Star Ocean The Divine Force Shares 2 New Trailers; Character & Combat Introductions, October 2022 Release Date

During a special live transmission, Square Enix has announced the release date for Star Ocean The Divine Force. The new action RPG in tri-Ace and Square Enix’s sci-fi franchise will be available for PC  via Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on October 27, 2022.

Star Ocean The Divine Force tells the story of protagonist Raymond, the captain of a space trading ship called the Ydas, and Laeticia, the princess-knight of an underdeveloped planet. Their tale happens after the Pangalactic Federation started assimilating planets against their will. As such, the group, once seen as a symbol of peace and harmony, became a power-hungry beast instead.

After Raymond’s ship is attacked by Astoria, a battleship carrying a member of the mighty Kenny family, he is forced to head to an underdeveloped planet in the Aster System, Aster IV. There he’s separated from his crewmates, and princess Laeticia saves his life. Now he promises to help her save the kingdom from the Vey’l Empire and will soon understand that even there, he isn’t safe from the mighty rule of the Pangalactic Federation.

Besides the trailer, Square Enix has shared some detailed info on the game. Like in Star Ocean 2, players can choose the protagonist at the beginning of the game, either picking Raymond or Laeticia, leading to changes in the story beats and what companion characters you’ll have in the party.

First of all, we have Raymond, a young man from the planet of Verguld who works under Lawrence Logistics. This company is run by his own family, and learning how to detect some good business seems to be in their blood. However, he may be a little too confident and eager, which leads to some reckless business choices that may pay well but could just as easily kill him off.

While Raymond is an open and unabashed fellow, Laeticia is a prim and proper person who incarnates the dignified concept of a princess. Her personality is resolute, and residents all over the kingdom admire her. She also has a remarkable skill with dual blades and starts the game on a secret journey to find a certain individual yet undisclosed.

Laeticia’s childhood friend Albaird accompanies her as a knight of the Kingdom of Aucerius. He is loyal to Laeticia but wary of Raymond. His weapon of choice is chakrams, and the fact he covers his arms entirely up to the fingertips seems to have some reason behind it.

Out of Raymond’s crewmates, Elena is the First Mate, handling almost all of the ship’s operations by herself. She’s very knowledgeable and acts cool enough that everyone on board the vessel completely trusts her decisions. Elena considers Raymond reckless for his attitude but still admires his leadership qualities.

Among the Aucerian Kingdom individuals, Midas is one of the most brilliant in the arts of semiomancy and engineering. Hard-headed and curious, he’s the kind to not take ethics into account, which is probably one of the reasons he was exiled from the country.

The team also includes a physician assistant, Nina, skilled at healing allies using iaitrimancy. She’s looking for a cure for the disease that led to her father’s death. While she works hard, she’s very cheerful and somewhat naive. She’ll do anything to help sick and injured people enthusiastically.

The following is a brief run-down of the newly introduced cast:

• Albaird Bergholm is Laeticia’s dedicated knight who’s quite obstinate
• Elena is Raymond’s trusted first officer.
• Nina Deforges is a latrimancer seeking to cure a deadly disease
• Midas Felgreed is a hermit and a semiomancer.
• D.U.M.A is an intelligent mechanical lifeform.

The following is a brief summation of everyone’s combative skills:

• Raymond is a tad slow, devastating enemies with his greatsword
• Laeticia is swift, using dual blades
• Albaird excels at ranged maneuvers with chakrams and magic
• Elena is seemingly a jack-of-all trades, utilizing “multiple special weapons that morph with each skill.”
• Nina heals and buffs allies in the surrounding vicinity.
• Midas is a mage who unleashes severe damage despite the lengthy cast times.

The game’s box art illustrated by Akiman is viewable below:

A detailed mission report video presents the main characters and some of the combat and exploration aspects of the upcoming game as well:

The transition from exploration to combat is seamless, so players can start slashing and hitting the enemies as they please. Parties consist of four people, and you can pick the reserve members anytime. Skills cost AP, energy you recover with time, and the maximum AP available changes depending on certain unspecified conditions in battle.

A Chain Combo shortcut also allows players to pick a sequence and activate it faster than doing each action individually. Also, an interesting aspect of combat in the new game is Stop Time, which does exactly that, letting the player give orders to all allies at their own time without the risk of enemies punishing them for being too slow in picking actions.

Square Enix is likely to follow up this mission report trailer with more videos detailing other aspects of the game. We’ll keep you updated on Star Ocean The Divine Force news.

Star Ocean The Divine Force is releasing on  October 27, 2022, for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.