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@@seanowens1073 I DON'T know that I don't like Star Ocean: SSR because I've never PLAYED it. I've played only one other Star Ocean game and I don't think I lasted 3 hours. And that was as a child. I was told this was peak SO, a fan favorite, it was remade, people seemed to enjoy it, so this was an opportunity for the series to change my mind. It did not.
@PelvicGaming lol it's like not liking mash potato and someone comes up to you and says this mash potato tastes good and you take one bite and puke all over your plate
Well for a game that’s been re-released over & over, like it’s been on PS1, ANIME EX version then PSP & Finally this released that has once more updated to near 3D while playing it at half 2D! The Anime stop at half way leaving you guessing why it stop there & then you remembered the game is longer for a Reason… 😂
Not liking sci-fi isn't really an issue for Star Ocean since after getting stranded on the standard fantasy world and the protagonist trades in laser gun for sword, any lick of sci-fi element is pretty much forgotten
I disagree heavily... it's very much a sci-fi story and doesn't let up from being a sci-fi story. Even playing as Rena, It becomes Sci-fi very quickly. So I'm not sure how you're playing Star Ocean and not seeing the sci-fi elements everywhere.
@@snazzydrew hehe, fun question: How do you view Starwars? I always saw it as sci-fi, until someone suddenly said "wizards in space". 😜 It's pretty magical, when you think about it, haha He playfully tried to say sci-fi has harder explained rules and fantasy was less explained rules. *shrugs* Fun thinking of new viewpoints, though.
@@TragoudistrosMPHstar wars definitely feels more like a fantasy story due to how it's written. It has a lot of Legends and Myth is seems to call to. Definitely a sci-fi fantasy but a bit less scientific than Star Ocean... Though with the sequel trilogy they explain the force as "midichlorians" almost as if they wanted to make it more sci-fi and less fantasy but fans never really liked that. And that's because Star Wars feels way more like fantasy than Sci-Fi especially with the hero Luke.
Which is rectified in every game after two because people kept mentioning it. 4 was the peak since you go to multiple planets and have space battle at the end
it's between Octopath Traveler 2 and Star Ocean Second Story R for me. OT 2 has more detailed pixel art Star ocean is almost like something different. It's like the ideal way to remake a ps1 game with prerendered backgrounds. I would kill for Xenogears remade in the same way.
The skill system is legit what makes or breaks a Star Ocean game. All the games have passable combat, but the skills get you to fight more to get more points to then unlock higher skills to craft gear to fight more to get more skills and so on repeated infinitely. The reason I think 5 is so hated is because the skills are completely missable for one, but also don't feed into that loop of back and forth combat to crafting to combat and so on. Personally I'm a big sci-fi RPG lover too, so that clearly helps me haha.
Ooh boy, I don't know how fans of the original will take this video. For context, the original came out before Star Ocean 3 onward and before Tales of Symphonia onward. Star Ocean 2's battle system was miles ahead of the other action jrpgs of the time (Tales of Destiny 1 and 2). This was also a time when jrpgs still had bad translations (FF7 and 8, for examples) and games were just starting to even tell longer, more elaborate stories. It also had much better load times than a lot of its contemporaries. Also, this was Motoi Sakuraba's best work until he outdid himself with Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, and we didn't have a thousand Tales games soundtracks to compare it to. Also, it was pretty common for games to have some extra party members without much story for them at the time like in FF6, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Xenogears. As a whole, it was just way ahead of its time. It raised the bar, and then other games like Tales of Symphonia had to meet that bar.
1000% this. Definitely contributes to why the game is as loved as it is. I’m not saying it’s no longer deserving of its praise due to the context being different either, but just saying.
I played a ton of the original. I miss the effects when you crafted. The ingredients were rendered in 3D, then twisted and folded until they transformed into what you were trying to make or into a disaster. At the time, it was really impressive. Now it's just looking at a menu. TL;DR Old man complains about how things have changed.
Tales of symphonia DESTROYS StarvOcean with their battle system. Older takes games ALWAYS allowed you to use more than 2 fkn skills let alone chain them together unlike Star ocean FDR. I’m SO shocked they didn’t upgrade this mess of a “use a skill then use the next one and they can’t even connect” system. So archaic and so simple
This review came at a good time right when I was about to purchase it due to an eshop sale. It's nice to finally listen to a reviewer who isn't heavily influenced by their nostalgia goggles! I could barely even make it through the demo because of how bored I was, and this finally helped me realize that the game isn't for me either. I'm glad it isn't, it eases the burden of my backlog lol.
Just gonna mention that your reaction is common amongst modern reviewers guy on here quit after the first dungeon on Rena playthrough and proceeded to play the first game instead and enjoyed it maybe give that one a try and come back to this one if you like the first one?
My initial reaction seeing the thumbnail was something along the lines of "That was my favorite game last year, you better have some good reasons for not liking it" and after watching it I will say those were some good reasons. The Plot is definitely a mixed bag which I think is just a side effect of being a very ambitious game for 1999 which is just mostly down to how to make all these optional characters fit the story somehow so it can feel disjointed. The biggest thing I didn't notice until someone pointed it out. Claude being the so called Hero of Light is dropped somewhere in the first half of the game. It's like a hook the writers just gave up on, but didn't bother taking out completely. I do absolutely love the characters and that has everything to do with the Private Actions. There was one session in the second half of the game where I spent over an hour doing just PA's and had a blast. The combat was okay. On normal it felt too easy most of the time, and then post game runs you over pretty hard. The skill system is definitely what makes this game and the developers were so smart using the Guild missions to basically teach you how to use and abuse it, but does it gradually. If they we too fast or didn't have the guild missions at all then a lot of people would probably be lost, including me. Sakuraba is in my top six composer list along with Uematsu, Kondo, Kikuta, Shimomura and Mitsuda. This is like the second video this week i've seen that had some Sakuraba slander. I don't really get the hate, but to each's own. I will admit he is either five or six on that list, but that is still pretty good company.
Ya know what, I appreciate that. Thank you for hearing me out, even if we've had different experiences with the game. And what's funny is I think we actually agree on some things - the story is disjointed, but we love the PA's, even though I'd say I don't really care for most of the cast. The combat yeah, it's fine. Skill system, hell yeah! That's where most of my enjoyment stems from! As for Sakuraba...I don't know what to tell ya there. I staunchless disagree with enjoying his music. And hay, more people may like him than not, cause clearly he keeps getting gigs!
Honestly, I'm with ya on this one. I'm currently at the very end of the game and I'm having a hard time caring much about it. The progression system is fun as hell and combat is great until you break the game. But everything other than that is just very digestible, if that makes any sense.
Yeah...that's how I felt as well. End game I was like...alright. That's cool I guess. I didn't feel too strongly. I did it and that was enough. Exactly. I don't think it's a bad game, but it's very...ho hum.
The remake changes how the game is experienced drastically. I cannot overstate how captivating it was to play the original. No voice acting, and no quest markers telling you where to go all the time. Yes, the story all but disappears in the second half. But the first 10 hours or so are still some of my favorite of all time.
@@hemangchauhan2864 By default, quest markers are on. This small difference makes every story beat feel like an item on a list that you're checking off; in the original, you would walk to each place with intention and feel like a story was continuing. Likewise, voice acting is on by default. The voice acting is abominable and it completely ruins the mood -- especially of the initial conversations with the mayor late at night. The music is so solemn and hushed, like a really important conversation is being had. This mood is totally lost with the voices on. Granted, you can turn both of these things off, but a new player probably won't, and they'll get a bad impression.
