![]() The Divine Force lets you assign up to three combat skills to each face button in sequential order, and pressing a button three times during a fight will have you carry out all three of those moves in the order you listed them. Here, it plays very similarly to the action-combat of a JRPG like the 2009’s Tales of Graces, which was ahead of its time with the wide variety of flashy skills at your disposal. Star Ocean’s previous battle system has received almost a complete overhaul in The Divine Force, and it’s one that’s worked out for the better. Pretty much none of that is in the game itself, which is frankly baffling – the clean lines and sharp, realistic details within the eyes and lips are just so aesthetically pleasing, I was left wondering how the 3D models could end up looking so poor in comparison. This stands in sharp contrast to the gorgeous 2D character art from Akira Yasuda that primarily appears in promotional materials and box art. Characters have this doll-like porcelain look to their expressions that always comes off a little unintentionally creepy. It’s also disappointing that character animations and faces don’t live up to the otherwise lovely environments you find them in. The conversations were generally worth having once I found them, but I wish this feature was more streamlined. ![]() I hated wasting so much time fast traveling to other towns, running around them, and talking to all of my party members in the hopes of triggering a Private Action. Just like in past games, Private Actions are pretty well hidden and you have to go out of your way to sniff them out, with no icons or indications to tell you when a new one has popped up. ![]() The issue with Private Actions, however, is that they’re very annoying to find. In particular, I really enjoyed learning about Laeticia’s knight guardian, Albaird Bergholm, and his fondness for sweets – he loves them but keeps it a secret because he thinks it's unbecoming of a knight. Private Actions show off a lot of a character’s personality and quirks, giving them opportunities to talk about more than just the events of the main story. You can also learn more about each character through Private Actions, which are cute cutscene moments that you trigger by talking to your party members while they are scattered around the world’s various towns. Ray’s robotic but surprisingly caring first commander, Elena, is able to create an antidote based on a few bird-dropping samples, but that also involves teaching Laeticia and her comrades about the concept of bacteria. That results in plenty of entertaining and unexpected moments, like when the party is trying to find a cure for a disease that is wiping out Aster IV’s population. The dynamic between your main party is especially fascinating because half of them come from a civilization that hasn’t even discovered the concept of gravity yet, while the other half is casually familiar with warp drive engines that allow spaceships to travel light years. The Divine Force’s cast of characters is a lively bunch that consists of both Aster IV locals and people from off-planet. I’d love to see the story events that I missed out on with Laeticia, but not being able to transfer over the levels, skills, and equipment of my party is a real disincentive. ![]() It’s an interesting storytelling mechanic that encourages you to go back for a second playthrough of the roughly 30-40 hour campaign, though it’s not enough to make up for the lack of a New Game Plus option. However, had I picked Laeticia instead, I would have understood that conversation but potentially missed something else. For example, I picked Ray’s path, and at one point there was talk about an arranged marriage between two nations that I had absolutely no context for. You’ll be able to follow the overall story just fine either way, but there are some smaller moments that won’t make much sense without knowing what happened to the other party. One cool twist is that you’re actually given the choice between following Ray or Laeticia as your main character, with a handful of instances where they split up and you only see what happens with the side you picked.
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