STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R

I know I’m still pretty new to this series, and I haven’t gotten too far into the story yet. I mainly picked up this game because of the high praise it was getting on Steam, and lately I’ve been in the mood to play more RPGs. Now that I can no longer refund it, I figured I’d share my thoughts so far. The first thing that really stood out to me was the music and graphics. Both do a fantastic job of making the world feel alive and immersive. The combat is also very solid, and it’s probably one of the strongest parts of the game. On the other hand, I felt like the random NPCs scattered around towns and cities weren’t handled with much care. I made it a point to talk to everyone I could, but most of them only had one or two throwaway lines. They didn’t add much to the world or feel like an organic part of it, which was a bit disappointing. The story so far has been decent, but I don’t quite understand the heavy hand-holding. The game constantly tells you exactly where to go, which feels unnecessary if you’re actually reading and following along. It makes the pacing feel a little strange. Some of the dialogue one-liners also came across as flat, and I think the game could benefit from putting a bit more effort into character writing and presentation to make it more engaging. Overall, I’d give it a 7/10. I’d call it a 5 baseline, then +1 for the music, +1 for the graphics. The story still has room to grow, and if it really steps up later on, I could easily see this being an 8 or even a 9. I don’t think the story is “bad,” it just struggles to execute its ideas as well as it could, which is understandable, because building a massive RPG like this isn’t easy. I also think a lot of people are too quick to judge big RPGs, expecting the story to always be a perfect 10/10 or nothing. For me, it’s already a solid game with plenty of potential.

Que resgate desse clássico !!!. Esse estilo pixels 3d foi uma aposta certeira, ao mesmo tempo que o jogo recebe um toque moderno ele não perde sua essência, as músicas retrabalhadas, os menus e etc...tudo feito com muito esmero, tão bom quanto a versão original que eu joguei lá em 1998, nostalgia daqueles rpg´s da época do PS1. 10/10 !!!

More remake than remaster. Instead of random encounters, enemies will appear on the world map and chase you if you get close. When you make contact a battle will start. Combat is the same real time combat as in the first game. The combat and skills in this game are altered and refined for a more engaging experience. This world map is much more like a sandbox, with treasure chests in out of the way locations and even fishing spots. Skill Points and Battle Points are rewarded after combat outside of leveling up, so there is less pressure to push each character toward a certain build. The story and private actions remain the same except with fancier graphics.

I would rate it neutral if I could. Ultimately, unless it's on an excessive discount 75%+ or if you're extremely nostalgic of the game, I wouldn't bother. It's a solid port, but the combat is extremely dated and not refined. Combat boils down to Melee and Spells. Melee is by far the strongest in the game and it boils down to just pressing A. That's it. No movement required. There are a few good melee character spells that you can mix in with you're melee attacks, but that just adds 1 or 2 more buttons to your mix of A pressing. It's primarily a menu/grind game, with little substance in the combat. And while there is an "optimal" upgrade path in how you approach your character's skills (just upgrade Determination first, that's it), it's very simple and it hardly affects the combat of the game. Your success is almost entirely based on your level. The gear plays a very small part, at least during the main story part of the game. And the game also prompts you with a menu to equip any new gear you find/buy that is better than what your character has equipped. There is a dodge/counter mechanic that I thought would make the game fun and let you take on bosses you might normally be under-leveled for, but that isn't the case. If you're under-leveled (and in some cases not over-leveled), most enemies, especially bosses, will not flinch when you counter their attacks. Which results in the boss doing another attack immediately while you're still in the counter attack animation, preventing you from doing another counter/dodge. I've died many times to bosses and normal enemies because of that, to the point I don't bother countering/dodging anymore. You MUST overpower them/out damage them to progress. Finding the best way to level quickly and over power your character is where any of the fun in this game comes from. Since I've already spent $25 on this game and can't return it with my 40+ hrs of game play (mostly idle), I will still beat the game because I do enjoy this one aspect of the game, but having known what I know now, I would not have purchased it. P.S. Story is trash like most RPGs/APRGs, don't bother.

