Released initially as simply Star Ocean for the Super Famicom back in July of 1996, and released again as an enhanced remake on PlayStation Portable in 2008; Star Ocean First Departure R is a grand adventure of galactic proportions that is filled with drama, mystery, action, comedy and romance. Following the story of a townsguard named Roddick; he and his close friends are faced with an epidemic that is turning everyone they know and love to stone. Determined to stop it and save his people from this terrible plague, Roddick joins the space-faring Earth Federation and begins his grand quest for a cure that will lead him on an adventure unlike anything he’s ever seen. I had never managed to play any of the Star Ocean titles over the years, but being a fan of space-adventure stories, the series would repeatedly catch my attention when a trailer would pop up or a new game would release. So when I finally sat myself down and played First Departure R, I had no idea what was waiting for me beyond just a simple JRPG in space. Star Ocean First Departure R captured my full attention almost immediately after starting the game. The

The classic sci-fi RPG title Star Ocean First Departure R, the HD remaster of the PlayStation Portable version of the first Star Ocean game, is now available for purchase on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 consoles. You can check out the launch trailer below. Star Ocean First Departure R follows the story of a young swordsman named Roddick as he and his companions set off on a journey to find a cure for a deadly disease, leading them on an adventure across the stars. This HD remaster includes the following updated features: Full Voiceover: Players can choose between the original voice cast from the PSP version of the game in either Japanese or English, or the newly recorded version that features the original Japanese voice cast from the Super Famicom version, which had only ever released in Japan.New Character Illustrations: Players can choose between the original character illustrations from Star Ocean First Departure, or the brand-new versions drawn by famed illustrator Katsumi Enami (Star Ocean: The Last Hope).Speed Mode: Players can travel the world more quickly.Adjusted Game Balance: Adjusted battle difficulty enables players to experience more challenges in combat. Launch Trailer

Square Enix has revealed that Star Ocean First Departure R, a remastered version of the first Star Ocean game, is set to release in Japan on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on December 5, 2019. Digital preorders have already begun on the Japan Playstation Store for both a standard edition and deluxe edition, and the official Japanese website was updated as well with new character art and examples of graphical updates. The new updates in the Japanese version of Star Ocean First Departure R will include: HD graphical updates: Upgraded from SD quality, enjoy the beautiful world of Star Ocean in HD!New illustrations: Newly draw character illustrations by the artist “Enami Katsumi” (Star Ocean 4 character illustrator) have been added. Players can also switch between First Departure and First Departure R illustrations.Voice Acting: Cutscenes and combat are fully voiced by the original cast! Players can switch between the First Departure or First Departure R voice acting at any point in the game.Double speed function: Double speed has been added for field movement.Game difficulty adjustment: Players will be able to choose different difficulty options. Update: Star Ocean The First Departure R will share the same December release date in the west for Nintendo

Square Enix has announced that the PlayStation Portable remake of the first Star Ocean game is coming to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch under the title Star Ocean First Departure R. At this time it is unknown if it will be a full remaster or a port, as no further details were released, but Square Enix promises to deliver more updates in the future. Star Ocean First Departure originally released worldwide back in 2008 for the PlayStation Portable and was an enhanced remake of the original Star Ocean, which had released in Japan on the Super Famicom in 1996. It follows the story of three friends--Roddick, Millie, and Dorne--as they search for a way to cure a terrible disease that threatens their home world.

Valkyrie Profile returns to Square Enix’s popular mobile title Star Ocean: Anamnesis with a second official limited-time run. Starting today and running until June 3rd, 2019. players can add both new and returning Valkyrie Profile characters to their collections, obtain new weapons, challenge special events and receive login bonus rewards. Details for the limited-time event include: New Original Character Illustrations: Exclusively for this collaboration, renowned artist Akira “AKIMAN” Yasuda--famous for his work in Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness and the Street Fighter series--has created new illustrations for Azure Lenneth and two additional characters: Lezard and Mystina. Koh Yoshinari, one of the original character designers on Valkyrie Profile, has also contributed new illustrations for Freya, Hirst and Arngrim. Illustrations 3D Renders New Banner Characters: Players now have the chance to add the following Valkyrie Profile characters to their collections through limited-time banners. Available now: Azure Lenneth (5-star Ace Sharpshooter) Freya (5-star Ace Invoker) Available later in the event: Hrist (5-star Ace Defender) Arngrim (5-star Ace Attacker) Lezard (5-star Ace Invoker) Mystina (5-star Ace Invoker) Returning Banner Characters: Lenneth (5-star Ace Attacker) and Silmeria (5-star Ace Sharpshooter) return through a limited-time banner, and may also be Awakened for the first time, allowing players the chance

