Just call it Star Ocean 2 guys
To boldly go where no man has......oops, wrong game.

You play as a member of the Federation in this Sci-fi rpg. Through a mishap investigating some strange device, you end up transported to another planet that has not reached anywhere near the level of technology you posses, and has no knowledge of life on other planets. Circumstances lead you to fire your phaser in front of a resident of this planet, causing a lot of confusion as to your identity.
No this isn't a continuation of the Star Trek joke...this is how the game starts. Assuming you start as Claude at least. Start as Rena, and some dude appears out of nowhere and saves you with some pretty lights.
Star Ocean: The Second Story is a game developed by Tri-Ace, and wears the title "Action Rpg". While the game still carries the random encounter system of many jrpg's at the time, it eschews turn based combat in favor of a real time, 3D combat system, so it earns the label. And, while this is the second game in the series to be released in 1999/2000, it's the first game to be released outside of Japan. Both the first star ocean, and the second story, were ported to the psp many years later however with slightly different names.
While the game does have some similarities to Star Trek, which was cited as one of their main influences, it's not a rip off at all. As far as I know Star Trek never had a man with two dragon heads on his back :P
Second Story has a good plot, rich characters, great combat, amazing score, and a ton of ideas that still seem fresh to this day.
A game with an obscene amount of possible endings, and tons of different characters, assuring that you will have something new for each new playthrough.
Anyway, let's get to the breakdown portion of this review. Come with me, to a galaxy far, far away. (now I've brought Star Wars into this for some reason)


Gameplay

While this isn't a category, it would have got a 10 had it been. Battle is real time, and you can freely switch between any of the four characters you take into battle. The other characters being controlled by A.I. This system allows you to avoid enemy attacks, and allows you to strategically place all your characters in response to what's going on. Placement being very important because casting spells not only takes time, but can be interrupted. And generally, enemies don't just let your mages do what they want. In all fairness though, you'll spend a lot of time interrupting enemy mages as well, so fairs fair. While psychical characters don't cast spells, they have something called "Killer Moves" which allows them to use special techniques that require MP to pull off. Many of these techniques are varied and interesting, and assigned to specific buttons for easy use. They make the different brawler types more unique and fun to use. Now you may have seen this action style in place in other RPG games, I feel it's important to note that the Star Ocean series was one of the first to implement it this way. It's inventive, fun, and does a lot to break up the monotony of random encounters. I had a small gripe that some of the multi-hit killer moves had a tendency to knock some enemies out of range to be hit by the full combo, but ultimately this was a small complaint, overshadowed by the pleasure of the entire combat experience.


Graphics

This was a difficult category for me to rate, but I finally decided on a soft 7. The reason for is that the system was capable of higher grade graphics than this game implemented. However, the overall ascetic was pleasing, and you didn't see any polygon ridden characters like, say, FF7. The characters generally had good designs, as did the environment. As well, everything looked very...clean, for lack of a better word. Still, despite that praise, the graphical quality was certainly lower than it could have been, and I've seen a lot better, even from rpg's that came out around the same time. Still though, graphics aren't what you play this type of game for is it?


Sound

I have the entire soundtrack to this game on my Ipod. While that may not seem like a big deal to some of you, I assure you, that's not something I usually do. Seriously, it's amazing. Easy 10. I'd vote higher if I could. I mean it. The score is spectacular, and does an amazing job of setting the mood of every single town and dungeon you visit. I even really like the music that plays when you rest. I can think of one particular area near the end of the game that had the absolute worst music in the entire game. It was merely O.K.. I would even go so far as to say this game has the best soundtrack of the ps1 era. Heck, even the voice acting used during battle was pretty decent, which for ps1 is worth an award on it's own. I can't go through a section without saying at least one thing not done right, so here is my one complaint...the grunting during battle can get slightly annoying. Still, not too big a deal, and for some it adds to the charm.


Addictivness

Solid 10. There are a bunch of different aspects I'll go more into in the depth and story sections, but basically this game has a host of different things to offer for each subsequent playthrough, and even two different perspectives on the main story. It has an absolutely breath taking soundtrack,  and engaging gameplay. All wrapped around a strong story, and well fleshed out characters. This is a game that will keep you coming back for more, and is the most addictive game in an already amazing series.


Story

You play as Claude C. Kenny, a young Earth boy, and new member of the Pangalactic Federation. Or, if you would prefer, you play as Rena Lanford, a young Expellian girl. Your choice, as you get to pick your protagonist. Each with their own slightly different perspective on events. Either way, Claude ends up saving Rena with his Phase gun, and Rena reacts as you would expect a girl from a completely underdeveloped planet that hasn't even invented guns yet, to react. She turns around and takes off running. Though eventually she calms down, and comes to a realization. He must be the prophesied "Warrior of Light" sent down from the heavens to save Expel in it's time of need. She spreads this theory to her mother and the mayor, and after several frustrating hours, Claude eventually manages to convince them they made a mistake. However, he is still asked to investigate something called "The Sorcery Globe" which is causing all the adorable animals in the planet to turn into savage beast. Seeing as he has no way of getting home, and wants to learn more about the planet anyway, he agrees. Taking up the far less conspicuous sword (especially since the federation laws prohibit him from interfering with underdeveloped planets), he prepares for his journey. Rena decides to join him because she has nothing better to do, and Claude is cute. Along the way they'll meet many interesting, and unique characters, and uncover a turmoil that threatens far more than just the remote planet of Expel.

