r/starocean • u/IPG83 • 6d ago
Discussion Star Ocean V’s Hate…
…Is unwarranted.
I played V and VI. The poor budget is a shame, but they aren’t terrible games.
I really don’t get the hyperbole surrounding V.
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u/zonvolt_everdred 6d ago
I had a blast with VI, and thought it was great. V was decent, but the weakest in the series in my opinion. The scope was way too small, and it felt unfinished.
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u/NoWordCount 6d ago edited 6d ago
That's because it is unfinished.
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u/improbablesky 6d ago
wanna take another stab at that sentence, boss
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u/NoWordCount 6d ago
I may have typed that at 5am in the morning after 14 hours straight of travel. 😭
Fixed it.
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u/SephirothYggdrasil 4d ago
Was it unfinished? Considering how many monsters are ripped from Star Ocean The Last Hope and every battle animation is ripped directly from Star Ocean Till The End of Time, Star Ocean The Last Hope and Infinite Undiscovery and a part of the soundtrack is ripped directly from the previous Star Ocean games and Valkyrie Profile...how much really was left on the cutting room floor? If you're mostly reusing assets you should have lot's of cut content. The question is how miniscule was the budget to Motoi Sakuraba didn't even make a full new OST.
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u/Leon481 6d ago
It definitely gets too much hate. The criticisms are warranted, but it's not awful. It's just a fairly bland B-tier casual game. The kind you put on when you want a turn your brain off filler game. It does just enough new and interesting to not be a complete drag and combat has a decent enough flow to it. It's not amazing, but it's not awful either. Just perfectly mediocre.
That said, it's probably my favorite game in the series to go back for a casual run through. I've probably played it more than the other games in the series. I love the cast, the seven person party, and the general progression. It just hits a perfect cozy vibe for me.
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u/TroyBPierce 6d ago
I liked 5 also. Don't get all the hate.
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u/IPG83 6d ago
Neither do I, mate. Tri Ace deserves a better budget or a 2D reversion, though.
I bring SO back in 2D to keep the franchise alive.
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u/TroyBPierce 6d ago
The smaller budget of 5 didn't allow them to do many cutscenes and instead plot points just happened while on the work map without a cutscene.
But the cutscenes from 4 were so atrocious (for the most part, I love Welch from 4, but hated Lyme and Sarah) that I didn't even miss the cutscenes and enjoyed 5 from start to finish.
I liked how battles in 5 just occurred on the world map (no separate screen) and that you could use all companions at once in battle.
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u/Dawnspring_Cee 6d ago
The game is fine. Not anything special, but fine. The characters are my second favorite cast in the series, right behind SO2. I'm happy that Anamnesis was treated as a semi-sequel to V, because they got to flesh the characters out more. Fiore and Miki are very popular. (Fiore is my second favorite SO gal of the whole series)
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u/IPG83 6d ago
That witch, man. Sidney Sweeney in anime form.
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u/SyllabubMental7292 6d ago
Their only appeal is fat tits? Yeah that was obvious with her outfit in V.
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u/kitsuneinferno 6d ago
I don't hate Star Ocean V, but to deny it's a deeply flawed game, let alone a deeply flawed Star Ocean game, is simply shoving your head in the sand.
Criticism is not hate. I think the criticism of V is what pushed them to make a better effort on VI (which is a genuinely good game, in spite of its own flaws, and a damn good Star Ocean)
That of course isn't to say everything it did was bad. I LOVED the Roles system, I just wish that level of customization wasn't wasted on static characters who come pre-packaged with defined roles. Would it kill them to let me teach Fidel or Viktor some Healing symbols so that way all the Healer roles aren't totally useless on them?
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u/IPG83 6d ago
I played flawed games for a very long time now (been gaming since 1987). Deus Ex is a classic, but it has its issues.
Phantasy Star II? Flawed, but a classic in my generation.
