If you are a fan of Japanese Role Playing Games, this one is for you.  Star Ocean The Last Hope is a prequel to the Star Ocean franchise.  Tri-Ace did a great job adding plenty of nods to previous entries in the title, making it a must have for followers of the series.

The story takes place in the year S.D. 10 after the events of  World War III  drove humans underground and left the planet Earth in shambles.  You play as Edge Maverick, the captain of the space ship Calnus, on a mission to explore space and find a suitable planet for earthlings to call home.

The story is solid, and is presented with many beautiful (if not a bit over acted) cut scenes.  The games pacing is best described as story, dungeon, story, dungeon, rinse and repeat -a style that RPG fans are accustomed to.  However, this is not just another RPG.

Star Ocean TLH has a very fast and addictive battle system.  The battles are not random either. Instead, you can see the enemies on screen.  This gives the player the option to avoid battle, or to try and gain the upper hand with a surprise attack.  It is the battle system that truly makes this game great.  Level grinding is a huge part of any RPG, and since TLH has such a fun battle system, level grinding is a breeze.

Star Ocean TLH offers many hours of side quests, collectibles to earn, and even a secret dungeon to unlock, making it well worth the $60 price tag.  That’s not to say that the game is perfect.  Star Ocean TLH has a few boring fetch quests that basically send you back to an area you have already searched.  The game also uses a save point system like most JRPGs. The problem is that the save points are few and far between during the long dungeon quests, but seem to be littered throughout towns for no good reason.  These are just minor complaints though and in no way negate the rest of the games strong points.

If you own an XBOX 360 and are looking for a solid RPG experience , look no further than Star Ocean TLH.  This game gets a 4/5.