Along with its unique premise, Valkyrie Profile is acclaimed for its battle system, which saw party members’ attacks mapped to separate face buttons. By using consecutive attacks, players can execute combos that provide increased rewards, build the Hit Gauge for special attacks, and much more.

As for Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, it offers functions like quick save and load, the option to rewind, and visual presets. The original anime scenes are replaced with full motion video, with the English script seeing improvements. It retails for $19.99 on PS4 and PS5, but owners of the Digital Deluxe Edition for Valkyrie Elysium on PlayStation get it for free.

The biggest new seller is Star Ocean: The Divine Force, which has sold a total of over 44,000 units upon its debut, with the game’s PS4 version coming in at No. 3 (over 27,000 units sold) and the PS5 version slotting in at No. 7 (over 17,000 units). Compared to its predecessors, however, it’s launch numbers are significantly low. The last mainline entry in the series, Integrity and Faithlessness, sold over 170,000 units at launch. The Divine Force is, in fact, the lowest launch for a mainline Star Ocean game in Japan to date.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was another big launch last week, and has sold over 42,000 units in total, with over 24,000 units sold on the PS4 (No. 4 in the charts) and over 17,000 on the PS5 (No. 6). Other than last year’s Vanguard, this is the lowest Japanese launch for a Call of Duty game to date. 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sold over 117,000 units at launch.

Another big release, Bayonetta 3, comes in at No. 2, with over 41,000 units sold upon release. When Bayonetta 2 launched for the Wii U in 2014, it sold over 38,000 units in Japan at launch. Meanwhile, PlatinumGames and Nintendo’s previous Nintendo Switch exclusive, 2019’s Astral Chain, sold over 32,000 units at launch.

On the hardware side of things, there have been some interesting developments. The PS5 has at long last managed to outsell the Nintendo Switch, even though the gap between the two is extremely narrow. Both systems sold over 38,000 units over the course of the week.

You can check out the full hardware and physical software sales charts for the week ending October 30 below.

Software sales (followed by lifetime sales):

1. [NSW] Splatoon 3 – 51,547 (3,235,701)
2. [NSW] Bayonetta 3 – 41,285 (New)
3. [PS4] Star Ocean: The Divine Force – 27,001 (New)
4. [PS4] Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – 24,371 (New)
5. [NSW] Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits – 23,297 (New)
6. [PS5] Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – 17,710 (New)
7. [PS5] Star Ocean: The Divine Force – 17,177 (New)
8. [NSW] Aquarium. Limited Edition – 13,199 (New)
9. [NSW] Persona 5 Royal – 12,040 (58,038)
10. [NSW] Needy Streamer Overload – 11,693 (New)

Hardware sales (followed by last week’s sales):

• Nintendo Switch – 38,634 (54,637)
• PS5 – 38,866 (28,661)
• Xbox Series X/S – 3,674(4,158)

Star Ocean: The Divine Force is unique in that it allows you to pick who your primary protagonist is going to be for the rest of the story from two options: space merchant Raymond, or princess Laeticia. While this choice doesn’t have much of an effect for most of the story, there are moments throughout the game where the two characters are separated, having to solve their own problems and figure out their own path forward, and that’s when you’re only getting half of the story.

"Generally speaking, the story has its slow parts, but is generally quite a blast to get through, owing in large part to the great cast of characters. Even the three characters you play with in the opening—Raymond, Laeticia and Albaird—have a surprising level of chemistry between them, both in terms of banter, as well as just how genuinely sincere most of the dialogue between them sounds."

In this way, Star Ocean: The Divine Force encourages a second playthrough if you want to get the whole story, which can be a tough pill to swallow considering the sheer length of the game. Since it’s a JRPG, you can expect anywhere from 40 to 100 hours for a single playthrough, depending on how much of the side stuff you decide to end up doing.

The story itself starts off with a bang; as Laeticia and her retainer, Albaird, are traveling to a distant kingdom, they find a mysterious young man named Raymond who somehow fell from the sky. The duo are instantly impressed and confused by the impressive technology Raymond seems to have at his disposal. Interestingly, both Raymond and Laeticia have their own goals, and despite having little reason to trust each other—especially early on—they decide to team up and help each other out.