@@hemangchauhan2864 the localization is the same as the PSP remake, which I don't like as much. But don't worry too much about it, the difference isn't huge. If you're a mega purist, play the original on a CRT TV, by all means. But this remake's combat is REALLY fun and REALLY addictive! The quality of life improvements to crafting makes it really, really fun, too. It's amazing in that regard.
Probably the most fun button mashing can ever be lol. The story isn't anything crazy (at least from Claude's end) but yeah I think it's definitely for multiple playthroughs breaking the skill and party system wide open.
I've played the first three Star Ocean Games, 1st Departure on PSP, Second Story on PSP (and also this remake) and Star Ocean 3 on PS2. Haven't played any of the others. I get why Pelvic feels the way she does about the games, they offer really different things compared to other JRPG's. I enjoyed Second Story R quite a bit myself, definitely one of my favorite remakes of a game I've played. While Second Story R for me doesn't invade my mind on a daily basis like the Xenoblade games or Trails Games, Thousand Year Door is still one of my favorite games of all time, this game to me fills a different kind of niche that makes it a fun and enjoyable ride.
After watching your romancing saga 2 review, getting the game and loving it, I watched this and got Star Ocean 2. My party is in the early 60s and I can’t say I love it. It’s not bad the skill system is very in-depth, but the battles are obscenely flashy and rather simple. Also I expected more sci-fi to be present within the story and mechanics, but most of the story took place on regular jrpg medieval earth. Still looking forward to beating it, but I share similar with this review.
Never played a Star Ocean and went in blind. Played it on the hardest difficulty. I was dying left and right. You can’t button mash at all. This made the game much more fun. I was more forgiving on its weaker story/dialog among companions considering its 26 years old. Overall - a solid 7 out of 10. I enjoyed it more than Eiyuden Chronicle which I rated a 6.
Absolutely agree. The biggest issue is how hyped up the game is. If I was told it was just a pretty good JRPG I probably would have loved it. But going in with the expectation that it was some legendary and unmatched game as many fans talk about it made it feel incredibly disappointing. If the battle system was improved and modernized I think that’s go a long way to making it feel more rewarding to play.
One thing I absolutely loved about this game compared to the others is something you can really only appreciate if you've played the other Star Ocean games, and that's the near-lack of RNG with Item Creation. In pretty much any of the other games you can spend HOURS just trying to get Item Creation to produce one of a dozen items you need for whatever recipe, reloading save after save. This game has some of that as well, but it's not nearly as bad- the worst for this IMO are Til the End of Time (game #3) and Divine Force (#6). All of those Quality of Life mechanics you mention almost make this a Star Ocean "Lite" game where you can get part of the experience of playing the other games without being so bogged down by them. These games can very quickly turn into projects rather than enjoyment, but I actually enjoyed unlocking all 99 endings here, completing every sidequest, etc. I can't even imagine having to doing that in any of the others in this series (or have hated it when I did). There was also one scene near the end of the game that absolutely made my jaw drop. I couldn't believe they did that!! You'd only understand if you'd played the first game though.
You’re one of my favorite RUclipsrs around. You really need more love from the algorithm, your video reviews are great! Thanks for all the time and effort you put in!
I second this. Straight forward, even handed review, fun personality, and a good mix of new releases as well as classics. This channel deserves to blow up in popularity 👍
Hey not every rpg is for everyone! I personally have never gotten into the Star Ocean games, but at the same time despite owning a good chunk of them I've never really put them in and played them for whatever reason. I did want to try this one though because it does look beautiful. You are spot on with the music, Despite playing so many Tales games I can't think of a single track that stood out to me.
I played SO 3 first before getting into Tales so SO always has a special place in my heart and in my mind there isn't a bad entry. Some are just worse than others of course. This port however I was hooooked!
This game was amazing back in the day, 2nd RPG I ever played. Definitely my favorite in the series. Never played this version, but I have fond memories of the original.
I think there is a term for what you mean about the sci-fi setting: "Hard Sci-fi" Soft sci-fi is when it contains scientific and technological elements, but doesn't go into detail about them and focuses more of the psychology and relationships between the characters So I think most JRPGs that are considered Sci-Fi (Final Fantasy 6-13) would be considered soft sci-fi
Hard science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction writing that emphasizes scientific accuracy and precise technical detail as part of its world-building, it's the entire opposite of what you described
The main thing this game was known for was the 99 endings(which still hasn't been surpassed) so its not too surprising that other elements like the plot aren't as good and yeah some of the elements have been done better by later games
What I think that differentiate SO2 from other jrpg from it time is it sheer amount of endings and characters interaction through private actions, even if Claude and Rena are the canon couple, nothing stop you from ending Rena with Dias or Claude with any other girl, it is almost a dating sim, that alone give the game a lot of replayability.
I regret to inform you that the beloved trails series was influenced by this game specifically to the point where mishelam wonderland is literally just fun city but not as good since they both have fortune telling and private actions Theres also a quest after about tasting food which is extremely similar to one here
Funny how music can be so subjective...Sakuraba is my favorite game composer and I can easily think of 100+ memorable tracks from star ocean/tales series off the top of my head. As for this game, I'd say it was a nice jaunt. I didn't like it as much as the hype around it, but I had a good time.
Funny indeed. I can think of like... maybe two songs? Only cause I played the ever living crap out of Tales of Graces F. Don't ask me their names, but I can hear them in my head. That sad, I'm glad you enjoyed this game!
I tried the original on PS1, then tried First Departure R… I haven’t finished either and I came into both really wanting to like them… and for some reason they just haven’t “grabbed” me. I’ve played games that took a while to get me into them, but I just don’t know what’s not clicking for me on these
This was a very cool review, and it looks like you can have a story mode with two different characters which is nice! I am always been a fan of Starocean and the graphics in the game does look beautiful.
I Enjoyed Second Story as a Child. I enjoyed Second Evolution as an adult. Second Story R is (as you said) fine. I don't mind it. I break with a lot of fans in saying that The Last Hope is my favorite in the series.
I played as a kid but always quit around the same point. When you jump to a new planet and I remember a massive difficulty spike. The characters don't really do anything for me and I don't remember the music being anything special either.
In theory, science fantasy, the mix of scifi and fantasy is right up my alley. So I was excoted to play this game (never played the original, so no nostalgia here.) I liked the look, the vibes, then... the story was and remained amazingly unremarkable. Zero excitement, all the way. The combat was super mundane. Button smashing visual chaos. If a game's is at best when it comes to screwing around with stats and crafting, that is about as exciting as an excell sheet.
I've only tried the remake's demo, which was okay, but it didn't really fully click. It isn't anything to do with its setting (I love Nier Automata, Scarlet Nexus and Mass Effect), but more feeling a little hollow. Together with my particular "me problem". I really dislike Sakuraba's music; the only Tales soundtrack I like is Legendia's by Go Shiina, and most of his other work has maybe one or two standouts in a sea of...where was this track from again? Which game is this from?
The game sure did make me a fan of Kajimoto's art, I'm curious to see what they'll work on next~~ outside of the art though I liked Second Story... enough. It doesn't especially stand out in my mind, with the exception of the skill system. It was so addictive, especially in the Mid/late-game where your options open up a lot. At least it did raise my interest slightly in the sequels SO3 (heard it has better story/cast) and SO6 (it seems alright too) but for now I've had my fair fill of star ocean.
