Amazon Maximum Age: 20 years Amazon Minimum Age: 144 months Binding: Video Game Brand: Square Enix EAN: 0695981100148 ESRB Age Rating: Teen Label: Square Enix Manufacturer: Square Enix Platform: PlayStation2 Publisher: Square Enix Sales Rank: 14050 Studio: Square Enix
Features:
Star Ocean overflows with action, exploration, fast-paced combat and an intricate plot, which results in an immensely deep gaming adventure.
Character development is versatile and open-ended, allowing for true freedom in character growth through battle.
3D battlefields allow players to move freely and control a party of three simultaneously, utilizing the advanced real-time battle system.
Players can execute synchronized attacks and collaborate to unleash a deadly blow to the enemy. While moving from one section of the game to the next, fully polygonal graphics create a magnificent environment for one to explore.
Product Description: It's been over four centuries since 12 heroes saved the universe from evil in Star Ocean The Second Story. The Galaxy Federation lives in splendor and has obtained incomparable power across the known universe. It has finished probing into one-third of the entire Galaxy and continues extensive research activities to build ever more power. Fate Linegod, from Earth, journeys with his family and friend, Sofia Esteed to a prote
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Very offensive
***Spoiler warning!***
At first, I thought this game rocked. The graphics were cool, the story was amazing, the battles are good. But then,as the game continued, I started to notice one thing: this game has some allusions that would be offensive to anyone who believes in God.
The main conflict of the game centers around an armageddon-like event, where the creator of the universe decides to annihilate everyone because "we" (people in Star Ocean universe) had delved into forbidden science. Now, here's the part where I find offensive:
Your ultimate goal in this game is to defeat the Creator of the universe, i.e, the one civilizations in this universe would call God. One of the enemies you will face in this game is the angel Gabriel. Need I say more?
Maybe I'm being overtly sensitive... but to me, the idea of killing God is something I would not even want to entertain.
If you believe in God, and are considering purchasing this game for yourself or your kids, don't.
Rating: - It's got me!
When I was shopping with my mum for Christmas presents, she asked me to pick something out for myself for Christmas that was relatively cheap and inexpensive. I had always had my eye on Star Ocean 3 (aka "Til the End of Time"), but I was always unsure of whether or not to buy it. I finally decided I would get it, even if the graphics looked fair and I heard that it was an okay game.
The minute I got it on Christmas morning, I popped it into the PS2 and played all day. I became hooked the moment I pressed the button to close the little disk-thing. And wow, I'm still addicted to this very moment. It's become some sort of life support for me.
The game follows one character through the course of the universe. Fayt Leingod is just a normal, average, run-of-the-mill college student studying Symbology (magic with symbols) to follow in his father's footsteps. While he and his parents and his childhood friend Sophia Esteed (who is annoying) are on Hyda IV, everything goes wrong, and it's just this whole series of misfortunes. And thus, Fayt is sent on his adventure into SPACE (as it is SD 314, or something to that effect because I can't remember the exact date). You meet other characters on other planets like Elicoor II and such, and form a party of seven to eight people (assuming you're playing the director's cut version).
Not only do you travel through TWO DISKS WORTH OF GAMING fighting your way through dungeons, bosses and other planets, you can also visit workshops on the planet Elicoor II and invent things to get rated, which adds an entire subquest to the game, thus making it ten more times the fun. That and it's rather hilarious watching Albel Nox try to cook stew or write a book.
Pros: This game is addicting, especially to those with addictive personalities. The cinematics are wonderful, though there aren't that many, and the battle system is quite fun once you get the hang of it! The inventing is fun, and if you look through your inventory, you can actually look at the item, which provides endless hours of amusement, because they don't all look the same. Also, of the characters are actually quite lovable.
I could go on and on about the pros, but it's time to move to the cons.
Cons: There aren't many, but the voice acting is quite horrible sometimes. After playing it for a good amount of time, their voices aren't as annoying, but Sophia's will always be. At the beginning, Fayt Leingod is the only one with a decent dubbed voice, but that changes over time. Sometimes, the background music gets so loud that you can barely hear the other characters over the sound, but there are text boxes for the words, though sometime's it's annoying. Sometimes the bosses can be pains in the BUM and other times, the background music is rather annoying.
So, in conclusion, BUY IT! Though it lacks in some areas, it makes up for it in other areas, like plot and gameplay. I rather enjoyed this game (or well, enjoy because I'm still playing) and want to spread the love to everyone else!!
Rating: - Get This Game Into Your Collection
Most of the reviews on Star Ocean are very half hearted and non-linear. The more I read them, the more I saw people who probably played this game for 5 hours and gave up. It's obvious with the way they write. Here I will show you why this game is definately a showboat that could have been unbelievably great if it didn't have such miniscule problems.
You star as a 19 year old snotty nosed teenager named Fayt. He whines, doesn't like violating some OPT agreement, and you'll generally will not be able to deal with him the first half of the game. I personally would have rather been Nel or Cliff, but unlike Star Ocean: The Second Story, you don't get a choice in what character you play.
