Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness
For a series celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, it’s surprising that only five Star Ocean games have been released up to this point. Still, each Star Ocean game is looked back on fondly by fans in different ways.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is chronologically the second to last game of the series taking place between The Second Story and Till the End of Time. The third game of the series, Till the End of Time, had a mind bending story twist that’s still a bit divisive for fans. With this fact in mind, Star Ocean 5 is essentially the furthest we’ve seen the series go timeline wise.
The game takes place on the planet Faykreed, 6000 light years away from Earth. Two inhabitants of the planet, Fidel Camuze and Miki Sauvester, act as the games protagonists. The two get drawn into a conflict larger than they realize, along with a mysterious amnesiac girl named Relia.
Integrity and Faithlessness tries to update and provide growth to almost every feature about the Star Ocean series. A big focus for Integrity and Faithlessness is continuing to expand the fast-paced battle system the series is known for. Combat in the new game has been pumped up, with players bringing a whopping seven characters into battle. You have the ability to control one of these seven and switch between the others at any time.
Much of the design of Integrity and Faithlessness also makes an effort to streamline the JRPG experience. Battles happen seamlessly as you run into enemies in the world, instead of cutting away to a separate battle screen. Cutscenes work on this same concept, as the game seeks to make them interactive and dynamic.
Even though there’s only been a handful of Star Ocean games, each entry has shown the natural progressions of the JRPG genre. Integrity and Faithlessness takes the next step to modernize the series, and push the JRPG forward.
