Square Enix has announced that the Star Ocean series is returning to consoles with Star Ocean 5 coming to PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan. The game is being developed by long-time Star Ocean developer tri-Ace, and has the full title Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness. An announcement trailer and two initial screenshots for the game, which does not have a release date at the current time, can be seen below.
Star Ocean 5 is set on the planet Feycreed, 6,000 light years from Earth, in the Space Date year 537, placing it between the events of the second and third games in the series. The main protagonist is Fedel Camus, who is a fencing specialist and acts as protector of his village. His father is known as the best swordsman in the Leslia Kingdom. Miki Sorvesta is the main heroine and a childhood friend of Fedel, who has healing abilities. The two are joined by Lilia, a girl who has lost both her memories and emotions, with a couple of other as yet unnamed characters also revealed. Former Capcom character designer Akira "Akiman" Yasuda is confirmed as working on the title.
Battles will be real-time and combo-focused, with seamless transitions from exploration and the distance to the enemy affecting how characters attack. There will also be interactive event scenes. For example, an enemy may try to apprehend the player's allies. Should the enemy be successful in doing so then subsequent events will play out in a different way.