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Which is the better entry/which should I buy; Star Ocean 3 or Star Ocean: The Last Hope?

ryan13ts

ryan13ts

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,100
This is basically asking for a purchase recommendation, as both entries are on sale on PSN at the moment, but I can't really decide which one to get (I'll only play one any time soon, so no point in both right now). I've heard positives and negatives about both, more than 3 has the better story but worse gameplay and vice versa for The Last Hope.

Any definitive opinions on which would be the better, for someone that's only moderately delved into SO in the past?
 
Korigama

Korigama

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,481
I have both, can say both have their own specific glaring flaws in spite of still enjoying them. Between the two, I'd say SO3, but can warn ahead of time that SO4 is the only one that promises a space opera and follows through instead of pulling a bait-and-switch.
 
ConfusedOwl

ConfusedOwl

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,125
Canada
I thought Star Ocean 4's gameplay was alright but it's probably the cringiest game I've ever played so I can't recommend it. Go with 3.
 
ColdSun

ColdSun

Together, we are strangers
Administrator
Oct 25, 2017
3,290
3 is far far better. I couldn't stand the last hope.
 
Eeyore

Eeyore

User requested ban
Banned
Dec 13, 2019
9,029
I don't like 3 but the less said about The Last Hope the better.
 
Zemst

Zemst

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,093
I think 3 is better but both games are brutal when it comes to completion. If you just wanna finish a story, then go at it.
 
OP
OP
ryan13ts

ryan13ts

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,100
dark494 said:
Have you played the first 2 games? Do those instead if you haven't. Otherwise 3. Don't do 4.
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Nope, 3 is the only one I've actually played, but that was years ago near the initial US release. l didn't get very far and it was soooo long ago that it'd basically be like starting new again.

Korigama said:
I have both, can say both have their own specific glaring flaws in spite of still enjoying them. Between the two, I'd say SO3, but can warn ahead of time that SO4 is the only one that promises a space opera and follows through instead of pulling a bait-and-switch.
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I didn't get very far into 3 the first time, but I seem to remember being stuck on some medieval planet most of that time. Is it one of those situations where you're there the entire time and not really in space? If so, that kind of kills the whole appeal of 'Space Final Fantasy' that seems interesting about this series.
 
EggmaniMN

EggmaniMN

Banned
May 17, 2020
3,465
I actually don't like Star Ocean 3 as much as Last Hope. Lymle is whatever, easily ignorable and the battles in Last Hope don't just degrade into Side Kick into Side Kick like 3 does. 4's a more fun game to play, its item creation isn't as dumb as 3's either and it has better minigames eventually.

You could be very happy just playing First Departure and Star Ocean 2 though. Easily the best of the series.
 
jiggle

jiggle

Member
Dec 23, 2017
4,466
Played last hope twice
So I guess I'd vote for that lol
Battles are fun


ryan13ts said:
I didn't get very far into 3 the first time, but I seem to remember being stuck on some medieval planet most of that time. Is it one of those situations where you're there the entire time and not really in space? If so, that kind of kills the whole appeal of 'Space Final Fantasy' that seems interesting about this series.
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That's pretty much every single star ocean
 
Ctrl Alt Del

Ctrl Alt Del

Banned
Jun 10, 2018
4,312
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
If you do get SO3, I have to warn you: the game presents a plot twist on it's final third that made me quit playing it completely. That was over 15 years ago and it hasn't happened again since, so it really bothered me. Other people didn't seem to mind, but I absolutely hate the plot twist.
 
pleaseinsertdisctwo

pleaseinsertdisctwo

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
14,991
SO4 has has largely terrible characters, but has far better visuals, a far better art style, is more player friendly, and it has a less clunky and faster-paced battle system.

SO3 is fucking atrocious. Unless you're one of those gamers that really likes every aspect of something being designed for using a walkthrough or wasting a lotttt of time
 
Alboreo

Alboreo

Member
Jan 31, 2018
67
3 is the better of the two. I bought 4 on PS4 purely for the enhanced graphics/4K and was kinda bummed that I still couldn't get into it. It just feels extremely bland at times and the combat, while fun, wasn't enough to carry the game for me. The world felt muddy and boring, the characters are lifeless, and the story takes way too long to take off.

Star Ocean: The Second Story is easily my favorite in the series. Shame it isn't really available digitally at the moment afaik, because I'd easily recommend it over all of the others.

The first game is fun, but I played it (the remaster) after playing 2, 3, 4, and 5 (in that order) so I just kept comparing it to 2 in my head. That led me to not enjoy it nearly as much as I probably would have otherwise, so if you do follow the advice of others in this thread and pick 1/2, I'd suggest playing them in order. Nostalgia might have something to do with it, but I just really prefer 2 over all of the others.
 
Wracu

Wracu

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,396
3 by far. 4 is OK, but 3 is just a crowning achievement in terms of the gameplay and replay value. Unlocking and conquering the final difficulty is immensely satisfying.
 
Wracu

Wracu

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,396
EggmaniMN said:
I actually don't like Star Ocean 3 as much as Last Hope. Lymle is whatever, easily ignorable and the battles in Last Hope don't just degrade into Side Kick into Side Kick like 3 does. 4's a more fun game to play, its item creation isn't as dumb as 3's either and it has better minigames eventually.

