TOKYO: The Star Ocean series the most recent sequel was the 2009 PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 installment Star Ocean: The Last Hope. Fans have been hoping ever since that the JRPG series might eventually launch another sequel, and it looks like good news might finally be on the horizon.
There is another clue that adds fuel to the fire of speculation that Square Enix might be gearing up to announce Star Ocean 5. As reported by Gematsu, Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda hinted last month that an as-yet-unannounced “JRPG for home game machines” was slated for sometime this fiscal year. That would mean a release date sometime before March 31, 2016, so the timing of this reveal would certainly make sense. That would then put Star Ocean 5 on track to get some time in the spotlight at E3 this summer.
With powerful next-gen consoles to play with and six years since the last installment hit, Star Ocean is primed for a return. One big question is where in the series’ timeline a theoretical sequel would fit. The Last Hope was actually a prequel set hundreds of years before the original installment, so a new Star Ocean could pick up in the gap between Last Hope and the first Star Ocean, or anywhere else in the franchise’s centuries-spanning timeline.
Of course, this could all be leading up to something else entirely. It will be interesting to see what other letters are added to that “SAR 0101″ in the days to come, but in the meantime Star Ocean 5 seems a likely candidate.
