"Not my favorite Star Ocean, but it's still damn good."

Having played Star Ocean 2 many times, and just finishing my import of Star Ocean 3, I was astounded to see that Dejap actually released the patch for Star Ocean. I’ve heard hype that Star Ocean is better than its sequels, and I found that hard to believe. Sometimes though, the things that are hardest to believe are the closest to the truth, as Star Ocean is a great game in almost every aspect.

Just like every other Tri game I’ve played, gameplay doesn’t even need to be questioned. It’s there, and it’s good. The battles aren’t the typical turn based affair, but instead put you in a real time fight against the enemies. The AI doesn’t always do exactly what you want, but it controls the character well enough to see you through the game nicely.

During battle, you can use the L or R button to unleash one of your tech attacks, which you can allot in your menu screen. You get four slots, one short range and one long range tech for both keys. The only gripe I have with the battles is that you have to use the Y button to move, instead of just moving freely with the d-pad. After a few areas are done you’ll have become used to it, but it’s still the only thing holding the battles back from perfection.

Outside of battle, you can take part in private actions, which will affect characters approval ratings with each other. Some improve your approval rating, where others will diminish your approval rating. Depending on what your characters approval ratings are, it will affect how battles pan out. Characters will generally put each other above others when it comes to healing or protecting them if they share a high approval rating. This will also affect what type of ending you get, and will increase the chances your character will get mad during battle when his friend dies off.

When you level up, you gain SP along with your normal stats. When you visit towns, there are shops that will sell sets of skills to you, and you can use your SP to learn these skills from the sets. Some of them will teach you skills that will aid you during battles, and others will be used for recreational purposes, such as cooking, alchemy and smithing. Depending on what talents your character receives when you first acquire them, they can become extremely useful in a certain skill, whereas another character without the talent will always be struggling with it.

The games visuals are nothing short of amazing. A few of the areas start to become drab color wise, but everything looks good, and the characters and enemies are drawn well and have excellent animations. With the exception of cleaning up the color a little bit, I don’t think anything else could be done to improve the visuals in Star Ocean. Top notch graphics for the snes era.

The sound is audibly delicious. Not only do the tunes never get annoying, virtually every single one fits its location well. Star Ocean is also one of the few games that sample voices for the characters. Though the voices aren’t too great, I don’t expect them to be. Rarely does a game have voices that are good, and this isn’t one of them.

The story tells of Ratix, or you, and what happens to you after a disease breaks out in the town to the north. Attempting to save them, you get thrust onto a spaceship with beings that are highly advanced compared to your own people. I won’t get into anything from the later parts because I don’t want to ruin the story, but it’s a great story, and it’s worth reading to the end.

The game is great the first time through, but I hear that the differences in the endings are only a few lines, so you’ll probably only play through the game again if you really like it. The battle system plays perfectly for a second trip through the game, and you can always play certain events out differently, but don’t expect anything new from the story.

The difficulty is hard to describe. I found myself just mashing the attack button in every fight during certain parts of the game, and I found myself dying extremely quickly in others. Trying to suggest an average level for certain areas seems impossible to me, but I’d suggest that you come prepared.

Having loved the Playstation and Playstation 2 games in the series, I can safely say that I also love this one. If you’ve played Star Ocean 2, or imported one of the others and liked them, then you’ll like this game as well. The battle system is fun, the story is great, and the customization is good. If you can find a copy of the cart on e-bay, then pick it up. The game is well worth the amount it goes for usually, and it’s well worth the time you’ll spend playing it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/02/04, Updated 02/03/04