straightforwardly | 310 | final thoughts on my first playthrough of star ocean: first departure r

Today, I beat Star Ocean: First Departure R! There were some moments towards the end that were a bit of a slog for me, but overall, I had a great time with this one.

The cast absolutely was this game’s greatest strength. I love everyone in this bar—or, at least, everyone I’ve met. Which is nearly everyone! I think the only party member I’m completely unfamiliar with (& who “counts” as a party member in my heart—tl;dr explanation is that I refuse to acknowledge Welch as a character who exists in the first two Star Ocean games, because she originally didn’t) is T'nique. So I can’t comment on him, but otherwise, I truly love everyone, which isn’t usually the case for me when it comes to this series!

In particular, the dynamics between the party were fantastic. I came out of this game having so many feelings about so many different relationships, both platonic and romantic. This was helped by how good the private actions were—I actually think they’re better than those in the second and third Star Ocean games (aka the only other games in this series I’ve played all the way through so far). I really felt like I had a vivid sense of who these people are and how they interact with one another, not just with Roddick.

Though, that being said, I do have one complaint about the private actions—I used a guide to make sure that I didn’t miss any that I really wanted to see, and it turned out that getting many of them involved running around from place to place in a way which felt unnatural to the story/plot progression.

For instance, sometimes there would be linked private actions, where you couldn’t see a scene in a particular town before having seen another scene in a different town, so you’d have to do a lot of running around and backtracking for no purpose other than to see the scene you needed. Or a scene would only unlock after a particular plot point is reached (I’m thinking of the Erys scene after you defeat the Crimson Shield as an example), but there’s no reason for the party to have gone back to the relevant town at that point—and no real reason for the player to do so, either. And all that running around got tedious for me, though getting the fast travel rabbit improved things a bit on that front.

Speaking of the rabbit—I find it VERY funny that the Bunny Whistle works on the endgame planet. The rabbit can hear the whistle and travel through time & space to answer it! I know the Doylist reason is due to gameplay mechanics, but still, I’d love to hear a Watsonian explanation for this. What is the rabbit deep lore…

Speaking of moments that were more of a slog for me: I missed BOTH key cards during the second visit to the Purgatorium, and wow, did that ever make it live up to its name, lol. Me running around in circles in an endless purgatory… until I finally looked up a guide to save me.

I also went through a grinding session before tackling the final boss, since my first attempt… did not go well. The second attempt went much better; interestingly, I thought the final boss’ second form was much easier than the first.

I knew the fake-out ending was coming, but I wonder how I would have taken it if I hadn’t known? The way the characters left without saying goodbye absolutely would have broken my heart, I think. I do think the story faltered a bit after Asmodeus was defeated—on one hand, the game was wrapping up the plot threads that were introduced at the beginning of the game; on the other hand, all the worldbuilding about the final planet and final boss felt like it was being crammed in. There was no emotional weight to the final boss—at least not for me—because there was no real build-up to him. I barely remember his name, despite literally having battled him only a few hours ago, and I have no idea what the planet was called anymore.

That being said, I did find the actual final goodbyes much more satisfying. I found Ashlay’s belief that they could meet again surprising, coming from him, but also very sweet. I have a lot of feelings about how the party creates all these bonds together, only to be separated by time itself—how Roddick and Millie need to live on post-canon with the knowledge that all those people they met and cared about have been dead for centuries. (I also would love to see them travel the world post-canon, and see all the ways in which the world they were born in differs from the world they explored 300 years before, and their feelings about it.)

But also, the Roddick & Millie - Ronyx & Ilia goodbye <3 My illegal polycule continues to be the best. I was delighted by Ronyx promising to visit again. Underdeveloped Planet Preservation Pact, what’s that again? In my heart, he absolutely does, and Ilia with him, even if Claude didn’t know about it.

Finally, I just want to say that I had a great time with the tragic siblings, just as I thought I would. <3 I did end up going to recruit Erys, and enjoyed it, though I’m also curious about how a playthrough where Mavelle leaves the party more… permanently may go, as well as one where she stays ‘til the end.

tl;dr great game, and I’m thrilled to have finally beat it! And I do absolutely want to one day replay it with different party member combinations (a Cyuss & Phia playthrough, y/y?), though not any time soon.