Star Ocean: First Departure (PSP)

I still remember the hell I caught when I posted a blog entry stating that Star Ocean: First Departure was coming to the US. I can't count the number of emails I got telling me that there was no way this game would be coming to the US since the Super Famicom original never made it stateside. Well now that the game has been released here in the US, I'd like to thank all of those who tried to save me from utter embarrassment. What would I do without you guys? : )

Okay now that I got that out of my system, it's time to talk about the actual game. I recently played all the way through the original Super Famicom version of Star Ocean so I'd be good and ready to play this updated version. The first thing that blew me away was the 3-D presentation of the game. It took a little getting used to, but so far it's proving to be quite the impressive visual tour de force. The music in the game isn't too shabby either and really does a great job of carrying the original mood of the music with a much more orchestrated and full-sounding presentation.

I'm only about 8 hours into the game so far, but it's remained quite close to the fan translated effort, although there are some minor plot changes here and there as well as a few name changes. It's safe to say that whether you enjoyed the original title or not, you should really pick this amazing rpg up. It's easily one of the best PSP rpgs to date and a very authentic version of the original. I can't wait to get back into the game later this week when I travel out of town. I'll post a full review of the game when I've had a chance to finish it off.