Star Ocean: The Divine Force is scheduled for release in October 2022, which makes it the newest game in the Star Ocean franchise, but the games' timeline does not follow their release order. Star Ocean: The Divine Force is not, in fact, the latest game in the Star Ocean series, chronologically speaking. With a two-hour playable demo available on September 20, players may want to be prepared with an understanding of where Star Ocean: The Divine Force fits in the overall timeline of the franchise.
Like the other games in the series from Japanese developer tri-Ace and publisher Square Enix, Star Ocean: The Divine Force, releasing October 27, 2022, is a fantasy/science fiction RPG with anime-style characters. When the game begins, the once-peaceful Pangalactic Federation has begun forcing und planets to submit to its authority, creating chaos throughout the galaxy. Players can choose to play as one of two main characters: Raymond, a ship’s captain from a non-federated planet searching for his lost crew, or Princess Laeticia of Aucerius, the planet on which Raymond crash lands, who enlists Raymond’s help to save her kingdom. Though part of the long-running Star Ocean franchise, Star Ocean: The Divine Force can be played on its own, without any broader knowledge of or experience with the earlier games in the series.
Still, for players hoping to understand where timeline splits like The Legend of Zelda.
The Divine Force Is In The Middle Of Star Ocean's Timeline
The Star Ocean timeline is confusing from the outset. The earliest game in the timeline (despite its title, which makes one think it was the last) was the third US release, Star Ocean: The Last Hope. It was released in 2009 and set in Spacedate (SD) year 10. The last game in the timeline is Star Ocean: Till the End of Time; it is set in SD 772 but was the series’ third release, reaching players in 2003. This release order doesn’t take into the original Star Ocean game, which appeared only in Japan, though that foundational game was released as Star Ocean: First Departure for the PS4 in 2007, making it neither the first game in of Spacedate nor release, despite having the word “First” in its title.
Set in SD 583, the soon-to-be released Star Ocean: The Divine Force will be the sixth franchise game released in the US. In of the in-game timeline, The Divine Force comes after the fifth game in the series, Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness, which is set in SD 537, but before the third game, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, set in SD 772. Again, there is a caveat - the release order here does not include 2016’s Star Ocean: Anamnesis, a free-to-play mobile game set in SD 539 and not usually considered part of the console-based series.
Players may be excused for their confusion in trying to fit 2022's Star Ocean: The Divine Force and its characters into Star Ocean’s timeline. The good news, as mentioned above, is that it doesn’t really matter; all the Star Ocean games can be played separately, without a broader understanding of their sequence. Players interested in the longer game timeline will probably want to ignore the release order entirely and focus on the games’ Spacedates, to establish a history that pertains to the game action itself.