This game suffers from the same issues the old 2D Tales of games do, for me it's the simplistic combat. I still enjoyed it but i prefer both The Last Hope and The Divine Force, both in story and gameplay. That said i would love to see more games remade to this quality.
I think that's a fair assessment. My highlights were definitely the character artwork, skill systems, and the diverse party members. I also found setting wise it was a really cool blend of fantasy and sci-fi elements in one setting. I thought stuff like the introduction scene of the main villains to be really captivating but then the actual final confrontations with said villains was pretty bleh. What kept it from being great the most for me was the hectic action combat system where most often momentum carried me to victory more than any kind of strategizing. Doesn't help that I'm way more of a turn based rpg fan, but I was really missing turn based combat's strategic weight here.
Star Ocean is one of those franchises I wanna like cuz I love the sfx and I absolutely love the sci-fi setting. I never end up getting into them tho so I totally get where you're coming from here. Game looks fantastic tho and I hope more games do this as opposed to the Octopath style of visuals.
I'm a huge lover of scifi and jrpg specific fantasy so Star Ocean has always been right up my alley. I only did a Claude playthrough, but I loved it. Not perfect at all, but I enjoyed what I played and got hooked. This makes me want to go back for a Rena playthrough now lol
When the PS1 version came out I went nuts over it and named the female characters after the girls I had a crush on at the time 😂. Maybe that’s the only reason I remember liking it so much. I bought this remake and played it for 20 minutes and put it down and never played it again. Maybe it’s because all those girls I had a crush on in high school are married now, so all hope for a romantic adventure is lost. 😂
Then you never really liked the game. The game is awsome, only reason I prefer the OG more is because the enemies look better on the field screen, where the rermake the enemies are just lights.
I played First Departure some years ago and thought it was really bad. Second Story R however... I kinda liked it. The story was really messy, especially how the entire first half of the game just doesn't matter at all, but there were some cool moments. But mainly all the gameplay systems were a lot of fun to me. ...that being said I would have much preferred if an older Tales of game got this kind of remake instead of Star Ocean.
I had a lot of fun with SO2 as a kid back then. I think it was a super fun game. Don't remember anything at all about the story except character names. I do remember I got extremely mad at the villain(s?) at one point and determined to kick their asses. Wonder what I'd think of the game now.
Honestly, I get it. Sometimes, the aesthetic, etc, of something just doesn't click for you. I can enjoy sci-fi, myself, but I do feel like it has an uphill battle sometimes in order to not feel sterile.
I enjoyed the game. Not my favorite, but well above average. The visuals are drop-dead gorgeous, music is excellent, and the combat is pretty fun. Worst things about it is all the crafting stuff. It’s pretty poorly explained and very underwhelming even when you figure it out. Also, the game drags a on at the end. I got to a point where it felt like it was/should be over, but then it just kept going for a bit too long.
Totally agree as we both have more trouble getting into SciFi settings than fantasy. However, still want to try this due to nostalgia for the original... 🤔
I love this game it’s the perfect style remake for this game. If you didn’t like the original you probably won’t like this but it’s an old school jrpg for fans of those kinda games.
Its amazing.very stellar 2D/HD remaster...i hope they redo allot of older games like this...and if people didnt like the O.G. i think its better they dont review one on a personal touch imo
I've never been able to get into SO either die to how convoluted and time consuming the item creation is, but this game made it so much easier and I ended up loving it
starting the script with: “i’ve always been a star ocean hater…” smh sigh… i suppose one shouldn’t be too surprised with your thoughts here. i’m curious, what made you want to go for a second playthrough after finding the initial one less than lukewarm?
Uh...why do you say that like it's a problem? Starting a review about a remake with what the reviewer thought of the original is useful context and transparency. Do you have the same reaction to a reviewer saying, "I loved the original! Huge fan! Let's see how the remake is!!" I hope so, because it's the same thing: Here's what I thought of the original, here's my thoughts on the remake.
@ if you think “i’ve always been a star ocean (series) hater” is the same as “here’s what i thought about star ocean the second story for ps1”, i don’t even know what to say… the point is that i (nor anyone) should not be surprised the game was considered subpar if the reviewer hates the series as a whole.
I'd actually say it's for transparency, and I've mentioned I've only played one. I should have expanded on it, but my goal here was like, ' hey! This is considered the best in the series so maybe this is the one that will change my mind!'. I want to be clear, I didn't boot up this game WANTING to hate it, I even mentioned upon seeing it in a trailer it made me hype...until I realized it was Star Ocean. As for a second playthrough, I REALLY wanted Dias. lmfao. But I also because I'd have a whole new cast, with characters I actually wanted and didn't get my go around, namly Dias, and the three eyed folks. And on your second playthrough, sometimes you notice things you didn't realize on your first. I got a little past half way, definitely on disc two. So it was an opportunity to change my mind, see PA's with the characters I actually cared about etc.
I have to agree. I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews for this game, but was pretty disappointed with all of it. I still beat it, but it just kinda felt like a chore most of the time. Gameplay was just ok, story was almost never interesting, most music was mid.
Wow, I'm surprised you feel that way about the music. I think the music on this is one makes for one of the best JRPG soundtracks ever, especially when playing the original non-orchestrated music
I also gave this game a try since i like the blending of scifi and fantasy but i had the same issue with characters and story. It has a lot of the pitfalls 90s anime had where the characters exist but only the "main couple" matter and they dont have chemistry. And, like Xenogears, it felt increasingly rushed toward the end. This remake is definitely for nostalgic fans
I feel like series such as "star ocean" and "tales" are products of their times and relied mostly in their presentation and novelty factor. During 5th gen we were curious to see the evolution of the jrpg genre coming out of 16bit consoles, and the first star ocean and tales were snes games that really pushed the console to its limits, followed by games like seiken 3 and rudora no hirou. Nowadays lots of these old games are nothing to write home about. When I think about this psx era I remember fondly of lunar, grandia, suikoden, persona and, obviously, most of squaresoft's output (have never been a fan of enix games).
As someone has extreme nostalgia for this game, this review is the exact one I was looking for. I remember playing second evolution back in high school, loved it and thought it was a classic. Fast forward to now when I played the remake while I enjoyed it I was somewhat disappointed mostly with how the story and characters were handled. I originally thought this game had a good story but ultimately it feels like a story with a lot of good set pieces but never goes out its way to capitalize on them to create something captivating and unique. It strongly feels the writer did one draft of story called it a day without making tweaks which is unfortunate because the potential there. Thankfully while characters aren’t unique they had enough personality for me to get invested in them and their interactions in Private Actions because without that I don’t think Second story has much going for it in regards to its writing.