As the game’s name might imply, you’re not going to be spending the entirety of the game on one planet, and eventually, as is often the case with JRPGs, the plot escalates to celestial proportions.

Generally speaking, the story has its slow parts, but is generally quite a blast to get through, owing in large part to the great cast of characters. Even the three characters you play with in the opening—Raymond, Laeticia and Albaird—have a surprising level of chemistry between them, both in terms of banter, as well as just how genuinely sincere most of the dialogue between them sounds.

Despite its two protagonists, however, Star Ocean: The Divine Force has a rather different unique selling point. Using a mystical device called DUMA, Star Ocean: The Divine Force allows you to fly. Not only can you take flight in fights, allowing you to swoop in for extra damage against unwitting enemies, but even the game’s vast open world encourages buzzing around all over the place by using the flight mechanics.

While you’re not really going to be able to stay in the air indefinitely and just fly everywhere—even with all upgrades, the flight is far from permanent—you’re encouraged to try and figure out how to get to those hard-to-reach spots, often rewarded with DUMA points that can be used to upgrade the DUMA, new equipment, consumables like healing potions, or even just crafting resources. There is a large emphasis on exploring as much of the 3D spaces the open landscapes of Star Ocean: The Divine Force offers.

"Unfortunately, despite all characters using different kinds of weapons, the nature of the real-time combat mechanics of Star Ocean: The Divine Force is that they never really feel unique in any real, tangible way."

Speaking of gameplay, Star Ocean: The Divine Force features a real-time combat system that revolves around constantly switching between characters, using aerial attacks and defensive abilities of the DUMA, and most importantly, juggling your AP to be able to pull off any offensive abilities whatsoever. Each character starts out with access to three different attacks, all of which cost some amount of AP, and all of which can be combo-ed quite easily into each other, assuming of course that you’re still in range of the enemy.

Unfortunately, despite all characters using different kinds of weapons, the nature of the real-time combat mechanics of Star Ocean: The Divine Force is that they never really feel unique in any real, tangible way. Just about every fight boils down to mashing out attacks until you run out of AP, and occasionally dodging enemy attacks. It also doesn’t help that a lot of battles, especially the random fights that are bound to happen as you explore the game’s open world, feel like complete messes. Early battles were especially bad about this; around half of the fights I got through felt like I won them by complete accident.

Unfortunately, this means that even boss fights tend to be largely forgettable, and more often than not, just come down to dodging some obviously telegraphed attacks as you continue to mash out attacks of your own, waiting for your DUMA bar to fill up so you can use the hard-hitting aerial attacks, and in a pinch, maybe even the DUMA shield.

While a commendable attempt in its effort to be more modern in its approach to real-time combat, Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a far cry from something like Final Fantasy 7 Remake—a game with some real weight to its combat and filled with memorable boss fights.

Despite all of this, however, Star Ocean: The Divine Force has a certain charm to it that just constantly kept me coming back. While the combat was lacking and there wasn’t much in the way of memorable boss fights, the game’s characters are the true stars here. Rather than relying on cliched anime tropes, every major character in the game feels fleshed out, and when you think about it, there’s little else that’s really needed for a 40-hour journey through magical kingdoms, and even space.

"Star Ocean: The Divine Force is far from one of the best looking games out there. In fact, it looks rather ancient, especially when you compare it to other AA-level anime-styled games, like Scarlet Nexus or even Code Vein. Despite its lack of fidelity, however, Star Ocean: The Divine Force certainly has its moments."

Star Ocean: The Divine Force is far from one of the best looking games out there. In fact, it looks rather ancient, especially when you compare it to other AA-level anime-styled games, like Scarlet Nexus or even Code Vein. Despite its lack of fidelity, however, Star Ocean: The Divine Force certainly has its moments. While polygon counts are alright and textures often look muddy, it’s hard to argue that there isn’t some level of competent art direction going on. The game’s locations often look quite cool, are designed in ways that feel logical to the game’s settings, and every character is instantly recognisable.

Star Ocean: The Divine Force may not look like the most impressive game out there, and while its combat may be passable at the best of times, something about the game keeps making me come back to it. It’s got an entertaining story, sure, but I think the best aspect of Star Ocean: The Divine Force is its cast of characters. Both Raymond and Laeticia make for compelling protagonists, and even if it were just one of them leading the show, they could’ve pulled it off quite well. The inter-character writing is also quite fun, giving the game some heart.

