Now, everyone knows that I am a huge fan of the Tales of series. So it was only natural that I would eventually end up playing the Star Ocean series as well. Both games boast a similar action RPG style which is a nice change of pace from the traditional turn-based gameplay that RPGs were known for.
Debuting in 1996 (Tales of Phantasia came out in 1995,) the first Star Ocean was published by Enix and developed by tri-Ace for the Super Famicom. Since then, there have been a total of 6 mainline games and two mobile games released under the Star Ocean name. And while the mobile games Star Ocean: Material Trader and Star Ocean: Anamnesis are no longer in service, the console games remain a treasure trove of colorful characters and intense action. However, what is it that makes this series stand out compared to other games of the same genre? Well, I am going to take a look at each game in the series and describe the gameplay and how it changed over time.