I came at this from a different angle than you. Star Ocean 2 was the game that got away. I regretted not getting it for the PS1. In my head, I always thought it was some planet-hopping, space opera epic. Playing this fantastic remake revealed to me the plot is just tropey anime nonsense. We reached the same conclusions. I agree with every single part of this review. Gemdrops did an incredible job here, but there’s nothing they could’ve done to upgrade the ho-hum story. I guess I still have regret, as I probably would’ve enjoyed it more 20 years ago. (even considering that contemporaries like Lunar and OG SquareSoft RPGs did anime JRPG plots better)
it sucks that this series continues to have such cool ideas like PA's and the interchangeable party members that add so much replay value but it seems like they just can't nail and good story and combat system. beautiful looking title tho
I think this is a perfect example of nostalgia bias. Nostalgia is such a powerful drug that many people absolutely can not, and will not see beyond it. I loved star ocean 2. I grew up with it. I thought the original voice acting was hilarious…I liked the action combat…at the time it was really fun. I played this remake (however many decades later) and I felt like you…just indifferent. The story isn’t particularly gripping. The gameplay is fine. Everything is just fine. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the quality of life updates, and just the general love poured into this style of remake. i would definitely like to see this studio do more. But the game just has not aged that well. As an example…I’m currently trying to play ocarina of time…this game that the world seems to absolutely love (one of the few zelda games I skipped) and I just do not understand the hype. It’s painful to get through. If I had played this when I was younger, I assume I would’ve still had some fondness for it…but as a new experience, I just have so many better games to compare it to. I don’t care that it was a defining game in the timeline of the industry…it is outdated
YES! I tried putting 10 hours into and nothing really clicked. The combat was not rewarding in any way and the story didn’t really do anything for me. I dropped it, but maybe I’ll try again after some years
I knew I wasn't insane for thinking the same after hearing countless people shout this as the holy grail of star ocean and heck even one of the best rpgs on the ps1. Like its fine
I can see where you’re coming from. I’ve always called Star Ocean “Sci-Fi Tales” for obvious reasons, but it’s not quite at that level either because the characters and plot generally aren’t as interesting to me. The new gameplay features in this version do make it loads better than the original and remake, but I still would play at least half of the Tales series before this one again (though I did complete the PSP version).
I had Nostalgia glasses with this one, loved it on PS1 but now.... my love for it is still there but I'm more aware of it's flaws now. They did add some nice quality of life updates to this to make more more bearable then the original and PSP versions. However i am now more aware of some of the character flaw writing when it comes to the more regular stuff. The villains are kinda an after thought and they certainly are a product of their times. The overall story is ok, the characters range from cool to ok your there, the music is serviceable though at times can be randomly overly epic for it's setting. Overall this is a good game, it's not a super memorable time but for what it was i loved it flaws and all. Does it's age show, DEFINITELY but it's still nice to peek back at a certain time period for a bit. So yeah this game isn't for everyone Lady Pelvic, it's very niche for a reason but I'm still happy it got an update.
I think it had a good start and then I got board with the combat mid way through the game. I found you just button mash. It had its good spots I am not saying it wasn’t fun. It was ok. I loved the graphics and the story was cool. I just wish the combat had more to it than spam heal, spam your best move. Some of the dungeon puzzles are memorable like the color one was good. I wanted to like it more honestly.
ooof man it always stings when you hate a game i really enjoy. this game just felt so earnest and interesting to me in the context of its release! the many optional scenes were really fun for character development and i loved just how much the game let you shape its events
Listen, don't let my hate cloud your love. For what it's worth, that's a fair point. Maybe it was one of those 'you had to be there' moments. I appreciate you hearing me out, even if I'm not a fan of Star Ocean. ^^; Also just wanna throw this out there, I don't think this is a bad game. Just...painfully okay. Solid remake though!
I will say this game was alright to me The combat was very fun Some characters were better than others in combat I wish the AI was better for mages, especially with Rena Overall it was a good time I'll definitely do a 2nd playthrough at some point
I enjoyed this game enough when i played if but its the definition of a 5 out of 10 experience (realistic 5/10, not IGN tier) once you consider everything. Theres are some elements that are really unique but others that fall flat on its face. Combat ranges from decent to meh nothing super deep, story was one of those elements that just felt like you were drifting through it, etc (music was enjoyable at least).
I really enjoy SO2. I'd say the newest entry, SO6 is my favorite, but I seem to be in a minority. If SO2R couldn't hook you, you're probably not gonna enjoy anything else in the series, and that's fine. You gave it a fair shot.
You can't just dunk on my boy Motoi Sakuraba like that, that's the Golden Sun GOAT! Joking aside, the game seems to suffer from a bad case of "mid". There's a lot of good pieces here but it's just not that top level experience like a Xenoblade or Octopath Traveler
Thank you all so much for watching, looking forward to future list videos and of course the review of SMT: Strange Journey Redux! (Whew! Your girl has a lot to say about that one lemme tell ya!)
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Did you ever review Vagrant Story?
I have a question why would you force yourself to play a game you know you won't like just a sensible observation 🤔
@@seanowens1073 I DON'T know that I don't like Star Ocean: SSR because I've never PLAYED it. I've played only one other Star Ocean game and I don't think I lasted 3 hours. And that was as a child. I was told this was peak SO, a fan favorite, it was remade, people seemed to enjoy it, so this was an opportunity for the series to change my mind. It did not.
@PelvicGaming I like your honesty I would never torture myself playing something I don't enjoy you have my undying respect I wasn't trying to be mean
@PelvicGaming lol it's like not liking mash potato and someone comes up to you and says this mash potato tastes good and you take one bite and puke all over your plate
I thought it was just ok, until something with it clicked with me, and then I got obsessed. But I can see why it’s not for everyone
Well for a game that’s been re-released over & over, like it’s been on PS1, ANIME EX version then PSP & Finally this released that has once more updated to near 3D while playing it at half 2D!
The Anime stop at half way leaving you guessing why it stop there & then you remembered the game is longer for a Reason… 😂
Manga too(very different than the anime)
Not liking sci-fi isn't really an issue for Star Ocean since after getting stranded on the standard fantasy world and the protagonist trades in laser gun for sword, any lick of sci-fi element is pretty much forgotten
I disagree heavily...
it's very much a sci-fi story and doesn't let up from being a sci-fi story. Even playing as Rena, It becomes Sci-fi very quickly. So I'm not sure how you're playing Star Ocean and not seeing the sci-fi elements everywhere.
@@snazzydrew hehe, fun question: How do you view Starwars?
I always saw it as sci-fi, until someone suddenly said "wizards in space". 😜 It's pretty magical, when you think about it, haha
He playfully tried to say sci-fi has harder explained rules and fantasy was less explained rules. *shrugs*
Fun thinking of new viewpoints, though.
@@TragoudistrosMPHstar wars definitely feels more like a fantasy story due to how it's written. It has a lot of Legends and Myth is seems to call to. Definitely a sci-fi fantasy but a bit less scientific than Star Ocean... Though with the sequel trilogy they explain the force as "midichlorians" almost as if they wanted to make it more sci-fi and less fantasy but fans never really liked that. And that's because Star Wars feels way more like fantasy than Sci-Fi especially with the hero Luke.
@@snazzydrew thanks for answering :) I also see that movie series that way.
Which is rectified in every game after two because people kept mentioning it. 4 was the peak since you go to multiple planets and have space battle at the end
To me, this is the prettiest HD-2D graphics so far.
it's between Octopath Traveler 2 and Star Ocean Second Story R for me. OT 2 has more detailed pixel art Star ocean is almost like something different. It's like the ideal way to remake a ps1 game with prerendered backgrounds. I would kill for Xenogears remade in the same way.
