A wealth of new screenshots, character art, and content information for Star Ocean: The Last Hope have been revealed in the latest issue of Famitsu. The hero and heroine, named Edge Maverick and Reimi Saionji, are both revealed, as well as two other party members named Faize Sheifa Beleth and Lymle Remli Phi. Faize wields a rapier while Lymle appears to be a child sorceress.

Along with several screenshots of combat, the battle system has also been clarified somewhat. Players can expect the following features:

- Real time combat with both short and long range attacks that can be linked together somewhat like Star Ocean: Till the End of Time.
- Battle skills that characters learn after gaining enough experience. Each character has a unique set of attacks that can be used in combos with regular hits.
- Side stepping and a new jump system. The effect of jumping will vary with each character, with some able to use repeated jump attacks, and others able to jump higher than others.

It has also been confirmed that Star Ocean: The Last Hope will have a playable demo at this year's Tokyo Game Show. The game will be released in the Spring of 2009 for the XBox 360.

• Square Enix Official Site: Tokyo Game Show Confirmation

• Star Ocean: The Last Hope Official Site (Japanese)