Star Ocean: The Divine Force unveils playable character Malkya, Vyrian Villains, Skill Trees, Vatting, and Estery Cage
Square Enix and Tri-Ace have shared a new trailer for Star Ocean: The Divine Force as part of their Mission Report series for the title. This installment introduces a new playable character, the antagonists, its skill systems, and a few more options available to players in battle.
As Raymond and Laeticia fight against the Vey'l Empire to save Laeticia's kingdom of Aucerius, they repeatedly encounter the Vyrian faction. Raymond recognizes them as a threat early-on, since they recognize D.U.M.A. and therefore, this leads Raymond to believe they aren't from the planet his spaceship crash landed on. His assumptions are well-founded because the trailer shares that the Vyrians are involved with the Empire in some capacity. Gaston Gaucier, Lola Jornaus, and Velanj Garfuul are the three Vyrians that comprise this antagonistic faction.
A new playable character is introduced after the reveal of the Vyrian faction - Malkya Trathen. She comes from an ancient race known as the Trathens who live on Nihlbeth. Malkya and Midas have a history that players will learn about as they play through the game; she is also familiar with Laeticia and Albaird when they were younger.
Next, the Mission Report details how Malkya fights in battle. She specializes in a distinct melee style; Trathens are able to extend and contort their limbs, which allows Malkya to deal melee damage through enlarging and stretching out her limbs, like a whip.
Several more gameplay details are shared for Star Ocean: The Divine Force. Players earn SP as they level up characters. They can utilize SP to either strengthen their current skills or access a Skill Tree to learn new ones. Some skills are highlighted, including ones that don't directly deal damage such as Raymond's Intimidate skill that demoralizes nearby enemies and Nina's Hide skill that allows her to freely roam the battlefield undetected, so she can strike from an advantageous position.
Teased in the previous Mission Report that shared some preliminary details about D.U.M.A., players can power up D.U.M.A.'s abilities as they collect D.U.M.A. points throughout the world. A handful of D.U.M.A.'s skills were revealed in the new Mission Report, including Extend Scan (expands the AoE of scanning by 25%), Silencer (reduces enemies' footsteps detection range by 25%), Guardian (-20% VA gauge reduction when blocking with a shield), Extend Stun Lock (extends enemy blindside duration by 10%), and more.
Players execute super powerful attacks with D.U.M.A. through Vatting. A Vatting gauge gradually fills up as people fight and when it's full, characters can unleash a devastating attack with D.U.M.A.
D.U.M.A. grants people a powerful defensive tool as well with the VA Barrier. Holding the VA button during combat activates the barrier, which can repel incoming attacks and can even cause the enemy to flinch.
Finally, players can detach D.U.M.A. from characters in the middle of combat, so it can provide a defensive status-enhancing effect throughout the battlefield through the Estery Cage feature. Some of these effects include decreasing damage by 25% and allies will no longer flinch as easily. As a trade-off, activating an Estery Cage means that allies are not able to use VA or Vatting throughout its duration; the VA gauge will stop rising as well.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force arrives on October 27 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC (Steam).