An improved remake/remaster of the 2007 PlayStation Portable game Star Ocean: First Departure, which was a remake of the first game in the series, Star Ocean, released on the Super Famicom in 1996.
It is an unusual situation where a remake is influenced by its sequel.
Star Ocean First Departure R is a valuable title that defies time and shows that with deep enough gameplay, dated visuals can not prevent a game from being entertaining
Star Ocean: First Departure R does its job of bringing First Departure to the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, but fails to do much beyond that.
Star Ocean: First Departure R on Nintendo Switch is a fine way to experience the origins of the Star Ocean franchise but a pretty barebones remaster.
Star Ocean probably deserved a better treatment than the one Square gave it, because this port is lazy at best, with no QOL improvements and no new content. The game itself is still quite enjoyable, though.
