Episode 15: Star Ocean: The Second Story—Four Score and Seven Hundred Million Years Ago

Episode 15: Star Ocean: The Second Story—Four Score and Seven Hundred Million Years Ago

Platform: Original: PlayStation. Remake: PSP.

Release Date: 

Original: Japan 7/30/1998, NA 5/31/1999, EU 4/12/2000.

PSP: Japan 4/2/2009, NA 1/19/2009, AU 2/12/2009, EU 2/13/2009.

Difficulty: Easy the first play through, adjustable on any new playthroughs.

Pricing: $29.99 on Amazon (PSP)

Podcast: Download, iTunes, PodOmatic

Terra’s Review

Allen, why do you want to marry someone who looks like she’s twelve?

The Good

• Good character development for Claude and Rena, with Claude figuring out what he wants to do with his life and Rena searching for the truth about her background and why she’s different from everyone else on Expel. The development for the other party members can be hit or miss—especially for the characters you get later in the game—but some of them, such as Celine, Ashton, and Dias, have side stories of their own.
• High replay value: You get the option of having Claude or Rena as your player character and there are eleven other characters that you can pick and choose from to make up the rest of your party. While the main storyline doesn’t change, choosing Claude or Rena gives you more insight into their character arcs and different combinations of party members will mean different private actions and scenes in towns.
• Gameplay mechanics include a solid action based battle system and the crafting abilities that the Star Ocean games are known for.

The Bad

• Some of the time frames in this game are ridiculous, even for a JRPG. I’m pretty good at suspending my disbelief—I have played Star Ocean: Till the End of Time—but the backstory given for Energy Nede stretches belief to the breaking point. 700 million years? 3.7 billion years? Really? And the Nedian civilization has apparently barely changed in that time period? Those are nonsense numbers.
• Just like in the remake of Star Ocean: First Depature, spell animations take forever in battle and there’s nothing you can do but sit there and watch.

The Ugly

• The bonus dungeon. It’s full of some mean, mean creatures.
• Celine’s floating shower curtain cape thing.

You may have killed me a million times, but at least I can say “Star Flare!” without lisping!

The lowdown:  A solid entry in the Star Ocean series and well worth playing if you’ve enjoyed the other games. The main storyline can stretch belief to the breaking point, but the characters make the game worth playing.

Music Credits

RPG Roundup Theme Song: "Video Game Theme," J. Arthur Keenes Band. Creative Commons Attribution License.
Star Ocean Second Departure Arranged Soundtrack 

Episode 1: Star Ocean: First Departure – The Tail of Cinder-Roddick.

Star Ocean: First Departure
Platform: PSP
Japanese Release Date: December 27, 2007
U.S. Release Date: October 21, 2008
Difficulty: Moderate
Current Amazon Price: $14.99

Podcast: Download,  iTunes,  Listen on PodOmatic

Lightning's Review:

It might be a snowy, almost deserted town with sad background music, but at least it has a bar!

The Good

• Entertaining cast of characters…and you can pick who gets to accompany you on your adventure! (Some, anyway.)
• Hilarious dialogue and banter between your party members. The voice acting is for the most part a plus as well.
•  An interesting “private action” system where you can wander around various towns and get to know your party members. Depending on which ones you view and what choices you make, you might end up having a special ending involving that character. It’s L-O-V-E!
•  The Item Creation function allows you to customize your weapons, upgrade your armor, and even cook food to help restore your HP and MP.
•  Star Ocean fans will love this blast to the past – ever wonder what some of those dictionary entries for Star Ocean: Till the End of Time and Star Ocean: The Last Hope allude to? Well…you might find out. 

   
The Bad

•  Mind-numbingly long spell animations. If you’ve got some chores you were putting off, now is the time to do them.
•  A lot of backtracking and moving to and fro between places you’ve already visited. This is whether you’re working on the main story, obtaining materials for item creation, or doing sidequests.
•  …And speaking of sidequests, there are not many in this game. 

The Ugly

• Disturbing, disturbing private actions between party members, which can be activated in towns and increase or decrease affection levels. One of the party members is obsessed with touching the main character’s tail…and another likes to hit on everyone. If you see any of these, you may not sleep that night. 

Ronyx is sad because he didn't get to touch your tail.

The lowdown: A great remake RPG for the PSP, and in fact one of the better PSP RPG’s I’ve played. A must for anyone who has liked any of the other Star Ocean installments!

Podcast Credits:
J. Arthur Keenes Band – “Videogame Theme.”  Creative Commons.
Star Ocean: First Departure OST.