A brief taste of "Star Ocean 5: Fidelity and Betrayal" in Hong Kong on PS4: A story of loyalty and betrayal in JRPG

I believe that players who like JRPG must be very familiar with the Japanese company tri-Ace. Its "Star Ocean" is a classic JRPG. Recently, the Chinese version of "Star Ocean 5: Allegiance and Betrayal" was officially launched. It seems that the mainland market has gradually received attention from game companies, but the translation of "Star Ocean Rangers" makes people feel that the style of painting has changed suddenly.

After a period of silence, tri-Ace has once again started to work on the JRPG that it is good at. With the reputation accumulated by the Star Ocean series in the past, it will definitely attract the attention of a large number of fans of the series. However, whether it can gain recognition in the declining JRPG market is definitely a big test for tri-Ace.

JRPG game consistent two-dimensional style

The graphics of this game still continue the consistent style of Japanese games. To be frank, the graphics are rather mediocre. Although this game has added more vast scenes such as deserts, snow-capped mountains, coasts, etc., it is only a vast field of vision. In most cases, it is still limited to a small area and can only move within the air wall.

Compared with the popular sandbox games in the European and American markets, this game is not competitive at all. The texture rendering and fineness of the textures have always been the shortcomings of JRPG. If you don't care about the details on the textures, the scenery and overall color matching of this game are very pleasing to the eye. In addition, this game introduces the concept of day and night. It is also a highlight of the game to enjoy the vast grassland in the daytime or the sunset at the seaside in the evening with the heroine.

Speaking of the heroine, her character design has been criticized by many players since the beginning of the game. They believe that beauty is a matter of personal opinion. If you invest in the entire game and build relationships through the plot and characters, the heroine is still quite cute. In addition, the expressions and actions of other key characters are very good, but the modeling of the monsters is obviously disappointing!

Seamless combat system allows for more freedom of combat

"Star Ocean 5" is a reboot of tri-Ace Studio after many years. It abandons the classic random encounter turn-based combat system of JRPG and adopts a fighting system that is closer to ACT games. You can enter the battle seamlessly, and you can also see the enemies on the map. Once they enter the range, you can immediately draw your sword and start fighting.

Without black screen or disk loading, the battle is carried out in one go, allowing players to truly experience the excitement of battle. Compared with the "Final Fantasy" series, it has a more free combat experience.

Compared with the combat system, the elements of this series such as item synthesis, cooking, and equipment forging are actually the core systems of JRPG games. Although this game also has a large number of weapon synthesis and item synthesis systems, it is still too thin for traditional JRPG games.

Conflicts between systems Decisive game flow

However, as a reboot that has been polished for several years, Star Ocean 5 still has many shortcomings. The integration of game systems needs to be adjusted, for example: the protagonist can kill all enemies with just one move "Double Break" in the early stage.

Skills don't play a big role in combat, and all skills must be upgraded through skill books, which can only be obtained by completing various unoriginal side quests. This wastes time and makes players resist side quests. This is really not a wise choice.

In the eyes of many players, compared to the traditional JRPGs with a gameplay time of 100+ hours, "Star Ocean 5" can be said to be the shortest one in the series. However, from the main line point of view, the actual process of the game has not been reduced too much. It's just that this game uses seamless combat and reduces most of the detailed actions and close-ups when fighting bosses, which reduces the overall game process time. At the same time, the lack of turn-based constraints also saves a lot of time, which is more in line with the current public's appetite for the so-called "fast food".

Dramatized plot, deleted game details

But in the final analysis, the plot of this game is really lackluster, which is indeed a shortcoming for a JRPG that is good at using storylines to drive the game. Since the subtitle is "Loyalty and Betrayal", I initially thought it was a very heart-wrenching script. As a result, because the characters' emotions and personalities were not well portrayed, everyone's "betrayal" had enough reasons, and the ties between the characters were too simple, so the feelings between them did not rise to the level of loyalty, let alone betrayal.

Another thing is that the game details have been severely reduced. Many detailed actions are gone. The actions of opening treasure chests, collecting, teleporting, and opening doors are all deleted directly. Even the screen ends as soon as it goes black or the obtained props pop up. There is none of the realism used in today's works (you can see it by looking at the actual demo of FF15, although the comic style is more like JRPG). For players who are used to Japanese RPGs where every detail is done very well, these feelings are indeed very uncomfortable.

At the same time, the unique and gorgeous close-up of each Boss's appearance and the independent dialogue when encountering the Boss have been deleted. This does lack a bit of charm for a JRPG game that is good at storytelling. This also makes many players feel that the Boss is just a passerby soldier with several times more health, and even if the Boss is defeated, the player will not have any sense of accomplishment.

tri-Ace has always been considered a guarantee of quality in the minds of players, but the practice of cutting out a large number of detailed actions and props in this game has also been criticized by many players. Such comments have even caused the price of the Japanese version on Amazon to drop by half. It has to be said that players still have a sharp eye.

Transformation in the context of the decline of JRPG

In fact, it is indeed admirable that tri-Ace has insisted on its own path today when Japanese RPGs are gradually declining, but "Star Ocean 5" obviously did not achieve the effect of giving the JRPG game market a shot in the arm. In a situation where the entire gaming environment tends to be integrated, although this game incorporates a lot of ACT elements and creates a system of mutual restraint between light and heavy attacks, it still seems out of place. It has neither the impact and excitement of ACT, nor the gripping plot and long game process inherited from JRPG games.

Therefore, I think the transformation of "Star Ocean 5" is not successful. However, this game is still worth playing for players who like JRPG. In today's impetuous game industry, it is not easy for a manufacturer to calm down and make a JRPG game.

However, judging from tri-Ace's attitude of wanting to add ACT elements to please European and American players but not wanting to lose its original fans, players need to look at this rationally as to whether this approach is loyalty or betrayal to JRPG . However, I still advise everyone to cherish the game while playing it.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.