Star Ocean: First Departure R

Disclosure: I have beat this game on the PSP like a decade ago. However I barely remember much outside some characters.
This game is a remaster, of a remake, of a Japan only SFC game, Star Ocean. As far as I could tell there were no QOL updates to this, which is fine, but I would have liked to see fast travel and utilization of R2/L2 added for more skill options in battle.
With that out of the way, what a blast of a game to play. It’s a short run at ~20 hours for a leisurely play through. This is the perfect length because of the way the game is set up. There are multiple ways to play through the game because of the many characters you come across. You can’t get all PCs in a single play through since some are mutually exclusive. I am not even sure you can get them all in two play throughs. So each time you play you’ll have different characters to meet. Which is cool, because, in each town you visit you can start “private actions.” The PCs all split up and hang out in town. This can lead to special events between the main character and the others you bring along the way.
Battle system is simple and fun. Difficulty isn’t too hard. Final boss took a few tries to figure out a good equipment/team composition. There are lots of places you can go if you explore that aren’t at all required to beat the game.
Music is generic, nothing really stands out.
The “skill” system is something that makes Star Ocean games stand out. As you level up you get points to allocate in one of (what feels like) 100 different skills. As you level these skills up you unlock specialties such as appraisal (to identify objects), alchemy (turn iron into gold, silver, etc), blacksmithing, customizing, music, art, writing! All sorts of things! Very fun to play with.
Overall I love this game as a classic, and it’s stood the test of time. 8.5/10