@@certainlycity4906 Imagine the sprites looking good like this and the Gears with 3D graphics like the ship in second story R
@@certainlycity4906 i wish that game wasn't stuck in "intellectual property" hell ! 😭
The skill system is legit what makes or breaks a Star Ocean game. All the games have passable combat, but the skills get you to fight more to get more points to then unlock higher skills to craft gear to fight more to get more skills and so on repeated infinitely. The reason I think 5 is so hated is because the skills are completely missable for one, but also don't feed into that loop of back and forth combat to crafting to combat and so on. Personally I'm a big sci-fi RPG lover too, so that clearly helps me haha.
Ooh boy, I don't know how fans of the original will take this video.
For context, the original came out before Star Ocean 3 onward and before Tales of Symphonia onward. Star Ocean 2's battle system was miles ahead of the other action jrpgs of the time (Tales of Destiny 1 and 2). This was also a time when jrpgs still had bad translations (FF7 and 8, for examples) and games were just starting to even tell longer, more elaborate stories. It also had much better load times than a lot of its contemporaries. Also, this was Motoi Sakuraba's best work until he outdid himself with Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, and we didn't have a thousand Tales games soundtracks to compare it to. Also, it was pretty common for games to have some extra party members without much story for them at the time like in FF6, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Xenogears. As a whole, it was just way ahead of its time. It raised the bar, and then other games like Tales of Symphonia had to meet that bar.
1000% this. Definitely contributes to why the game is as loved as it is. I’m not saying it’s no longer deserving of its praise due to the context being different either, but just saying.
I played a ton of the original. I miss the effects when you crafted. The ingredients were rendered in 3D, then twisted and folded until they transformed into what you were trying to make or into a disaster. At the time, it was really impressive. Now it's just looking at a menu.
TL;DR Old man complains about how things have changed.
Imo I think Tales of Destiny II (I guess you mean Eternia) has a better battle system than SO2. Just not having spell pause makes it miles better.
thanks for the post. Was wandering were the original game stood when compared to the tales of games.
Tales of symphonia DESTROYS StarvOcean with their battle system. Older takes games ALWAYS allowed you to use more than 2 fkn skills let alone chain them together unlike Star ocean FDR. I’m SO shocked they didn’t upgrade this mess of a “use a skill then use the next one and they can’t even connect” system. So archaic and so simple
This review came at a good time right when I was about to purchase it due to an eshop sale. It's nice to finally listen to a reviewer who isn't heavily influenced by their nostalgia goggles! I could barely even make it through the demo because of how bored I was, and this finally helped me realize that the game isn't for me either.
I'm glad it isn't, it eases the burden of my backlog lol.
Just gonna mention that your reaction is common amongst modern reviewers guy on here quit after the first dungeon on Rena playthrough and proceeded to play the first game instead and enjoyed it maybe give that one a try and come back to this one if you like the first one?
Your loss. It's okay.
If anything I wish Star Ocean was more sci fi. Like Mass Effect but with (more!) RPG elements. That would be a dream for me.
I always felt the Phantasy Star series kinda filled that space. We definitely could use more sci-fi with rpg elements.
My initial reaction seeing the thumbnail was something along the lines of "That was my favorite game last year, you better have some good reasons for not liking it" and after watching it I will say those were some good reasons. The Plot is definitely a mixed bag which I think is just a side effect of being a very ambitious game for 1999 which is just mostly down to how to make all these optional characters fit the story somehow so it can feel disjointed. The biggest thing I didn't notice until someone pointed it out. Claude being the so called Hero of Light is dropped somewhere in the first half of the game. It's like a hook the writers just gave up on, but didn't bother taking out completely.
I do absolutely love the characters and that has everything to do with the Private Actions. There was one session in the second half of the game where I spent over an hour doing just PA's and had a blast.
The combat was okay. On normal it felt too easy most of the time, and then post game runs you over pretty hard.
The skill system is definitely what makes this game and the developers were so smart using the Guild missions to basically teach you how to use and abuse it, but does it gradually. If they we too fast or didn't have the guild missions at all then a lot of people would probably be lost, including me.
Sakuraba is in my top six composer list along with Uematsu, Kondo, Kikuta, Shimomura and Mitsuda. This is like the second video this week i've seen that had some Sakuraba slander. I don't really get the hate, but to each's own. I will admit he is either five or six on that list, but that is still pretty good company.
Ya know what, I appreciate that. Thank you for hearing me out, even if we've had different experiences with the game. And what's funny is I think we actually agree on some things - the story is disjointed, but we love the PA's, even though I'd say I don't really care for most of the cast. The combat yeah, it's fine. Skill system, hell yeah! That's where most of my enjoyment stems from!
As for Sakuraba...I don't know what to tell ya there. I staunchless disagree with enjoying his music. And hay, more people may like him than not, cause clearly he keeps getting gigs!
Honestly, I'm with ya on this one. I'm currently at the very end of the game and I'm having a hard time caring much about it. The progression system is fun as hell and combat is great until you break the game. But everything other than that is just very digestible, if that makes any sense.
Yeah...that's how I felt as well. End game I was like...alright. That's cool I guess. I didn't feel too strongly. I did it and that was enough.
Exactly. I don't think it's a bad game, but it's very...ho hum.
The remake changes how the game is experienced drastically. I cannot overstate how captivating it was to play the original. No voice acting, and no quest markers telling you where to go all the time. Yes, the story all but disappears in the second half. But the first 10 hours or so are still some of my favorite of all time.
Could you please explain more? Is Remake a diluted experience?
@@hemangchauhan2864 By default, quest markers are on. This small difference makes every story beat feel like an item on a list that you're checking off; in the original, you would walk to each place with intention and feel like a story was continuing. Likewise, voice acting is on by default. The voice acting is abominable and it completely ruins the mood -- especially of the initial conversations with the mayor late at night. The music is so solemn and hushed, like a really important conversation is being had. This mood is totally lost with the voices on. Granted, you can turn both of these things off, but a new player probably won't, and they'll get a bad impression.
@@sambajane true about both. Makes a difference in a classic rpg format.
What about the rest of the things? Updated localization, combat balance etc?
@@hemangchauhan2864 the localization is the same as the PSP remake, which I don't like as much. But don't worry too much about it, the difference isn't huge. If you're a mega purist, play the original on a CRT TV, by all means. But this remake's combat is REALLY fun and REALLY addictive! The quality of life improvements to crafting makes it really, really fun, too. It's amazing in that regard.
@@sambajane ok thanks.
I'll try the PS1 original for some hours and then switch to the remake with VA and markers turned off.
Probably the most fun button mashing can ever be lol. The story isn't anything crazy (at least from Claude's end) but yeah I think it's definitely for multiple playthroughs breaking the skill and party system wide open.
I've played the first three Star Ocean Games, 1st Departure on PSP, Second Story on PSP (and also this remake) and Star Ocean 3 on PS2. Haven't played any of the others. I get why Pelvic feels the way she does about the games, they offer really different things compared to other JRPG's. I enjoyed Second Story R quite a bit myself, definitely one of my favorite remakes of a game I've played. While Second Story R for me doesn't invade my mind on a daily basis like the Xenoblade games or Trails Games, Thousand Year Door is still one of my favorite games of all time, this game to me fills a different kind of niche that makes it a fun and enjoyable ride.
After watching your romancing saga 2 review, getting the game and loving it, I watched this and got Star Ocean 2.
My party is in the early 60s and I can’t say I love it. It’s not bad the skill system is very in-depth, but the battles are obscenely flashy and rather simple.
Also I expected more sci-fi to be present within the story and mechanics, but most of the story took place on regular jrpg medieval earth.