The game starts off at a snails pace. Mostly because it's so big and freebase you'll have a hard time knowing where to go. ((Hint: Buy the strategy guide, it's worth it.)) Pretty soon the story unfolds and you find yourself on a planet alone and not knowing where to go. You meet up with some future friends of yours like Cliff, a girl who looks like Sophia, Roger, and other members of Qwark. Then you find out you have special powers, and you eventually set out on a quest to find you dad.
Confused about the plot yet? So was I. If you compare this game with say any Final Fantasy game, you'll find better written scripts there. But if you compare the battle system of FF to Star Ocean, you'll wonder why FF didn't pick up on this sooner.
Battle are done in real time, and are the best part of the game. Whenever you fight, you have to make split second decision making, or else your entire party could die in 4 seconds. This makes strategy important when you fight, and what is lacking from all RPGs lately; skill.
Building up your characters isn't as important as to how you fight. If you have a level 99 character in this game you'll have all the abilities, but if you don't know how to fight, you'll still get wiped out in record time. Most people who are traditional turn-based RPG sissies may say this game is too hard, I on the other hand, loved the challenge.
Anyone who likes to craft in RPGs is going to love this game too. This game has an extensive crafting system very similar to online RPGs nowadays. Rare and extremely exlcusive items can all be made, and ultimately determine the performance of your characters when they battle.
Although Fayt starts off whiny, he eventually becomes a man and starts showing some spunk for actually having a pair. Cliff is probably the best comic relief of the game, while Nel keeps things serious. Sophia, Roger, and the teenie-bopper characters are typical Manga throwaways that I had no time for to listen to. Overall though there is extensive character development for each of the people in your party, and private actions determine whether or not you get to see their endings after the final boss.
Despite the good points of the game, there were several downpoints that many have agreed with as making this game less than phenominal.
- A horrible and sometimes boring story line. This really pissed me off the most. The story for the most part is predictable and flat out hair pulling at points. For instance, the story of Maria is about 30 minutes long, and I could already guess what was going to happen by the time their ship was going to explode.
- Odd loading times on the older fat PS2s. I hear this isn't the case for the streamlined version.
- Retarded AI settings: Sometimes the team mate charaters just stand there like hindu cows until you give them the order to attack all out.
- No adequate dodge or blocking system given. ( You have the ability to sidestep or just stand there until your fury is at 100%, but I rarely ever used the two.)
- Absolutely wretched character voices. When Fayt cries like a baby in a couple of the scenes, I turned off the voices. The game is sometimes better played without them. Nel probably had the best voice acting along with some of the NPCs she understudied.
Despite the downfalls, I would have to agree with most of the other reviewers out there and say this game is worth buying on the gameplay alone. Despite bad storyline plotting, there are some interesting moments that kept me coming back, and for the value of time you can play this game (ranging from 70 hours for the main quest, over 200+ hours for all the battle trophies if you're hardcore) this game is well worth the 20 bucks.
A lot of people who reveiw this are going to tell you this game was too hard, too complex, too boring. The choice is ultimately up to you whether you want an RPG ahead of its time that takes skill to win, or stick to turn based brainless fights. Either way, I imagine more RPGs are going to take this format with future games. I know FFXI already has, I wonder whats next?
Rating: - Well Worth $20
For the price, this game is worth every penny you'll spend.
First off, this is not a turn-based RPG. As a fan of that genre, I was skeptical of enjoying this title. It took a very little amount of time to get used to the real-time battles. Button mashing wasn't the main focus of fighting. Strategy of attack style was needed more than fast fingers. I also liked the lack of random battles - you know where the enemies are, so you can prepare yourself before the fights.
Now, the story is FAR from being the greatest in gaming history, let alone RPG history. There is a twist to the story that put me, and quite a few other gamers off. However, I enjoyed the game anyway, even if I no longer took the plot very seriously.
There were some interesting aspects to game play: moderately customizable characters, item/armor/weapon creation and customization, vast areas to explore.
My main issues with the game were this: mindless leveling in order to defeat the "bosses" of certain levels. Yes, no random battles, but a LOT of fighting had to be done in order to survive the boss fights. Sometimes, though, I found that regular enemy fights were more difficult than the bosses. Also, some side quests were so difficult to find that even with a faq/walkthru I had difficulty finding and starting them. In some levels, there is a dearth of save points when you REALLY want one, and in other levels, they're scattered all over the place without need. Some dungeons are tedious mazes - and you're relief at finally being beyond them shatters when you need to return to that area later in the game.
Don't be fooled, this is NOT a purely sci-fi game. Many levels/areas take place in backwater planets, turning the game into a medieval adventure quest. I had a lot of fun in spite of my frustration of certain aspects of the game. It took me a long time to finish, but considering that low price, I more than feel that I got my money's worth.
Rating: - Good game, except for one thing
This game was awesome. I love how you could have a free-roam battle system. It made the battles a lot more fun, so basically even if you were really powerful there was still a chance for you to lose. However, this was a 2 disk game.
Disk 2 would not work for me. I got a black screen when trying to go on to disk 2. If you are planning on buying this game, keep in mind that you might not be able to finish this game to see how it ends. Just so you know.
All in all I think this game gets a 5/5, but their technical support get's a -3/5. Don't expect a replacement after disk 2 won't work. Good luck.
- Very offensive
- It's got me!
- Get This Game Into Your Collection
- Good game, except for one thing
