Sometimes, the wheel was already good enough that it may not need many reinventions, just a new look and some tweaks to make a good design just a little bit better. To that end, the creators of Star Ocean: First Departure R took their cue, and while it's not perfect, it's reasonably close as far as a good video game is concerned.

First, a bit of background. The first Star Ocean was made by many ex-members of the original Tales of Phantasia development team. Founding tri-Ace, they decided to make a game they felt was less compromised in vision. While still somewhat limited by the technology of the original SNES in 1996, it was still an impressive role-playing game with a multi-path story, voice-acting (on the SNES of all things), and a very high level of quality and thought put into it.

It was later re-released in 2008 on the Playstation Portable, using the improved engine of the second game and redoing some elements that didn't age well like the antiquated map system. As this was already much improved, the Switch port, which this review covers, doesn't change much from the PSP release aside from adding in some additional voiceovers from the original Japanese voice actors from the SNES release and some new art, both as added options exclusive to the Switch.

The story is set in SD 346. In space, the Pangalactic Federation is at war with an alien power. Meanwhile, on a primitive planet named Roak, people are falling one by one to a mysterious illness called "stone sickness". The two are discovered to be connected when members of the Federation meet with the people of Roak to devise a counter to this deadly plague, discovered to be a biological weapon test by the power opposing the Federation. To find the cure, they must travel through time to the past of Roak, and in this trek to the past, they will discover truths that will change the nature of the galaxy itself.

The actual gameplay of Star Ocean is the typical turn-based RPG. Despite the sci-fi touches, the series tends to put the sci-fi characters in a more primitive setting where they have to, on the surface at least, obey the rules of classic high fantasy. Exploring dungeons, fighting monsters, and all the "rules" of the genre are followed. It's revealed underneath what comes off as fantasy has many underlying science fiction causes and rationales.

The graphics are top-down turn-based RPG style, meaning a lot of bright and colorful graphics in many areas, mixed with a bit of rendered backdrops and set pieces in towns. Given it was a direct port from the PSP remake, it was ported well to the Switch with hardly any noticeable degradation despite the internal resolution differences. One anomaly is that the Switch offers two different character art styles. The first is based on the PSP redrawn artwork (in-game character models follow suit), and the second is based on the original SNES artwork modernized for the Switch. Given the anime style cutscenes default to the first art style, the Switch exclusive character art is not going to match, but given it's merely cosmetic this is no big deal.

Sounds and music are classic excellent Star Ocean fare, meaning Motoi Sakuraba had a direct hand in them. Given his love of progressive rock, this is one of his older works. While the music was modernized from the SNES, it's still more a mix of synth and non-electric guitar instrumentals, but this is mostly to keep the classic feel of the original soundtrack. The voiceovers include one English track, which is voiced competently enough at worst, and two Japanese voice tracks. The first are the PSP revoiced lines, the second has the original cast from the SNES voiceovers, revoiced exclusively for the Switch version. Both Japanese versions are quite competent much like the English voiceovers.

The controls were directly ported from the PSP to the Switch. Given that they have a lot of overlapping control buttons, they are not hard to figure out, and the game has a guide and button remapper in-game for those who need a reminder. The only annoying thing is a few "undocumented" buttons, such as the dash feature (which you had to unlock in the SNES version, which was included at the start on PSP and Switch), which is mapped to the lower right shoulder Z key. This aside, the controls are otherwise fine. The stability is excellent. This game in no way taxes the Switch in any manner, loads quickly enough for all areas, and has no instability issues of note.

Morally, there are some concerning topics covered.

Violence is typically RPG-style "give orders and watch it happen". There is no visible blood or gore. There is mention of blood needing to be drawn for medical reasons, but this is not shown. Language is generally mild. There are a few d*mn, and h*lls, and a very rare b**t**d mention, but that's about it. Sexual innuendo is generally absent as well. The only display of female or male skin is shown in the character artwork. Most are generally safe for all ages, though a few do wear bikini-style outfits or otherwise wear outfits like leotards and other things modified for ease of movement in combat.

The Star Ocean games tend to treat religion as a background element in most games. This one, aside from some vague mentions of a polytheistic faith (implied to be superstition or merely alleged), is free of any major occult or supernatural references. Most to all things deemed magic showing to have stemmed from a far more logical and rational cause. There is a conversation between someone who leans atheist/agnostic and a believer in the polytheistic religion at one point, and the former is convinced to at least learn more about things that may not be considered strictly "rational" before dismissing it out of hand. The former promises to keep an open mind, later conceding science and reason may not be a one size fits all explanation for everything.

Morally and ethically, there are a few concerning possibilities. There is a plot-mandated event to break major laws in pursuit of what is deemed a moral goal. While said action is later revealed to have been predestined to occur (as it involves time travel), it still involves breaking serious laws put in place for good reason. The player also has the option to learn how to pickpocket people and make contraband items deemed criminal. Both of these player actions are strictly optional and not required at any point to be done. While they carry no legal penalty, they do lower the opinion of the player characters with each other, which can deny the player certain endings. Finally, there is the depiction of drunkenness and alcoholic beverages, though this is tempered by the game admonishing the player to drink responsibly and at the legal age limit.

On technical grounds, this is a competent "old-school" RPG with a great story and a very affordable price. Regarding moral issues, there is some concerning content not fit for anyone who is not an older teen on up. Overall, though, if you do want a fine port of a timeless RPG classic, this is a great game to get for that purpose.