You could be very happy just playing First Departure and Star Ocean 2 though. Easily the best of the series.
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There's a lot of terrible in this post, but in think I'll highlight the item creation bit. You can do a hellllll of a lot more with SO3's crafting and it's not even funny. It's also actually a lot less tedious than the steal farming you have to do in 4 and is useful at all points in the game, not just the end.

4 is pretty boring for a long time because you doing have the resources to actually use moves for quite a long time. Now, using the absurd sliding attack from Bacchus kind of makes that irrelevant if you know how to use it, but that's actually a lot worse than "sidekick sidekick sidekick" which is also a lot less optimal than what you could be doing.

I understand why people like 2 so much... It has the best characters and story, but it's even more broken than 3 at an earlier point with a little know-how. I actually enjoy how breakable Tri-ace makes their games, but 2 very quickly just becomes a total spamathon in bad way. Also, the balance is horrendous and some characters do sooooo much more damage than others it's actually pretty crazy (you got ansolid 2-3 Marias in 2). And a certain characters healing makes you pretty much immortal.
 
EggmaniMN

EggmaniMN

Banned
May 17, 2020
3,465
Wracu said:
There's a lot of terrible in this post, but in think I'll highlight the item creation bit. You can do a hellllll of a lot more with SO3's crafting and it's not even funny. It's also actually a lot less tedious than the steal farming you have to do in 4 and is useful at all points in the game, not just the end.

4 is pretty boring for a long time because you doing have the resources to actually use moves for quite a long time. Now, using the absurd sliding attack from Bacchus kind of makes that irrelevant if you know how to use it, but that's actually a lot worse than "sidekick sidekick sidekick" which is also a lot less optimal than what you could be doing.

I understand why people like 2 so much... It has the best characters and story, but it's even more broken than 3 at an earlier point with a little know-how. I actually enjoy how breakable Tri-ace makes their games, but 2 very quickly just becomes a total spamathon in bad way. Also, the balance is horrendous and some characters do sooooo much more damage than others it's actually pretty crazy (you got ansolid 2-3 Marias in 2). And a certain characters healing makes you pretty much immortal.
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I would rather do what's in 4 than any of the garbage in 3 any day of the week. It's an absolutely awful system. There is nothing in that game that I'd ever call a "crowning achievement." That's immense hyperbole. No one cares about optimal whatever. Just playing the game 3 is generally not as enjoyable.

But you know, thanks for just coming right out and shitting on me. Great look.
 
Jotakori

Jotakori

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Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,181
SO3 is way, way, waaayyyyy better. SO4 isn't awful, but its characters aren't nearly as good and overall it's just kinda forgettable, plus it's way grosser with the pervy bullshit. SO3 has a lot more heart and charm to it, and imo I vastly prefer its crazy animu character models over whatever the fuck they tried to do in 4 lol.
Not everyone likes SO3's crazy twist, but I really enjoyed it. I also like 3's combat the best out of 3, 4, and 5 -- the combat loop you can achieve in it is crazy addicting.
 
Wracu

Wracu

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,396
EggmaniMN said:
I would rather do what's in 4 than any of the garbage in 3 any day of the week. It's an absolutely awful system. There is nothing in that game that I'd ever call a "crowning achievement." That's immense hyperbole. No one cares about optimal whatever. Just playing the game 3 is generally not as enjoyable.

But you know, thanks for just coming right out and shitting on me. Great look.
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This is what happens when you don't make sense. And suggesting SO4 is the better game just doesn't make any sense at all. It's not better at a single solitary thing other than graphics. Let's not even talk about the absolute travesty that is the post-game in 4 (or how dumb a certain setup on Reimi is endgame... But then you can't blame people for not letting the enemy fight back when a dungeon is a 4 hour slog to progress to the boss fight and there's no save point...).

And this is without mentioning the game-breaking horror that was the disc swapping on the original 360 release. That truly makes the post-game in that version unplayable.
 
Kaivan

Kaivan

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,390
I couldn't stand the heroine and overall 3D anime artstyle in 3. Star Ocean 4 has a much better artstyle, but there's that creepy lolita. Combat is fun in both games, but everything else is just so unbearable.

I agree that the series should've stopped at 2.
 
udllpn

udllpn

Member
Oct 28, 2017
152
How about Star Ocean 5 ?

I have been meaning to buy it because it usually goes on sale, but I don't know how it compares to the other games in the series.
 
Ashes of Dreams

Ashes of Dreams

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May 22, 2020
14,326
3 is okay, has some controversial plot choices near the end but it's fine.
4 has a really creepy pedophilia thing going on, and the main character spends half the game literally insufferable.

Neither are as good as 1 or 2, they really need to put 2 on modern systems.
 
KushalaDaora

KushalaDaora

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,838
3 have the best plot twist ever in JRPG

4 have the best character in JRPG, mkay.

You can't go wrong with either.

I'll personally pick 3.
 
Yinyangfooey

Yinyangfooey

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,807
udllpn said:
How about Star Ocean 5 ?

I have been meaning to buy it because it usually goes on sale, but I don't know how it compares to the other games in the series.
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Star Ocean 5 is absolutely awful, worse than 3 and 4, if you can believe that.

It characters are literal copies of previous entries.

Emerson=Reimi+Maria
Victor=Albel+Arumat

and so forth. The game has ZERO originality and a terrible story. it's only saving grace is the 7 party member at once battle system which can be pretty fun at times
 
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