Star Ocean: The Divine Force is the sixth entry in Tri-Ace's long-running science fantasy series. Along with the Tales series, Star Ocean broke new ground in the JRPG genre thanks to its action-based combat system instead of the turn-based methods employed by Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.
Another groundbreaking feature was its dual protagonists in Star Ocean: Second Story, AKA Second Evolution. The dual protagonists allowed players to choose between male and female protagonists with significant differences in their playthroughs. Bringing the series back to its roots, Star Ocean: The Divine Force reintroduces the dual protagonists mechanic with Raymond Lawrence and Laeticia Aucerius.
Should You Choose Raymond Or Laeticia?
Raymond and Laeticia have gameplay differences that appeal to all playing styles. However, the differences between the protagonists are more significant than how they perform in battle. There are storyline differences, relationships, and character interactions that differ depending on the player's choice at the start of the game.
Raymond Lawrence
Continuing with its trend of looking to the sci-fi genre for inspiration, Raymond is a merchant and the captain of the Ydas transport ship. His character is similar to Marvel's Starlord rather than William Shatner's performance as Captain Kirk. Moreover, unlike most JRPG protagonists, Raymond is a well-built and strong-looking character who appears physically capable of wielding a large sword. His attacks are slower than Laeticia's, but they're powerful, and when combined with the DUMAS he's capable of making light work of most enemies on the field.
Laeticia Aucerius
Laeticia is the princess of Aucerius that wields two blades and is much faster than Raymond, and she can land quick combos with or without the DUMAS. She has a good backstory that serves as a means to get a better understanding of the world and the kingdom. Taking on Laeticia's role as the protagonist gives Star Ocean a more standard fantasy RPG experience, but she arguably has the best character development in Star Ocean 6's story.
Recruitable Characters
In addition to gameplay and background differences, Raymond and Laeticia have a recruitable character that's exclusive their version of the story. Raymond has J.J. a cyber samurai with a mysterious past and powerful attacks. Laeticia's character is Theo, a knight commander in the Aucerian army with good crowd control attacks taking out multiple enemies at once.
Other Notable Differences
Choosing between characters is a matter of choice based on which character appeals to certain players the most. There's no right or wrong way to play Star Ocean 6, as the game is designed to be played twice with both characters for longevity and replayability.
Other notable differences between the characters are the battle music is different, and Private Actions/Conversations between the protagonist and the supporting cast result in differing outcomes and character endings.
Star Ocean: The Devine Force is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.