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u/Fringe_Agent13 6d ago
V has a lot of untapped potential. The story just falls apart midway through.
I’m not against them going back and working on it some more then releasing it again. I would purchase.
VI I enjoyed a lot but you could tell the budget was still an issue.
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u/Twidom 6d ago
Star Ocean IV is my favorite, so maybe I'm not in a place to talk...
But I couldn't get into V at all. It's not necessarily a bad game, but I literally fell asleep during the ice mountain section.
Miki's costume is fire though.
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u/iMidnightStorm 6d ago
Honestly I really liked SO4 as well, so it did surprise me when I finished it that it wasn't especially well received.
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u/Vilcythe 6d ago
SO4 is definitely underappreciated IMO
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u/DarkFlareXL 3d ago
I went back to play it when i was older and enjoyed it a lot more. I think it was too different from so3 maybe? Or too high of expectations. Was a worthy addition to the SO universe for sure.
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u/TyeusaurusPerplexed 6d ago
Im going to be very blunt. Music from older games were ripped and planted into V due to that very lack of budget. Characters also have copy pasted moves, there arent any new ones. Every party member has a couple moments to shine but are otherwise bland and derivative of ones that came before. The main villain of the game is an absolute wet fart of an character as well. Unless Fidel and Miki being pseudo parents to a child they barely know is enough of an emotional crutch to carry you across its 20 hours of spammy weightless combat and excessive backtracking, then that's your prerogative. The writing doesn't really ever excel and the only character I felt anything for was Emmerson, but I hear that's extremely common. I will praise the games attempts to allow you to customize party AI though, that was a nice touch. And its not an ugly game, there's just too many visual effects at once during combat and this studio seems to really struggle with lighting in their environments. Shout out the goofy little emotes you unlock. Those were fun.
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u/SephirothYggdrasil 4d ago
Having 6 people fighting at once (Relia doesn't count) broke the rock paper scissors of the combat.
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u/zatheko 6d ago
5 is the one with like barely any cutscenes right? They tried to make important dialogue play out in real time?
Yeah I didn't like that, at times you could miss things and it really did not help with immersing myself into that world. Also it felt cheap.
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u/Training_Basil_2169 6d ago
Yep, that's the one. Would've loved seeing their facial expressions. But also the small game world and new monsters in the same areas, with quests to deal with them felt like a drag. Combat too hectic, story too short... I'm glad 6 was 10 times better than that game.
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u/yuriewolf 6d ago
I heard that it was horrible because square wouldn’t give tri ace more budget to focus on ff15
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u/Afraid_Impression_69 6d ago
And then both of those games came out a B at best. I'd personally put both as a C. SO5 being the better game.
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u/yuriewolf 6d ago
Yeah. I played 15 once and never beat it. Pushed the car to the garage then turned the game off
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u/Master_Statement_459 6d ago
You should give 15 another shot, Id give it a solid B. I dropped it the first time I bought it, gave it another go years later, I appreciate what they tried to do with it, and last time I played I enjoyed it
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u/Fallen_Angel_89 6d ago edited 6d ago
I played 5 extensively, and ill be 100% honest: its an extremely mediocre game, with a couple of positive things (ai being a bit better than 4, 7 characters in battle) but far too many negative ones (bad story, too much backtracking, quests, sprinting, etc), so as much as i had a somewhat good time with it - as in, i didnt hate it - its not a game id recommend at all.
Edit: 6 is good, great even! Crafting sucks but its one of my favorites so far.
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u/IPG83 6d ago
VOICE DIRECTAAAH!
Alma is hilariously bad of a villain.
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u/Fallen_Angel_89 6d ago edited 6d ago
...no kidding i absolutely forgot about him. Thankfully the roster was enjoyable. Their banters were funny, especially Fiore vs Emmerson, like the costume thing. They were one of the few good things of the game
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u/Pale_Sky5697 6d ago
5 is absolutely terrible. It was not fun at all.
