Square Enix launched Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness on June 28th, the fifth official entry in the fan-favorite franchise.
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A full review of the game is in progress, but in the meantime there are many systems and mechanics to the game, which can be a bit overwhelming. To help you navigate the Faykreed star system and the Kingdom of Resulia, we’ve created a starters guide that we’ll update as time goes on, so you can get the best out of your Star Ocean experience.
Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a few hours in, we hope the following tips and strategies can give you a leg up.
Save Everywhere
This is one of those tips that you take for granted in some western roleplaying games, but in Star Ocean, you need to be aware of it.
The game uses the traditional save point system, and sometimes you’ll go through a few story progressing moments before you encounter one, which typically include some sort of mini-boss battle.
This isn’t as prevalent towards the middle of the game, but early on I died a few times (mostly due to stinginess, I’ll get to that later) and unfortunately had to replay whole sections since it doesn’t give you any sort of mini checkpoint in between a series of encounters.
When in doubt, just head to an inn, as there is always a save point located inside.
Don’t Be Stingy
In many roleplaying games, there is a tightly held belief that you must hoard all your money and save it for the top tier piece of equipment or that one-off special item you happen upon in a remote location.
That isn’t really the case in Star Ocean, so don’t be afraid to spend it on what you need, and be realistic. Sure, you might make it through a battle with just 5 blueberries (used for healing) and 1 fresh sage (used to revive fallen friends), but why risk it? Especially when money is so easy to come by.
Buy as many as you need, as it will save you headaches down the line. Having to redo a section because you were just trying to save money isn’t a worthy reason. Even further in the game weapons are not crazily expensive, and more than affordable in regards to the money you’re bringing in.
When you do upgrade your weapons, which I encourage you to do at almost every opportunity given, since you typically have more than enough to buy everyone an upgrade, don’t be afraid to sell the old ones either.
Make Welch A Priority Early
Welch is back for Star Ocean: Integrity & Faithlessness, and you should probably make her a priority, at least early on.
You meet her in the town of Myiddok, where she runs a lab opposite the weapons shop. She seems a bit weird when you first meet her, and frankly pretty much every time after that, but fulfilling her quests (which can mostly be done from within the town’s various shops) will open up several specialities for you rather quickly, including Fishing, Compounding, Synthesis, and more.
It isn’t very time-consuming, but the earlier you can get the first few things out of the way, the more resources you will have access to as you journey from city to city in the early to mid part of the game.
Invest In Roles And Specialties
You know that earlier mention of not being stingy with your money? That applies to SP as well.
You’ll earn SP in battles, and you earn it at a pretty expedited rate. It can be spent on leveling up specialties (like harvesting, emotes, or synthesis), or it can be used to level up roles.
Roles can be assigned to any character, and you can switch them in and out at your convenience. They level up over time as you use them, so it is better to find a character that they gel with and keep them consistent, but don’t feel like you can’t remove them ever. If they aren’t moving fast enough for your liking though, you can level them up with SP.
You’ll get a decent sized squad of 5 pretty early on, and it rarely dips below that number, so the more roles you have access to towards the beginning the better. Don’t be afraid to throw some SP at some of your favorites, since each time they level up you have a chance at unlocking another role, with each providing unique benefits.
Each character can have up to four roles assigned at once, and while something like Insect Slayer might not seem too enticing, just a few levels in and you can definitely see a difference with it equipped.
Don’t Forget About Private Actions
The story in Star Ocean gets off to a bit of a slow start, like most JRPG’s.
After you arrive at your first new location outside of Stahl, you’ll be able to access Private Actions, which you initialize by heading into the gold ring area that populates outside of most city Inns. Once you head inside, the rest of your group will scatter around the city, and a meter will pop up telling you how many actions there are to partake in.
Most are somewhat brief, but they all give tiny glimpses into each character’s personality. Things like Miki’s inability to just try one dish at any given restaurant or your constant butting in during Captain Emmerson’s various flirtations are traits worth discovering, and my experience so far has been better since I started making these a priority in each new town.
Sometimes these happen naturally as you’re walking about in different world map areas as well, but in towns you can pick and choose when you engage them.
Reserve Rush
One of your most powerful abilities is a team mechanic known as Reserve Rush, but in the midst of a battle, it can be easy to forget about it and just rely on your
Fair warning. If you do that you might be purchasing Fresh Sage at an alarming rate.
Take advantage of this ability when you can. You can store up to 5 levels of Reserve Rush, but once you get to level 3 it becomes increasingly harder to keep it there, so if you are having
You enable Reserve Rush by holding down R2 and hitting x. If you just want to expend one or two meters instead of all of them, you can hold R2 and then tap L2 to select how much meter you want to use. Get comfortable with this early, as in some of the fights later on there is so much going on you’ll get a bit flustered if you don’t the system down to a science.
That’s all I’ve got for now, but this list will grow as time goes on, so make sure to check back soon for more strategies and tips.
