Star Ocean: The Last Hope

 Xbox 360
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 163 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 107 out of 163
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 163
  3. Negative: 30 out of 163
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  1. thelawgiver
    Mar 9, 2011
    5
    This is standard JRPG fare with nothing too special to rave about. Graphics are nice and combat is fun, but the whole experience becomes tiresome and repetitive pretty quickly. The game is very poorly written and equally poorly voice acted. Some (okay, most) of the characters are downright obnoxious. Cut scenes, while sometimes visually stunning, can be incredibly boring and over 30This is standard JRPG fare with nothing too special to rave about. Graphics are nice and combat is fun, but the whole experience becomes tiresome and repetitive pretty quickly. The game is very poorly written and equally poorly voice acted. Some (okay, most) of the characters are downright obnoxious. Cut scenes, while sometimes visually stunning, can be incredibly boring and over 30 minutes long. Luckily, you can skip them and get a short, sweet summary of their contents. The "side quests" (i.e. fetch missions) add no substance. The item creation system is unwieldy. Dungeons seem unnecessarily drawn out. Save points are all an hour apart, and you never seem to be near one when you want to stop playing (i.e. in the middle of a really long, drawn out dungeon). Combat can be fun, but is very repetitive. You'll almost always only use the main character, as you don't have to use anyone else to win battles. Bosses are challenging, but it's very easy to grind and over-level. The game attempts to add a second layer to the level system, with characters being able to switch between a combat-friendly "mode" and a magic-friendly "mode," but each character is already so pigeon-holed into one role or the other that it's pretty pointless. Overall, this is an okay game with some interesting ideas, but it suffers from a very poorly executed central plot and extreme repetition.… Expand
  2. JudgeMental
    Sep 12, 2010
    6
    Never buy a game from Tri-Ace. Simply put, they produce crap. (Infinite Undiscovery anyone?) That being said, this game was rather good for a while. It had room for improvement, for instance, the could have dropped the cat-girl, poorly done cliche and all. Also, the final boss in the main story made no sense at all. The game also has a large portion of after-game secret levels, which areNever buy a game from Tri-Ace. Simply put, they produce crap. (Infinite Undiscovery anyone?) That being said, this game was rather good for a while. It had room for improvement, for instance, the could have dropped the cat-girl, poorly done cliche and all. Also, the final boss in the main story made no sense at all. The game also has a large portion of after-game secret levels, which are utter crap, and revisits the Tri-Ace classic problem of not placing save points where they are needed. All and all, it gets a 6/10, although I should go lower.… Expand
  3. BontaK
    Apr 6, 2009
    7
    Ok please, you publishing companies. STOP DUBBING JRPGs into english! You are ruining masterpieces of RPGs with your half-azz english acting! I can't recall the last time the english dubbing in a JRPG game was even halfway decent. Oh wait, thats because there never was one! For people who need english dubbing to play a JRPG: TOO BAD! LEARN TO LOVE JAPANESE TALK BECAUSE ENGLISH VOICE Ok please, you publishing companies. STOP DUBBING JRPGs into english! You are ruining masterpieces of RPGs with your half-azz english acting! I can't recall the last time the english dubbing in a JRPG game was even halfway decent. Oh wait, thats because there never was one! For people who need english dubbing to play a JRPG: TOO BAD! LEARN TO LOVE JAPANESE TALK BECAUSE ENGLISH VOICE ACTORS CAN'T FOR *****. Other than that, good solid RPG.… Expand
