Once again I’m here to try and find some new but shallow and easy to write introduction for Star Ocean The Divine Force. This is a JRPG adventure with a sci-fi twist, which means there are in fact spaceships involved. There’s an android lady too, and I know for a fact that if some gamers hear “spaceship” and “android lady” together their Mass Effect radar will go off like a smoke detector in a Las Vegas airport. So, the million-dollar question: Is romance in Star Ocean The Divine Force?
And the answer is… no! Mostly. If you’re looking for Mass Effect-style romance, meaning lots of dialogue trees and choices to make that determine an active romantic vibe throughout the story culminating in pre final boss sex, you’re barking up the wrong tree. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t romance to some capacity, and Star Ocean has a history of doing things… resembling romance.
Related: Star Ocean The Divine Force Review | Going Boldly
Ever since the first game, Star Ocean has had some version of “Affection Points.” Calculating and reacting to your actions throughout the games. Star Ocean 2 even had separate Romance Points, but they worked in similar fashion to Affection Points and were really just there to… be weird about same-sex interactions. Moving up to today we have Star Ocean The Divine Force, which does indeed have systems like “Private Actions.” No, again, that doesn’t mean space smut. Go play Anthem or something you weirdos! (I’m kidding don’t do that)
Private Actions are one of many ways to feed into Affection Points, the latter being deliberately hidden from player view. They’re more intimate cutscenes between the protagonist and one character, to flesh out those relationships. And at the end of the game, there’s generally a math problem that spits out which ending you get. Throughout Star Ocean history, the alternate endings have all been character-focused and small, so don’t worry about FOMO. The devs don’t consider any Affection-adjacent endings as important canon stuff.
Related: 6 Things You Should Know Before Starting Star Ocean The Divine Force
Multiple endings have been confirmed for The Divine Force, but we won’t know the content of them all until the people get the game and tear it apart. For now it’s safe to assume it’ll be business as usual, meaning some endings won’t be romantic, some will tease it and a few might be more overt. But you won’t know what you get until you get there.
