Star Ocean: Second Evolution

"Star Ocean: Evolved"

Welcome to my review of Star Ocean: Second Evolution. This is a game I played the PSX version for, and enjoyed quite a bit. To be honest, this game made a lot of good strides in it's re-localization and release. It's an easy to pick up, difficult to master game, that I feel can be enjoyed by a wide range of RPG Gamers. No good or great title is without it's flaws though, but they should in no way hurt your ability to play this game.

Story/Development of the Cast: 4/10
A low score, and for very understandable reasons. Only two characters make any development whatsoever, and there's 13 total you can decide to recruit(only to a maximum of 8 in party though). Only two are required, so there's lots of mixing/matching that can be done otherwise.

The main heart of the story feels very rushed and pushed onto you, with development into it coming at very spaced out portions, and in large chunks. That is to say, from point A in the game you may get a large bit of the story, but parts B, C, and D will having nothing, until you get to part E. This feels very misleading, as though the story was very poorly strung along with how it relates to the characters and the game world itself, and as such, is a big disappointment as such.

If the story had a much greater impact on the game, then I'd say this game would look a lot better on paper by virtue of that.

The localization of the story is amazingly well done though. There are some flaws in that some of the dialogue in later stages of the game seems very hard to believe or lacking a humanistic appeal. I.e., there's at least two points in the game where a character says something to your party that you would think only an clinically insane man would bring up in that manner, or speak in such an odd way.

There are a multitude of endings based on relationship levels between characters, and that gives this game quite a bit of replayability on it's own, but so does the fact that there are mutually exclusive characters. I.e., If you recruit Opera /and Ernest, then you can't get Ashton, and vice versa. Despite the endings seeming only a formality by how brief they are, it's enough to make you curious what other characters would say/do, or giving them a shot, that you'd probably wanna go through the game again.

Gameplay: 10/10
The game is easy to get through despite a lack of direction in some areas, but the game remains simple, and extraordinarily fun. The battles are intense, being placed in full real-time, and one of the first games on the PSX in it's time that did so in this way. It's hard to fall asleep at the wheel playing this when in a battle your every movement is carried out in real time, and generally in a very quick pace. The game suffers from no boring fights or the like, despite some being exceptionally easy with how simple it is to abuse the battle system otherwise.

All RPG gamers can come to enjoy the battle system, as well as the "Killer Move" system, where you press the right or left bumper to execute a special attack you select previous to the fights in the 'camp' menu's.

You can also control any character you want in the battles, and that's a refreshing feel to coordinate your attacks personally, or use the character that is more to your playstyle/liking, or in an effort to avoid lag in the AI(spell casters not casting immediately), and so forth. You are also in the camp menu allowed to move your party around as much as you like(to exclude the main characters too, if you wish), as well as set up different battle formations.

Add onto the above one of the most in-depth and complex item creation/customization features seen in any game, and you've got some simply killer gameplay.

Sound: 7/10
A lower score than I'd like to give, but the truth must be told. The music in the PSX version was a very majestic, orchestral score that was very impressive, though truth be told, very repetitive, and it didn't translate well to the PSP release. A lot of the music seems to be replaced by SNES style sounds(very midi-istic) for some of the pieces of music, although some, like Stab the Sword of Justice, the random battle theme, are still very appealing to the ears and rarely bores you.

The voice acting stretched from it's previous version and is now in every important story scene. This is a refreshing breather, though some of the vocal acting is a bit on the poor side or seems overly forceful in some cases. This will probably lead some gamers to turn down characters that are very good in the game simply because their attitude was mis-construed through the vocal dialogue.

All things considered, the sound is very solid in the game, and one would rarely say "I wish I could turn this off" on their first play through, so it's not a great issue of concern. Most gamers will ignore the minor flaws in the sound.

Controls: 10/10
There's little reason to downrank a score here, because the controls are very simple to memorize and use fluidly, despite a lack of any kind of tutorial, which in the case of Rena's starting story, could end up killing you because you're not ready for the battle system with the lack of explanation. You can fully customize your button presses as it relates to the camp/battle scenario's though, and that alone shows good form.

Graphics: 6/10
Despite this game being a re-release, the graphics are poor for the day and age, though the pixels are well shaped and colored for the most part, the mixture they make with a 3D environment looks very out of place, and many of the backdrops and surroundings of the dungeons seems very unrealistic. It's a pity too, because there was so much that could have been done here.

Re-Localization: 9/10
This is a score that rarely comes up for me, as a reviewer, but having played a previous version of the game, this becomes relative to anyone who has played the PSX version, or would like to be informed as to the improvements or lack thereof from it's predecessor.

The localization, for the most part, is VERY excellent. Few new comers to the Star Ocean series would be able to think to themselves that there was a poor job on the translations or vocal acting as it pertains to believability as a result, and players of the PSX version(Star Ocean: The Second Story), will be able to appreciate the new coat of paint thrown on the game. It just feels brand new, and with new avatars shown during dialogue and the status screen, it just feels right.

Sadly, some parts feel very poorly done, and without risking going into spoilers, you'll encounter it about halfway through the game, when a major character in the story explains for you to go somewhere, and what he says to you just feels very awkward. I asked myself how anyone could say something in a way like that when I heard and read it, I just wasn't able to comprehend it, it didn't feel real at all, but this has only happened twice during my play through, so no need to drop the score incredibly due to that.

Overall: 7/10
If you're an RPG Gamer, then I will give my 100% recommendation for you to give this game a try. Most RPG gamers can greatly appreciate the customization/creation options in this game, and the intense fights. The story needs some meat on it's bones, but the main allures to this game, a very innovative battle system, and near limitless creation options, make this game very solid on the virtue of those two considerations alone.

Pick up Star Ocean: Second Evolution for yourself, and give it a try. In an ocean of stars and games, there is darkness, and those titles that really shine, and I feel this game shines quite brightly for how long ago it was made.

Rent or Buy Verdict: Buy. If you expect a great story, rent, but otherwise, worth every penny.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/09

Game Release: Star Ocean: Second Evolution (US, 01/19/09)