Valentine’s Day celebrations have begun in three of Square Enix’s mobile titles. Star Ocean Anamnesis, Mobius Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy Brave Exvius are all offering players some special bonuses and the chance to unlock some Valentines-themed characters. Below is the list of offers and content available for the three games: Star Ocean Anamnesis Lasts until February 18th. Special Characters: Players can obtain limited-edition Valentine’s appearances for Rena (Star Ocean 2), Welch (Star Ocean 5) and Verda (Star Ocean: Anamnesis). Each character can offer the following: Cat Rena is a 5-star Ace Attacker, and can greatly increase attack damage and has both close and long-range battle skills. Dream Welch is a 5-star Ace Healer that can use her Rush Mode ability “Sweet Pressure” to heal her party and debuff enemies. Sweet Verda is a 5-star Ace Attacker with close-range attacks that debuffs her targets, while her Rush Mode ability “Chocolate Blessing” debuffs all enemies. Event Character: By completing the special event mission “Chocolate Rush” and limited-time achievements, players can obtain Girly Clair (5-star Sharpshooter). Login Bonuses: By simply logging in, players will receive Gems, a 5-Star Character Ticket, 5-star Weapon Ticket, L. Limit Breaker and more. Mobius Final Fantasy Lasts until

Starting today and lasting until February 11th, 2019, Square Enix’s mobile title Star Ocean: Anamensis will be hosting special a crossover event with another one of Square Enix’s popular mobile titles: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. This limited time event will offer players special login bonuses, new summonable characters and more. Below is the list of updates and offers coming to Star Ocean: Anamnesis during the event: Login Bonus: All players will receive 10,000 Gems by logging into the game. New Character Summons: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius' Rain, Lasswell and Fina are now available as featured 5-star summons. This is the first time these characters have appeared as playable 3D models, and are accompanied by 2D illustrations by Yusuke Naora. Character abilities include: Rain (5-star Ace Defender) can both debuff enemies and buff his party. Fina (5-star Ace Healer) can recover party's ability points. Lasswell (5-star Ace Attacker) can boost short ranged weapon attack damage, and can be obtained using Lasswell Character Draw Tickets, which are provided from Login bonuses and by completing the limited time campaign achievements. Visions of New Beginnings Limited-Time Event: Players seeking additional rewards can take part in this new limited-time event and face off against the Exiled

Throughout October and into early November, Square Enix is celebrating all things spooky-scary across their most popular mobile titles, which include Kingdom Hearts Union χ, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia, Star Ocean: Anamnesis and Mobius Final Fantasy. During these Halloween-themed events, players will be offered discounts and will be able obtain special in-game items, outfits and more. Below is the list of limited-time events and offers that are available in each mobile game: Kingdom Hearts Union χ Throughout October, players can obtain Event Coins from quests, which can be exchanged for boosters, Halloween-themed Medals and avatar parts. For the month of October, the home screen is decorated in Halloween themed items. A special Halloween Scenario Quest will be available from October 21st to October 30th, 2018, with 1000 Jewels as the main prize. From now until October 25th, 2018, the Halloween Banishing event will award players with festive Halloween-themed rewards. New and returning Halloween-themed avatar boards are now available throughout October. Kingdom Hearts Union χ is also hosting a screenshot contest via Twitter. The contest will run from now until October 29th, 2018. Winning parties that submit screenshots of their avatars in their best Halloween costumes can receive

In celebration for the release of Star Ocean: Anamnesis in multiple countries worldwide, 2B from the NieR: Automata series has been added to the game. She will be available to draw with greatly increased rates for a limited-time Campaign Character Draw that will run until October 30th, 2018. 2B is an attacker unit who excels in short-range weapons. You can see 2B in action below. Also in celebration of 2B’s inclusion in Star Ocean: Anamnesis, renowned character designer and artist Akiman has illustrated 2B in the unique Star Ocean artstyle. Additionally, new players who create an account from now until November 6th, 2018 will benefit from the “Welcome Aboard Campaign” by logging in. This campaign has multiple bonuses, which include: 5000 gems: In-game currency that can be used to summon characters, weapons and more. One 5-star Ace Character Ticket and Three 5-star Weapon Ticket: Rare items used in unlocking powerful characters and gear. One 4-star Welch and One 5-star Faize Characters: The bubbly, iconic recurring Star Ocean series character Welch Vineyard and the cool and collected Faize--from Star Ocean: The Last Hope--will be available alongside their powerful weapons: Jester’s Wand and Eldar Lord Rapier. A number of additional Crystals, Prisms, Stamina Tickets,

Star Ocean anamnesis arrives on iOS and Android devices today. A free-to-play title featuring characters from throughout the series, anamnesis features fully 3D combat. Character designs by Akiman and a soundtrack by Motoi Sakuraba are also featured. Being a freemium style game, it does make use of a stamina system that can be replenished over time by waiting or by microtransaction. Elements of the game also rely on a gacha-style structure, which is also reliant on microtransactions should you wish for a chance to roll for better characters sooner rather than later. The game's story sees you, the main character, flung into a distant arm of the galaxy with little hope of making it back to Earth. Together with your assistant Coro and a mysterious woman named Evelyss who can summon heroes to fight with you, the journey home begins. The story takes on a mission-based structure which will consume aforementioned stamina. Combat will see you control one character in a four-person party. You can slide your finger on the touch screen to maneuver around the battlefield, swipe to dodge, and tap to target an enemy and attack. Abilities are available on-screen to tap, and will consume AP to use. AP will