Star Ocean: The Fifth to Last Hope

[SomethingBig]

I rented the game from Blockbuster last week and I'm a little over 16 hours into the game. So, far, it's been fun. The battle system is virtually the same as Star Ocean 3's, but with some improvements. To the people that have either beaten the game or have some good knowledge of it, I have a few questions.

I abuse the Bonus Bar like you wouldn't believe. So much so that I never have to worry about running out of restorative items because my characters kill the enemies fast enough that they don't inflict much damage and I don't use much MP. And even if the battle lasts for a long time, I have enough purple gems to fully restore my HP and MP. On top of that, I end up gaining almost twice as much EXP after every battle. However, because of my reliance on the bar, I freak out every time it's broken. Does anyone else use the bar as extensively as I do? I mean, I usually have it full of purple and blue gems, so I gain tons and tons of EXP, while getting healed after every battle.

Second question is do you lose or gain affection points depending on who's in your party? I just got Bacchus, for example, and I switched out Reimi for him, so I'm a little worried about lowering Edge's affinity with her.

My last question kinda relates to my previous question. I noticed that members not in your party don't gain experience points. Is it worth it to train every single character or to just stick with a few and level them up?

Thanks for the help and discuss anything Star Ocean 4 related in here, 'kay?

[Zeromus_X]

The battle system is virtually the same as Star Ocean 3's, but with some improvements.

Really? I found it a massive downgrade from SO3. Except for being able to switch party members/abilities during battle, that was pretty awesome.

I abuse the Bonus Bar like you wouldn't believe. So much so that I never have to worry about running out of restorative items because my characters kill the enemies fast enough that they don't inflict much damage and I don't use much MP. And even if the battle lasts for a long time, I have enough purple gems to fully restore my HP and MP. On top of that, I end up gaining almost twice as much EXP after every battle. However, because of my reliance on the bar, I freak out every time it's broken. Does anyone else use the bar as extensively as I do? I mean, I usually have it full of purple and blue gems, so I gain tons and tons of EXP, while getting healed after every battle.

Don't worry about the bonus board breaking, the game is still very easy even without abusing it.

Second question is do you lose or gain affection points depending on who's in your party? I just got Bacchus, for example, and I switched out Reimi for him, so I'm a little worried about lowering Edge's affinity with her.

As far as I know, only Private Actions affect the affinity between party members. The Private Action faq on Gamefaqs lists (almost) every PA and their effects on the party's affection for eachother.

As for Reimi, don't worry too much about her and Edge; you get so much free affinity for them you have to purposely try to not get their ending.

My last question kinda relates to my previous question. I noticed that members not in your party don't gain experience points. Is it worth it to train every single character or to just stick with a few and level them up?

Sticking to a few is fine; and that said this game is perfectly beatable with any combination of characters. As well, as you've experienced, it's very easy to level up characters so don't be afraid to try out new characters if you like switching it up. If you only use one party most of the time, I'd only make an exception for one party member if you don't use them. (SPOILER)Try and keep Faize leveled up enough, since Arumat inherits his level and skills when he joins, of course, this is only important if you plan on using Arumat.

[SomethingBig]

Really? I found it a massive downgrade from SO3. Except for being able to switch party members/abilities during battle, that was pretty awesome.

It's been years since I last played SO3, but if I remember correctly, you had to press and hold the attack buttons to do skills, which wasn't detrimental or difficult at all, but I think having them as shoulder buttons is more intuitive. The only real problem I have with SO4's controls is the camera. It's so awkward and I wish there was an option to invert the x-axis.

And does your spoiler have any MAJOR plot spoilers? I read up to (SPOILER)Arumat inheriting Edge's levels and skills, but beyond that, does it have anything that would ruin the story?

[Lenna]

The Private Actions are the main way of gaining affinity points, but you can also gain some by rooming the people up with Edge.

If you struggle to get your affinity points you can easily create potions which will boost them instantly, bear in mind though that sometimes when you choose options relating to one character that you can mess up your affinity with someone else, so unless you're trying to get all char endings in one go (which I wouldn't advise without using a walkthrough cause it has to be very specific lol), Concentrate on one person.

[Ultima Shadow]

It's been years since I last played SO3, but if I remember correctly, you had to press and hold the attack buttons to do skills, which wasn't detrimental or difficult at all, but I think having them as shoulder buttons is more intuitive. The only real problem I have with SO4's controls is the camera. It's so awkward and I wish there was an option to invert the x-axis.

And does your spoiler have any MAJOR plot spoilers? I read up to (SPOILER)Arumat inheriting Edge's levels and skills, but beyond that, does it have anything that would ruin the story?

I wouldn't say pressing R2/L2 is much different from holding down a button, but ah well. And yeah, I totally agree with Zeromus_X regarding the battlesystems. SO4's battlesystem is very good for an RPG, but I was still dissapointed by it... simply because I kept comparing it to SO3's. I mean... the system with Strong/Weak moves and the AAA was pure GENIOUS! It's so sad that they removed it. MP kills made battles more intense since you basically had to keep track on 2 "life gauges" rather than just one. The fury system was also something I liked better about SO3. I guess another thing I really loved more about SO3's battlesystem was the fact that it was so abusable, mainly thanks to AAA. I mean... the rage gauge and combined attacks in SO4 can also be abused to some degree, but it's both less abusable and easier to abuse. SO3's AAA can be difficult and dangerous to use well against many enemies and at the same time it makes it possible for a level 1 character to beat the final boss, without using any super weapon, just because it's so abusable. And that's GENIOUS! =D

Except for being able to switch party members/abilities during battle, that was pretty awesome

I actually dissliked the party switching, just because it made things too easy. I finished the whole game and beat the bonus dungeon (only once, so I haven't faced EQ's super-wing crazy mode) without getting a single game over, just because even when your entire party is wiped out, you can just switch in new members and easily revive all the old ones and switch out again etc etc.

And ONE more thing: you can't switch targets in a smooth way in SO4. I have absolutely no idea why they made it that way, but it really sucks.

...that being said, I really like SO4's battle system. But I just absolutely LOVE SO3's system.



Edit: Oh, and don't worry, SomethingBig. The spoiler doesn't spoil anything story-releated.