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Star Ocean 4 Surprisingly Like 'Star Trek'

A few hours in, I'm getting the impression that the game's designers were heavily inspired by the style of Star Trek. Human space explorers together with a few alien beings find uncharted territories, investigate, seek out new life, gather information/intelligence...At the very least, the first few quests have that consistent feel about them. After leaving a particular planet it felt to me like the 'end' of a Star Trek episode, and the start of a new one.

I didn't expect the game to be like this, so I was a bit surprised by the game's style. I expected a Japanese RPG. For the most part, it still is.

But the Western influence in the storyline is very much welcome.

The one annoyance I've encountered? Save points are very, very far apart, so expect to be spending hours playing the game without stopping because you won't get the chance to save often. It has frustrated me at some point, but when the story gets going, it does grab my attention. The characters are likeable, and at many moments, funny. A nice spectrum of emotions are displayed by all the characters. So yeah, it's still a Japanese RPG at heart, and that's a good thing.

More impressions soon. I'm still in Disc 1, 13.5 hours elapsed.

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