  4. TroyP.
    Jun 4, 2009
    7
    I am enjoying the game. The good: great gameplay! The bad: bad voice acting, weak story, no really cool characters. Infinite Undiscovery (another Tri-Ace game) had a WAY better story and better characters, but this has better gameplay. Its fun, but the story is not emotionally moving like Lost Odyssey's story or Infinite Undiscovery's story. I feel no emotional attachment to the I am enjoying the game. The good: great gameplay! The bad: bad voice acting, weak story, no really cool characters. Infinite Undiscovery (another Tri-Ace game) had a WAY better story and better characters, but this has better gameplay. Its fun, but the story is not emotionally moving like Lost Odyssey's story or Infinite Undiscovery's story. I feel no emotional attachment to the characters. But this game is WAY better than Last Remnant in every way, in my opinion. Ok, I was just trying to give readers some perspective by comparing Star Ocean to other recent RPGs on the Xbox 360. I like RPGs for their story and gameplay. This delivers with its gameplay, fails with its story.… Expand
  5. MattR
    Mar 11, 2009
    5
    This game is truly a disappointment. Underneath the horrific voice acting, silly plot developments, and flat jokes is a game with terrific potential. One would think that a company of Square-Enix's size and clout would have the money and inclination to hire decent voice actors, but for some reason, this was apparently not an important enough concern when translating and localizing This game is truly a disappointment. Underneath the horrific voice acting, silly plot developments, and flat jokes is a game with terrific potential. One would think that a company of Square-Enix's size and clout would have the money and inclination to hire decent voice actors, but for some reason, this was apparently not an important enough concern when translating and localizing the game. Most of the female characters have voices that make you want to take fishhooks to your eardrums. Welch in particularly should be taken back behind the barn and put out of her misery and Lymle has the most annoying voice tick ever conceived for a game, kay? As for the graphics, all of the characters look like plastic dolls and are completely unlovable in this regard. Gotta give kudos for the environments though - they're beautiful. Concerning content, the game is full of in-your-face innuendos (I think Raimi calls Edge a 'pervert' about sixteen times, usually senselessly) and strange Japanime fetishes (little girls who aren't *really* little girls, technically, and giant, pink, overcute bunnies, for example) and sad, pathetically contrived "conflicts" attempt to lend weight to the story but end up feeling, well, stupid, actually - consider if you really feel sorry for ol' "Edgie" when he makes a terrible mistake and mopes on about it for waaay too long. Anyhow, I could go on for another ten paragraphs about this game, but I won't. It's just that I'm seeing a lot of high reviews that in my opinion should NOT be that high - can anyone say desperation? Tales of Vesperia is a much better game and if you haven't played it yet, play it and boot Star Ocean out your door until the next installment of the series comes out.… Expand
  6. RamirezWolfen
    May 6, 2011
    5
    The best part of this game is the combat. The characters are cliched and the voice acting makes you want to tear your ears off. This game is more or less for those who like every JRPG regardless.
  7. namDa65
    Mar 11, 2012
    7
    Dungeons are ridiculous long and you can go for hours without a save point in some instances. The voice acting and dialogue is cringeworthy and the only positive of this game is the combat. The combat is excellent and can motivate you to play through till the end. My god the voice acting is terrible.
  8. Carlitoxic
    Jul 4, 2014
    6
    Un RPG con un divertidísimo sistema de combate (que podía haber sido multiplayer, pero bueno...), decentes banda sonora y gráficos (para el momento en que apareció) y un mundo muy abierto que explorar y avanzar. ¿Problema?, la historia es un poco inadmisible para el año en el que sale el juego, y mas, esas chorradas manga de una tripulación espacial que no pasan de los 19 años y demásUn RPG con un divertidísimo sistema de combate (que podía haber sido multiplayer, pero bueno...), decentes banda sonora y gráficos (para el momento en que apareció) y un mundo muy abierto que explorar y avanzar. ¿Problema?, la historia es un poco inadmisible para el año en el que sale el juego, y mas, esas chorradas manga de una tripulación espacial que no pasan de los 19 años y demás lindezas. Súmale unos personajes a veces dignos de pegarles un tiro y un guión con poca gracia y confuso, y se cargan un juego que podía haber dado mucho mas. Esto funcionaba en la super nintendo, pero ahora hay cosas en la calle como Mass Effect que se toman más en serio las odiseas espaciales.… Expand
  9. CloudStrife05
    Aug 23, 2021
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. SO: TLH is the first SO game I have played since the amazing 'Till the End of Time. The game was decent and I got all the way until the end when I started re-fighting every boss I had already faced. This was taking a bit of time so I googled how long it would take and it said it takes an average of 50 minutes to complete straight through. Could I invest that much time in a game I love? Of course. But that is the issue. Although it is a good game, to me personally, it was not as good as TTEOT and by the end of TLH, I just did not care to finish it.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

24
#24 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2009
13
#13 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 56 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 23 out of 56
  3. Negative: 0 out of 56
  1. Game Informer
    70
    The Last Hope is plagued by a number of problems, but if you can invest the time needed for this game to blossom (that's a big if), the combat system and mysterious plot reward you well for your time. [Mar 2009, p.90]
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  2. IGN
    80
    Not an RPG for the ages, but it is a lot of fun to play. The way the story is delivered, through awkward dialogue and drawn out cutscenes, could be a lot better. The strong points of The Last Hope, namely the combat and level progression, keep things lively and engaging and help make this one a good way to kick off your JRPG gaming for 2009.
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  3. G4 TV
    80
    Star Ocean: Last Hope won’t make anyone forget that FF XIII is on the horizon. But as far as holding us over in the meantime, this game more than succeeds.
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