This week, Famitsu first revealed the latest Star Ocean title in six years. Exciting, huh? From the sound of it, Tri-Ace and Square Enix are keen to give you more.
In a round table with Famitsu, Square Enix producer Shuichi Kobayashi say he had wanted to make a new Star Ocean for quite some time. “But I was in charge of marketing, so I kept hoping someone would do it, but...,” Kobayashi told the weekly magazine with a laugh. “So I decided I’d go ahead and start the project. I decided to give my life to Star Ocean and changed departments and became in charge of production.”
For Kobayashi, who is producing Star Ocean 5, it was important to get both Tri-Ace’s Yoshiharu Gotanda, who created Star Ocean, and Hiroshi Ogawa, who worked on Star Ocean 2 and Star Ocean 3, to create this latest entry. “I wanted to insert the essence of Star Ocean 3 heavily into Star Ocean 5,” Kobayashi explained. Ogawa is directing this latest entry, while Gotanda is the game’s lead programmer and conceptual creator.
When asked what the future plans for Star Ocean were, Kobayashi replied, “As I said before, I switched departments for Star Ocean. That’s why, I’d like to continue releasing games for the series. I’m working to make Star Ocean 5 so that not only will series fans will enjoy it, but newcomers will as well, so that people will want a sequel.”
And from the sound of it, there is enough material for future instalments, with Gotanda telling Famitsu, “Of all the games I’ve worked on, I’ve written enough for this game alone to fill several novels. I don’t know if everything I’ve written will make it into the game, but I hope people will get to experience a grand story.”
Toshi Nakamura contributed to this report.
Top photo: Famitsu
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