Square Enix took to Twitter today to announce a surprise remaster of the very first Star Ocean game. It originally released on July 19, 1996 for the Super Famicom, but never released outside Japan (though it has been unofficially translated into English through ROM hacking).
An enhanced remake entitled Star Ocean: First Departure released worldwide for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in 2008. The game was initially remade using Star Ocean 2's engine, adopting many new features like voice acting and animated cutscenes.
This high-definition remake of Star Ocean will include additional new features for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. A release date and price were not announced, but it is planned for worldwide release.
The original Star Ocean released about 23 years ago, so many modern gamers who never had a PSP missed out on the beginning to this fantastic JRPG franchise. What do you think about the announcement? Are you excited to set out on the initial journey once again?
we are all still waiting for an hd skin and some speed upgrades (aka less grinding, faster battles, and no loading times) for psx's final fantasy 7. this however is great. any classic revived in modern hd and some upgrades like chrono trigger ds is always welcome.
I actually look for this to happen more and more with these older, previously unreleased titles. The demand is there, and companies likely see it as easy cash cows that take far less work than creating a brand new game from scratch. (Plus, the resources are there to update these older games for the modern era.)
Thanks for keeping the ever-vigilant eye out for updates, Smash. ;)