Star Ocean: The Divine Force Isn't Going To Be Very Good

thegamer.com:

Tri-Ace don’t make a terrible Star Ocean game challenge. The studio has been failing this task for 13 years now, and part of me can’t believe the series is still going. But here we are, with Star Ocean: The Divine Force set to receive a worldwide release this October.

I've written about the potential mediocrity of this upcoming JRPG before, expressing worry about its generic anime character designs and archetypal approach to the genre that was struggling to paint anything other than a very forgetful picture.

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I don’t take joy in being a party pooper here. I grew up with the Star Ocean series and with the reveal of each new game, my spark of hope was reignited as I found myself wishing the creators had learned their lessons and didn’t plan to release a creatively bankrupt piece of garbage. The Last Hope was okay when it launched for the Xbox 360 back in 2009, although was held back by awful characters and so-so storytelling, with its solid battle system not being quite strong enough to prop up the entire experience.

Integrity and Faithlessness was just bad. It was seemingly made on a shoestring budget and once again relied on rubbish characters and tired genre tropes that would have felt outdated 20 years ago, let alone in the modern era. Given the game was a commercial and critical flop and a new low point for the series, part of me expected it to fade into obscurity and never surface again. I’d accepted that loss, mourning a compelling concept that failed to deliver on its potential time and time again despite its simplicity. Final Fantasy in Space is a really cool idea, but apparently too complicated to make work without showing your ass.

Now, I don’t have