Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is the fifth installment in the Star Ocean series for PS4 and PS3. The game's events occur in Space Date 537, set between Star Ocean: The Second Story and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time.
Gameplay
The game feature the same focus on real-time battles, but instead of the player going into a separate battlefield when fighting, they will instead transition directly into a battle on the overworld field. This change makes the battle system similar to Infinite Undiscovery, another game by tri-Ace. Enemies will also attack the player in the middle of some events. If party members get captured by enemies during these events, the game's ending will change.[1] The number of participants in battle has also increased, the party size increasing to seven characters at once. Like all entries, characters not controlled by the player can have their AI set to certain strategies.
Item creation, Private Actions, and affection-based events make a return, but in a modified form from previous entries.
Item Creation
Item Creation (IC) makes a return in Integrity and Faithlessness. In this installment, all item creation is performed in the pause menu rather than requiring a workshop or ship. This change in design was made to streamline the game process of farming/gathering materials and being able to turn them into usable equipment and items. There are three main sections of Item Creation, which are: Item Creation, Synthesis, and Augmentation. The Synthesis system is an entirely new addition, allowing the player to deconstruct any item to create a different, random item based on Quality/Impurity ratings. The Augmentation system is similar to Synthesis from previous installments and is nearly identical to Synthesis in The Last Hope. Item Creation allows the player to create items with materials, also similar to the item creation in The Last Hope.
Private Actions
PAs, or Private Actions, have been revamped in Integrity and Faithlessness. In previous installments, PAs were usually optional and required the player to speak to a certain character at a certain point in each game to trigger them. In this installment, each town has a designated PA "rally point" where Fidel can enter and scatter the party. Icons will appear on the map indicating that a PA is available and Fidel need only walk near the character to activate it. Most PAs require no action and are there to simply add character depth and personality. Some PAs require Fidel to answer a dialogue option which affects affinity gained/lost through the PA.
Most PAs are not missable and some even reward roles that can be used in combat. Each time Fidel enters a town, the PA rally point appear if any PAs are available. When entering the rally point, not all possible PAs will be available as certain PAs require different characters to occur. For example, if Miki has a PA with Emmerson and Emmerson has a PA with Fiore, only one can occur when entering the rally point as Emmerson is unavailable. To solve this, the player can view one PA, leave the area and return, and the other PA should be available.
Certain PAs can occur when traveling in the field when conditions are met, such as having the correct party members and being in a specific area. These activate automatically when walking through the area that triggers them and will be interrupted by battle or transitioning between areas.
Affinity Points
Affinity points are awarded/lost through each PA when viewed by Fidel. These are hidden values that indicate a given character's affection toward each other and Fidel. There are multiple endings to Integrity and Faithlessness and these endings are decided based on each character's affinity for Fidel. The ending result can, as usual, be manipulated through the use of compounding items that affect affinity values.
Difficulty Levels
The difficulty settings from The Last Hope make a return in Integrity and Faithlessness. Difficulties above Galaxy are unlocked after clearing the game once. It multipliers are:
| Difficulty | HP | MP | ATK | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earth | x0.8 | x1 | x0.8 | x0.8 |
| Galaxy | x1 | x1 | x1 | x1 |
| Universe | x1.5 | x1.2 | x1.2 | x1.2 |
| Chaos | x2 | x1.5 | x1.5 | x1.5 |
Story
Setting
The kingdoms of Faykreed.
The game occurs in Space Date 537, set between Star Ocean: The Second Story and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, centuries after humanity has spread out from Earth. After multitudes of trials and the spread of the Galactic Federation, humanity is on the verge of peace. However, on the planet Faykreed, embers of conflict have begun to stir.[1]
Most of Integrity and Faithlessness takes place on Faykreed, where the player explores its three kingdoms, Resulia, Trei'kur, and Langdauq. The Kingdom of Resulia is at war with Trei'kur, but has a peace and cooperation agreement with Langdauq. This war sets the stage for the conflict of the game.
