Star Ocean: The Second Story

"The second!? Now I wanna play the first!!"

Star Ocean: The Second Story (from here on I'll call it SO2) is the only Star Ocean game as of far to be released in North America. It's a great game and it makes me look even more forward to Star Ocean 3. Well, why do I like it so much? Let me get into detail.

STORY: 8.9/10.0 ''Expel is such a weird planet name''

The start of the story (and a few events during the game) depend on which of the two characters you choose. Here are both characters' intros.

CLAUDE C. KENNI- An ensign in the Earth Federation and son of Admiral Ronixis J. Kenni. During an expedition to an unexplored world, an accident occurs and Claude is teleported to a strange different world......

RENA LANFORD- From Arlia Village on the planet Expel. Rena's story starts with a simple trip into Shingo Forest, outside of her village.

There are some surprising twists in the plot, and I wasn't disappointed with the story. You'd have to play it yourself.

GRAPHICS: 9.2/10.0 ''Precis looks like a six year old''

FMV sequences: A nice mix of CG and anime. Don't expect as many movies as you'd find in any FF game numbered 7 or higher, but what is there is impressive.
In-game graphics: Prerendered backgrounds make up the field areas, and the characters, unlike FF, are 2D sprites. The characters are well-animated beyond the simple walking/running animations. It's an effective combination. The battle scenes are full 3D except for the characters and monsters. The battle scenes, while decent-looking aren't the greatest looking in a PSX RPG.

SOUND 8.8/10.0 ''I will turn you into a beehive!''

Music: Perhaps the best music I've heard in a Playstation game! There is no shortage in music with 60+ tracks! The Ten Wise Men (see late in the game) boss battle themes some of my favorite battle themes ever.
Sound FX: This is what hurts the sound rating. The sound effects are sufficient, but not impressive. There are the standard hits and blast sounds during the battles, along with a few others. It just sounds odd against the great music in the game.
Voice Acting: I read a lot of reviews with people complaining that the voice acting sucks, but let me put my two cents in. First, there's a lot of it, in the form of the 1300+ samples you'll eventually hear during battles. Some of them are good, others are annoying, and a few others...well...don't make sense. Another downside is that the monologue at the beginning of Claude's quest is hard to hear over the music.

GAMEPLAY 9.4/10.0 ''Hope you have time to read this''

As far as gameplay is concerned, this is one of the deeper and more unique outings for an RPG. The battle system, borrowing a little from the ''Tales Of'' series (published by Namco, developed by Tri-Ace), the SO2 system is a real-time one in which you have full freedom of movement with one character (no waiting your turn, no ATB gauge). The AI controls three other characters based on the instruction you give each of them (ex. ''Spread out and attack'' for fighters, ''Attack with all MP!'' for mages, and there's more). Mages use their MP for...well, magic, while Fighters use theirs for Killer Moves, which can be built up as the character uses them (the moves can inflict more hits, do more damage or both). Characters can build up Combat Skills which can turn things in their favor. These skills are varied (too much so to explain). For those who like challenge, this game delivers. Battles, especially late in the game, can be fairly hard and bosses (that have TONS of HP), can be a royal pain in the rear.

The Skill system allows characters to distribute Skill Points (SP), gained at a level-up, to different skills (scientific ability, writing ability, etc). These skills allow characters to use different Specialties. There's so much to this so I'll minimize the detail, except for one thing.

The Item Creation System adds another unique element. The system allows characters to create items that can't be found or bought. After finding materials (minerals, toolkits, etc), it's possible to make an item, provided the character is strong enough in the right skills. Characters can make food (for healing), items that can be sold for profit, or even rare weapons and armor! And that's not all!

Private actions are mini-events that can be opened up when the party reaches a town. When you enter town, the party will split up and you'll control the main character. By finding and talking to the remaining characters, you may learn more about one of them, open up a side quest, or something else. These can even affect the ending! Characters do have feelings toward each other, in two values, friendship and romantic. Private actions may alter these values between the characters involved. There are other ways to change them, too. Along with affecting the ending, these values affect battles, too! If a character is particularly close to another, and that character is killed in a battle, the other may go ballistic and be able to do TONS of damage to any enemy for a short time. Whew, that's it...I think.

REPLAY VALUE: 9.7/10.0 ''Battles: 2139; Time: 108:32''

With two main characters, that can double the time you'll spend here. Add to that 12 characters, of which 8 can be recruited in a game (many, many party combinations), as well as 87 endings in all (you don't have to play through 87 times, each character's ending counts as one, so you may see eight of them in one game). Throw in a 13-floor optional (and oh-so-hard) dungeon you can get into near the end of the game. Wow, I'm hooked on this game...

THE BOTTOM LINE
If you like fast-paced and challenging battles, great music, and deep gameplay, this is your game. There is a lot to SO2, but don't let it intimidate you. I learned the finer details of the game fairly quickly. While the game has only mediocre sound effects and voice acting, that's only a minor complaint (though it keeps SO2 from getting a 10). If you can find it, go ahead and buy it. It was well worth the $40 I spent.

The total from above ratings is 46/50 (92%).
GameFAQs equivalent: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/10/01, Updated 08/10/01