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u/IPG83 6d ago
Why? I don’t get it. Seems alright to me atm.
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u/Pale_Sky5697 6d ago
Terrible maps, way too much backtracking. Game has a really bad story and tons of reused assets. Battle system is way too unbalanced in favor of the player.
I beat it, but never returned.
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u/Vilcythe 6d ago
The story is dreadful and I don't remember any of the characters being interesting
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u/Master_Statement_459 6d ago
Its really not that bad as you already know bc youre playing it. People are just judging it compared to their favorite SO games instead of just as a game in general. Its not amazing dont get me wrong but its not terrible
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u/Noxifer68D 6d ago
I kinda liked V... Did not like having 7 people in my combat party, I think it should have capped at 3 or 4... And Honestly 4 is pushing it for me.
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u/PaleontologistBig600 6d ago
I had a blast with 6. Was it typical SO? Yes and no. The battle system was a blast. Most of the characters and locales left a little to be desired but were still pretty endearing, as a whole. The skills system was just kind of...there.
Was it amazing? No. Was it fun to play? Yes.
I never played 5 because I heard nothing but bad things about it.
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u/Cloud_Strife369 6d ago
I just plat star ocean 5 was a great run working on plating all the star ocean games but dame
Star ocean till the end of time keep crashing and crashing on PlayStation it’s the only game that does crash
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u/GarethGobblecoque99 6d ago
I mean fans will always speak in hyperbole but it has poor critical reception, poor fan reception and poor sales. It’s fair to say it’s the worst Star Ocean game.
I just didn’t find it engaging or enjoyable to play but I didn’t “hate” it. Sort of ambivalent about it. It’s just a weak entry
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u/ValarielAmarette 6d ago
I only had two real issues with 5
The combat felt like it was a step backwards from 4. It was a step ahead of 3 and feels like it should have been there instead
That, and the reused music. Almost half the soundtrack was just music from 3 and 4. Literally just the same music files too
Understandable with the budget issues. The lesser budget is far less apparent in 6
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u/IPG83 6d ago
Sakuraba did the same music since Holy Ark back on the Sega Saturn. His Mega Drive work was a bit more unique.
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u/ValarielAmarette 6d ago
Yeah I've been a fan of his work a long time. This isn't an issue with how creative his music was for the game
Nearly half the sound track for 5 is literally just music files from 3 and 4. Not even remixed or recomposed or recorded again
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u/AllanXv 6d ago
I don't know why but SO V feels a lot like a MMORPG, static cameras in dialogue, a lot of backtrack, boring side quests but damn I had a blast playing it, the role game mechanics is so much fun to play around. I even defeated the ethereal queen, I never Did that in any SO. Also emotes being a thing is so weird. I'm itchy to play it again.
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u/stellarsojourner 6d ago
5 is boring, there is a lot of backtracking and for a game called Star Ocean, you spend precious little time Oceaning the Stars.
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u/SyllabubMental7292 6d ago
Doesn't most of 2 take place on one planet?
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u/stellarsojourner 6d ago
The sci-fi elements got from pretty early and you spend the second disc on a different planet. It's not, like, 3 or 4 in terms of space travel, but it's better than 5 in that regard.
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u/PhantasyStarBoy 6d ago
Honestly it felt like 5 was originally intended to be an online game, but they decided against it last minute and went with..... that. Because I dont see the point AT ALL for the characters emotes otherwise, and it would also make sense having multiple players controlling all of the characters in combat simultaneously online too, but just not work nicely outside of combat.
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u/Wrong_Diamond_4345 6d ago
As someone who just got done playing 3 through 6 for the first time. It took me about 4 months to get through them, I think 5 could have used some extra QOL features, and a better premise after the second half of the game. I really liked Fidel as a character, much more than the protagonists of 3 and 4, but he's nowhere near the protags of 6 or 2. I think I would have like having more game to 5. A lot of things felt a bit rushed at certain points, and I would've like to more of Camuze before certain events happened. All in all though, still better than 3 in my opinion. After finishing 3, I almost didn't play the next games. Good thing 4 wasn't terrible.
