Customer Reviews

Star Ocean: The Second Story

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

After the linear-style of Final Fantasy and other similar RPGs (Which I love BTW), I found Star Ocean 2 a wonderfully refreshing experience. There are just so many options - starting from the beginning, you can choose your main character, which other characters you want and take it from there, eventually leading to one out of 86 different endings. It's true that the endings stem mainly from the different combinations of characters that get together in the end...but 86! What other game can boast so much replay value?

The item creation system is very unique - cooking, art, machinery, authoring, customising...it's all within your power. You choose the skills and specialities the characters learn. They write books for the other characters to read, make better weapons, compose music and create delicious (or not so delicious) dishes. They can even combine their skills to make super specialities, which allow you to get better at cooking, publishing, etc, and my favourite - where all the characters sincerely call Barney, a giant white rabbit to cart you around the countryside. Hilarious.

The graphics IMO are pretty good. The 3D backgrounds are lovingly rendered, even including really cool minor details like your reflection on a pond or in a mirror. Nice. The characters themselves are 2D sprites, which looks better than it sounds - no hassles with fuzzy polygons or anything like that. And Links has done a fine job (as usual) on the FMV - great eye candy.

The battle system allows you to take a much more active role in combat situations. In active mode, you basically dash around and try to konk the enemy without them hitting you. Fighting characters have Killer moves, which are special attacks that are assigned to the L1 and R1 buttons. They look cool and wreak havoc on the battle field. For magic users, the spell animation is nice too, and there is the interesting possibility of combining spells by casting them at the same time, which can lead to greater damage if done properly.

If I do have any complaints, they are generally not the fault of the game, rather the people who were supposed to be checking for bugs. Firstly it crashes - no game has ever crashed on me like this one. So save a lot. And there are little things, like the character voices getting mixed up - it is so funny to hear Precis yelling 'Parabola Beam! ' while Claude is doing Mirror Slice, and the wrong word appearing for spells. I guess I'm nitpicking.

As for the game itself, I find some of the character's voices rather irritating. But that's a personal thing. The music _is_ rather repetitive...they play the same tracks over and over, but even so, they still sound nice.

[I do have one large complaint, and this is that I had to import the game to play it, since it hasn't been released in Australia and doesn't look likely in the near future. There _are_ serious RPG players here and it would be great if the distribution companies recognised that.]

Star Ocean 2 is a really good game, offering so much - a great battle system, memorable characters, beautiful graphics and a pretty darn good story. A must for any RPG fan.

Ever see this equation? Two disks + two characters + over eighty endings = one great game. Yesiree, besides the impressive numbers, Star Ocean has another charm, addictive as it is, awesome as it may be. There aren't many games out nowadays about storyline and character development, yet this one seems to be less and less like a videogame and more and more like an epic novel. Every choice you make, every turn you take, every character you invite into your party, you shape your own destiny and blaze your own trail. These characters, in terms of emotion, are no doubt about it-- Real. You develop meaningful relationships and for a moment, call me crazy, but you are that character. The game isn't without its quirks: Meaningless battles make it hard to find what you're really looking for, and even more are those annoying thought balloons that pop over character's head when they're angry, sad, surprised, or just really deep in thought. But those little flaws don't detract much from otherwise great game.

SO2, is a great game. So what if the graphics aren't that good! The battle system, is better than Final Fantasy's mainly because you can move about the battle field, give the characters commands AND set what you want them to do automatically without having to take control. It is by far more involved and easier to get into battles. The variety of magic is truly awesome, as well as Killer Moves. The music is decent. You can also decide on who you want to play as in the beginning (like Resident Evil 2) There is a wide variety of other characters to pick from, so with a strategy guide, it is possible to customize your party into the Ultimate fighting force! Probably the biggest thing is being able to learn abilities, such as making and upgrading weapons, restoration items, books to earn tons of money, pickpocketing, attacks, plus many, many other things besides. However, SO2 is very tough, and you'll most likely find yourself level building after every event. But, it's well worth the effort. Private Actions, is the most innovative idea that I've seen in an RPG ever! This allows you to change the outcome of the game, get characters, and participate in special events. If you've got a lot of patience, then this game is definetly worth trying!

This is undoubtedly one of the best RPG's I have ever played. Your choices are almost limitless - you choose the main character, which characters to include in your party (some are not compatible with others, and some you can only get playing as a certain character), how to assign your skill points, and what specialties to develop in each character. The skills that the characters can build are varied and useful. A character might learn cooking, metal working, weapon customization, alchemy, photography, music, painting, writing - it's all up to you. And the results of these skills affect the gameplay. For instance, a character good at cooking can create a dish that will restore HP or MP to whoever consumes it, while a character skilled in alchemy can turn a rock into a precious gem that can be used to customize an ordinary weapon into something spectacular.

You also affect the final outcome by which characters you place together in battle and how you choose to have them interact while not in battle. There are so many choices, and so many ways to affect the game, that its possibilities are staggering.

As the game is so multi-faceted, I do recommend the strategy guide. Knowing which characters are compatible with others, what foods are needed to cook specific dishes, which good weapons can be customized into great ones, etc. can help you make good decisions.

I think most RPG fans would find this game to be outstanding in its field.

This was One of my FAVORITE RPG's Ever. Many of the reviews said that the graphics were bland and gave low ratings because of it. I have a few reasons against that.

1.Soft colors are alot easier on the eyes.