Still looking forward to beating it, but I share similar with this review.
Really don’t know what they were thinking changing it to make it so flashy
Never played a Star Ocean and went in blind.
Played it on the hardest difficulty.
I was dying left and right. You can’t button mash at all. This made the game much more fun.
I was more forgiving on its weaker story/dialog among companions considering its 26 years old.
Overall - a solid 7 out of 10.
I enjoyed it more than Eiyuden Chronicle which I rated a 6.
Yep these games are meant to play on hardest difficulty since originally once you beat the game you unlock the hardest difficulty
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time is the best one. The story in that one has one of the few-blow my-mind moments I have ever had with RPGs
Which is hilarious because to this day people still call that moment controversial. I agree though, extremely ahead of its time twist
Totally fair! I loved this game but I understand! Can't love everything!
Absolutely agree. The biggest issue is how hyped up the game is. If I was told it was just a pretty good JRPG I probably would have loved it. But going in with the expectation that it was some legendary and unmatched game as many fans talk about it made it feel incredibly disappointing. If the battle system was improved and modernized I think that’s go a long way to making it feel more rewarding to play.
Such a consistent voice in geme reviews. I love this game but loved hearing your perspective as well
Thank you! Someone's gotta love this game!
Thank you after hearing so much praise thought I was crazy when I didn't enjoy it
You are not alone! I too was like, so...people said THIS is Star Ocean's best, huh? ...Hm....
I can see the parts that people would enjoy, but I could never get into this series. Played 2 on PSP & 3 and neither game clicked with me.
One thing I absolutely loved about this game compared to the others is something you can really only appreciate if you've played the other Star Ocean games, and that's the near-lack of RNG with Item Creation. In pretty much any of the other games you can spend HOURS just trying to get Item Creation to produce one of a dozen items you need for whatever recipe, reloading save after save. This game has some of that as well, but it's not nearly as bad- the worst for this IMO are Til the End of Time (game #3) and Divine Force (#6). All of those Quality of Life mechanics you mention almost make this a Star Ocean "Lite" game where you can get part of the experience of playing the other games without being so bogged down by them. These games can very quickly turn into projects rather than enjoyment, but I actually enjoyed unlocking all 99 endings here, completing every sidequest, etc. I can't even imagine having to doing that in any of the others in this series (or have hated it when I did).
There was also one scene near the end of the game that absolutely made my jaw drop. I couldn't believe they did that!! You'd only understand if you'd played the first game though.
Never even bothered with item creation in the sequels so that proves you right in how much they dropped the ball with it haha
You are HILARIOUS! Am in complete stitches with your humor! 😂
You’re one of my favorite RUclipsrs around. You really need more love from the algorithm, your video reviews are great! Thanks for all the time and effort you put in!
I really appreciate that, and needed to hear it. The algorithm hasn't been kind to me, but these comments keep me going!
I second this. Straight forward, even handed review, fun personality, and a good mix of new releases as well as classics. This channel deserves to blow up in popularity 👍
Hey not every rpg is for everyone! I personally have never gotten into the Star Ocean games, but at the same time despite owning a good chunk of them I've never really put them in and played them for whatever reason. I did want to try this one though because it does look beautiful.
You are spot on with the music, Despite playing so many Tales games I can't think of a single track that stood out to me.
I played SO 3 first before getting into Tales so SO always has a special place in my heart and in my mind there isn't a bad entry. Some are just worse than others of course. This port however I was hooooked!
I cant believe they removed the crafting animation and sound effect.
That animation satisfied my child mind back in the day even if I got poop results half the time
This game was amazing back in the day, 2nd RPG I ever played. Definitely my favorite in the series. Never played this version, but I have fond memories of the original.
What was your first RPG? Just curious
Trying to break the skill system open for the fun factor seems amazing to me, I wish other games would try something similar.
Star Ocean is the one that's essentially like the Tales series half brother right?
Damn, out of topic but your hair looks gorgeous bro, I wish I could do the same with mine
Hey queen, are you planning on checking out Eiyuden chronicles or Unicorn Overlord?
Lol love Pelvic's unabashed dislike of the Star Ocean series! Few reviewers possess that level of integrity to challenge the status quo 😂
Haha, thank you. Listen, I like what I like, and I don't what I don't.
I think there is a term for what you mean about the sci-fi setting: "Hard Sci-fi"
Soft sci-fi is when it contains scientific and technological elements, but doesn't go into detail about them and focuses more of the psychology and relationships between the characters
So I think most JRPGs that are considered Sci-Fi (Final Fantasy 6-13) would be considered soft sci-fi
Hard science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction writing that emphasizes scientific accuracy and precise technical detail as part of its world-building, it's the entire opposite of what you described
@@EriesAston haha my bad, typo :(
The main thing this game was known for was the 99 endings(which still hasn't been surpassed) so its not too surprising that other elements like the plot aren't as good and yeah some of the elements have been done better by later games
What I think that differentiate SO2 from other jrpg from it time is it sheer amount of endings and characters interaction through private actions, even if Claude and Rena are the canon couple, nothing stop you from ending Rena with Dias or Claude with any other girl, it is almost a dating sim, that alone give the game a lot of replayability.
Im glad this game exists, but man did it show exactly why we don’t need any more remakes of old games
I regret to inform you that the beloved trails series was influenced by this game specifically to the point where mishelam wonderland is literally just fun city but not as good since they both have fortune telling and private actions
Theres also a quest after about tasting food which is extremely similar to one here
That’s not even getting into how many other games that series rips off like grandia/lunar, chrono trigger, ffviii etc
I might consider getting this on sale. And funny thing, I'm currently watching the anime adaptation of Second Story (finished epsidoe 22)
I don't blame ya, I got it on sale myself! 20 or 30 bucks!
I was really hoping this’d be the one you’d love.. but if you wanna try a Star Ocean in another 10 years… 😅Divine Force on the PS5?
I was hoping too. I don't play a game hoping to dislike it haha, but alas, it was just okay...
A re-release review?
Funny how music can be so subjective...Sakuraba is my favorite game composer and I can easily think of 100+ memorable tracks from star ocean/tales series off the top of my head. As for this game, I'd say it was a nice jaunt. I didn't like it as much as the hype around it, but I had a good time.
Funny indeed. I can think of like... maybe two songs? Only cause I played the ever living crap out of Tales of Graces F. Don't ask me their names, but I can hear them in my head. That sad, I'm glad you enjoyed this game!
I tried the original on PS1, then tried First Departure R… I haven’t finished either and I came into both really wanting to like them… and for some reason they just haven’t “grabbed” me. I’ve played games that took a while to get me into them, but I just don’t know what’s not clicking for me on these
I just...don't think the story is all that good tbh. We get 11th hour villains, their backstory is missable, the characters don't enhance the story...
@ I hear you. I might give them another shot, someday, but this review was pretty awesome to see. Thanks :D
This was a very cool review, and it looks like you can have a story mode with two different characters which is nice! I am always been a fan of Starocean and the graphics in the game does look beautiful.
I Enjoyed Second Story as a Child. I enjoyed Second Evolution as an adult. Second Story R is (as you said) fine. I don't mind it. I break with a lot of fans in saying that The Last Hope is my favorite in the series.
FINALLY someone else willing to give love to The Last Hope, I thought I was alone all this time.