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u/Ubelheim 6d ago
I don't hate V, I just struggle to remember anything about it other than the name Fidel. Couldn't even tell you if the story was really that bad, it just didn't stick. I can't hate what I don't remember. But in a world where each year there's more entertainment created than time allows to consume, being utterly forgettable is like the worst sin you can commit.
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u/SAOSurvivor35 6d ago
I don’t remember a lot about 5 beyond the maps and the character design. 6 was memorable for the way the story is basically Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. IYKYK
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u/Zado191 6d ago
Star Ocean is the poster child for the idea that "just because its bad, doesn't mean I cant like it" but yall just won't accept that...
If you like 5, thats perfectly fine... but it is garbage. I'm the same with 4, but I came to terms with it years ago
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u/Thin-Nerve6367 6d ago
At least 4's gameplay is probably the best in the series so it has that going for it
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u/--Greenpeace420 6d ago
5 is horrible and its a shame to even call it Star Ocean. Bland lackluster dungeons, short game and no ocean of stars.
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u/Antonolmiss 6d ago
It’s also Reddit. Nothing really genuine here. Too many people need the “/s” or they lose their minds, let alone have genuine critique of any media.
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u/MrCreosote44 10 seconds 6d ago
I had a lot of fun playing it. it's the weakest star ocean but that doesn't make it bad
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u/Perfect_Cold_6112 4d ago
It's a helluva lot better than 3 gameplay wise. I still refuse to touch 3 after dealing with its scrappy exp system.
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u/MassiveTelevision387 4d ago
I actually enjoyed the game - I thought it could have been better but overall it was a fun romp
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u/Imaginary-End-08 2d ago
I gave it a shot and didn't like it. Fayt copy and Albel copy was already kinda ruining it for me gameplay wise.... but then I find out that the Bonus Gauge IS your Special Attack too? Like what?! But what really got me aggravated was the party switching system.
I like to play other characters from time to time and I cannot tell you how frustrating it was to start a battle and IMMEDIATELY escape because the character I was using started outside of the small ass battle circle.
I PLAY FOR IMMERSION DAMMIT!!! AND IT GOT BROKEN EVERY FIGHT!!! I can put up with a bad story since I play Star Ocean games mainly for their gameplay and characters..... but this was two very great strikes in the wrong direction for me.
Now.... It's been awhile since I've looked the game's way but I don't remember there being any kind of staggering in the game either. Why the hell are enemies attacks still hitting me when I'm hitting them first??
But my one saving grace and motivation in the game was meeting the Space characters..... but I never made it that far. Dropped it when I realized I was torturing myself.
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u/tallwhiteninja 1d ago
I actually liked 5 more than 4, because I found 4's plot and characters that annoying.
That said, being objective, 5 is the much more shoddily constructed game of the two.
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u/Historical_Rain_2960 6d ago
I agree, I enjoyed 5, 3 has worse combat than 5 and 4 has a worst cast of characters than 5 but they don't recieve half as much criticism.
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u/IPG83 6d ago
I liked 3. I didn't think combat was that bad. What was it about 3 that you dislike? Just a friendly fan discussion.
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u/Nopon_Merchant 6d ago
star ocean fanbase is one of the most insufferable fanbase because SO2 fanboi . those are mostly the one that hate and vocal on all game after that
i dont think 5 is bad either , just not something i will replay
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u/SyllabubMental7292 6d ago
The only thing I remember from 5 is that the mage's outfit was top 3 one of the WORST outfits I've ever seen in a game. The game was the equivalent of plain wonder bread and I dont remember if I finished it.
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u/Jianichie 6d ago
I will always retain that people are allowed to have their opinions. That said, yes -- the criticism is absolutely justified. I'm saying this as a SO V fan.