2.Look at Legend of Mana. WOW

3.It might not be as crisp as Final Fantasy VIII but what should be looked at is the fun and the storyline

Perhaps my favorite RPG of all time, Star Ocean 2 has everything ANY gamer could enjoy. With an amazingly innovative battle system, Star Ocean 2 plunges you into battle where you fight and cast magic in REAL TIME combat. Also, Star Ocean 2 has amazing customization where you can MAKE your own items and the BEST weapons in the game using the game's unique weapon/item creation system. With an amazingly unique soundtrack, Star Ocean 2 ranks in my soundtrack list as one of my top three! Also, Star ocean 2 has an amazing cast of characters, all of which, save two are optional. Finally, it has the HIGHEST replay value of any game EVER!!!... You are right off the bat asked which character you would prefer to play, the dashing space explorer, Claude Kenni, or the beautiful magic user Rena Lanford. By going through this game you will go through different towns, meet different people, and the feelings of the characters will change for each other, for better or worse, and in the end, characters will split up, or possibly even get together! With over 80 different endings, you'll find yourself playing from the end of Star Ocean 2 right into your next fun filled new game! Words cannot describe my appreciation for the quality of this game, it is simply breathtaking.

This game is one of the best out there!!!

Graphics: Really nice 3D backgrounds and cute li'l 2D people!

Battle System: Really cool! You have a few choices that have to do with how you fight the battle, you choose each character's strategy and the battle formation, you can control any character you want, attack your enemies in three different ways- by casting one of numerous destructive spells, using a "killer move", wich is a strong physical attack that uses up MP, like magic, or just run up to your enemies and slap 'em silly with whatever weapon your character has at their disposal. Oh, yeah, and you can also use a few items to win battles.

Enemies: Not extremely hard to beat if your characters are at reasonable levels.

Music: VERY good.

Special Features: The PA (Private Action) system is very original. If you press square when you're near a town, your group will split up and you can talk to the members of the party (and sometimes the villagers will ask for your help or say different things to you). How you respond effects your character's romantic/friendship values with the other characters, and sometimes wins you an item or two or some money. At the end of the game, your characters will be paired up according to their romantic/friendship values with each other.

Other than that, it's really funny, somewhat romantic, and has an interesting storyline with a variety of characters!

Seems that not everyone shares my opinion, but I have to say that this is the most addictive game I've ever played. One of the reviewers before me had called it "immersive". I couldn't find a better description. Star Ocean: the 2nd story has a very unique skills and item creation system. This is a huge part of the game, and is easy to learn but difficult to master. Basically, if you are patient enough to experiment with different things and don't mind stopping to experiment (because this will take up quite a bit of time) instead of just rushing through the game, you will probably enjoy it. That been said, you can still enjoy the game without putting too much time into item creations, you just won't be playing it to its full extent. This is what I did my first time through. I have just beaten it for the second time, and have had more fun than the first time, because this time I tried to experiment with everything. Private Actions (where you separate from the group and talk to other members) are not necessary in the game, but they influence the outcome, and I personally found them fun. There are 86 different endings.... I don't think I'll be able to play enough times to get all of them, but still, this makes for a great replay value. Voice acting and translation could have been done better, and the emoticons are annoying... Other than that, I have no complaints. This is a game that really made me "immerse" in it fully and feel what my characters were feeling... Just for that experience, it's worth the price. :) By the way, I forgot who asked, but if you still haven't found the answer, the "float" skill can be found in the bonus dungeon. Good luck!

I'll try to be as objective as I can with this review.

Story: The storyline is similar to most RPGs out there. I won't go into details, but it should be pretty entertaining for most people. However, if you're used to huge stories like FF7-10 or Xenogears, you might find it lacking in this game. One neat thing about SO2 is that you can play as two different characters. The overall journey is still the same, but there are some minor story and gamplay differences. This certainly enhances its replay. The characters you recruit on the way are also all optional. So if you don't like a character, you don't have to take him/her. A big plus.

Gameplay: This is where the entertainment or frustration sets in. SO2's item creation system is extremely complicated, and made worse because the game doesn't explain much about it. We're talking about hours upon hours of experimentations to get the desired items(and you won't even know they're the desired items) from this system. However, if you like experimentation as I do, this game is perfect for you. Another method is to use guides and charts, which you can find online for free easily these days.

The battle system is fun for those who wants to actively participate in them, but will be too much to handle for more laid-back players. You're not going to get away with just jamming the X button like with many Final Fantasy games.

Music/Graphics: Fairly average on both accounts, if you ask me. You probably won't get annoyed by them, but they certainly don't shine.

Problems with the game: This game suffer from two problems. The first is the number of bugs. The game will sometimes freeze right when a battle is over. It happened to me twice my first game and 3 times the next. The other problem is the stupidity of the AI. Because the battle is active, you can only control one character at a time, leaving the AI to control your other ones. Unfortunately, you can't expect the AI to always do the 'logical' thing. It does make the game more difficult, though. :)

Overall: An unpolished game which I enjoyed immensely. However, it's not for everyone.

I must say that this game is one of the most interesting and fun games I've ever played. I loved the Private Actions that affected the ending of the game. The PA's were little side plots that you can watch your characters do. The interactions would vary depending on which characters you had chosen (Some characters you can only get if you are a certain main character, others you can get one character, but if you select them, you can't get another. It can be pretty confusing, but it's fun.) I really loved this game, and would reccomend it to any RPG fan.