In a lot of ways it’s the best in the series
I played as a kid but always quit around the same point. When you jump to a new planet and I remember a massive difficulty spike. The characters don't really do anything for me and I don't remember the music being anything special either.
This was a good video, I didn't expect to sit through it all but I did and now I wanna play Star Ocean 2.
In theory, science fantasy, the mix of scifi and fantasy is right up my alley. So I was excoted to play this game (never played the original, so no nostalgia here.) I liked the look, the vibes, then... the story was and remained amazingly unremarkable. Zero excitement, all the way. The combat was super mundane. Button smashing visual chaos. If a game's is at best when it comes to screwing around with stats and crafting, that is about as exciting as an excell sheet.
I've only tried the remake's demo, which was okay, but it didn't really fully click. It isn't anything to do with its setting (I love Nier Automata, Scarlet Nexus and Mass Effect), but more feeling a little hollow. Together with my particular "me problem". I really dislike Sakuraba's music; the only Tales soundtrack I like is Legendia's by Go Shiina, and most of his other work has maybe one or two standouts in a sea of...where was this track from again? Which game is this from?
The game sure did make me a fan of Kajimoto's art, I'm curious to see what they'll work on next~~ outside of the art though I liked Second Story... enough. It doesn't especially stand out in my mind, with the exception of the skill system. It was so addictive, especially in the Mid/late-game where your options open up a lot. At least it did raise my interest slightly in the sequels SO3 (heard it has better story/cast) and SO6 (it seems alright too) but for now I've had my fair fill of star ocean.
This game suffers from the same issues the old 2D Tales of games do, for me it's the simplistic combat. I still enjoyed it but i prefer both The Last Hope and The Divine Force, both in story and gameplay. That said i would love to see more games remade to this quality.
I think that's a fair assessment. My highlights were definitely the character artwork, skill systems, and the diverse party members. I also found setting wise it was a really cool blend of fantasy and sci-fi elements in one setting. I thought stuff like the introduction scene of the main villains to be really captivating but then the actual final confrontations with said villains was pretty bleh.
What kept it from being great the most for me was the hectic action combat system where most often momentum carried me to victory more than any kind of strategizing. Doesn't help that I'm way more of a turn based rpg fan, but I was really missing turn based combat's strategic weight here.
If you are studying a foreign language this game has you covered! The level was perfect for me and I really enjoyed it.
I really enjoyed it but I can see why it's not for everyone.
Star Ocean is one of those franchises I wanna like cuz I love the sfx and I absolutely love the sci-fi setting. I never end up getting into them tho so I totally get where you're coming from here. Game looks fantastic tho and I hope more games do this as opposed to the Octopath style of visuals.
I'm a huge lover of scifi and jrpg specific fantasy so Star Ocean has always been right up my alley. I only did a Claude playthrough, but I loved it. Not perfect at all, but I enjoyed what I played and got hooked. This makes me want to go back for a Rena playthrough now lol
When the PS1 version came out I went nuts over it and named the female characters after the girls I had a crush on at the time 😂.
Maybe that’s the only reason I remember liking it so much. I bought this remake and played it for 20 minutes and put it down and never played it again. Maybe it’s because all those girls I had a crush on in high school are married now, so all hope for a romantic adventure is lost. 😂
Then you never really liked the game. The game is awsome, only reason I prefer the OG more is because the enemies look better on the field screen, where the rermake the enemies are just lights.
I played First Departure some years ago and thought it was really bad. Second Story R however... I kinda liked it.
The story was really messy, especially how the entire first half of the game just doesn't matter at all, but there were some cool moments. But mainly all the gameplay systems were a lot of fun to me.
...that being said I would have much preferred if an older Tales of game got this kind of remake instead of Star Ocean.
I had a lot of fun with SO2 as a kid back then. I think it was a super fun game. Don't remember anything at all about the story except character names. I do remember I got extremely mad at the villain(s?) at one point and determined to kick their asses.
Wonder what I'd think of the game now.
Honestly, I get it. Sometimes, the aesthetic, etc, of something just doesn't click for you. I can enjoy sci-fi, myself, but I do feel like it has an uphill battle sometimes in order to not feel sterile.
Thank you for saving my time 😊.i trust your opinion and review 😊
I'm scared to watch this, I want the game to be good. 😭
I enjoyed the game. Not my favorite, but well above average. The visuals are drop-dead gorgeous, music is excellent, and the combat is pretty fun. Worst things about it is all the crafting stuff. It’s pretty poorly explained and very underwhelming even when you figure it out. Also, the game drags a on at the end. I got to a point where it felt like it was/should be over, but then it just kept going for a bit too long.
Totally agree as we both have more trouble getting into SciFi settings than fantasy. However, still want to try this due to nostalgia for the original... 🤔
Try it! I believe there is a demo as well!
I love this game it’s the perfect style remake for this game. If you didn’t like the original you probably won’t like this but it’s an old school jrpg for fans of those kinda games.
Its amazing.very stellar 2D/HD remaster...i hope they redo allot of older games like this...and if people didnt like the O.G. i think its better they dont review one on a personal touch imo
You woulda had to have been there.
me with every sci fi element in jrpgs i fear
I've never been able to get into SO either die to how convoluted and time consuming the item creation is, but this game made it so much easier and I ended up loving it
Honestly I find it addicting BUT be ready if you play Star Ocean 3 someday (Ys 8 plot twist)
starting the script with: “i’ve always been a star ocean hater…” smh sigh… i suppose one shouldn’t be too surprised with your thoughts here. i’m curious, what made you want to go for a second playthrough after finding the initial one less than lukewarm?
Uh...why do you say that like it's a problem? Starting a review about a remake with what the reviewer thought of the original is useful context and transparency. Do you have the same reaction to a reviewer saying, "I loved the original! Huge fan! Let's see how the remake is!!" I hope so, because it's the same thing: Here's what I thought of the original, here's my thoughts on the remake.
@ if you think “i’ve always been a star ocean (series) hater” is the same as “here’s what i thought about star ocean the second story for ps1”, i don’t even know what to say…
the point is that i (nor anyone) should not be surprised the game was considered subpar if the reviewer hates the series as a whole.
I'd actually say it's for transparency, and I've mentioned I've only played one. I should have expanded on it, but my goal here was like, ' hey! This is considered the best in the series so maybe this is the one that will change my mind!'. I want to be clear, I didn't boot up this game WANTING to hate it, I even mentioned upon seeing it in a trailer it made me hype...until I realized it was Star Ocean.
As for a second playthrough, I REALLY wanted Dias. lmfao. But I also because I'd have a whole new cast, with characters I actually wanted and didn't get my go around, namly Dias, and the three eyed folks. And on your second playthrough, sometimes you notice things you didn't realize on your first. I got a little past half way, definitely on disc two. So it was an opportunity to change my mind, see PA's with the characters I actually cared about etc.
I have to agree. I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews for this game, but was pretty disappointed with all of it. I still beat it, but it just kinda felt like a chore most of the time. Gameplay was just ok, story was almost never interesting, most music was mid.
If this game was turned based, I would’ve been all over it. Love everything about it except the combat
One of these days I’ll play a star ocean.
