07.12.04 - 1:42 PM
In over a month's time, over a year of patient waiting will finally come to a close as Star Ocean: Till the End of Time for the PlayStation 2 will reach retail shelves. The remarkable sci-fi RPG was unveiled over three years ago, before the merger of Square Soft and Enix took place. Originally announced for a domestic release here by Enix USA, the merger of these two companies put the game's publishing in limbo. Many doubted it would ever reach our shores.
Not long after, the game was delayed in Japan, causing even further doubt. At the time, there was no word from Square Enix about a definative North American release date. The wait would continue. After finally being launched in Japan, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time had done so well among fans that a second version, a Director's Cut, was released. This new version would include more storyline, new characters, more cinematic sequences as well as its own fighting game. Still, on our shore, we were left without a solid release date, only an intent to launch the game sometime in late 2003. Eventually Square Enix announced a more concrete release schedule as well as the fact that they were localizing not just the regular game, but the two DVD-ROM Director's Cut version. Those of us who attended E3 2004 were finally able to lay our hands on the localized version - and we were ecstatic. It seemed that good things come to those who wait...
Today, we bring you a more in-depth hands-on impression of the game from a pre-release version provided to RPGFan by our friends at Square Enix, in hopes of sharing our building enthusiasm as the release date draws near. We've also updated our already massive gallery with over a dozen new screenshots of the game and its new additions. We hope you enjoy the article and the pictures as much as we did putting them together. Stay tuned for our extensive review of the domestic version of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time when the game launches.
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| Stephen Harris |