Star Ocean First Departure R Reviews

Star Ocean First Departure R is ranked in the 56th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
7 / 10.0
Dec 9, 2019
Star Ocean First Departure R - Easy Allies Review video thumbnail
Unscored
Dec 20, 2019

Star Ocean: First Departure R does its job of bringing First Departure to the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, but fails to do much beyond that.

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80 / 100
Dec 4, 2019

A classic JRPG in the good and the not so good: it has that charm that only this kind of games possess, but things like structure and narrative hasn't aged so well. In any case, if you haven't played the original (or the remake), Star Ocean: First Departure R is a great opportunity to do it.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

IGN Italy
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Dec 9, 2019

Star Ocean: First Departure R gives the players a chance to revive an old classic without ruining its originale core.

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7 / 10.0
Dec 18, 2019

Star Ocean: First Departure R on Nintendo Switch is a fine way to experience the origins of the Star Ocean franchise but a pretty barebones remaster.

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70 / 100
Dec 4, 2019

Star Ocean: First Departure R is an above average game that has the potential to be great. While the story, characters, and world are fun to experience, a dull battle system, uncooperative AI, and reliance on random chance bring it down too much.

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6 / 10.0
Dec 4, 2019

Star Ocean First Departure R offers an easy way to play a hard-to-find classic RPG, but very few enhancements makes this a purchase strictly for Star Ocean fans. Simplistic combat and minimal options make this a hard sell for devout JRPG fans.

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Wccftech
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Dec 5, 2019

Calling First Departure R a full remaster is a bit of a disservice. Though the new character artwork and Japanese voice track are nice additions, this is still very much the same Star Ocean game that fans played a decade ago.

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81 / 100
Dec 7, 2019

I love Star Ocean: First Departure R. It’s a must-play for JRPG fans, and gaming historians.

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8 / 10.0
Dec 4, 2019

Star Ocean First Departure R is an underwhelming port of an excellent but often forgotten Square Enix JRPG.

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6 / 10
Dec 4, 2019

Fans of Star Ocean will know what to expect here. This is a game that's pretty fun to blast through for nostalgia's sake or from the point of view of simply experiencing the game that kickstarted the long-running series. For anyone else this is simply a pretty old RPG that's showing its age in many ways.

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6 / 10
Dec 5, 2019

Based on the PSP version of the game, Star Ocean First Departure R is first and foremost adressed to the new players. It has some nice improvements though such as the ability to double the game's speed, new illustrations for the characters and a fully new japanese voice acting by the original cast. However, the high price of the game, combined with the absence of the sequel, The Second Story, is questionable.

Review in French | Read full review

Atomix
Top Critic
71 / 100
Dec 10, 2019

Star Ocean: First Departure R is a beautiful retro game, but at the same time, it does almost nothing to get up to speed on the current gen, making it almost impossible to recommend to anyone unkown to the series.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

4 / 5.0
Dec 4, 2019

Star Ocean: First Departure R is a classic game that reminds us of where the series started. While it is certainly fun and enjoyable, it retains a number of traits associated with the best JRPGs. These include a simple storyline, a fascinating combat system, and a relatively straightforward adventure. If you're from a newer generation of JRPG fans, you might find the excessive random encounters, backtracking and minimal depth annoying and might want to stick to more modern releases. Still, veteran fans will likely remember why this series became so popular in the first place.

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RPG Site
Top Critic
6 / 10
Dec 3, 2019

A fine port of a mediocre game. it's great Star Ocean: First Departure is on more platforms, but the game itself doesn't excel.

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7 / 10.0
Jun 11, 2019

Star Ocean First Departure R is a great RPG that needed a bit more love on the presentation side of things. It certainly deserved it.

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4 / 5.0
Dec 4, 2019

Star Ocean First Departure R is the best Star Ocean game in a long time.

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Spaziogames
DottorKillex
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Dec 11, 2019

Star Ocean probably deserved a better treatment than the one Square gave it, because this port is lazy at best, with no QOL improvements and no new content. The game itself is still quite enjoyable, though.

Review in Italian | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Dec 4, 2019

It stands out in a few ways from its contemporaries, mostly in its Tales-esque battle system and character recruitment and affection minutiae. My best recommendation for First Departure R might be that it's a story-heavy RPG that spins a yarn compelling enough to keep you engaged while also delivering a battle system that is breezy and not as technical. Star Ocean has a lot of complexities underneath the hood, but taking it at face value can leave you with an approachable and enjoyable adventure.

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Dec 5, 2019

Square Enix has been on a bender with its classic library in the later half of this year. The Mana collection came a few months ago, and there have been two SaGa titles re-released in just the last month as well. Star Ocean has always been the forgotten brother of the Square Enix catalogue, but it deserves better, and now that you're able to play four of the five in the series on your PlayStation 4, there really is no excuse if you haven't dipped into them already

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