Full disclosure: yes, I am an old fan with nostalgia. Also full disclosure: I've started this game five or so times, and have gotten a decent bit in, but for one reason, lost my save (PS1 memory card lost, emulator saves messed up, my emulator handheld's battery exploding, etc). I was quite committed to never trying this game again due to my bad luck, but then I saw the remake version. Even then, I still held off, wondering if it was worth it to start that hour+ long slow-ish start. Yes, it's worth it! This version of the game is everything that I've ever wanted and more. So many quality of life improvements, so many ways that it explains mechanics that I've never understood before, so many ways that it gives you options on how you want to play your game. Plus, the presentation is fantastic. I will admit: if you're not an old fan and don't know some of the tricks, it may not hit as hard. But the thing about this game is that the more you get to know it's INSANELY high level of customization and crafting, the more that you'll feel so empowered. Level up the right skills (like Cooking and Smithing) and the more that you're actual combat stats will go up. "Chef Knife" (now just "knife") makes your attack go up immensely. Learning Herbs and minerals makes your mages more effective with their magic. Etc. But then, you can actually crafting food, herbs, armor, weapons, etc, and you'll start to create items that are better than what you can find in the stores. Even better, there are certain skills and items that basically find items for you as you walk around the world. And if enough party members have a shared skill set, they can combine into "Specialties" and "Super Specialties" where you're really changing your game in a variety of deep ways. For example, if you learn "Writing," you can create books based on skills. When read, your party can level up skills that you have unlocked (up to a certain point). If you have the money and penmenship skill high enough, you can basically level up your whole party's basic skills in no time. But then you can also unlock Publication, where you can sell special books based on your party...and you can actually receive royalties from them, over time, that give IMMENSE money back. At this point in my playthrough, I have so much money and so many items that I don't know what to do with myself. And most of it is just me experimenting when I have time. Combat-wise, it's a bit of a simple real-time action battler. But, this version adds some new complexities that make combat slightly more complex. Plus, you can eventually unlock special guest characters in a way that sort of summons them temporarily, and between that and parrying/countering, I feel like I have enough to keep me engaged. And, the last thing is how much I adore the Private Action feature of the game. You not only recruit characters and follow a JRPG story...you get little vignettes and side-interactions where your characters can split up as a team in a town, run into each other, and have small moments. They're mostly for humor, but some actually share lore or backstory content that is meaningful to the overall world and plot. A lot of it is, admittedly, anime crush humor, with the two main characters constantly dancing around their being paired as a couple by nearly everyone they meet. But overall, I've really enjoyed this feature, and I'm glad the remake allows you to easily track and revisit locations so that you don't easily miss any of them. I started this game as a tween shortly after it debuted, not understanding most of the systems. I replayed it as an adult, understanding some of the systems. Now I'm playing it approaching middle age, and I finally feel empowered to understand all of its systems, and play the game at a fast pace in a way that makes sense for my life right now. I can't recommend this enough; if you are love classic JRPGs but don't have the time to wander aimlessly around trying to remember the quest you were on when you played two weeks prior, this is your game. It values your time and wants you to value your time playing. So do just that. Play this game if you like classic JRPGs. And thank me later. And thank the studio, Gemdrops, for their amazing job!

Straightforward RPG. Completed story, all raid boss, collected every fish, and acquired all Ultimate Weapons. There is more to do like New Game+ and collect all 99 endings but I like to complete a game once. Please bring more Star Ocean games to PC.

クラウド編クリア。今時のゲームと比べると内容が少ないかも しれないが、ボーイミーツガールの王道RPGである。 昔のゲームのリメイクをかなりきっちりやっていて、グラや システムともに文句なし。演出面ではいろいろ弱い部分 があってそこは少々不満だが、遊びやすく、ストーリー 短い分やりこみ要素も多い。ニューゲーム＋については もうちょい、細分化してほしかったかも。 　本編は、優秀な父親のコンプレックスを持つ 宇宙艦隊に所属する主人公が、へまして、一人だけ未開の惑星に 転送され孤立する。そこで一人の少女に出会うが。。 というお話。少し恋愛、友情要素があり、エンディングが それに合わせて99もあるという。。すごい。。 普通に考えれば、ダブル主人公で、この二人が結ばれるのが 普通..とおもぅんだが、そうでない形もあるらしい。 　二回目をやりたいと思う作品。何も考えないと 仲間8人にならない。自分は6人しか仲間にできなかった。 次はもうちょっとじっくり楽しみたい。 英語の勉強にもなります。音声がかなり入ってて ログも見返せるのがよかった。