Played this game as a kid and I loved it. That's good enough for me
Wow, I'm surprised you feel that way about the music. I think the music on this is one makes for one of the best JRPG soundtracks ever, especially when playing the original non-orchestrated music
I also gave this game a try since i like the blending of scifi and fantasy but i had the same issue with characters and story. It has a lot of the pitfalls 90s anime had where the characters exist but only the "main couple" matter and they dont have chemistry. And, like Xenogears, it felt increasingly rushed toward the end. This remake is definitely for nostalgic fans
You should give Chained Echoes a try. It's got a whole lotta charm. I've never been so amused reading the descriptions of loot in the inventory.
I feel like series such as "star ocean" and "tales" are products of their times and relied mostly in their presentation and novelty factor. During 5th gen we were curious to see the evolution of the jrpg genre coming out of 16bit consoles, and the first star ocean and tales were snes games that really pushed the console to its limits, followed by games like seiken 3 and rudora no hirou.
Nowadays lots of these old games are nothing to write home about. When I think about this psx era I remember fondly of lunar, grandia, suikoden, persona and, obviously, most of squaresoft's output (have never been a fan of enix games).
Always wanted to like Star ocean but its never clicked, i love Sci fi but there's barely any sci fi in it
As someone has extreme nostalgia for this game, this review is the exact one I was looking for. I remember playing second evolution back in high school, loved it and thought it was a classic. Fast forward to now when I played the remake while I enjoyed it I was somewhat disappointed mostly with how the story and characters were handled.
I originally thought this game had a good story but ultimately it feels like a story with a lot of good set pieces but never goes out its way to capitalize on them to create something captivating and unique. It strongly feels the writer did one draft of story called it a day without making tweaks which is unfortunate because the potential there.
Thankfully while characters aren’t unique they had enough personality for me to get invested in them and their interactions in Private Actions because without that I don’t think Second story has much going for it in regards to its writing.
I came at this from a different angle than you. Star Ocean 2 was the game that got away. I regretted not getting it for the PS1. In my head, I always thought it was some planet-hopping, space opera epic. Playing this fantastic remake revealed to me the plot is just tropey anime nonsense. We reached the same conclusions. I agree with every single part of this review.
Gemdrops did an incredible job here, but there’s nothing they could’ve done to upgrade the ho-hum story. I guess I still have regret, as I probably would’ve enjoyed it more 20 years ago. (even considering that contemporaries like Lunar and OG SquareSoft RPGs did anime JRPG plots better)
it sucks that this series continues to have such cool ideas like PA's and the interchangeable party members that add so much replay value but it seems like they just can't nail and good story and combat system. beautiful looking title tho
I am also a certified 'sci-fi in my RPGs' hater. And yeah, certainly a me problem. I feel ya.
Welcome to the club, brother!
I steel don't get it this game got portraits but not for DQ 3 remake. Not to mention the secon story got better "HD-2D" too
I think this is a perfect example of nostalgia bias. Nostalgia is such a powerful drug that many people absolutely can not, and will not see beyond it. I loved star ocean 2. I grew up with it. I thought the original voice acting was hilarious…I liked the action combat…at the time it was really fun.
I played this remake (however many decades later) and I felt like you…just indifferent. The story isn’t particularly gripping. The gameplay is fine. Everything is just fine. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the quality of life updates, and just the general love poured into this style of remake. i would definitely like to see this studio do more. But the game just has not aged that well.
As an example…I’m currently trying to play ocarina of time…this game that the world seems to absolutely love (one of the few zelda games I skipped) and I just do not understand the hype. It’s painful to get through. If I had played this when I was younger, I assume I would’ve still had some fondness for it…but as a new experience, I just have so many better games to compare it to. I don’t care that it was a defining game in the timeline of the industry…it is outdated
YES! I tried putting 10 hours into and nothing really clicked. The combat was not rewarding in any way and the story didn’t really do anything for me. I dropped it, but maybe I’ll try again after some years
I knew I wasn't insane for thinking the same after hearing countless people shout this as the holy grail of star ocean and heck even one of the best rpgs on the ps1. Like its fine
I really loved this game. I thought it was amazing.
star ocean 4 is the goat for me, its literally mass effect anime
After all these years I still haven’t gotten around to finishing the game.
it's 1 year old
@ 1999 to 2024 is 25 years, granted I didn’t get it the year of release.
@@jakubmakalowski6428 this remake that the video is about is 1 year old, hence the "R" at the end of the title
@ exactly it’s a remake hence the game has been around longer than this version
I can see where you’re coming from. I’ve always called Star Ocean “Sci-Fi Tales” for obvious reasons, but it’s not quite at that level either because the characters and plot generally aren’t as interesting to me. The new gameplay features in this version do make it loads better than the original and remake, but I still would play at least half of the Tales series before this one again (though I did complete the PSP version).
I had Nostalgia glasses with this one, loved it on PS1 but now.... my love for it is still there but I'm more aware of it's flaws now. They did add some nice quality of life updates to this to make more more bearable then the original and PSP versions. However i am now more aware of some of the character flaw writing when it comes to the more regular stuff. The villains are kinda an after thought and they certainly are a product of their times. The overall story is ok, the characters range from cool to ok your there, the music is serviceable though at times can be randomly overly epic for it's setting. Overall this is a good game, it's not a super memorable time but for what it was i loved it flaws and all. Does it's age show, DEFINITELY but it's still nice to peek back at a certain time period for a bit. So yeah this game isn't for everyone Lady Pelvic, it's very niche for a reason but I'm still happy it got an update.
I think it had a good start and then I got board with the combat mid way through the game. I found you just button mash. It had its good spots I am not saying it wasn’t fun. It was ok. I loved the graphics and the story was cool. I just wish the combat had more to it than spam heal, spam your best move. Some of the dungeon puzzles are memorable like the color one was good. I wanted to like it more honestly.
ooof man it always stings when you hate a game i really enjoy. this game just felt so earnest and interesting to me in the context of its release! the many optional scenes were really fun for character development and i loved just how much the game let you shape its events
Listen, don't let my hate cloud your love. For what it's worth, that's a fair point. Maybe it was one of those 'you had to be there' moments. I appreciate you hearing me out, even if I'm not a fan of Star Ocean. ^^; Also just wanna throw this out there, I don't think this is a bad game. Just...painfully okay. Solid remake though!
just form your own opinion. it's one persons thoughts, who cares.
I will say this game was alright to me
The combat was very fun
Some characters were better than others in combat
I wish the AI was better for mages, especially with Rena
Overall it was a good time
I'll definitely do a 2nd playthrough at some point
God, thank you for your input on Motoi Sakuraba's work, I feel a little validated now. I feel his music is usually very bland and forgettable.
I enjoyed this game enough when i played if but its the definition of a 5 out of 10 experience (realistic 5/10, not IGN tier) once you consider everything.
Theres are some elements that are really unique but others that fall flat on its face. Combat ranges from decent to meh nothing super deep, story was one of those elements that just felt like you were drifting through it, etc (music was enjoyable at least).
Game looks awesome and I feel like sci-fi is my jam BUT...not sure about the narrative being lackluster. I need good story to keep going!!!
I really enjoy SO2. I'd say the newest entry, SO6 is my favorite, but I seem to be in a minority. If SO2R couldn't hook you, you're probably not gonna enjoy anything else in the series, and that's fine. You gave it a fair shot.
You can't just dunk on my boy Motoi Sakuraba like that, that's the Golden Sun GOAT!
Joking aside, the game seems to suffer from a bad case of "mid". There's a lot of good pieces here but it's just not that top level experience like a Xenoblade or Octopath Traveler