Although Trei'kur would normally be a match for Resulia, their soldiers have begun to wield mysterious weapons that cause a flash of light and then death to whomever they target. This gives Trei'kur an edge in the war and is forcing the Resulians into retreat, causing them to recruit aid from the signeturges of Langdauq, the most powerful ones in the world.
Characters
From left to right: Emmerson, Anne, Miki, Fidel, Victor, Fiore, and Relia.
Playable characters
- Fidel Camuze - A 23-year-old swordsman living in Sthal Village on the borders of the Resulia Kingdom. He was taught by his father, the kingdom's most proficient warrior and guards the village with his skills.
- Miki Sauvester - Fidel's childhood friend and a Signeturge who is blessed with the very rare ability to heal.
- Victor Oakville - A soldier who belongs to the Resulia Kingdom Special Forces. He is faithful to his duties and has earned the devoted trust of his subordinates.
- Fiore Burnelli - One of the Faykreed's leading Signeturges who belongs to the superior-in-magic Langdauq Kingdom’s Signeturgy Research Institute.
- Emmerson T. Kenny - A secretive individual wielding a crossbow who appears, seemingly out of nowhere, with Anne. He is a ladies man and a bit of a drunk.
- Anne Patriceani - Companion of Emmerson, Anne fights with gauntlets. She is incredibly genuine, honest, and loyal.
Non-playable characters
- Relia - A mysterious youth found by Fidel who doesn't remember her past. She's very attached to Miki, who she sees as a mother figure.
- Feria - Relia's, equally mysterious, sister.
- Ted
- Hana
- Daks
- Gunter
Plot
Victor speaking to Daril, introducing his companions.
The story begins with Fidel defending his hometown of Sthal from ruffians that seek to pillage the town. After the assault, Fidel realizes they cannot withstand any more attacks and must request aid from the Resulian army. Together with Miki, the two begin traveling to Central Resulia and encounter Victor Oakville.
Victor introduces the duo to Fiore and escorts everyone the rest of the way to the capital. Once they've arrived, they speak to Fidel's father, Daril Camuze. They request aid, but are denied due to the fact that Daril needs as many men as possible to fight against Trei'kur.
At this point, the party separates and Fidel and Miki return through the Dakaav Footpath to Sthal. On their way through the footpath, they are ambushed by bandits from Eitalon, a group that has been terrorizing Sthal and the surrounding area for years. After struggling to survive, the ambush is halted by the sight of a massive flaming object crashing nearby, causing a huge explosion. The bandits mention their supply base may have been the target of the explosion and run off immediately. Fidel and Miki investigate the event and find a space shuttle (although having no idea what it is), nearly invisible, crashed and burning. A little girl walks out of the ship, who is identified as Relia. Two mysterious men exit the ship and demand Relia be returned, but Fidel fights back. The armor they possess to too strong for Fidel's attacks, but Relia's "signets" activate and freeze the soldiers in space-time. Relia then faints and Fidel takes her back to Sthal.
Upon returning to Sthal, Fidel sees that the city was assaulted; buildings are burning and people are hurt. Ted questions Fidel about Relia, but Miki urges them to talk about it later.
Development
The game was revealed in April, 2015. By this point, it was 30% complete.[1] It was initially given a release date of February 25, 2016 in Japan and sometime in 2016 for the West. However, development of the game delayed the Japanese release to March 31, 2016 and April 28, 2016 for the PS4 and PS3 versions respectively.
A portion of the English version of the game was playable April 22–24 at PAX East 2016, where the Collector's Edition of the game was announced. Localization was very nearly complete at this point in time. Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness released in North America on June 28, 2016 and in Europe on July 1, 2016.
Gallery
Videos
Japanese PV
English PV
Playthrough
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 2015-04-14, Star Ocean 5 Announced for PS4, PS3. GameSpot, accessed on 2015-04-20
Template:SO Series