While the plot gets slightly cliche at points, it's still pretty good. However, what truly drives the story is the characters. You see several colorful personalities in this series, and lots of interesting changes in their relationships with you, and with one another. See, anytime you enter a town, you can trigger something called a "private action". This causes all the characters to split up, and allows you to see special events that affect relationships between characters, and is even required to trigger other specific events. The point of these relationships is...well...they directly affect your ending. Your love interest? Whoever you have the highest romantic relationship rating with. But it's not just your character. You'll see different endings all based on the relationships between all your other characters as well. This is something I would like to see in more games. It truly makes you feel like you have a real impact on the story.
Complaints? Occasionally the dialogue is oddly worded, but that's not uncommon for a game from Japan. Perhaps it's better in the Japanese version. The other complaint I have is small, but annoys me to no end. At one point in the game, you essentially have the choice of recruiting a guy with two dragon heads on his back, or a girl with three eyes, and a laser rifle longer than she is (from a different, developed planet obviously). Regardless of which you pick, no one seems to be too freaked out by them. I mean, Claude uses his phase gun once and people are ready to worship him, and here this three eyed chick is shooting lasers all willy nilly, and no one bats an eye. Really?! REALLY?! Also how does everyone speak the same language?!
But these are typical in a game like this, and if overlooked, it's a strong, if occasionally clichéd, story. It's a 9, but a solid 9.


Depth

Solid 10. And this is going to be a quick run through, because to explain everything in detail would take too long. First, the main game itself is pretty long. You have several different characters, but often have to choose one over the other, and you are limited to 8. You have two different characters to choose from as your protagonist, and while you will end up with both in party, they view different scenes at points. You have several different type of crafting options, that can all be used to make very useful stuff. They can even write books, or make paintings. You have the private actions which is a huge side deal. Often, revisiting towns at different points in the story will net you different private actions. These private actions become very important in managing relationships, leading up to the nightmarishly large amount of scenes to be shown at the end...and even help set up your love interest. Pick-pocketing, mini-games, and raising the proficiency of spells and killer moves to make them stronger. A host of side quest, and an optional dungeon that will offer you a far greater challenge than anything you'll face in the main game, but will also offer you the best gear. Funny how you always get it after you don't need it anymore. Needless to say, this is a game that will keep you occupied for hours on end. And that'll be just one play.


Difficulty

Eh, a 6 I suppose. There is very little to say on this subject. The crafting can take a little getting used to, and combat requires a bit of experience. Honestly though, the game isn't difficult to pick up. It's pretty smooth. Occasionally it can be a bit obtuse on where you need to go to trigger the next event, and push the plot forward, but it's a JRPG. What's new there? It's a game that's challenging, but not because of bad design.


Final Verdict

Despite the fact that Star Trek has been listed as one of the major influences, a show I've never really been a real fan of, Star Ocean remains one of my favorite series of all time. And Star Ocean; The Second Story has to be my favorite game in the series. It had such like-able characters, strong gameplay, amazing soundtrack, and a huge list of things to do. It has a lot to offer, and it's a game that I would recommend to any rpg fan. While the graphics aren't the strongest, it makes up for that fact in every other way. If you haven't played it, then there's no time like the present. You'll not regret it. It's time to sail away into your own sea of stars. Ok, that was cheesy even for me :p
  Graphics 7   Sound 10   Addictive 10   Depth 10   Story 9   Difficulty 6

Overall 9.7    Graphics 7    Sound 10    Addictive 10    Story 9    Depth 10    Difficulty 6

Just call it Star Ocean 2 guys   baileyface544
To boldly go where no man has......oops, wrong game. You play as a member of the Federation in this...
  Graphics 7   Sound 10   Addictive 10   Story 9   Depth 10   Difficulty 6
      Review Rating: 4.6/5     Submitted: 09-15-14     Review Replies: 9

There are no submitted threads for this Game

There are no submitted Guides for this Game

xLestaTx 12-07-18 - 04:03 AM
 Uhm.. I got the same problem on the 1st battle the screen blacks out then some Japanese letters is on the screen then it stops there,, been waiting for a minute still nothing happens...
mchl5585 11-24-15 - 08:42 AM
 idk whats going on but the first battle dont start instead i get jap letters
MeatAndPotatoes 01-26-15 - 03:42 PM
 That wizard was slick. I'm just saying.
MysteryMan007 11-19-14 - 12:48 AM
 So this game goes down as underrated? I'll check it out sometime..
Dragoon26 11-03-14 - 07:18 PM
 It does mean that . Star Ocean 1 was sadly never released in the US. It was SNES generation.. it's a GREAT game.
jerry.ferguson 11-02-14 - 05:41 PM
 This game is called The Second Story so does that mean that there was one before this?
Darthdaishi 11-01-14 - 06:19 PM
 I saw this in the line up and simply got chills. This game is awesome.
Dragoon26 11-01-14 - 01:27 PM
 Claude/Rena differences- slight storyline changes, also it affects who you can get to join you.
Dragoon26 11-01-14 - 01:25 PM
 I agree about the top3 for ps1.. one thing holding it back is lack of a great world map.. what else..hmm..
crackofdon 03-13-14 - 10:32 AM
 good game so far just got to disc 2. Anyone know if the boy/girl story the same ?
SuperToads 12-07-13 - 01:23 AM
 One of my top 3 RPGs on PS1 ever! The story's, yes more than 1 story! All the characters are so memorable. The combat, omg the COMBAT! ITS SO AMAZINGLY FUN!