Star Ocean 5 announced for PS4 and PS3

The latest issue of Famitsu magazine reveals Star Ocean 5: Integrity and Faithlessness, the latest in the console JRPG series from Square Enix who has once again signed on developer tri-Ace. The game is being developed on PlayStation 3 and being ported to PlayStation 4. News today follows an on-going teaser site which is expected to fully reveal later tonight.

The revealed cast so far includes main character Fidel Camus and his friend Miki Sorvesta. We also see artwork for the young Lilia, an amnesiac, as well as a green-haired witch. The story itself takes place inbetween Star Ocean 2 and 3 in the year 537 on the space calendar. The Gravity Warp has been created on Earth.

  • Fidel (Kaito Shikawa) – He inherited his sword skills from his father, who is the Leslia Kingdom’s most prominent swordsman. He is calm and mindful of his companions.
  • Miki (Nao Toyama) – She has a healing ability. She is a cute, lovely, and gluttonous character. She is the one characters the development team did test design work on, while all of the other characters were left up to Akiman.

The battle system is said to be similar to previous entries in the series, with real-time party combat. Skill effect are said to be dependent on the distance between the character and the enemy. You can also switch between party members. The game’s director is Hiroshi Ogawa, who directed Star Ocean 3 and also led on 2008’s Infinite Undiscovery.

Keeping with the theme of seamless battles, Star Ocean 5 will also introduce seamless events where enemies can attack you and produce various outcomes. That is, events directly proceed into battles similar to what’s been done in recent Final Fantasy titles.

The game is set on an uncivilized planet 6000 light years away from earth called Feycreed. The prologue has been presented to us as follows:

Do the depths of space forbid peace for mankind—

Centuries after leaving Earth, after a multitude of trials, with the creation and spread of the ‘Galactic Federation,’ humanity was on the verge of unified order and peace.

But the embers of conflict have begun to burn again.

Over 6,000 light years from Earth, on the unsettled planet, ‘Feycreed.’

Just as so many times before, the waves of history begin from a remote planet.

The development staff include:

  • Developer: tri-Ace
  • Character Designer: Akira “Akiman” Yasuda
  • Producer: Shuichi Kobayashi
  • Director: Hiroshi Ogawa
  • Lead Programmer: Yoshiharu Gotanda

Star Ocean 5 is in development for PS3 and PS4 with the former as the base hardware version. Although a port, Square Enix is looking to do things with the PS4’s Share functionality. Additionally, the game’s producer is seemingly against the idea of downloadable content or a director’s cut later down the line. Kobayashi is intent on creating a game that won’t upset people “even a little bit.”

Pictures sourced from: Kotaku, Famitsu, and Gematsu.


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