Square Enix to decide the future of this long lasting series.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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.
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.