Square Enix and developer Tri-Ace have announced the Star Ocean: The Divine Force release date. You'll be able to get your hands on this space-hopping JRPG when it lands on PC and consoles this October, marking a six-year gap since the last installment.
When is the Star Ocean: The Divine Force release date?
The last Star Ocean game, Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness, launched all the way back in 2016 and was the fifth installment in the franchise. Now, we've finally got a Star Ocean 6 release date. Star Ocean: The Divine Force will arrive on PC via Steam, as well as PlayStation and Xbox consoles, on October 27th. To mark the announcement of the game's release date, Square Enix released a new trailer showcasing its typically grandiose-looking space opera plot and high-octane combat. It looks like if you're a Tales of Arise fan, then you'll find a lot to like in Star Ocean: The Divine Force. Here's the release date announcement trailer.
What can we expect from Star Ocean: The Divine Force?
Rather uniquely for the series, Tri-Ace and Square Enix are promising total freedom in terms of exploration in Star Ocean: The Divine Force. You'll be able to use your jetpack (yes, really) to explore rooftops, rock faces, and every nook and cranny in each map, and battles will begin seamlessly, so you can dive off a cliff to initiate a fight with an enemy using your jetpack. Star Ocean 6 will also include "a plethora of playable characters" and plenty of side quests, according to the devs. Despite this increased level of complexity, the controls will be "simple and instinctive", so even if you're a newcomer to the series, you should be able to pick this one up and have some fun with it.
As a series, Star Ocean goes all the way back to 1996, when the first game was released for the Super Famicom. The franchise wouldn't come to the West until Star Ocean: The Second Story, with each subsequent mainline installment of the series getting a Western release. Eventually, Western gamers would get the chance to play the first Star Ocean when an enhanced remake was released for PSP, with that enhanced remake then being remade yet again for PS4 and Switch back in 2019. The last installment, Integrity and Faithlessness, was not particularly well-received by critics or longtime fans, so here's hoping Star Ocean 6 wins you over if you were disappointed by that game.
