Star Ocean: First Departure R is a game that shows its age but despite it conveys an incredibly fun adventure that is reminiscent of pure old-school RPG fun. I was most appreciative of how many hidden tasks there were in this game and just how varied your cast can get by the end depending on your choices. It helps that the game is relatively short, meaning, you can replay it and have a radically different experience each time. I thoroughly enjoyed the cast but felt a particular affinity for Ronyx and Ilia. I felt that the game was at its narrative excellence when it refocused to give us their interpretation of this world. I very distinctly recall the conversation both Ronyx and Ilia had regarding the differences between their belief in the religious, spiritual, and technological and how this clashed with what the people of this world believed. Star Ocean is unique in that each person has their path in life influenced by how and where they grew up as each world is so distinct.

In general, the OST was simple but effective. I felt that the combat was fun though my only two complaints are how fast some mages would fire spells at you and the difficulty in attacking some characters as the positioning system would take my playable character all over the place. I wasn't too bothered by the back-tracking in the second half of the game but did feel that the encounter rate can be a bit overwhelming at times. I enjoyed the specialty system a lot and felt that it added so much nuance to the world as well as the game systems. Symbology is a core part of the world you're exploring and so nurturing various techniques which reflect one's attunement with it felt so appropriate. The feeling of gaining a very useful "quality of life" through leveling different skills/specialties was great. I just wish the game did a better job of explaining it and guiding you through it. I think this particular aspect of the game served its purpose well when it was first released because players would likely share different techniques in person leading to moments such as, "Did you hear? If you level x and y, you get the z specialty which lets you open a shop anywhere on the map!" These moments were seminal for older RPGs and likely had a great impact on players back then. Finally, I would like to bring attention to the art. Enami is one of my favorite artists of all time. She brings each work to life in such a beautiful way and it's no different with Star Ocean. The amount of soul and passion in each character's art is astounding.

Otherwise, it's hard to criticize this game. It's a great pocket of adventure with so much soul. And I must end this review with: Phia and Mavelle are top 1.