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Amongst the plethora of returning franchises and shiny new IPs , Square Enix have decided to jump aboard the JRPG express and release the latest entry in their acclaimed sci-fi RPG series , Star Ocean : Integrity and Faithlessness .

Unfortunately , other than winning the award for longest game title of the year – this installment does little to distinguish itself from the growing competition , morphing into little more than a dull spark in a vast ocean of radiant Japanese starlight .

The main problem

with Star Ocean is that it simply lacks the polish and detail needed to escape from the confines of gaming mediocrity . Take the world for example : it ’ s vast , vividly realised thanks to its bright colour pallet and dotted with some truly memorable locations , but as a whole it lacks a sense of passion and character when compared to the likes of The Witcher 3 : Wild Hunt or even Persona 4 : Golden .

The majority of the locations – the game features an interconnected zone-based system – are woefully lacking in stuff to see , find and do . You can discover loot chests to open or resource nodes to gather , yet they rarely reward you with anything that warrants more than a quick

curious glance .

The enemy placement only confounds the issue , with monsters huddling together in groups ; an approach that instantly feels gamey , and thus breaking the already tenuous sense of immersion .

The world of Star Ocean never feels alive , and I constantly grew bored of it , something of a faux pas amongst the RPG genre .

The story , too , lacks inspiration . You follow the journey of Fidel , a young swordsmith , and his best friend Miki as they go from traditionally humble beginnings to saviours of the world . The pair get thrust into a conflict of literally galactic proportions as they discover a mysterious girl , called Relia , in the ruins of a crashed

starship . Now I know , that all sounds pretty spectacular , yet Star Ocean somehow manages to turn this swashbuckling sci-fi adventure concept into a bumbling mess of abhorrent mundanity . Once all the usual narrative setup has concluded – much of which is actually intriguing and exciting to witness – the plot becomes little more than a case of go here , do this , rinse and repeat .

It ’ s mind-numbing ; a problem that only intensifies when you factor in the aforementioned world which is as lifeless as Pluto , and the terrible voice acting which , at times , made me want to gouge out my eardrums . The raft of side-quests also fail to deliver the RPG experience

many fans were seeking . The majority are either bog-standard fetch quests or kill and collect missions , with very few offering up anything in the way of intrigue .

That said , there are pockets of light nestled within the inky black depths of Star Ocean ’ s narrative abyss . The three-way relationship between Fidel , Miki and Relia has been wonderfully realised , and watching the trio interact provides brief moments of warmth to an otherwise chilly experience . Additionally , during the game ’ s early moments , the mystery surrounding Relia and those seeking her out kept me enthralled , even if such elation dissipated around the ten hour mark .

Moving on to the

Fidel