I finally decided to pick up ‘Star Ocean: The Last Hope’ for the Xbox 360.  I had my reservations concerning the title, but decided that I’d probably enjoy the game and $60 would more than likely be worth it.  Here are my initial impressions after five hours of gameplay:

After seven hours of gameplay, I can say that I’m not impressed with the title.  I’m still holding out hope that the game will eventually grow on me like most good RPGs do.  So far I don’t feel any kind of emotional attachment to the story or characters like I usually do with epic Square games.  The combat system is a little weird and I don’t feel like I need to use my brains to play the game.  I’m often attracted to RPGs because they require actual strategy and actual thinking.  Something is certainly missing with this game.

The Good (So Far)

• The graphics are very good compared to other RPGs on the Xbox 360.
• Voice acting is pretty good.
• Battle Simulator .
• Environments vary and are interesting.

The Bad (So Far)

• There have been way too many cutscenes so far.
• The battle system is unique, yet boring.
• Save Points are too far apart.
• Little challenge.

With that said, I do plan to finish the game, considering I dropped $60 on it and want to get my money out of it, but my outlook isn’t very positive so far.  Most review sites are giving SO 8s and 8.5s.  I’m starting to think it’s more like a 6.5 or 7.  We’ll have to see.  I’ll post more thoughts as I progress in the game.