Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness Reviews
Star Ocean returns with its fifth installment, but after 20 years its evolution has not been quite good. The AI is terrible, the mechanics are really repetitive and the story is pretty dull. Only the players that enjoy the classic JRPG games will have fun with this one.
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Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness isn’t a terrible game by any means, but is let down by some poor story-telling, dreadful delivery and a lack of originality. If you don’t mind the slightly repetitive nature of the combat, the poor camera and hammy acting then it’s well worth a look.
Even with all of its shortcomings the game kept me interested to its end. It just doesn’t feel like a full-priced title.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness has some good ideas, but they don't jive with the messy camera, the short campaign, and the shallow combat. Fans of the series might be willing to put up with these shortcomings, but with games like Odin Sphere Leifthraser out there, it's hard to recommend it.
The return of Star Ocean could have certainly been better, but if you love the genre (and you’re used to its quirks) and the series, you’ll most probably find plenty to enjoy in Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is a beautiful game that is well crafted in some areas, especially in the menu and combat systems. Sadly, the game trips on its own inconsistent difficulty and poor or incomplete feel of the gameplay design.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is a weird game in that it's a by-the-books RPG one minute, and a completely new feeling the next. Any future iterations after this one will be a tough sell, but if this is where its journey ends, it had a good run.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is a clunky, sometimes beautiful mess, navigating between some exciting highs and many disappointing lows to fall short of its promise.
Strong premise, mediocre execution
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is essentially JRPG comfort food.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is the kind of game that is full of potential but needed a lot more development time. The final product is about one-third of the game that it needs to be. The lack of environments, weak combat and bizarre pace makes it difficult to recommend even to die-hard RPG fans. There are a lot of strong individual bits, but they don't gel into a cohesive whole. It might be worth a shot once it comes down in price and if you're aware of the flaws going in. Even fans of the franchise will find this to be a step backward.
Overall, Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is a step up from Star Ocean IV and also a step in the right direction for the series.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is an RPG that merely fulfills its obligations. It's not awful thanks to a cast of likeable characters and an interesting premise, but an abundance of clichés, uneven polish, and messy combat and AI make it less than memorable. And as its main story only provides around 20 hours of playtime instead of the 60 or more the series usually delivers, some of those obligations aren’t met in full. As for me, I can't say I regret my time with Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness, but 20 hours was enough.
Star Ocean is perhaps more accurately described as Star Pond, or Star Singular Drop In An Unseen, Unexplored Ocean. Limited and lacklustre.
It seems Star Ocean fans are let down once again, with another mediocre entry for the series. This is hard to recommend, even to hardcore JRPG fans. Stale combat, and other gameplay issues ultimately prevent this game from being able to stand up with previous, more enjoyable Star Ocean titles.
While it’s understandable that Square Enix wanted to create a Star Ocean more like the fondly remembered early titles of the series, they seem to have forgotten what made those titles great. Whatever it was, Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness has none of it.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness wants to be a grand sci-fi JRPG, but its mediocre production values undercut it at almost every opportunity.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is flat-out disappointing, from its bland cast and story to its problematic battle system and recycled content
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness has good ideas but never goes anywhere with them