The definitive Star Ocean 1

I'm still recovering from illness...

I played the SNES version of Star Ocean 1 during my dark ages. I then played the PSP port during my penultimate year of college. Both are the same story with the same characters, but they play very differently. They also, obviously, look quite dissimilar. And thus, as I slightly pondered during my review of Star Ocean 2, what version's best.

Let's start with a quick overview.

Star Ocean Fantastic Space Odyssey and First Departure share the same basic blocks. The story revolves around an underdeveloped planet named Roak. A strange illness is turning the citizens of Roak into stone, including the father of the white mage, Milly. Her friends Doan and Ratix, the main character, investigate. This ends up with Doan becoming infected as well. Chasing after a cure has them running into two earthlings, Ilia and Ronyx. These aliens teach our MC that he's involved in an intergalactic war, with them in the middle. To bring about galactic peace, the four must go back in time, as these things often do.

While there, they uncover the mystery of the stone sickness, beat up Satan, and form bonds with four of eight possible locals! And then they save the galaxy, but whatever.

It is the hows that differ between the two games.

First Departure plays exactly as the PSP port of Second Story, Second Evolution. There's a traditional world map, a questionable combo system, modern QoL adjustments, and an expansion of skills. The character artwork during conversation is also there, and the images are less than ideal.

Fantasy Space Odyssey's combat plays like a Tales of game if the map had a few more dimensions. The overworld is more akin to the Mana games, and the skills and specialties are more bare bones. It was made in the mid 90's, so that's to be expected.

These three create some vital gameplay differences. For starters, there is significant backtracking in SO1, regardless of version. There is no Synard, so you'll have to walk between towns. And each has different item shops for item creation, side quests, and PAs. On a world map, it's a lot faster and easier. FSO is a winding path, and you can't effectively fast forward through them. It can really slog the game down. On the flip side, these paths are pretty and add to the atmosphere.

The combat is much faster in FD for the sole reason of you can freely move. For some reason, walking around the battlefield is a point-and-click adventure in FSO. You don't usually need to aimlessly wander around, but the option to do so is nice. It's easier to change targets, at least.

The skills are different because we're on vastly different consoles, so I won't spend much time here. The PSP version is ripped from its sequel.

As an extra bonus, FD has a secret character that veterans night like, a secret character I hate, new PAs, and it's not crash prone because the DeJap patch team kinda sucks.

It should be clear that the PSP version, First Departure, is the better experience. All the new stuff and functionality of it make it vastly superior. But there's a sort of charm that it loses. The pathways between cities and dungeons are an interesting concept. Seeing the wind blow the grass, the birds fly through the sky, and ducks traverse just clicks with me. While the PSP port is better, the SNES original is more interesting. It stands out on its own and doesn't rely on another game to prop up its experience. If you want a polished game, get your PSP out. But if you're interested in a game with its own identity, learn how to patch a SNES rom.

Are the numbers different?

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Plot: no. The main cast and secondaries bring something worth discussing to the table, but the villains are seen twice and don't really do anything proactive. This makes the plot feel like the least gratifying story in the genre. 4/10

Gameplay: no. Free movement aside, both games are just mashing X unless you want to do a killer move. But they're both fun! 10/10

Sound: no. The remake remastered the songs. Some are better; some are worse. It's all subjective, regardless. Nothing jumped out at me anyway. 8/10

Art: yes. Star Ocean has issues with palate swaps throughout the franchise. This is true even in the remaster. There's still a lot to see, but the PSP version lets your character sprites jump out more. The SNES sprites blended in too much when seeking private actions for my crummy eyes. SNES: 8/10 PSP: 9/10

Charm: yes. There are a handful of interesting NPCs, but none are around long. Both games have plenty of cute things, and it's worth exploring. If for no other reason than because the eight optional characters are all over the place, with an assortment of recruitment options. Fear/Phia alone makes the game feel nonlinear and helps the replayability. Game length is what you make of it, but it's the world that separates the two games. Those paths I kinda hate add life to the world. There are chests on them you miss on the listless PSP port. SNES: 9/10 PSP: 8/10

In total, both games are great 38/50 experiences. Welch is available only in the PSP one, so maybe knock off a few points for her.

Ultimately, Star Ocean 1 has a bad case of first in franchise syndrome. It's a lot of fun at the time, but going back reveals that it's kinda devoid of stuff. If you're a historian or love early action RPGs, there's still a lot here. Even now, I'm kinda itching to play another go around. I really should see if T'nique is any good one day...

There's also an even more modern port for the Switch that is probably the best version. The character portraits are a big step above the awful PSP ones, but I don't know if there are any further differences. I'd suggest it, though.