Ø Story

Infobox VG
title= Ø Story


caption=
developer= General Entertainment
publisher= Enix
distributor=
designer=
series=
engine=
version=
released= ^JPN April 27, 2000
genre= Adventure game
Full motion video based game
modes= Single player
ratings=
platforms= PlayStation 2
media= 2 DVD-ROMs
requirements=
input=
series = nihongo|"Ø Story"|ラブストーリー| (pronounced as "Love Story", and also spelt "φ Story") is a Japan-exclusive adventure full motion video based game developed by General Entertainment and published by Enix on April 27, 2000. It was the first Enix game published on the PlayStation 2, and was part of the campaign to promote the release of the console in Japan.

The player takes the role of a young man who dies in a motorcycle accident. He is sent back to earth as a ghost by Ai, the angel of love, who tells him that he may revive if he gains the love of a girl named Lina within six days.cite web | url=http://ps2.ign.com/articles/134/134256p1.html | title=0 Story Preview | accessdate=2007-07-19 | author=Williamson, Colin | date=2000-05-01 | work=IGN | publisher=News Corporation] The female cast of the game is composed of Japanese television actresses and models.

Reviews of the game range from average to negative, with criticism of the game's graphics and acting. English-speaking game reviewers expressed concerns regarding the difficulty for players unaware of Japanese customs to fully understand the game.

Gameplay

"Ø Story" is an interactive movie in which the story is depicted in continuous full motion videos. The player can make various actions at set moments (such as communicating by writing on sand, chalkboards, or computer screens) which result in slightly different paths and scenes, although the direction of the story remains globally the same. Events similar to the Quick Time Events featured in Sega's game "Shenmue" are also present. They require the player to trigger an action by quickly pushing a button when an "O" flashes on-screen.

The player can shoot arrows at Lina, which allow to read her mind in text dialogues or cutscenes. Minigames are present, including baseball and rhythm games. All these actions can increase or decrease the player's "love meter" depending on his success, and the objective of the game is to fill the love meter to 100 percent by the end of the sixth day.cite web | url=http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/0story/review.html | title=0 Story for PlayStation 2 Review | accessdate=2007-07-19 | author=Sato, Ike | date=2000-05-04 | work=GameSpot | publisher=CNET Networks]

Development

In August 1999, Enix' Chief of General Affairs Kouichi Hasegawa announced to Bloomberg News that four titles were in development in the company for the upcoming Sony PlayStation 2 console. While he had not revealed the names of the games, it was known that one of them would reportedly feature large quantities of full motion videos in DVD format. [cite web | url=http://ps2.ign.com/articles/072/072871p1.html | title=PS2 Week in Review: July 28 through August 2 | accessdate=2007-07-20 | author=Perry, Douglass C. | date=1999-08-02 | work=IGN | publisher=News Corporation]

"Ø Story" was showcased in February 2000 with the presence of the game's actresses at the PlayStation Festival in Tokyo, as part of Sony's campaign to promote the soon-to-be-released PlayStation 2. [cite web | url=http://ps2.ign.com/articles/075/075472p1.html | title=PS Festival 2000: Complete Software List | accessdate=2007-07-19 | author=Zdyrko, Dave | date=2000-02-18 | work=IGN | publisher=News Corporation] [cite web | url=http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/mobile/news/2000/02/18/psfes01.htm | title=PlayStation Festival 2000が19日から一般公開へ | accessdate=2007-07-19 | author=Yahagi, Akira | date=2000-02-18 | work= [http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/ ケータイ Watch] | publisher=Impress Group | language=Japanese] The title was Enix' second adventure game in full motion video, following "Eurasia Express Satsujin Jiken" in 1998.cite web | url=http://ps2.ign.com/articles/077/077415p1.html | title=TGS 2000: Enix's Only PS2 Game | accessdate=2007-07-19 | author=Zdyrko, Dave | date=2000-04-03 | work=IGN | publisher=News Corporation] The cast recruited for "Ø Story" includes Japanese actresses, television personalities, and models; notably Aya Hirayama and Kaori Manabe, who would later star in the "Waterboys" film and television series, respectively; and Erika Yamakawa.cite web | url=http://www.square-enix.com/jp/archive/0story/ | title=0STORY（ラブストーリー） | accessdate=2007-07-19 | publisher=Square Enix | language=Japanese]

A game demo was given to video game journalists in March, [cite web | url=http://ps2.ign.com/articles/076/076922p1.html | title=Demo Repo | accessdate=2007-07-19 | author=Nix, Marc | date=2000-03-22 | work=IGN | publisher=News Corporation] and the game was showcased a second time, at the Tokyo Game Show in April, where it was one of the most visited Enix attraction after "Dragon Quest VII". The gaming website IGN attributes this popularity to the fact that, earlier in the year, screenshots of the game had shown two female characters about to kiss each other. [cite web | url=http://ps2.ign.com/articles/076/076428p1.html | title=Girl on Girl Action Invades PS2 | accessdate=2007-07-19 | author=Zdyrko, Dave | date=2000-03-17 | work=IGN | publisher=News Corporation] However, the release of the game revealed that there are no lesbianism in the story and that one of the girl featured in the kissing scene is in fact possessed by the player's ghost.