The lengthy story, especially if you take into account the possibility of needing two playthroughs that, while largely the same, will give you a more complete picture of the story, might sound like a tough pill to swallow, but with characters like this, the pill starts sounding quite sweet.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

There are two protagonists to choose from: Raymond Lawrence and Laeticia Aucerius. As captain of the merchant ship Ydas, Raymond ends up stranded on Aster IV after an attack by the Federation ship Astoria. Laeticia is the princess of the Kingdom of Aucerius on the planet, which is at war with the Vey’l Empire.

Despite having separate companions, their lives become intertwined due to the mysterious D.U.M.A. (which the shady Vyrians want for some unknown reason). Featuring new combat mechanics, an open world to explore via flight, and various mini-games, Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a pretty large experience. A timed demo is currently to try on consoles – head here for more details.

As vice-captain of the Astoria, Marielle has a role in destroying Raymond’s ship, though for what purpose is unknown. Based on the last name, it’s clear that she’s a descendant of past Star Ocean characters like Ronyx J. Kenny. Malkya’s race is native to the planet, and she lends her aid in the fight against the Vyrians.

While Marielle utilizes guns, Malkya fights up close and can extend her limbs via shape-shifting for added range. The total number of party members is ten, which should provide a range of options in combat. Star Ocean: The Divine Force is out on October 27th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. Check out the final Mission Report video to see some of the bosses.

The new party members in question are Theo Klemrath and JJ. The former is adept with an axe, while the latter can become temporarily invulnerable and uses Kendoka in combat. Other characters that players will encounter include King Aucerius Raimbaut, Neyan Keizaal, Emperor Bohld’or il Weill, and Bennett Maudsley.

The video also showcases some of the boss battles, as players dodge attacks and attack weak points to deal additional damage. There’s quite the variety, from mutant plants and giant robots to massive sandworms and a dragon.

Star Ocean: The Divine Force is out on October 27th for Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S. A demo is currently available on all consoles.

Why does she suddenly team up with Raymond and friends? It’s not completely clear, but she is a valuable party member, wielding guns in combat. Other features showcased in the video include Item Crafting, Smithery and Engineering, along with a chess-like mini-game. Players can set down Pawns based on actual characters, each having unique stats.

Star Ocean: The Divine Force is out on October 27th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. A demo is currently available for consoles, which is set near the beginning of Raymond’s story and offers roughly two hours of gameplay.

Publisher Square Enix promises about two hours of content in the demo. However, because it’s a section that’s been “re-edited” and restricts certain features, progress can’t be transferred to the full game. Nevertheless, it’s worth checking out for those curious about story-telling, combat, and performance.

Star Ocean: The Divine Force is out on October 27th for consoles and PC. Pre-orders are currently available and provide bonuses like the Lionheart’s Blutgand greatsword for Raymond and Flashing Naglering dual blades for Laeticia. Early purchasers also receive Pawns from Valkyrie Profile and Radiata Stories that are usable in Es’owa, a mini-game, and as equipment.

Square Enix also confirmed that a demo for the action RPG would release on September 20th for PS4, Xbox One, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. It features roughly two hours of content in Raymond’s story, from the beginning to Delryk Village. There’s no word yet on whether progress carries over into the full game, so stay tuned.

Star Ocean: The Divine Force is out on October 27th worldwide for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. For more details on the antagonists and various skills that can be unlocked, head here. You can also learn more about D.U.M.A. and Vanguard Assault abilities here.

As a resident of Aucerius, Nina is capable of using healing magic (or iatrimancy). After her father passes from a dangerous disease, she devotes her life to finding a cure. Midas is a little less noble – as a semiomancer and engineer in the Aucerian Kingdom, he’s very knowledgeable. He doesn’t mind ignoring the law and breaching ethics but always finishes what he starts.

Along with protagonists Raymond and Laeticia, developer tri-Ace has revealed other characters like Elena, Albaird and Malkya. It also showcased the Vyrians, a trio of antagonists that seek out D.U.M.A. for a mysterious purpose. Star Ocean: The Divine Force is out on October 27th for Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Stay tuned for more details and gameplay in the coming weeks.