Music

Infobox Album
Name = Ø Story Original Soundtrack
Type = soundtrack
Artist = Konatsu Yuzunogi


Cover size = 150
Released = May 17, 2000
Recorded =
Genre = Video game music
Length = 73 minutes
Label = First Smile Entertainment
Producer =
Reviews =

The music of "Ø Story" was composed by Konatsu Yuzunogi and includes two vocal songs, "Hello Again" and "Old Friend", both sung by Aya Hirayama with lyrics written by Haru Yuki. The original soundtrack of the game was published in Japan on May 17, 2000 by First Smile Entertainment. It comprises 36 tracks. [cite web | url=http://www.squareenixmusic.com/albums/misc/lovestory.shtml | title=φStory - Love Story Original Soundtrack | accessdate=2008-04-24 | work= [http://www.squareenixmusic.com/ Square Enix Music Online] (unofficial site)]

tracklist
collapsed = yes
headline = Track listing
title1 = Hello Again
title2 = Old Friend (Ø Story Ending Theme)
note2 = nihongo2|Old Friend(φStoryエンディングテーマ)
title3 = Rainy Goodbye
note3 = nihongo2|雨のさよなら
title4 = The Two in the Night Sky
note4 = nihongo2|夜空のふたり
title5 = Prayer
note5 = nihongo2|祈り
title6 = Heart of Saki
note6 = nihongo2|サキの心
title7 = Cross
note7 = nihongo2|すれ違い
title8 = In the Sunshine
note8 = nihongo2|光の中で
title9 = Hurry Up!
note9 = nihongo2|急げ!
title10 = For the Dawn
note10 = nihongo2|始まりのために
title11 = Beach of the Promise (Theme of Ø Story)
note11 = nihongo2|約束の浜辺(φStoryのテーマ)
title12 = Theme of World Above
note12 = nihongo2|天上界のテーマ
title13 = First Conversation
note13 = nihongo2|初めての会話
title14 = Unattained Feelings
note14 = nihongo2|とどかぬ思い
title15 = Lina and You
note15 = nihongo2|リナとYOU
title16 = Lina and You (Alter Version)
note16 = nihongo2|リナとYOU(オルターネイト・ヴァージョン)
title17 = Lina and Saki, at End of Day
note17 = nihongo2|リナとサキ,一日の終わりに
title18 = Touch Lina's Mind
note18 = nihongo2|リナの心にふれて
title19 = Last Chat
note19 = nihongo2|最後のチャット
title20 = Theme of Saki
note20 = nihongo2|サキのテーマ
title21 = Theme of Ruby
note21 = nihongo2|ルビーのテーマ
title22 = Theme of Hitomi
note22 = nihongo2|ヒトミのテーマ
title23 = Theme of Mahoro
note23 = nihongo2|マホロのテーマ
title24 = Theme of Shimotsuki
note24 = nihongo2|霜月のテーマ 01
title25 = Theme of Shimotsuki 2
note25 = nihongo2|霜月のテーマ 02
title26 = Crisis 1 - Beach
note26 = nihongo2|危機 01浜辺
title27 = Crisis 2 - Uninvited Visitor
note27 = nihongo2|危機 02招かれざる訪問者
title28 = Crisis 3 - A Gift
note28 = nihongo2|危機 03プレゼント
title29 = Crisis 4 - Concert Venue
note29 = nihongo2|危機 04コンサート会場
title30 = Lina and Saki's Date 1 - Boutique
note30 = nihongo2|リナとサキのデート 01ブティック
title31 = Lina and Saki's Date 2 - Batting Center
note31 = nihongo2|リナとサキのデート 02バッティングセンター
title32 = Lina and Saki's Date 3 - Tarot House
note32 = nihongo2|リナとサキのデート 03タロットの館
title33 = Dance! Dance! Dance!
note33 = nihongo2|ダンス!ダンス!ダンス!
title34 = The Akbum of Memories
note34 = nihongo2|思い出のアルバム?〈ボーナス・トラック〉
title35 = Hello Again (Instrumental Version)
note35 = nihongo2|Hello Again(オリジナル・カラオケ)
title36 = Old Friend (Instrumental Version)
note36 = nihongo2|Old Friend(オリジナル・カラオケ)

Reception

The gaming websites IGN and GameSpot compared the game to Digital Pictures' Sega CD games and its storyline to the movie "Ghost".

"Ø Story" scored 5.8 out of 10 on GameSpot. The website called the video quality good despite occasional compression artifacts, while the few non-video sections were considered "more like average PlayStation graphics than those of a PlayStation 2 game". GameSpot noted that an understanding of the Japanese language is indispensable to play the game, and that even then non-Japanese players are likely to find "Ø Story" odd due to the high amount of cultural references present in the game.

According to IGN however, the quality of the graphics varies greatly, with the worst instances being comparable to "a heavily-artifacted RealVideo file". The website noted that these artifacts are "awful" and detrimental in one of the minigame in which the player must search for a girl hiding in a large crowd. IGN also rated the acting as particularly bad, "on the same level as a good episode of "Power Rangers", although some performances were seen as better than others. They also felt that the interactions between the real actors and the computer-generated image of the ghost were awkward. Regarding the sound quality, they remarked that all looped dialogues have a high-pitched frequency playing in the background, which can be annoying for sensitive hearing. Finally, they noted that the game is short and can be finished in 24 or 48 hours despite spanning two DVDs.

References

External links

* [http://www.square-enix.com/jp/archive/0story/ "Ø Story" homepage] at the Square Enix website ja icon
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20001215122900/http://www.enix.co.jp/news/game/newgame/ostory.html Archive of "Ø Story" homepage] from Enix website ja icon